Vicksburg physician and Mississippi State Medical Association member Carlos Latorre, MD has been awarded the Dr. James C. Waites Leadership Award.

The Dr. James C. Waites Leadership Award was instituted in 2001 to recognize the many contributions Dr. Waites made to his community and organized medicine.

Each year the Board of Trustees selects one physician under the age of 50 who is an outstanding leader in organized medicine and community affairs.

The association announced the selection Thursday.

A member of MSMA since 2011, Dr. Latorre is president of West Mississippi Medical Society. He also has served on multiple occasions as a delegate to MSMA’s annual session and is a graduate of MSMA’s Physician Leadership Academy.

Dr. Latorre is a board-certified family physician. He earned his medical degree at the University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine in 2008, and completed his residency at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in 2011, while serving as chief resident for the Department of Family Medicine.

He earned a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in geology from the University of Southern Mississippi, and is a registered professional geologist in the state of Mississippi.