Supporting the programs that championed his professional development

For more than a decade, Clay Cooper, MD, MBA, a family medicine physician with Geisinger in Central Pennsylvania, has donated regularly to the AAFP Foundation, with an emphasis on its Family Medicine Leads Emerging Leader Institute (ELI).

A primary goal of the ELI is to ensure the future of family medicine by increasing the number of leaders in the specialty and training them for this vital role.

“We hear about physician shortages; we all feel them in our practice … and lots of the work that the Foundation does is trying to get more and more students into family medicine, to support residency program growth,” Cooper explained. “So in a lot of ways, the Foundation is really a big public health driver for our country.”

Growing up 10 minutes from Hershey Medical Center, home to Penn State College of Medicine, Cooper developed an early interest in medicine. During his junior and senior years of high school, he spent the last two periods of his school day shadowing different health care professionals.

It was his senior-year semester, focused on family medicine, that influenced his decision to become a family doctor.

“I realized that I valued that longevity of care,” he said. “I also just found the variety in family medicine fun.”

Still, Cooper said there were many times throughout his education when he questioned whether he was on the right path or “just on that conveyor belt.”

His mentors recognized that if he could see a few steps ahead, he might feel more confident in his decisions, and they persuaded Cooper to attend AAFP’s National Conference (now called FUTURE). It was just the spark of motivation he needed to get through the long hours of study in med school.

“Being around all of those family physicians and students and residents … I wished I could have cloned myself so I could have gone to even more talks to hear all the amazing things that family physicians were doing,” he remembered.

Ten years ago, Cooper was part of the inaugural FM Leads ELI cohort. He later served as a peer mentor and ambassador for the program, and continued to volunteer after his residency. He enjoyed engaging with the students and seeing the program evolve into what it is today.

Supporting the Foundation as a donor allows Cooper to express his gratitude for the training and encouragement he received as a student, and to pay it forward. He also contributes to the Dennis Gingrich Fund, established by his mentees — a personal mentor for many years.

“Now being in a position where I have that discretionary income to make future opportunities available for others, I feel like it’s a small price to pay for what others have made possible for me,” he said.

To make a one-time or recurring donation to the AAFP Foundation, click here.