Inspiring Excellence in Primary Care though Engagement, Collaboration, and Innovation

The Primary Care Consortium (PCC) continues to promote a positive, diverse culture of collaboration and engagement that supports high value and quality patient-centered primary care, discovery, and innovation across Emory University and Emory Healthcare. Keep an eye on our website and this newsletter for news and events. If you have primary care-related news to share, please send it to pc.consortium@emory.edu.

 News from the Primary Care Consortium

Pipeline Committee News

Growing the PC Pipeline in local schools

 Doctor for a Day conference

The Primary Care Consortium supported this pre-pipeline program  which provides participating underserved high school and college students with the opportunity to network with medical professionals from all over Georgia. Doctor for a Day is a program annually and free of charge by Young Physicians Initiative, a nonprofit organization founded by Emory physician Dr. Heval Kelli to mentor underserved high school and college students who are interested in the healthcare professions.

Grants Committee News

The PCC Grants Committee awarded Krystyna Rastorguieva $2,500 for “Implementation of Emory Healthy Kitchen Pilot – Stakeholder Interviews.” 

Sponsorship Committee News

The PCC Sponsorship Committee funded five requests for Learner Initiated Professional Development (LIPD) and four requests for Advocacy, Social, and Educational Opportunities (ASE) in 2019-2020.

The PCC LIPD awards supported:

Alexis Halyard traveling to the American Academy of Family Physicians National Conference.

Erica Sheline (pictured below) traveling to the Association of American Medical Colleges Integrating Quality Conference. Ms. Sheline presented on the Grady Healthy Living program (Medical students, supervised by faculty physicians, lead hour-long group classes in lesson plans focused on self-management strategies for dietary, exercise, and lifestyle behaviors targeted to the Grady patient population).

Laura Arneson traveling to the American Geriatrics Society Annual Scientific Meeting to present on "Quality of Life in Assisted Living: Potential Despite Cognitive Impairment."
    Abstract: Assisted living (AL) is a rapidly growing site of end-of-life (EOL)care in the US, and the majority of AL residents have cognitive impairment (CI). Understanding determinants of quality of life (QOL) for AL residents with CI is vital to providing quality care for the aging population. Previous studies suggest the self-reported QOL of people with CI is not determined by their degree of CI and is underestimated by their caregivers. This analysis aims to identify factors that shape QOL in a diverse sample of AL residents with CI.

Sungjae Hong traveling to the Gerontological Society of America Annual Scientific Meeting.

Brittany Whitlock presenting at the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine: Conference on Medical Student Education with Emily Herndon, MD and Carol Kelly, CHES, MA, RD, CSSD
     Abstract: Medical students have limited exposure to nutrition education in many curricula even though most of the disease that cause the greatest mortality in the United States can be linked to poor eating habits. Studies have shown that, students themselves may not follow the recommended dietary guidelines. We piloted a new interdisciplinary Culinary Medicine elective to second year medical students. With novel collaboration between the Department of Family & Preventive Medicine, Student Health and the University’s Campus Life, we were able to bring a family physician, a preventive medicine physician, a nutritionist, a culinary diplomat and a health educator together to teach a case-based culinary medicine course. Using pre-and post-surveys, as well as a modified REAP (rapid Eating and Activity Assessment for Patients) we measured the impact that this course had on the knowledge, attitude, confidence, and health eating behaviors of participating medical students.
 

The PCC ASE awards supported: 

1. The Primary Care MD Site Leaders meeting. 
Pictured below: Miranda Moore, PhD

2. Free popsicles in front of the School of Medicine to celebrate Primary Care Week.
Pictured below: Students waiting in line for popsicles.

3. Sock donations for the Emory Farmworkers Program.
Pictured below: van loaded with donations for the farmworkers and their families

4. Catering for the Doctor for a Day conference. 
See details under Pipeline Committee above.

Thank you to PCC's Miranda Moore

The PCC's Assistant Program Director, Miranda Moore, PhD, has stepped down from that role.  During her tenure as Assistant Program Director, Dr. Moore helped lead the PCC in our growth from a think-tank to an active advocacy organization. She established committees, created our grants and sponsorship guidelines, and served as a faculty mentor to the Primary Care Progress in addition to performing numerous behind-the-scenes tasks. She will be devoting her time to her leadership roles in research in the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, the Division of General Medicine and Geriatrics, the Georgia Memory Net, and Emory's Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program. Dr. Moore is also active with national and regional primary care groups including North American Primary Care Research Group, Georgia Board of Physician Workforce, and Georgia Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementia. Dr. Moore will continue to be involved with the PCC as a member of the pipeline committee. Thank you so much for all of your dedication and hard work, Dr. Moore!

