12:00 p.m. Wednesday
Dr. Morgan is a family physician at Novant Health Family Medicine Rocky Point near Wilmington, NC. In addition, Dr. Morgan serves on the NCAFP Advocacy Committee.
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His parents are both primary care physicians, and as a kid Dr. Morgan took notice of their example. "When I was really little, I liked what they did," he says, "how they took care of people and made a difference for their patients."
But Dr. Morgan began seeing his own pathway into medicine when he began accompanying his parents on service trips to Uganda. Over eight trips between 2011 and 2025, Dr. Morgan helped support new schools and offer free clinics with a Ugandan physician in impoverished communities in that country. "That was a big catalyst," he says. "We really saw some significant health disparities there, and that was the turning point for me to go into medicine."
But why Family Medicine specifically? Dr. Morgan realized during medical school at Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) that it was the most versatile specialty he could enter. He enjoyed his internal medicine, pediatrics, and OB-GYN rotations. After some confusion about wanting to perform all three kinds of care, Dr. Morgan realized there was one way to do that: "Where could I do all those things? Family Medicine," he says.
It also helped that Family Medicine closely serves Dr. Morgan's heart for population health. Prior to medical school, he had completed a master’s in global health at Duke University, and during medical school he realized the central role primary care played in that area. "I remember seeing the benefits of primary care on people's health and how it decreased overall health care spending," Dr. Morgan says. "If I wanted to have that kind of positive impact on a community, I was going to be a family physician."
In 2023, Dr. Morgan began residency at Novant Health New Hanover Regional Medical Center (NHNHRMC) in Wilmington. “We fell in love with North Carolina during my master’s and wanted to come back,” he says. Enrolling at NHNHRMC was his first choice. “The residency really impressed me during my interviews,” Dr. Morgan says. “I really appreciated their focus on health equity, access to care, and social determinants of health."
In Oregon, OHSU School of Medicine Dean Dr. Rebecca Cantona helped support him through his medical training. "She's just a lovely person," Dr. Morgan says. Another mentor, Dr. Brian Park, connected Dr. Morgan to the Robert Graham Center, which proved pivotal. Dr. Morgan ended up serving as a Visiting Scholar at the Center in June 2026. His research there identified the areas of highest need for primary care in the U.S. by physician-to-patient ratio and social deprivation factors.
"That program was exceptional," he says. "The hope is that someday our research could be used to identify priority areas for new residency programs or other ways of incentivizing physicians to go to those high-need areas. Plus, I get to enjoy the entire breadth of Family Medicine: there's your typical clinic, but also this health policy research at a national Center."
During his residency, Dr. Morgan attended two White Coat Wednesday events and also the Winter Family Physicians Weekend. "They're all great events," he says. "One of the reasons I decided to stay in North Carolina is working with the NCAFP. It's been wonderful."
Specifically, Dr. Morgan has enjoyed the policy and advocacy work he does through the NCAFP and AAFP. “The advocacy work at White Coat Wednesday and at the Family Medicine Advocacy Summit has been wonderful," he says. "The change is slow, but I'm hopeful, since we keep continuing to have these policy conversations about our patients and their health care. There's also a great community of family physicians in North Carolina, and the NCAFP spearheads that. We're all working together, and that's one of the things that drew me here."
Dr. Morgan has remained part of that community since finishing residency in 2026. He practices in Rocky Point but also at MedNorth, a Federally Qualified Health Center, with NCAFP members Dr. Mayra Galeano and Dr. Alexandra Werner. They now mentor him while he does a half-day per week in their FQHC. "They've been taking me under their wing." And when he can, Dr. Morgan picks up a monthly hospital shift at Pender Medical Center in nearby Burgaw. "It's been a good schedule so far," he says.
The North Carolina Academy of Family Physicians, Inc. (NCAFP) is a nonprofit professional association headquartered in Raleigh which represents over 4,300 family physicians, family medicine residents, and medical students across the state. It is the largest medical specialty association in North Carolina and is a constituent chapter of the American Academy of Family Physicians, based in Leadwood, KS.
