After working COVID front lines, SC doctor will lead American Medical Association
Dr. Gerald Harmon didn’t see himself going into medicine. Now he’s getting ready to lead the largest medical association in the country.
Harmon, vice president of medical affairs at Tidelands Health, is set to take over as the president of the American Medical Association (AMA) June 15, becoming only the third South Carolina doctor to hold the title.
In college, Harmon saw himself being an astrophysicist. But the combination of his then-girlfriend — now wife — studying nursing and a military representative pitching medical school changed his mind.
“I had talked to some military recruiters and they said, ‘You know, young man we don’t have an opportunity for astrophysicists right now. Do you think you could get into medical school, be a doctor? We really need doctors,’” Harmon said.
Harmon doesn’t regret the choice. In fact, he says he became a doctor in part because of “divine intervention.”
From military doctor to family medicine
Thanks to 35 years as a doctor in the Air Force and working in family medicine in Horry, Georgetown and Williamsburg counties, Harmon established himself as a physician and joined the AMA 30 years ago before moving up the ranks in the association’s board of trustees. He became secretary and chairman before being elected as president last year.
Harmon, father of three and grandfather of eight, made a reputation as a trusted doctor, building community around his profession.
“Most of our close friends were his patients,” Harmon’s wife Linda said. “It’s a relationship that kind of never goes away.”
He’s been known to carry his work with him, picking up medicine for friends who needed it or helping local kids who stopped by to get checked out, Linda Harmon recalled.
COVID strained healthcare industry
Harmon prepares to take the reigns at a pivotal moment in medicine marked by the continuing recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic that turned the healthcare industry on its back and tested doctors, nurses and healthcare professionals across the world.
“For such a time as this,” Harmon said, quoting the Book of Esther in the Bible. “We do see that the COVID recovery is not complete yet.”
Issues regarding access to healthcare were thrust into the spotlight during the pandemic, as COVID-19 tests and telehealth appointments were less attainable for people without reliable transportation and internet service. As a doctor serving rural patients, Harmon has seen these obstacles, during and prior to the pandemic, and he’ll keep them in mind as he preps to lead the AMA.
“Maybe someone like me from frontline medicine in a rural state is in a position to advocate on behalf of his patients,” he said.
Health equity is a priority
The pandemic exacerbated long-standing inequities in healthcare. In conjunction with the nationwide racial reckoning that followed the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery among other Black Americans, the industry is confronting its role in perpetuating those disparities.
Dr. Jack Resneck, who’s on the AMA’s board of trustees, said Harmon has an understanding of inequities through his experience in the military and as a family doctor. While it took the pandemic for some to comprehend the intricate ways healthcare can be discriminatory, Resneck said Harmon has long had equity in mind.
“[Health disparities] have been around for a long time, COVID certainly unmasked them and made them visible broadly to the population,” Resneck said. “Jerry gets it. He’s incredibly supportive of this really deeply important work.”
For Harmon, diversifying the medical field is a priority. He remembered a time when he visited a reserve officer training corps in Jackson, Mississippi, for young people hoping to join the military. Harmon and Black healthcare professionals presented to the students, around 80% of which were Black, about the healthcare industry and the possibility of being a physician.
“All their eyes got really big, they got excited,” Harmon said. “I want them to go into medicine, I want them to be successful. We want that workforce to look like the patient population.”
Harmon was involved in creating the Center for Health Equity at the AMA, which has laid out framework for the association to analyze and combat structural racism within medicine.
This story was originally published June 14, 2021 at 6:58 AM.
