LOUISVILLE You could say medicine “runs in the family” for the newly inaugurated president of the Kentucky Medical Association (KMA), Evelyn Montgomery Jones, MD.
Her father, Wally Olson Montgomery, MD, was a general surgeon and served as KMA president in 1985. Her husband, otolaryngologist Shawn Jones, MD, served as KMA president in 2011-2012. And the Joneses together have three children, one of whom has followed in their footsteps in pursuing medicine and another who works in health policy.
But while the path to the KMA presidency may have been familiar to Montgomery Jones, the Paducah dermatologist has been sure to blaze her own trail.
Montgomery Jones admits she “sat on the sidelines” as a KMA member for many years, discouraged in part by the organization’s perceived lack of opportunity and overall diversity.
But in 2013, KMA underwent a strategic planning initiative that led to big changes to the organization’s board structure and programs, including a goal of diversifying its leadership and modernizing the more than century-old Association.
“I came home from the Annual Meeting that year and called KMA Executive Vice President Pat Padgett and just said, ‘I’m in. Tell me what I can do,’” says Montgomery Jones. “I saw the Association was really trying to evolve, and support physicians and our patients in the ways we needed them to, and I felt confident that I could put my time and effort behind these ideals.”
One of the programs that developed out of the strategic planning process was the KMA’s Kentucky Physicians Leadership Institute (KPLI). Now the premier leadership training program for physicians in Kentucky, the award-winning KPLI cultivates the next generation of physician leaders from across the state through a series of intense and tailored learning events. Montgomery Jones completed the program in 2021.
“I can’t say enough good things about KPLI. It really helped prepare me for leadership roles not only in the KMA, but in my practice and for opportunities in my community as well. And I think the results of the KPLI program speak for themselves,” she says,
Currently, most of KMA’s leadership, as well as leadership within county and state specialty societies, are KPLI graduates. “I think you would be hard pressed to find a more diverse leadership group anywhere than KMA’s elected officers. They are diverse, from their specialties, to their geographic regions, to their race and ethnicity, gender, age, and backgrounds,” says Montgomery Jones. “I am so proud to work alongside them and am so proud of how far the KMA has come in that regard.”
Montgomery Jones has also hit the ground running as KMA president, with preparations for kicking off what will be a two-year public health initiative around overall health and wellness. “Small STEPS, Big Impact,” will build on the KMA’s recent public health success by encouraging patients to make long-term changes through taking simple steps that can add up to a big impact on their health. The campaign will focus on five key areas—screenings, tobacco use, exercise and nutrition, physician visits, and stress—and offer straightforward strategies and support for patients. The campaign, a partnership with the KMA’s charitable arm, the Kentucky Foundation for Medical Care (KFMC), will be funded by a grant from the Kentucky Department for Public Health.
“To our patients, making big changes to their health and lifestyle can be really overwhelming, so we want to encourage them and walk beside them in these efforts—we’re taking these small STEPS together!” says Montgomery Jones.
While she knows the path might not always be smooth, Montgomery Jones is looking forward to leading the KMA over the next year. “I have always believed that the value in the KMA is that physicians’ collective voice is more powerful than our voices as individuals,” she says, “and I am confident that Kentucky has some of the best physician voices in our choir. I can’t wait to see what all we can achieve together.”