About Our President

The Florida Medical Association installed its new president Karl M. Altenburger, MD, as its 131st president on Saturday, August 27, 2007.

Born in Coral Gables, FL Dr. Altenburger is a graduate of the Charter Class of the University of South Florida College of Medicine and received his Doctor of Medicine degree in 1974. He performed his internship and residency in Pediatrics at the University of Colorado in Denver, Colorado. His fellowship training in Allergy and Clinical Immunology was performed at the University of Colorado/National Jewish Hospital and Research Center/National Asthma Center in Denver. Dr. Altenburger is certified by the American Board of Allergy and Immunology and the American Board of Pediatrics.

After his postgraduate training, Dr. Altenburger returned to Florida and established his practice in Ocala in 1981. He is past president of the Marion County Medical Society and the Florida Allergy, Asthma and Immunology Society. He has been a Marion County delegate to the FMA House of Delegates since 1990 and has served as an alternate delegate on the Florida AMA delegation.

Over the years, he has been active and held many leadership positions on the Board of Directors of the Florida Medical Association's Political Action Committee (FLAMPAC). He served as its President in 1998-2001.

Dr. Altenburger believes that physicians must remain independent advocates for their patients and that defending the rights of their patients is the responsibility of the medical profession and especially the Florida Medical Association.