New PCC Brochure

The Primary Care Consortium has a new brochure explaining who we are and what we do. You can print out copies to share here.

PCC Quarterly Meetings

The most recent PCC General Body Meeting was held January 29. Meeting minutes are posted on our website. Our April meeting was cancelled due to COVID-19, but we plan to hold the July meeting via Zoom. 

Emory Primary Care News

Welcome to the Emory Family!

Emory Healthcare Expands Primary Care Footprint with One Medical Partnership

Emory Healthcare expanded its primary care footprint with the announcement of a new partnership with One Medical, a modernized primary care organization combining seamless digital health and premier in-office care. One Medical makes its entrance into the Atlanta market in 2020 with this partnership, delivering its human-centered, technology-powered health care model to consumers and employers, while coordinating care with Emory’s renowned network of providers and facilities. Read more HERE.

Join the Emory Primary Care family!

We have job openings for family medicine and general internal medicine physicians at locations throughout metro Atlanta. Check out Primary Care Physician Jobs at Emory for more information. Emory Healthcare was recently recognized by Forbes in its Best Employers for New Grads list, ranking #32 nationwide and Emory's Physician Practice Groups received a 2018 Ambulatory Care Quality and Accountability Award from Vizient, Inc., ranking 4th in the nation among participating academic medical centers. This video showcases just a few of the reasons to choose Emory for your primary care career:

Primary Care Education Highlights

Emory Educator's Day 2020

Congratulations to all of our Primary Care faculty who were recognized on Educator's Day 2020!

Sivan Ben-Moshe

Tracey Henry

Jennifer Lom

Francois Rollin

Tracy Vettese

Jose Villalon-Gomez

See the full list here: http://2020educatorday.mystrikingly.com/

Preceptor of the Year 2020

The Adult Primary Care Clerkship provided a scholarship to the Preceptor of the Year to attend the 2020 Society of Teachers in Family Medicine Conference on Medical Student Education in Portland, Oregon. The conference took place January 30th – February 2nd. Dr. Gabriel Onofre of Mercy Care-Chamblee attended along with his family. He provided the following statement on his experience:

"I had a wonderful experience at the 2020 STMF MSE Conference. I met Family Physicians involved in Medical Education from all over the USA, even, a doctor coming from Nigeria. All of us were strongly motivated to pass the baton to the new generation of doctors, all, committed to excellent delivery of health care, all committed to work along with our program coordinators, managers, and clinic staff, helping each other on achieving the goal of educating on a nurturing faculty environment.

I thank Emory for giving me such an opportunity, to confirm, to inspire, and to keep the flaming torch of real purpose on being a Family Doc."

 Sincerely, Gabriel Onofre

Preceptor Highlight - Dr. Candace White

the patients as I teach them. I consider it my  mission to show students about how rewarding a career in primary care can be, and I look forward to claiming more students for family medicine in the future.”

Pictured below: Candace White, DO with her 2 medical students at Emory at Miller Grove Primary Care.

Primary Care Preceptors needed

Emory Primary Care is looking for high quality educational experiences for our learners. Emily Herndon, MD and Eva Rimler, MD have been reaching out to inform providers about precepting opportunities. If you'd like to know more about precepting for Emory, check out the resources below or contact Drs. Herndon and Rimler.

• Guidelines for Faculty Appointments for EHC-employed Allied Health Professionals
• Adjunct Faculty Appointments and Promotions School of Medicine policy can be found on pages 20-21 of the Guidelines for Appointment, Promotion and Tenure.
• Policy on Use of Adjunct Faculty Titles
• Student Programs in Family Medicine has great information on their website, including information about the Georgia Preceptor Tax Incentive Program.

Thank an Emory Healthcare Hero

A campaign that started in the Department of Medicine has spread Emory-wide. You can view messages on the Department of Medicine's Facebook or Instagram pages. Submit your own note  at visit https://bit.ly/EmoryHealthHero. You can also post on social media using #EmoryHealthHeroes and Emory will share your messages. Show support for our amazing Emory Health Heroes today!

Emory Primary Care faculty discuss better learning environments  

 Stacy M. Higgins, MD, FACP, Professor of Medicine and Director of the Primary Care Residency Track, is featured in a podcast with other Emory faculty discussing a workshop they presented at Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine (AAIM). The workshop was titled, "Climate Changers: Practical Strategies for Intentionally Building Better Learning Climates and it addressed how to improve the learning environment for our students, residents, colleagues, and ourselves. You can listen here.

