Former Bluefield Resident Makes History as AMA President

A woman from Bluefield has been named the next president of the American Medical Association, and she is the first-ever African American woman to hold the position. Dr. Patrice A. Harris, a psychiatrist who resides in Atlanta, Ga., was elected June 12 as president-elect of the organization by other physicians who gathered at the annual meeting in Chicago. Harris earned her medical degree from West Virginia University’s School of Medicine and was inducted in 2007 to the West Virginia University Academy of Distinguished Alumni. She has experience as a private practicing physician, public health administrator, patient advocate and physician spokesperson.