BLUEFIELD, W.Va. (AP) — Dr. Patrice Harris is a Bluefield native, a West Virginia University graduate, and she is now the first African-American woman elected as president of the American Medical Association.

Harris will become the 174th president of the AMA in June 2019, and is now serving as president-elect. She was elected to the post earlier this month. She practices psychiatry in Atlanta, a long way from the hometown that produced her.

"I enjoyed growing up in Bluefield," Harris said. "It was a thriving town during my years."

It was a normal childhood for Harris, one that many can relate...