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News Briefs... Doc Bowen Receives Highest Honor from the AAFP
Reprinted with permission from Frontline (Winter 2007), Indiana American Academy of Family Physicians
Bowen is affectionately known around Indiana as “Doc.” He attended Indiana University for undergraduate and medical school. After completing medical school, Bowen did an internship at South Bend Memorial Hospital. He joined the Army in 1943 and served in the U.S. Army Medical Corps during World War II. After returning from the war, he set up his medical practice in his hometown of Bremen, Indiana. Doc got interested in local politics and became the coroner for Marshall County. He was elected to the Indiana House of Representatives in 1956. Back then, the House only met for 60 days a year, so he was able to spend most of his time in his practice. In 1965, Bowen became minority leader and then speaker in 1967. He was elected governor of Indiana in 1972. That same year, voters ratified a constitutional amendment allowing the governor to serve successive terms, and he won re-election in 1976. After serving his final term as governor, Doc came to the Indiana University School of Medicine and became what we now call the “Pre-Doc” director of the Department of Family Medicine. One fateful day at IU, he received a call from then-President Ronald Reagan asking him to consider becoming the secretary of Health and Human Services. He became the first physician to serve in that position. In 1989, he retired and returned to Bremen. Dr. Bowen remains an ongoing advocate for family medicine. He lent his name to the Otis Bowen Research Center in the Department of Family Medicine. The center is the research arm of the Department of Family Medicine and is dedicated to his commitment to improving the health of the citizens of Indiana. Doc continues to come to events that honor medical students who have been chosen as Bowen Scholars. In 2000, he wrote Doc: A Life in Public Service (IU Press 2000). Many of the family physicians attending the AAFP Scientific Assembly attended a special reception for him sponsored by the IAFP and the Department of Family Medicine. Dr. Bowen gave a short speech and talked to everyone in attendance. Congratulations from all the family doctors in the state, Doc, on this well-deserved award. |
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During
the October 3, 2007 Congress of Delegates meeting of the American
Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), Otis Bowen, MD, received the
John G. Walsh Award for Lifetime Contributions to Family Medicine.
Established in 1973, the Walsh Award is one of the highest honors
bestowed by the AAFP. The award recognizes long-term commitment and
dedicated leadership toward furthering the development of family medicine.
The Walsh Award is not an annual award and is only given at the
discretion of the AAFP Board of Directors.