Vivek Murthy Receives National Award From the American College of Physicians

Washington, D.C. May 15, 2019 -- The American College of Physicians (ACP) awarded Vivek Murthy, MD the Joseph F. Boyle Award for Distinguished Public Service today at ACP’s annual advocacy day, Leadership Day, a two-day event where ACP member internists and medical students learn about the legislative process and key policy issues from ACP staff, members of Congress, congressional staff, and independent policy analysts. 

The Joseph F. Boyle Award for Distinguished Public Service was established by ACP’s Board of Regents in 1990, in honor of the late Dr. Joseph E. Boyle, former Executive Director of the American Society of Internal Medicine from 1985 to 1992. The award honors a current or former government official or a physician acting in an official capacity (state or federal, executive, or legislative) who has provided outstanding public service toward improving the delivery of health care.

Dr. Murthy served as the 19th Surgeon General of the United States and is President and Co-Founder of Doctors for America, a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating a high quality, affordable health care system for all. His career has been focused on advancing non-partisan health policies that promote public health, including developing strategies to improve the prevention of diseases and reduce rates of addiction to opioids. ACP also appreciates Dr. Murthy’s strong advocacy on behalf of our patients to ensure that all Americans have affordable health insurance coverage. 

As the 19th Surgeon General of the United States, Dr. Murthy played an instrumental role in tackling major health care issues, including recognizing addiction as a chronic illness, taking steps to address the opioid epidemic, calling out firearms violence as a public health threat, and highlighting the importance of vaccines to fight and prevent infectious diseases such as the Zika and Ebola viruses. Additionally, Dr. Murthy supported efforts to combat climate change and its impact on public health, spoke out against conversion therapy for the LGBTQ community, and worked to cultivate environments that promote emotional and physical well-being. In addition, Dr. Murthy was the keynote speaker at ACP’s 2019 Internal Medicine Meeting.

Dr. Murthy graduated from Harvard University and received his M.D. and M.B.A. degrees from Yale University. He completed his internal medicine residency at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and later joined Harvard Medical School as faculty in internal medicine. 

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About the American College of Physicians
The American College of Physicians is the largest medical specialty organization in the United States with members in more than 145 countries worldwide. ACP membership includes 154,000 internal medicine physicians (internists), related subspecialists, and medical students. Internal medicine physicians are specialists who apply scientific knowledge and clinical expertise to the diagnosis, treatment, and compassionate care of adults across the spectrum from health to complex illness. Follow ACP on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

Contact: Julie Hirschhorn, (202) 261-4523, jhirschhorn@acponline.org