Newswise David Fleming, MD, chair of the Department of Internal Medicine and director of the Center for Health Ethics at the University of Missouri School of Medicine, will be named president-elect of the American College of Physicians (ACP) the largest medical specialty organization in the United States. Fleming's one-year term as president-elect begins during ACP's annual scientific meeting in San Francisco, which starts April 11. He will then serve as president of ACP from 2014 to 2015, the centennial year for the organization that was founded in 1915.

ACP is a national and international professional organization of internists physicians who specialize in the prevention, detection and treatment of illnesses in adults. Its membership of 133,000 includes internists, internal medicine subspecialists, medical students, residents and fellows.

"I am deeply honored to serve ACP and medicine in this capacity," Fleming said. "These are challenging times with the rapid and historic changes now taking place in our country's health care environment. It will be critically important that all of us be mindful of these challenges. It is also important that organizations like ACP continue to take a leading role in helping to shape the inevitable change to come in a positive and constructive way. I look forward to the challenge."

Fleming is a professor of medicine, and he has been director of the MU Center for Health Ethics since its inception in 2001. He established the center after completing a research fellowship in primary care and clinical bioethics at the Center for Clinical Bioethics at Georgetown University. MU's center has since developed a prominent state and national presence for improving the health of the public through patient-centered programs related to ethics and professionalism in education, research, clinical service and organizational performance.

Fleming has been a member of ACP since 1980 and a Fellow of the American College of Physicians since 1986. He served on ACP's Ethics and Human Rights Committee for many years, most recently as chair from 2012 to 2013, and as vice chair for ACP's Health and Public Policy Committee. He was governor for the ACP Missouri chapter from 2007 to 2011, and chair of ACP's board of governors from 2011 to 2012. While serving as its governor, the Missouri chapter received the John Tooker Evergreen Award for member outreach in 2009. Fleming also received the Laureate Award for outstanding service to medicine and to ACP from the Missouri chapter in 2012. He was a regent for ACP from 2012 to 2013.

In addition to his service through ACP, Fleming is a member of the Boone County Medical Society, American Medical Association, Association of Professors of Medicine, Southern Society of Clinical Investigators and Southern Medical Society.

Fleming graduated from medical school, completed residency in internal medicine and ultimately served as chief resident in internal medicine at MU. Following training, he returned to his hometown of Moberly, Mo., where he practiced general internal medicine and geriatrics, and was medical director of Woodland Internists Group, a multispecialty community-based clinic. While in practice, he also served on MU's clinical faculty. Fleming also established and was medical director of the Woodrail Internal Medicine Clinic in Columbia, Mo.

Fleming has received numerous awards for teaching and service, including the Distinguished Service Award from the MU Medical Alumni Organization, the Jane Hickman Teaching Award, the Robert N. McCallum Student Advocacy Award, and Faculty Member of the Year in the Department of Health Management and Informatics at the University of Missouri School of Medicine. Additionally, he was named Prince Charitable Scholar in End of Life Care at Georgetown University in 2000 and Service Excellence Hero in 2009 from MU's University Hospital.

Fleming's publication credits include authoring and co-authoring more than 60 peer reviewed journal publications and book chapters. He is also editor and author of the book "Care of the Dying Patient." He has also been invited to give numerous regional, national and international presentations.

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MU Internal Medicine Chair to Lead Largest Medical Specialty Group in U.S.