Dr. Peter J. Carek appointed chair, UF CoM Department of Community Health and Family Medicine

I am excited to announce that Peter J. Carek, M.D., M.S., has been appointed chair of the department of community health and family medicine at the University of Florida College of Medicine, effective Oct. 1, 2013.

It is an honor to welcome Dr. Carek to the department, which strives to provide outstanding primary care to our community, train the next generation of family medicine physicians and provide an outstanding academic environment for patient-centered research.

Dr. Carek, who is currently a professor of family medicine at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), has earned a reputation as an exceptional educator and national leader in family and sports medicine.

Dr. Carek received his medical degree from MUSC in 1987 and completed his residency at the MUSC department of family medicine in 1990. He continued his training as a primary care sports fellow at the Ohio Physical Therapy and Sports Medicine Clinic and as a fellow in sports and occupational medicine at the University of Tennessee. He was appointed to the MUSC faculty in 1992 and received tenure in 2002.

He is a diplomate of the American Board of Family Medicine and holds a certificate of added qualifications in sports medicine. Dr. Carek is also a fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians.

In addition to the dozens of national, regional and university-level academic appointments that Dr. Carek has held throughout his career, he is president of the Annals of Family Medicine, co-chair of the Group on Research in Residency Training, chair of the Residency Review Committee for family medicine of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education and vice chair of the department of family medicine at MUSC.

Additionally, Dr. Carek held the position of medical director at a MUSC family medicine practice from 2008-2012. Since 1992, he has also served as a physician for athletic teams and tournaments; most recently, Dr. Carek was the team physician for the athletic department at the College of Charleston.

Dr. Carek’s clinical interests include primary care sports medicine, exercise and wellness, preventive medicine and quality improvement. During the last 20 years, he has been invited to give more than 110 lectures across the country on these topics, as well as approximately 70 peer-reviewed presentations.

Dr. Carek’s research and training is supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, as well as private and public organizations. He has served as a peer reviewer for multiple federal grant programs.

He has received numerous awards for his work, including the Best Doctors in America award (1996-2013), the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education Parker J. Palmer Courage to Teach Award (2009) and the Nikitas J. Zervanos Outstanding Program Director Award (2010).

Dr. Carek has reviewed manuscripts for more numerous academic journals, including the Annals of Family Medicine and the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine. He is currently on the editorial board of Annals of Family Medicine, the official journal of the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine. He has published more than 85 articles, co-authored two scholarly books and written 14 book chapters. Additionally, he has authored dozens of reviews, editorials, letters to the editor and other publications.

He is a member of several professional societies, including the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Family Physicians and the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine.

In addition to his wealth of experience as a practicing primary care physician and a leader in the field, Dr. Carek is an accomplished educator, preceptor and faculty adviser. Some of his responsibilities included being residency program director for the MUSC department of family medicine from 1995-2012, teaching undergraduate courses and serving as preceptor in the MUSC Family Medicine Center.

As the tenure of a new department chair begins, we would like to sincerely thank R. Whit Curry Jr., M.D., who has successfully led the department since 1992. Community Health and Family Medicine excelled under his guidance, and we are indebted to his service. In the coming weeks, we will gather and thank Dr. Curry for a job exceptionally well done.

I am excited about the future of the department under Dr. Carek’s leadership. With his broad national perspective and wealth of experience as a practicing primary care physician, an innovative educator and a leader in the field, he will advance our department and primary care programs to new levels of engagement and accomplishment in the state and nation.

Please join us in welcoming Dr. Peter Carek to the University of Florida College of Medicine and his new position as department chair of community health and family medicine.

Michael L. Good, M.D.
Dean, UF College of Medicine