For Dr. Larry Anderson, volunteering to help future physicians with their education has been a way of life since the 1970s. That's how long Anderson and his partners in the Sumner County Family Care practice have been hosting students from the KU School of Medicine-Wichita for their rural rotations.

"For me, the joy of family medicine is in rural practice, where we take care of multiple generations and provide cradle-to-grave care," Anderson says.

Anderson isn't the only Kansas physician who's dedicated to contributing to medical education. Nor is he alone in receiving recognition for it. He's one of 10 Kansas doctors who've won the national American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) volunteer educator of the year award, from 1998 to the present (see the full list of winners below).

"Isn't that incredible?" asks Carolyn Gaughan, executive director of the Kansas Academy of Family Physicians (KAFP). "The state of Kansas is really fortunate to have such strong community-based medical education. It's demonstrated in how many have won this national award. We have so many outstanding people who volunteer their time."

Anderson, a graduate of the KU School of Medicine, said the decision to teach third- and fourth-year medical students was a no-brainer. "I did my rural rotation in Quinter, Kansas, so I knew what it was all about."

The students he hosts are split about evenly between KU's Wichita and Kansas City campuses. About half a dozen students each year spend a month on rotation in Wellington.

"We let them be as involved as possible," Anderson says.  "Patients don't come to see the (student); you have to always consider that."

But after nearly 40 years of seeing students involved in their care, his patients are used to them, Anderson says. Students examine patients, make assessments, and are on hand when he and his partners deliver babies, do surgeries, and visit nursing homes.

It gives them a good idea of the varied nature of family medicine. "As the years have gone by, more and more specialization has occurred, but we still try to serve as kind of the captain of the team," he says.

Anderson's most recent student, Nicholas Rockefeller, who spent May in Sumner County, was impressed by the breadth of cases the Wellington physicians treat, and how much their patients like them and rely on them.

"We get a lot of positive responses," Anderson says. "They often say, 'That was the best rotation we had in medical school.' We hear that frequently."

Dr. Mary Beth Miller, who practices in the far northwest corner of the state in St. Francis, was the 2012 state and national winner. She's hosted KU's students since 1999. She says she was "a little nervous" about the concept initially, but that people in the town of 1,300 have embraced the students.

"We encourage them to get their hands wet," Miller says. "By the time they leave, they're seeing patients and they can present to us. It's a really good experience for them."

"Students don't believe it, but they will be remembered," Miller says. "I cannot tell you the number of times a patient will say 'Do you remember the time a student did my knee injection?' They make an impact, whether they realize it or not."

The KAFP names a volunteer educator of the year each year. That physician is then nominated for the national award, which is chosen by a committee from the AAFP, whose membership includes 110,000 members across the country.

"We have some really good doctors who received only the state award," Dr. Rick Kellerman, chair of KU School of Medicine-Wichita's department of family and community medicine, wrote in an email. "We are fortunate to have a whole bunch of good teachers."

Here are the winners of the state volunteer educator award. An asterisk indicates they also won the national award.

2014 Randall Goering, M.D., Newton
2013 Kevin Hoppock, M.D., Wichita
2012 *Mary Beth Miller, M.D., St. Francis
2011 *David Netherton, M.D., Wichita
2010 Stan Mosier, M.D., Andover, and James Hartley, M.D., Wichita
2009 *Barbara Coats, M.D., Wichita
2008 *Cathy Woodring, M.D., Wichita
2007 Richard Engelholf, M.D., Wichita
2005 *Larry Anderson, M.D., Wellington, and *Mike Machen M.D., Quinter
2004 Randy Henwood, M.D., Wichita
2003 *Steve Penner, M.D., Wichita
2002 Diane Klingman, M.D., Wichita
2001 *C. Joseph O'Donnell, D.O., Wichita
2000 *Ronald C. Brown, M.D., Wichita
1999 *Diane Nightengale, M.D., El Dorado
1998 * Charles Stephens, M.D., Minneola