James Turner, DO, MPH, FACOFP, FACOEP
Dr. Turner presently serves as the Senior Vice President to the President and CEO of Arkansas Colleges of Health Education. He is a consultant and Board member for several national organizations and medical schools. Prior to joining ACHE he served as Dean of the William Carey College of Osteopathic Medicine and CORE faculty of the Emergency Medicine Residency Program at Merritt Health Wesley in Hattiesburg. He has served as faculty of several osteopathic medical schools, Associate Dean, Clinical Science WCUCOM, before becoming the WCUCOM Dean. He has been active in establishing residency programs and was the Founding Program Director for the EM program in Charleston, WV.
Dr. Turner graduated from Nova Southeastern College of Osteopathic Medicine in 1988. He completed his residency in Emergency Medicine from Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami, Florida and completed his Bachelors of Science degree at Georgia Southwestern College in Americus, Georgia. He completed his MPH from the University of Southern Mississippi in 2014.
He received his Fellow from the American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians in 1998 and the American College of Osteopathic Emergency Medicine (ACOEP) in 2008. In 2017, Dr. Turner was recognized by the ACOEP as a Distinguished Fellow. He has worked as an Osteopathic Family Physician and Emergency Physician in Tennessee, Florida, South Carolina, West Virginia, and Mississippi.
He is a past president of the Tennessee Osteopathic Medical Association, a past board member of the Board of Directors of the Mississippi Osteopathic Medical Association. He is a commissioner for the Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation, where he serves as a commissioner and the Chair of the Standards Review Committee.
He is married to Dr. Sherry Turner who is the DIO and Associate Dean of Graduate Medical Education at ACHE. He has one daughter, Ashely, who lives in Pittsburg, PA with her husband and two significantly above average grandchildren, Walter and Peter.
Dr. Turner’s work has been recognized when he received the Alton B. Cobb Outstanding Master of Public Health Award in 2013, Mississippi Healthcare Hero’s award in 2016, and a Doctor of Science, honoree degree from William Carey University in 2016. Most recently, William Carey University honored his wife, Sherry, and him by naming the Turner Academic Building after them in recognition of their service to the university.
