J. Edward Hill, MD

Immediate Past President
American Medical Association

     J. Edward Hill, MD, a family physician from Tupelo, Miss., was elected three times to the American Medical Association (AMA) Board of Trustees (BOT) and became its chair in 2002. Dr. Hill was elected president-elect in June 2004 and assumed the presidency in June 2005.

     Prior to his election to the AMA-BOT, Dr. Hill served the AMA as an alternate delegate and then a delegate from the Mississippi State Medical Association. In 1990 he was appointed by the AMA-BOT to the AMA’s Council on Legislation and served as its vice chair from 1995 to 1996.

     In addition to his active participation in the AMA, Dr. Hill has served in a variety of leadership positions in other medical organizations. He has been chairman of the board of trustees and president of the Mississippi State Medical Association, president of the Mississippi Academy of Family Physicians, an alternate delegate and delegate to the American Academy of Family Physicians, and president of the Southern Medical Association.

     Born in Omaha, Neb., Dr. Hill was educated in the public schools of Vicksburg, Miss., and received both his BS and MD degrees from the University of Mississippi. He completed his internship while serving four years as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Navy, in addition to serving as a general medical officer in a naval destroyer group.

     A board-certified family physician, Dr. Hill began his professional career in the rural Mississippi Delta where he practiced for 27 years. In addition to his full-service family practice, Dr. Hill developed and directed a local maternal child health program that resulted in lowering the fetal mortality rate from one of the highest in the United States to below the national average, where it remained. Due to his wealth of medical practice experience and recognition as a role model for young doctors, Dr. Hill was asked in January 1995 to become the director of the Family Practice Residency Program at North Mississippi Medical Center, which is the nation’s largest rural hospital. Having stepped down from the directorship in July 2001, he remains on the faculty full time and has an active practice.

     In addition to his busy professional life, Dr. Hill is an active participant and leader in community activities. He has served as president of the Mississippi affiliate of the American Heart Association, chair of the Industrial Development Committee for his local Chamber of Commerce, member of the advisory board for his county Head Start program, president of his local school board and a member of the board of directors of his church.

     Dr. Hill and his wife, Jean, are the parents of two daughters and have five grandchildren who also reside in Mississippi.

  Source:  American Medical Association, 2/07