The pull of Jefferson proved too strong for George Valko, MD ’86.

Valko grew up in Dunlo, a rural southwestern Pennsylvania farming town of just 160 residents today. The family doctor made house calls, and Valko keenly remembers the visits. “I always enjoyed how the doctor made me feel,” he said. “I wanted to make others feel like that.”

He intended to get his degree at Jefferson Medical College, serve his residency in family medicine and then return to his small hometown outside Johnstown. Instead, he discovered he enjoyed teaching at an academic medical center and collaborating with the “dynamic group” of physicians in the Department of Family Medicine led by chair Paul Brucker, MD. “I was lucky to be asked to stay.”

Valko – the Gustave and Valla Amsterdam Professor of Family and Community Medicine, vice chair for clinical programs in the Department of Family and Community Medicine and medical director of Jefferson Family Medicine Associates – is a “lifer,” a physician who arrives at Jefferson to earn a medical degree and never leaves. He brings institutional knowledge, respect for tradition and excitement about Jefferson’s future to his newest position, president of the Jefferson Medical College Alumni Association.

Valko plans to spend much of his two-year tenure reaching out to the vast middle ground of alumni who remain only moderately engaged with Jefferson. Fundraising also plays a role in his plans.

Noting that foundations and rating organizations pay close attention to alumni contributions, Valko said he hopes to increase the number of Jefferson graduates giving annually. About 20 percent contribute to the annual fund, double the average for medical schools but far below the percentages reported by the nation’s highest-rated colleges.

With experience in all areas of Jefferson, Valko said he knows the advantages of helping the university prosper. He cited the College’s foresight 40 years ago when it became one of the first to embrace family medicine, recruiting Brucker and giving him resources to develop the department. The support appears prophetic today as healthcare reform promises to place increasing demands on the field.

The department has solidified its reputation under Valko and chair Richard C. Wender, MD. Eight years ago, Jefferson Family Medicine Associates became one of the first academic medical clinics in the country to adopt a scheduling system that gives patients appointments within 24 hours of calling. Valko played a pivotal role in the complex transformation from paper to electronic records throughout Jefferson’s clinic system. He also has made Jefferson Family Medicine Associates an academic leader in the “patient-centered medical home” movement.