Winnsboro doctor named emerging leader by national academy

WINNSBORO, La. (KNOE) - A Winnsboro doctor has been named an emerging leader scholar by the American Academy of Family Physicians Foundation.

Dr. Christian Bonner is one of only 30 physicians nationwide to receive the recognition.

“It was a huge blessing and a great honor. It was a big shock to me that I was able to get it,” Bonner said.

Before Bonner wore a white coat, he wore firefighting gear.

“We do a lot of different things and that’s the beauty of family medicine is that we can and being a firefighter taught me how to handle that and manage a bunch of different things at the same time,” he said.

Bonner is a ULM and LSU Shreveport graduate. He is a resident in Ochsner LSU Health’s rural family medicine program in Monroe and is among the program’s first residents.

“I love that we’re getting these new residencies in here, especially this rural track program and training these physicians that are going to be based in rural areas and get that specialized training in it, so they can go not just to cities and urban areas but some of these small towns,” Bonner said.

After one year in the residency program, Bonner will return to Franklin Parish to serve the community that raised him.

“It is my calling. I love it. I wouldn’t do anything else. So it’s very important to me to be able to give back to them and to be able to use my talents and things I’ve learned to further their health,” he said.

Click here to learn more about the residency program.