OU-COM alumnus elected to AOA Board of Trustees

William J. Burke, D.O., F.A.C.O.F.P. (’88), of Gahanna, was elected to the American Osteopathic Association (AOA) Board of Trustees during its recent annual business meeting in Chicago. He is an AOA board-certified family physician.

“I look forward to continuing my service to the osteopathic medical profession in this new capacity,” Burke said.

A fellow of the American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians (ACOFP), Burke serves as program director of the family medicine residency at Doctors Hospital in Columbus. He also is an associate professor of family medicine at the Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine (OU-COM).

In addition to his responsibilities on the Board of Trustees, Burke serves the AOA as vice chair of the Council on Continuing Medical Education and as a member of the Bureau of Osteopathic Clinical Education and Research and the Council on Research. At the state level, he is a past president of the Ohio State Society of the ACOFP and of the Columbus Academy of Osteopathic Medicine.

Burke has received numerous awards, including the Family Physician of the Year Award in 2010 from the Ohio State Society of the ACOFP, the Outstanding Faculty and the Distinguished Service awards from OU-COM, and just last year, the Distinguished Service Award from Ohio University. He also received the AOA’s Clinical Assessment Program Residency Program of the Year Award in 2009 from the American Osteopathic Foundation.

He served on the Ohio University Alumni Association Board of Directors from 1996 to 2003, including two years as chairman. He also served as president of OU-COM’s Society of Alumni and Friends for three years and as chair of the OU-COM Advisory Board for five years. As a medical student, he served as president and vice president of the Student Government Association. He is a 1984 graduate of Capital University in Columbus. 

After earning his osteopathic medical degree from OU-COM, Burke completed his internship and residency at Doctors Hospital, where he served as chief resident.  

Burke has traveled to China four times as part of a humanitarian group to evaluate the state of primary care medicine and to provide medical assistance in the aftermath of the 2008 earthquake. To read about Burke’s visits to China, go to http://www.oucom.ohiou.edu/news/stories/burke/.

Burke and his wife, Deborah, have two children, Lydia and Ross.