He makes house calls. He works on weekends. He gives his cell phone number to his patients, so they can call him anytime.
So rare is this kind of care in the world of medicine today that it has earned Green Valley Dr. Donald Robert Smith a top state honor as Family Physician of the Year.
Given annually by the Arizona Academy of Family Physicians, the award honors compassion and caring toward patients, community enhancement, and excellence in a role of healing and teaching.
"Dr. Donald Smith excels in each of these areas," said Dr. Armaity Austin, president of the academy. "He epitomizes what it means to be a family physician." He is "a superb clinician and exceptional human being."
For the past decade, Smith has worked at the United Community Health Center in Green Valley, where he was medical director though 2004.
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An avid runner, Smith used that skill to raise about $16,000 for a new building for the Continental Family Medical Center in Green Valley, through a program he launched called Dash for Cash. To encourage healthful exercise, he organized the Arivaca 100 Mile Club to celebrate any Arivaca resident who ran, walked or swam 100 miles or more during the summer.
Especially critical for patients, Smith is credited with maintaining the only after-hours and weekend medical services between Tucson and Nogales.
"His willingness to go the extra mile by opening the clinic after hours or giving his cell phone number to his patients is the mark of a truly great physician," says a statement from the academy on Smith.
"A rare physician who still makes home visits, Dr. Smith's concern for and treatment of his rural patients is greatly admired by the medical students he teaches."
For 10 years, Smith has served as a preceptor for the University of Arizona College of Medicine — where he earned his medical degree in 1985 — and for the College of Nursing's Family Nurse Practitioner Program. Chosen as Preceptor of the Year in 1999 by the Arizona Association of Community Health Centers, he also received the Exceptional Clinical Teacher Award from the UA College of Nursing in 2004.
Going beyond his achievements in medical care, Smith transports produce grown at a community garden in the Green Valley area to a food bank in Amado and to the Casa Maria soup kitchen in Tucson. He collects backpacks and clothes dropped by fleeing immigrants and delivers them to homeless programs. With his wife, Julie Ferdon, he has hosted several high school exchange students from Chile and Scandinavia.
The Family Physician of the Year award will be presented to Smith at the academy's Annual Clinical Education Conference on Saturday at the Orange Tree Golf Resort in Scottsdale.
