Former MSV president selected to participate in Sorensen Institute

31 March 2010

Medical Society of Virginia (MSV) Immediate Past President Thomas W. Eppes Jr., M.D. was selected to participate in the Sorensen Institute’s Political Leaders Program (PLP), a leadership development program for residents of Virginia interested in becoming more active in public service as community leaders or as elected officials. Participation in this program has become a traditional "first step" for future political leaders in the commonwealth.

Dr. Eppes, a family practitioner at Central Virginia Family Physicians in Forest, has served on the MSV board of directors since 2004 and served as president from Oct. 2008 through Oct. 2009. He is a graduate of the College of William & Mary and the University of Virginia School of Medicine and is certified by the American Board of Family Practice. Dr. Eppes has also served as assistant professor of family medicine at the University of Virginia Medical School and Lynchburg Family Residency Program since 1983.

Dr. Eppes has a long history of leadership in the medical profession having served as an MSV delegate to the American Medical Association (AMA), on the board of the Lynchburg Academy of Medicine, and as that organization’s president from 2001-2002. Dr. Eppes was a founding member of the Free Clinic of Central Virginia’s board of directors and a founding member of the United Health Care of Virginia/Virginia Physicians Network. He also teaches family life and human anatomy in the Forest School System and serves as team physician for Jefferson Forest High School sports. He also volunteered his skills for mission work in Zambia.

Approximately 35 participants are selected each year to participate in the Sorensen PLP in a highly competitive selection process that includes a detailed essay-based application and in-person interviews by staff members, regional board members and alumni. The Sorensen Institute typically receives more than three times as many applications for the Political Leaders Program each year as there are available spaces in the class.