Dr. Amar Duggirala was inducted as the 2025 MDAFP President on February 22 at the Annual Meeting. The following is his dedicated induction speech:
I am deeply honored and immensely grateful, as I take on the role of President of this Academy.
Dr. Kelly Ryan, thank you for your leadership and unwavering commitment to the academy. Your contributions to MDAFP are greatly appreciated. I am inspired by your dedication to not just our academy but also by the many other roles you play as a physician, team doctor, teacher, and leader.
I would also like to thank my family, my father, Dr. Subash Duggirala, who also happens to be a fellow of the AAFP. My mom, my sons, and my wife for their support.
My journey into family medicine included many challenges. In college I was discouraged from applying to medical school because the pre-med committee thought as an Environmental studies major, my academics in the basic sciences were not strong enough. When I was in medical school, many physicians told me that Family Medicine is a dying field. When I became a solo private practice physician, I was told that small private practice was not a viable or sustainable career option. Those experiences taught me to challenge conventional wisdom and to fight the status quo.
My frustrations with our healthcare system is what guided me into family medicine but also in my leadership roles within the MDAFP. I wanted to improve and guide our healthcare system into one that actually improves patient’s lives and our community’s overall health.
I believe family medicine has a rising and bright future ahead. I have never been more optimistic about our profession than I am now. The medical community and wider public are starting to recognize the vital importance of primary care and family medicine as they never had before.
Particularly in Maryland, we are at the forefront of what primary care and family medicine can achieve. We have unique payment models, such as the All-Payer model, the Maryland Primary Care Program, and the new AHEAD model. Our Academy has also advocated for the state’s Primary Care investment goal, increasing it from 6% to 10% over the next five years. One of the only states in the country to do so. Maryland is where other states and the federal government are looking at as the future of healthcare in the United States. I am proud to say that the MDAFP has been an important player and has had great influence on how the state has set-up these programs and will continue to mold them in the future.
Our Academy in the past few years has fought for increased Medicaid funding, reducing the burden of prior authorizations, increasing funding for the physician loan assistance repayment program, and the preceptor tax credit, just to name a few.
If you are frustrated with our current system, I would say get involved. Join our committees, such as the governmental advocacy committee, public health committee, physician well-being committee, or our physician salary and reimbursement committee. All of these committees are working towards not just improving our healthcare system, but also decreasing administrative burden, reducing moral injury, and improving job satisfaction for all family physicians in Maryland. You may say you don’t have time. And I know how hard all of you work, and how many different ways you get pulled, but I will say that time spent with our Academy gives me a sense of gratification I don’t get from the other work that I do.
MDAFP’s mission statement is to support Maryland family physicians in their efforts to promote equity and optimize the health of our state’s patients, families and communities. I am acutely aware that there are many significant changes currently occurring in our state and in our country. These changes affect us as physicians, our families, our patients and our communities. We strive to provide resources to our members to deal with and adjust to changes in laws and regulations, and just as important to advocate to change any regulations or laws that are detrimental to our ability to provide care to our patients.
We are a non-partisan member organization, and our mission is to support our members, and we will protect our members best interest, their livelihood and their independence to practice medicine. We will also speak up when our patients and communities health are in danger.
As family physicians we are guided by our shared mission to improve the health and well-being of the patients and communities we serve. MDAFP’s role is to help in that shared mission. We are the cornerstone of healthcare in Maryland, and our role has never been more crucial.
Thank you for entrusting me with this incredible responsibility. I am excited to work alongside each and every one of you as we continue to elevate the practice of family medicine in Maryland.
Amar Duggirala, DO, MPH, FAAFP
MDAFP President