David Walsworth, MD, Named Family Physician of the Year

July 31, 2024 - MSU College of Human Medicine

Originally published July 16, 2024 on HumanMedicine.msu.edu

David Walsworth was sitting in a parking lot in Lorain, Ohio, on April 8 awaiting the darkness of a total solar eclipse when something happened that brightened his day. He received an email from the Michigan Academy of Family Physicians saying he had been named Michigan Family Physician of the Year.

Three months later, as he was about to leave for the Michigan Family Medicine Conference & Expo on Mackinac Island, where he would receive the award, Walsworth, MD, an associate professor in the College of Human Medicine’s Department of Family Medicine, reflected on its meaning.

The award, he said, is “a wonderful recognition for the work I’ve done. It’s not the reason for the work I’ve done, but it tells me I’m going in the right direction.”

In honoring Walsworth, the Michigan Academy of Family Physicians said he “exemplifies the spirit of leadership and advocacy the field of family medicine demands.”

For the past 30 years, since graduating from the Wayne State University School of Medicine, Walsworth has worked tirelessly to promote the practice of family medicine and medicine in general. He joined the College of Human Medicine 19 years ago and serves as associate chair for clinical affairs and medical director at MSU Health Care - Family Medicine in East Lansing.

He is a member of the American Medical Association’s House of Delegates, a board member for the Michigan State Medical Society, and a member of the Ingham County Medical Society Board of Directors.

He spends most of his time caring for patients, Walsworth said, followed by his administrative duties, teaching, and research. Most gratifying, he said, is the time he spends advocating for family medicine and medicine in general.

As a medical student, he had considered other specialties. “I found I enjoyed everything,” he said, “but family medicine is what brought it all together.

“The depth and breadth of our specialty is great. It’s caring for people from before they’re born until their passing.”

He urges students to find the specialty that brings them joy, whether it’s family medicine or some other field.

“I want more people to choose family medicine,” he said, “but I want them to choose whatever sings to their hearts.”

Walsworth said he plans to continue seeing patients, teaching, and advocating for his profession for the next 12 to 15 years, and likely after retirement.

“This has been my work for the past 30 years,” he said. “I firmly believe in giving back to my profession and to my patients.”