Resident Receives American Academy of Family Physicians Award

Urban selected from among 3,500 family medicine residents in more than 400 programs nationwide

Karli Echterling Urban, MD, a resident physician in family and community medicine at the University of Missouri School of Medicine, has been selected as one of 10 recipients nationwide to receive the American Academy of Family Physicians/Bristol-Meyers Squibb Award for Excellence in Education. The award recognizes second-year family medicine residents for leadership, civic involvement, social commitment, patient care skills and interest and aptitude in family medicine. It comes with a financial award of $1,000, as well as special recognition during the group's annual meeting in September.

Urban

Steven Zweig, MD, chair and Paul Revare Family Endowed Professor in Family Medicine, helped nominate Urban for the award. He has known Urban since she was an undergraduate at MU, when as part of a service learning project, she developed the Lasting Intergenerational Fellowship Experience (LIFE) program to link middle school students with local nursing home residents. Zweig said he has seen her interest and aptitude in geriatric medicine progress throughout medical school and residency.

"Especially in the context of our aging society, we need more physicians like Dr. Urban to lead in the care of elderly patients," Zweig said. "I have received more unsolicited positive comments about her care from patients, unit clerks, and others than any other resident in my career. She matches her concern for people with thoroughness, excellent diagnostic and management skills and good follow through."

Urban, a native of St. Joseph, Mo., was recognized for her development of the LIFE program with a Chancellor's Excellence in Leadership Award in 2003. She graduated summa cum laude from MU in 2005 with recognition from Mortar Board and Phi Beta Kappa.

Urban received her medical degree from MU in 2009. During her time as a student, Urban organized and led the student geriatric interest group and participated in the Heyssel Senior Teacher Education Partnership Program, which links first-year students with seniors living in the community. She was selected to participate in the highly selective Summer Institute in Geriatric Medicine at Boston University in 2007.

In April, Urban was chosen to participate in the Southeast Center of Excellence in Geriatric Medicine's Resident Award Summit, held at the University of Alabama in Birmingham. She is currently co-authoring a book chapter on elder abuse with Erik Lindbloom, MD, associate professor of family and community medicine at MU. Following residency, Urban hopes to pursue a geriatric medicine fellowship at MU.