Growing up in far western Kansas, Dr. Tessa Rohrberg didn't just think about a career in medicine. She became a nurse's aide while she was still in high school, and worked with her mother, a registered nurse, in a nursing home.

Fast forward a few years and Rohrberg is still on a fast track to a productive and varied medical career. She's finishing her last year in the KU School of Medicine-Wichita's family medicine residency program at Wesley Medical Center, where supervisors have noted her excellent patient care. She serves in leadership positions at both the hospital and the medical school, conducting research and giving back to the community through volunteer work.

And her efforts are being recognized. Rohrberg was recently awarded the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) national award for excellence in graduate medical education. Only 11 third-year residents in the country, out of 3,500, are chosen.

"I was very humbled," says Rohrberg. "I was hopeful, but there are lots of great applicants. People give me congratulations and I don't feel like I am quite deserving."

On the contrary, says Dr. Gretchen Dickson, program director of the KU School of Medicine-Wichita's family medicine residency program.

"Tessa is a superstar," says Dickson, who first encountered Rohrberg when she was in her third year of medical school, on the Wichita campus. "She's one of the residents that comes along and is the total package."

Rohrberg, 28, grew up in Sharon Springs, near the Colorado border, and worked in a nursing home in the next county. After earning her undergraduate degree, she started medical school on KU's Kansas City campus, and transferred to the KU School of Medicine-Wichita for her last two years. A rural rotation in Quinter, Kansas, reinforced her decision to pursue family medicine.

"They were the kind of doctors we had back home," she recalls.

Dickson says Rohrberg's ability to relate to patients is "nothing short of exceptional." "She has great patient care skills," Dickson says. "She's calm in the room. She forms great relationships. You can tell she cares about what she's doing, but she's also very clinically savvy. It's not just 'I like you,' but 'I'm going to take really good care of you.'"

In a patient survey, one of her patients said she "hit the jackpot" when Rohrberg was assigned to her case. "She has never asked about my symptoms before she takes the time to ask about me," the patient wrote.

Rohrberg says she feels like a member of a "great family medicine community." "It's the relationships you develop, not only with peers and mentors, but with my patients. I like the continuity - getting to be a part of their family as well."

In a letter to the AAFP, Dickson detailed Rohrberg's many activities. She serves on the residency program's clinic research committee, and on Wesley's family medicine executive committee. She's been active in the Kansas Academy of Family Physicians (KAFP) since medical school, and served on various KAFP committees. She's the only resident on the editorial advisory board of Annals of Family Medicine, a major research journal. She's a preceptor for KU School of Medicine-Wichita students, and an attending physician at the student-run JayDoc Clinic in south Wichita.

"If we need someone to volunteer to step up for something, she's one I can count on to do that," Dickson says.

Outside of her work, Rohrberg says she enjoys traveling with her husband, reading "anything not medically-related," and stealing an all-too-infrequent nap.

In October, she'll travel to the annual AAFP conference in Washington, D.C., to pick up the award. She'll be attending with the woman who originally inspired her medical career - her mother.

"Mom's already planning the trip with me."