Considered one of the highest honors for internal medicine physicians, ACP Masters are selected for their integrity, positions of honor, impact in practice or medical research, or other attainments in science or in the art of medicine. Masters must be highly accomplished persons demonstrating impact in practice, leadership, medical research, and maintain involvement with the ACP.
“There is a great satisfaction from the standpoint of being a physician, doing the right thing and being recognized by my colleagues,” said Dr. Paslidis. “I have been able to accomplish so much with determination and the opportunity I was given 35 years ago when I started at Ross Med, through residency, research, and dedicating my career and time to do the best I can do for my patients.”
Dr. Paslidis was named a Fellow of the ACP in 2018 and has been an ACP member for the entirety of his medical journey dating back to his time as a student at Ross Med. Long before he started studying to be a physician, he was inspired to pursue a career in medicine thanks to his relationship with his mother and their family’s time living in Greece. When he was a child, access to proper medicine and patient care was limited. He remembers times when his mother was sick as the first memories that sparked an innate sense of care and nurturement for others.
“Even among all my accomplishments, the biggest one is still being able to have a great interaction with my patients. That's why I originally started on this path - caring for people, for the underserved, for the small communities, for people that are underrepresented because I was one of them. I'm blessed proud to have all this medical knowledge just to be able to put it toward patient care and the new generations of medical students and physicians that are coming in today.”
Involvement with the Ross Med community has remained one of Dr. Paslidis’ goals throughout his 35-year career. He has attended many alumni events and networking conferences to give back his time and knowledge to both his alumni peers and students in medical school. In 2020, he was awarded the Alumni Legacy Award for his outstanding professional achievements and distinguished service in the field of medicine.
35 Years of Care and Compassion
After graduating as valedictorian from Ross Med in 1988, Dr. Paslidis went on to a PhD program studying cell biology through a joint program with the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Texas and University of Crete in his native Greece. He completed that program in 1991 and started a postdoctoral program at Baylor University College of Medicine. Following the conclusion of his postgraduate training, he started his residency with the University of Texas and then a gastroenterology fellowship with Harvard University School of Medicine.
In 1996 when it came time to start his career in the field, Dr. Paslidis moved with his wife to her home state in Arkansas and began working for a rural federally qualified health center. He spent a decade there before moving back to Boston to enroll in Harvard School of Public Health for a master’s degree in healthcare management. “When I was in Arkansas, I became more interested in the administrative side because it would allow me to create a bigger impact wherever I was,” he recalled. Upon completing his MPH at Harvard, Dr. Paslidis settled down in Arizona where he was named Chief Medical Officer for Northern Arizona Healthcare. He currently practices out of Sedona and is affiliated with Verde Valley Medical Center.
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