Daron W. Gersch

Daron W. Gersch, MD, FAAFP, a family physician with CentraCare Hospital in Long Prairie, Minnesota, is the vice-speaker of the American Academy of Family Physicians. The AAFP represents 127,600 physicians and medical students nationwide. As AAFP vice speaker, Gersch advocates on behalf of family physicians and patients to inspire positive change in the U.S. health care system.

Gersch is a member of the Minnesota Academy of Family Physicians. He was born and raised in Saint James, Minnesota, and earned his bachelor’s degree in biology from Augustana University in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. He earned his medical degree from the University of Minnesota Medical School in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and completed his family medicine residency at the Cedar Rapids Family Medicine Residency Program in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

After residency, he went to the Albany Area Hospital and Medical Center in Central Minnesota to start his rural practice. He provided full-spectrum primary care at that facility for 25 years. During that time, Daron taught and mentored multiple college students, medical students, residents, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners.