Laura Hoffman, D.O. ’12, has been named a recipient of the American Medical Association (AMA) Foundation’s 2012 Leadership Award. This award provides medical students, residents/fellows and early career physicians from around the country with special training to develop their skills as future leaders in organized medicine and community affairs.
Laura is a fourth-year medical student pursuing a family medicine residency. She has a particular interest in ultimately serving urban populations. As an undergraduate student at Xavier University, she volunteered in many different capacities including serving as a medical assistant and Spanish interpreter at an inner-city pediatric clinic, planning activities at a local nursing home and volunteering as a teacher’s aide in a school for children with mental retardation and developmental disabilities. She assumed a leadership role in planning Xavier University’s Alternative Spring Break program, in which students participate in community service during spring and summer breaks. Laura is passionate about smoking cessation and volunteers with the American Lung Association of Iowa’s tobacco prevention division.
The AMA Foundation honored 30 individuals with Leadership Awards at its annual Excellence in Medicine Awards ceremony, which was presented in association with Pfizer Inc. on February 13, 2012 in Washington D.C. Recipients of the award are recognized for demonstrating outstanding non-clinical leadership skills in advocacy, community service and education.
AMA Foundation President Dr. Owen Garrick presided over the awards ceremony. He praised Laura and the other Leadership Award recipients, stating, “These dedicated medical students, residents and physicians are deeply committed to transforming their communities and improving the health of their neighbors. Our hope is that celebrating the efforts of these medical leaders will inspire us all to give back to our communities, as they have done.”
