The Institute for Family Health Faculty Physician Dr. Mark Josefski Recognized as “Family Medicine Educator of the Year”

Kingston, NY (June 17, 2020) – On Sunday, June 14, 2020, Dr. Mark Josefski was recognized by the New York State Academy of Family Physicians (NYSAFP) for his extraordinary accomplishments as a physician educator. The Family Medicine Educator of the Year award is presented annually to an outstanding individual at the NYSAFP’s Congress of Delegates meeting, held virtually this past weekend.

Dr. Mark Josefski is an attending physician at the Institute’s Kingston Family Health Center and has served as family medicine faculty for the Institute’s Mid-Hudson Family Medicine Residency Program since 1989, including as residency director for many of those years. He holds faculty appointments to the New York College of Osteopathic Medicine and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Dr. Josefski is a past president of the NYSAFP and currently serves as its Upstate alternate delegate to the American Academy of Family Physicians. In these and other roles, Dr. Josefski has trained hundreds of family medicine residents and medical students, and has been instrumental in establishing the Mid-Hudson Family Medicine Residency Program as a vital health workforce pipeline in the region. Dr. Josefski is also very involved in community activities, including through serving as co-health services director of the O Positive Festival, which connects musicians and artists with health and wellness providers. A native of Kingston, NY, he is recognized throughout the community for his contributions and dedication to his hometown.

Dr. Megan McMullan, MD, program director for the Institute’s Mid-Hudson Family Medicine Residency Program, said, “I’d like to congratulate Dr. Mark Josefski on his award of Family Practice Educator of the Year, nominated by his current group of family medicine residents. Truly, this year has tested all of us, from resident to skilled clinician educator, in our resolve and commitment to patient care and policy. Mark sits at the saddle of both, working both within our local systems as well as at state levels to advocate for the underserved.”

“As a former leader of our residency program, past president of the NYSAFP, and current chair of the Department of Family Medicine at our local affiliate hospital, Dr. Josefski has accomplished much, to say the very least,” said Cynthia Kim, LCSW-r, associate program director for the Mid-Hudson Family Medicine Residency Program. “The golden thread in all of these endeavors, however, is the very thing that makes him a remarkable family medicine educator – the way in which he embraces his role, gives of himself in the process, and inspires the very same in the next generation of family physicians.”

The Institute’s Mid-Hudson Family Medicine Residency Program, in operation since 1979, provides community-based graduate medical education in Kingston, New Paltz and Ellenville, NY. The program was one of the first federally-funded “Teaching Health Centers” in the nation and currently graduates 10 physicians annually. A large number of program graduates continue to practice in the Hudson Valley after completing residency.

“I’ve had wonderful teachers and many mentors in my career,” said Dr. Josefski. “They all are responsible for my skills. I’m lucky to have great faculty colleagues who share the teaching load and push each other every day. We could not have the excellent program that we have without our staff and those that preceded them. They are the support that make our work possible.”

Founded in 1948, the New York State Academy of Family Physicians is the New York State Chapter of the American Academy of Family Physicians. The chapter represents more than 6,000 family physicians, residents and medical students throughout New York State and provides education, advocacy and information to its members.

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The Institute for Family Health (www.institute.org) is a federally qualified health center network that operates 32 practices in New York State and serves more than 115,000 patients annually.  Services are available to people of all ages, regardless of ability to pay.