This fall our medical director Dr. Linda Prine is receiving two major awards that recognize her achievements as a teacher, mentor, and advocate. On October 31^st the Community Health Center Association of New York State will honor Dr. Prine with the Catherine Abate Memorial Award. Catherine Abate, like Linda Prine, is known as a beloved and fierce advocate dedicated to protecting and reforming New York state’s abortion and contraception laws. This award recognizes Dr. Prine’s efforts to push the envelope and expand access to full-spectrum reproductive health care in community health center settings.

On November 6^th, Dr. Prine will receive the prestigious Robert A. Hatcher Family Planning Mentor Award from the Society of Family Planning at their annual meeting in Denver, CO. This award recognizes Linda’s impact as a teacher and mentor. Linda has educated more than 190 family medicine residents to provide full-spectrum contraceptive and first trimester abortion care. Her former residents are now providing care all across the country. The fellowship program she created at the Reproductive Health Access Project has trained 20 family physicians since it launched. All the fellows are now providing and/or teaching reproductive health care, including abortion, contraception, and family planning.

Linda is tireless – juggling patient care with teaching, research, and advocacy. As busy as she is, she always finds time for one more patient and one more trainee. What we especially love about Linda is how she combines clinical rigor and the humanistic qualities of providing patient-centered care into something teachable, which is a rare asset. She knows exactly the right phrase to put the patient at ease and knows how to teach her learners and us the behaviors and language to help connect with the people we serve.

We are so grateful to have Linda as a colleague and leader. We learn from her every day.