Former MMA Board Member Honored by the AMA

June 18, 2026

Former MMA Board Member Dionne Hart, MD, DFAPA, FAPA, CCHP-MH, received the AMA Foundation’s Dr. Debasish Mridha Spirit of Medicine Award on June 6, during the AMA’s annual meeting in Chicago. 

The AMA Foundation’s Excellence in Medicine Awards honor physicians and medical advocates who exemplify the highest values of the profession — volunteerism, community engagement, leadership, and service to underserved populations.  

Dionne Hart, MD, DFAPA, FAPA, CCHP-MH

The Dr. Debasish Mridha Spirit of Medicine Award recognizes the work of U.S. physicians who demonstrate altruism, compassion, integrity, leadership and personal sacrifice while providing quality healthcare to destitute, distressed or marginalized populations in impoverished communities.   

Hart is past president of Zumbro Valley Medical Society, and is an adjunct assistant professor of psychiatry at the Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine. 

In presenting the award, the AMA Foundation recognized Hart as “a trailblazer in psychiatry and addiction medicine, focused on underserved and justice-involved populations.” As the inaugural chair of the AMA Minority Affairs Section, she authored many policies, including its first policy on the school-to-jail pipeline.  

Hart has advanced health equity by ensuring care is clinically excellent and ethically grounded, while bridging medicine and social justice. Her commitment to patient advocacy, including standing up to external pressures at personal cost, defines her leadership and mentorship. 

“The spirit of medicine calls upon us to see the humanity in every patient, to advocate for those whose voices are often unheard, to challenge systems that hinder equitable care, and to ensure that science and compassion remain inseparable,” Hart said in accepting the award.