Eric Johnson, Melissa Gardner honored by ND Academy of Family Physicians

The North Dakota Academy of Family Physicians (NDAFP), which held its annual meeting at the UND School of Medicine & Health Sciences last week, honored two SMHS employees as the meeting came to a close.

Eric L. Johnson, professor in the Department of Family & Community Medicine and director of Interprofessional Education at the UND School of Medicine & Health Sciences, was named the 2026 NDAFP “Family Physician of the Year.” Likewise, Melissa Gardner, administrative assistant for Family & Community Medicine, was given the 2026 NDAPF “Friend of Family Medicine” award.

The Family Physician of the Year award is given once per year to a physician in North Dakota who shows pride in practicing family medicine. Recipients must be a member of the NDAFP and American Academy of Family Physicians, a compassionate family physician, dedicated to the ideals of family medicine, and a role model for the residents, medical students, and young physicians in the state.

The Friend of Family Medicine award is also given out annually to an individual who has contributed to family medicine in North Dakota in a special way. Recipients of this award must have worked diligently for the NDAFP to further the ideals of family medicine, made a significant contribution to the NDAFP, its members, and their patients, and been an outstanding teacher of family medicine in either academic or a clinic setting.

Each of these are criteria that both Johnson and Gardner display every day, said Department of Family & Community Medicine Chair David Schmitz.

“I can personally attest that each award this year is well deserved and represents decades of mission-aligned work as employed faculty and staff of our UND SMHS,” Schmitz said. “It’s definitely worth bragging about.”

Recent data from the Association of American Medical Colleges and NDAFP confirm that 81% of the family physicians practicing in North Dakota are alumni of either the SMHS Medical Doctorate program and/or one of UND’s many Family Medicine Residency programs.