Doctors Stephen and Stephanie Milone have been selected by the Ontario College of Family Physicians to receive the college's 2009 Community Teacher of the Year Award.

The award is presented annually to recipients for an outstanding contribution to preceptoring medical students.

The Milones are one of two family physician couples in the province who will receive the prestigious award at a ceremony November 26 at the Hilton Toronto Hotel.

"Dr. Stephen Milone and Dr. Stephanie Milone are outstanding examples of community teachers," said Dr. Jeff McKinnon, Chief of Staff at Headwaters Health Care Centre. "Having community family medicine preceptors as role models for residents is critical to helping us attract and retain family physicians."

The Milones practised in a community family medicine setting as interns and based on their positive experience chose Dufferin as the location for their family practice. Now they are paying it forward by working with medical students to share the experiences they enjoyed.

After working as interns at Headwaters Health Care Centre the Milones decided Orangeville was the community for them. "We chose to relocate to a community in need of family physicians that would also allow us to be close to our extended families," said Dr. Stephen Milone.

The couple graduated from medical school at the University of Toronto in 2002 and completed their postgraduate Family Medicine Residency at the Department of Family Medicine at Queen's University. In 2006, they established their family practice at the Highlands Health Clinic in Orangeville with privileges at Headwaters Health Care Centre, where he works in Anaesthesia and she works in the Emergency Department.

The Milones are passionate about preceptoring rural medical students and have been recognized for their work advocating preventive medicine. In 2006 their development of a health examination checklist for family doctors was reported in the Canadian Journal of CME (Continuing Medical Education).

"We've enjoyed being preceptors to medical students for the past three years and working with the Rural Ontario Medicine Program and the University of Toronto Core Family Medicine rural residency program," said Dr. Stephanie Milone.

The Milones live in Dufferin with their two children and are expecting their third child in December. They enjoy physical fitness, the outdoors and are actively involved in the community.

An avid runner, Stephen was selected to carry the Olympic torch this year on part of its journey across Canada as it makes its way from Athens to Vancouver for the 2010 Winter Games.