Family Medicine Interest Group

The student and faculty leaders of the Family Medicine Interest Group would like to give a HUGE thank you to all the physicians and residents who volunteered at the Speed Networking and Dinner Event held on Tuesday, August 6, 2019. We were able to show first year medical students just a snapshot of the breadth of Family Medicine. Students had candid discussions with physicians about women’s health, community medicine, national organizations, research, residency, transgender medicine and underserved care and many, many more topics. We’d like to thank Dr. Megha Shah for her wonderful keynote presentation, Dr. Ted Johnson for always showing support for students and FMIG and the Georgia Academy of Family Physicians (GAFP) for sending so many representatives as well. All of our volunteers made a huge impact and this event gets better each year! 

Primary Care Faculty Excellence

Courtney Cawthon, NP promoted to
Lead Advance Practice Provider

Courtney joined the Emory Healthcare team at Emory University Hospital in 2018 from her practice in Hospice and Palliative Care at Carolinas Medical Center. She completed her MSN in Adult/Gerontology Acute Care at Vanderbilt University in 2015 followed by her Post-Masters Graduate Fellowship in Palliative Care and Hospice in 2017 in the Carolinas Healthcare System, Charlotte NC.

She brings a wealth of experience to the position from current and past roles. Prior to her clinical career she earned her MPH in International Health at Boston University in 2007. For the next 8 years, she led a research team at the Program in Effective Health Communications, Center for Health Services Research at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. In that role she coordinated research activities at primary study site, including organizing and leading research team meetings; trained and supervised research staff, including assistants, coordinators, nurses, pharmacists, physicians and other investigators. She is author to over 20 peer-reviewed publications and has over 15 national presentations on palliative care, health care outcomes and health care utilization. Based on her work in research, she was driven to pursue clinical training and was drawn to care for patients and families with serious illness leading her to a career in Palliative Care.

Bonnie Proulx announced as 2020-2021 Woodruff Leadership Academy Fellow

Dr. Tina-Ann Thompson promoted to
Emory Program Lead, Primary Care 

Dr. Thompson received her Bachelors of Science from Yale University in 1996, her medical degree at Boston University in 2001, and graduated from the Emory Family Medicine residency in 2004.  In 2006 she purchased Rockbridge Family Medicine, which soon expanded into two locations.  In 2015, she became Medical Director-Clinical Services for the DeKalb Medical Physicians Group, and in 2016, the Chief Medical Officer for Primary Care.

As DMPG Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Thompson provided oversight of DMPG’s Quality Department.  Through this role, she provided guidance and leadership for quality performance guidelines, data reporting, and generation of incentive revenue and address emergency preparedness and safety issues.  Her accomplishments included enhanced timely physician documentation with creation and implementation of task completion policy, increased volume of annual wellness visits, and screening low dose lung CT scans with creation and implementation of workflow changes. She assisted with Root Cause Analyses of medical errors and SAFE Reports and coordinated needed workflow changes.

In her role as Program Lead, Emory Primary Care, Dr. Thompson will continue her work in her own clinical practice, and will have partnership and oversight of all primary care practices in The Emory Clinic and Emory Specialty Associates.  As well, she will have collaborative oversight with Dr. Ted Johnson and the VP of primary care, Ms. LeShea Turner, on all recruitment and retention programs, marketing and strategic growth, financial, quality, patient satisfaction, and performance strategies.

Doctor's Day Recognitions
for Primary Care Physicians

In recognition of Doctors' Day, the Emory School of Medicine Recognitions Committee invited nominations of doctors who are exceptionally dedicated to serving others and who best exemplify the values of the Emory School of Medicine.  Physicians from the Palliative Care Center, The Emory Clinic, and the Primary Care Center at Grady were recognized.  They join an ever growing group of our physicians who have been recognized with this honor in previous years.  Please congratulate the following Emory Primary Care faculty members!

Blake Anderson, MD

Laura Brachman, MD

Kimberly Curseen, MD

C. McLean Ellis, MD

Marshall Fleurant, MD, MPH

Joanne Kuntz, MD

Jonathan Masor, MD

Ravi Pathak, MD

Tammie Quest, MD

Stacie Schmidt, MD

Jabeen Taj, MD

Antoine Trammell, MD

Sally West, MD

The full list of physicians honored by Emory can be found HERE.