Brody physician named head of state medical society
Dr. Timothy Reeder (Contributed photos)
Dr. Timothy Reeder, associate professor and executive vice chair for clinical operations in the Department of Emergency Medicine at ECU’s Brody School of Medicine, was recently sworn in as president of the North Carolina Medical Society.
Reeder, who has been with East Carolina University since 1998, earned his undergraduate and medical degrees from Ohio State University, where he also completed his residency training in emergency medicine. He holds a master’s degree in public health from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Reeder’s clinical interests include trauma care, pediatric emergency care and disaster medicine. His educational interests include health systems science, including patient safety, quality and leadership. He serves as director of Brody’s Health System Transformation and Leadership Distinction Track, which prepares medical students with advanced expertise in patient safety, quality improvement, interprofessional team-based care and population health.
He has made three medical mission trips to Nicaragua, where he provided primary care in the rural mountain villages of Jinotega, as well as trauma and cardiac education to medical staffs in Leon and Managua.
Reeder
He was sworn in as the society’s 165th president during its LEAD Health Care Conference in Raleigh on Oct. 19. He previously served the society in a variety of roles, including secretary-treasurer, member of its board of directors, and member of its finance, credentials and communications, and membership advisory committees. He was president of the Pitt County Medical Society in 2007.
During his inaugural address, Reeder stressed the importance of returning joy to the practice of medicine.
“Over the next year I hope to help re-establish the joy in medicine for us. The activities of our organization must at their core, support and ensure the patient-physician relationship. For this is what gives us meaning and joy in our practice and profession,” Reeder said. “No matter the specialty, years in practice, or how disillusioned we may have become, the unifying principle that brought us into medicine was our desire to help another human being through the doctor-patient relationship.”
Reeder said he is honored to have this opportunity to provide leadership toward improving the health of North Carolinians.
“We will continue to provide leadership education to physicians, support physician wellness initiatives and prepare for Medicaid transformation,” he said. “This honor allows me to represent the unique needs of ECU and Brody through the North Carolina Medical Society to the Legislature, payers and leaders across the state.”
-by Rob Spahr, University Communications