William J. Burke, DO

Dr. William Burke is a primary care physician with more than two decades of experience in improving the education of future primary care physicians, both in the United States and abroad. In recognition of his longtime commitment to medical education, he was named the American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians’ 2016 Educator of the Year.

A 1988 graduate of the Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine who is board-certified in family medicine and osteopathic manipulative medicine, Dr. Burke was chosen in 2013 as the first dean of the Heritage College, Dublin, which opened the following year. Before that, he served as vice president of medical education at OhioHealth Doctors Hospital in Columbus. OhioHealth is the preeminent education partner for the Heritage College, Dublin.

Dr. Burke is on the board of trustees of the American Osteopathic Association, the national professional organization for osteopathic physicians. In his position as an AOA trustee, he has served as the chair of its departments of Educational Affairs, Governmental Affairs, and Research and Development, as well as its Bureau of Communications and Committee on AOA Governance and Organizational Structure.

He is a founding director of the International Primary Care Educational Alliance; has served as chair-elect of the Osteopathic International Alliance; and is past president of both the Ohio State Society of American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians and Columbus Academy of Osteopathic Medicine. Dr. Burke currently serves as the past-chair of the Osteopathic International Alliance, the leading organization for the advancement and unity of the global osteopathic profession.

In 2016, the government of China’s Sichuan province honored Dr. Burke with the Tianfu Friendship Award, given annually to persons from other countries who have made outstanding contributions to Sichuan’s economic and social development. He was recognized for his service as team leader of the IPCEA, which is leading the effort by members of the osteopathic medical profession to train more Chinese physicians in primary care.

Dr. Burke has made many trips to China, including a visit in 2008 in which he and his wife, Debbie, provided emergency relief after an earthquake that killed thousands of people in Sichuan province. He has also organized a program in which a 20-member delegation of physicians and administrators from Sichuan spends three weeks training in the United States every two years, to observe first-hand how medical students and family medicine residents are prepared and trained here.