WONCA Five Star Doctors

WONCA’s award of Excellence in Health Care is called the Five Star Doctor Award. It can be awarded annually by each region, with all regional winners going forward for consideration for the Global Five Star Doctor award, made each biennium, with the winner receiving his or her award at the WONCA World Conference.

The concept of the Five Star Doctor was first described by Dr Charles Boelen, then of WHO, in 2000, and is judged on the following five criteria:

• a CARE PROVIDER, who considers the patient holistically as an individual and as an integral part of a family and the community, and provides high- quality, comprehensive, continuous, and personalized care within a long- term, trusting relationship.
• a DECISION MAKER, who makes scientifically sound judgments about investigations, treatments and use of technologies that take into account the person’s wishes, ethical values, cost- effective considerations, and the best possible care for the patient.
• a COMMUNICATOR, who is able to promote healthy lifestyles by effective explanation and advocacy, thereby empowering individuals and groups to enhance and protect their health.
• a COMMUNITY LEADER, who, having won the trust of the people among whom he or she works, can reconcile individual and community health requirements, advise citizen groups, and initiate action on behalf of the community.
• a MANAGER, who can work harmoniously with individuals and organizations both within and outside the health system to meet the needs of individual patients and communities, making appropriate use of available health data.

2026 Regional Five Star Doctor Awards

Nominations for the 2026 Regional Five-Star Doctor Awards are now open. Nominations must be made through an online application form here.
Deadline for nominations: 2 January 2026

Nominations may be submitted by WONCA Member Organisations, as well as by Working Parties or Special Interest Groups. Please note that self-nominations are not permitted.

To be eligible, the nominee must be a current member of a WONCA Full Member Organisation, Associate Member Organisation, Academic Member, or an Individual Direct Member.

If you have questions about the nomination process, please contact secretariat@wonca.com

Previous winners

2025 Winner

Prof Maria Inez Padula Anderson (Brazil)

2023 Winner

Dr Suha Hamshari - Head of the Palestinian Association of Family Medicine.

2021 Winner

Dr Mariolis Anargiros (Greece). Dr Anargiros was also the winner of the regional five star in WONCA Europe 2019. Read more about him.

2018 Winner

Dr Veronica Casado Vicente - Veronica was the winner of the regional five star in both WONCA Europe and WONCA Iberomericana-CIMF. Find out more about her.

2016 Winner

Dr Atai Omoruto - Uganda (posthumous)

2013 Winner

Dr Lucy Candib (USA)  Five Star Doctor

2010 Winners

Dr Sonia Roache – Barker (Trinidad and Tobago)
Professor Ruth Wilson (Canada)

Return to awards homepage