Dr. Larry Leeman Receives National Teaching Award

Larry Leeman, MD, MPH, professor in The University of New Mexico Department of Family & Community Medicine, has received the 2021 Family Medicine Excellence in Education Award from the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine.

The annual award recognizes a family physician educator who has demonstrated excellence in teaching, curriculum development, mentoring, research or leadership in education at regional or national levels.

Leeman was recognized for career accomplishments that include: 

• Establishing a nationally known family medicine maternal and child health service and fellowship that has trained family physicians for practice in rural and underserved settings in New Mexico.
• Serving as medical editor of the American Academy of Family Physicians Advanced Life Support in Obstetrics program since 2009. Leeman helped create the Basic Life Support Program for use in rural maternity care settings, which he helped introduce to India, Mexico, Ecuador, Guatemala and Honduras. 
• Establishing the UNM Center for Reproductive Health, a collaboration between the Departments of Family & Community Medicine and Obstetrics & Gynecology for clinical care and education.
• Leadership of the UNM Milagro Program, a perinatal substance use program including community-based clinical sites that integrate prenatal care, substance use counseling, medication treatment for opioid use disorder and case management.
• Participating in the national Home Birth Summits as the representative of the American Academy of Family Physicians and helping to develop model transfer guidelines. He has been the primary consultant for the Dar a Luz Birth Center in Albuquerque since its opening in 2011, and the collaborative model and outstanding clinic outcomes have been presented at several national conferences.