Dr. Douglas Murphy Jr., MD, was named President of the Florida Medical Association (FMA) on Monday.

FMA, a professional association that represents more than 25,000 health care members statewide, officially announced the installation of Murphy in a press release. Murphy, a Board-certified obstetrician/gynecologist who has served the Ocala community in private practice for almost 40 years, will succeed Dr. Michael Patete as the 145th president of the association.

Murphy earned his medical degree from the University of South Florida College of Medicine, then completed residency training in obstetrics and gynecology at the Medical University of South Carolina in 1984. That same year, Murphy joined Richard Mann Jr., MD – his former USF medical school roommate – and Cheryl Mann, MD, in opening their practice, Ocala Gynecology. He and Mann have been practice partners ever since.

“Congratulations to Dr. Murphy as he leads our more than 25,000 members of the Florida Medical Association through these unprecedented times. As a longtime member of the FMA and a practicing physician, he is well prepared to represent our public policy and political efforts as we continue to serve as Florida’s strong and unwavering voice of medicine,” said FMA CEO Tim Stapleton.

Murphy, who served as Past President of the FMA PAC and currently serves on the FMA PAC Board, has been a member of the FMA’s delegation to the AMA House of Delegates since 1988. He is also a Past President of the Marion County Medical Society, a Diplomat of the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and a longtime member of several other physician organizations, including the American Association of Gynecologic Laparoscopists, the Florida Obstetric and Gynecologic Society, and the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons.

Murphy joins other members serving from 2021-2022. Those FMA officers include:

• President-Elect Joshua Lenchus, DO – Internal Medicine, Fort Lauderdale
• Vice President Jason Goldman, MD – Internal Medicine, Pompano Beach
• Secretary Lisa Cosgrove, MD – Pediatrics, Merritt Island
• Treasurer Charles Chase, DO – Anesthesiology, Winter Park
• Speaker Ashley Norse, MD – Emergency Medicine, Jacksonville
• Vice Speaker Mark Rubenstein, MD – Physiatry, Jupiter

Along with the appointment, FMA also announced a resolution on Monday related to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The association urged practitioners and medical support staff to get vaccinated with the delta variant continuing to spread across Florida.

“The Florida Medical Association further renewed its commitment in combatting COVID-19 – and its variant – as we work tirelessly to educate Florida patients on the lifesaving benefit of getting vaccinated. Physicians continue to see daily upticks in coronavirus cases in younger, unvaccinated patients, which is why it is even more important for all healthcare practitioners and medical support staff to receive the vaccine. FMA members have been at the frontlines of this pandemic, and we must not allow COVID cases to reach 2020 levels,” added Murphy.

On Sunday, the Sunshine State broke its record for coronavirus hospitalizations. According to data reported to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS), more than 10,200 people in Florida are hospitalized with confirmed COVID-19 cases.