Family physician Dr. Roland A. Goertz received the 2011 Distinguished Alumni Award from the School of Medicine Alumni Association at The University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio.

Goertz was honored Oct. 22 at the 2011 Reunion Weekend Gala. The award is given each year to an alumnus or alumna and is based on three criteria: The nominee's service to the medical profession, to his community, and to the School of Medicine.

After earning his medical degree from the School of Medicine in 1981, Goertz completed a residency in family medicine at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth. He subsequently completed a clinical teaching fellowship in family medicine in 1986 and received his M.B.A. from Baylor University in 2003.

In addition, he is a Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), an earned degree awarded to family physicians for distinguished service and continuing medical education.

For the past 15 years, Goertz has served as chief executive officer of the three foundations that oversee all operations of the Waco Family Health Center, which operates one of the oldest family medicine residency programs west of the Mississippi River. In 2010 the Waco Family Health Center provided care to 50,000 patients in McLennan County. He also holds an appointment at The University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas.

Goertz currently serves as board chair of the AAFP, having previously served one-year terms as president and president-elect. In 2006 he was awarded the AFFP's Robert Graham Family Physician Executive Award.

Goertz was nominated by Dr. Martha Medrano, a fellow graduate from the Class of 1981 and director of behavioral health at CommuniCare Health Centers in San Antonio. Medrano received the Distinguished Alumni Award in 2004.

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Goertz named 2011 distinguished alumni by local med association