Governor Appoints Wake Forest Baptist Doctor to NC Medical Board

October 7, 2010

Karen Gerancher, M.D., a physician at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, has been appointed by Gov. Bev Perdue to serve on the North Carolina Medical Board. 

Gerancher, of Winston-Salem, is assistant professor, section head of gynecology and residency program director for the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Wake Forest Baptist. She also currently serves as medical director for the Forsyth County Health Department’s Family Planning Clinic.

“Appointment to this board is indeed a great honor,” Gerancher said.  “It has already helped make me not only a better physician for my patients and advocate for public health consumers, but a better colleague for my peers as well.”

The NC Medical Board was established April 15, 1859, by the General Assembly and grants the practice of medicine to physicians in the state. The board consists of 12 members appointed by the governor, eight of whom are licensed physicians, one of whom is either a licensed physician assistant or nurse practitioner and three who are members of the public with no financial or professional interest in a health service or profession.

Gerancher graduated from Florida State University Summa Cum Laude, earning a BS in biology. After studying art and Italian language in Florence, Italy, she earned a graduate certificate, masters in biology/genetics from the University of Birmingham, United Kingdom, and her M.D. from the University of Florida College of Medicine. She completed her residency training in obstetrics and gynecology at Bowman Gray School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, now known as the Wake Forest University School of Medicine.

Gerancher is a fellow of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. She is also a member of the Association of Professors of Gynecology and Obstetrics/Council on Resident Education in Obstetrics and Gynecology, the North American Society for Pediatrics and Adolescent Gynecology and the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. She is an appointed member of the CME Committee and serves on the Nurse-Physician Communication Committee for Novant Health, Forsyth Medical Center.  She also participates in the Committee for Improvement of OB/GYN Patient Care in the Emergency Department at Forsyth Medical Center.

Gerancher is the recipient of numerous awards including the Resident Advocate Award, the Outstanding Clinical Teacher Award and the University Medical Guild Memorial Award for Excellence. She is board certified by the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology and is active in the maintenance of certification process.

Media Relations

Bonnie Davis: bdavis@wakehealth.edu, 336-713-1597