Texas Tech medical student joins AAFP commission

Charles “Chaz” Willnauer, a second-year medical student at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine in Lubbock, has been appointed to the AAFP Commission on Quality and Practice. As the medical student representative, he will serve a one-year term starting Jan. 1, 2012.

As a member of the commission, Willnauer will work to fulfill its mission: to develop policy related to the practicing family physician. This includes developing recommendations, policies, and programs related to health care delivery systems, performance measurement, privileging, practice redesign and quality improvement, health information technology, practice management, physician payment, and private sector advocacy.

At Texas Tech, he is a participant in the Family Medicine Accelerated Track, which culminates in a medical degree in three years for students interested in pursuing family medicine. Simultaneously, Willnauer is pursuing an MBA in Health Organization Management. He is co-founder and vice president of finance for the Texas Tech MD/MBA Association.

His joint training in medicine and business led him to pursue the commission appointment. “My interests include providing quality health care at reasonable costs to both the individual and society. I have a special desire to develop business models that will benefit middle-class societies who can’t afford health insurance and who don’t qualify for government programs.”

Originally from Olathe, Kan., Willnauer attended Brigham Young University for his undergraduate degree and was awarded a Bachelor of Arts in Portuguese with a minor in ballroom dance. He volunteers with the Boy Scouts of America as a scout leader and young men mentor, and served a two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Manaus, Brazil.

He was awarded the TMLT memorial scholarship in 2011, the 2011 Foster G. McGaw Scholarship from the American College of Healthcare Executives, and the 2010 Health and Social Services Scholarship from Covenant Health Systems.