FAMILY MEDICINE UPDATE

by:  Ann Skelton, MD

 

Jeffrey Aalberg, MD will be tackling new challenges as he works part-time for MaineHealth as a consultant.  His first responsibility will be to chair committees that concern quality and efficiency of aspects of the MaineHealth Supply Chain Initiative: Pharmaceutical formularies and physician preference items.  His leadership skills and experience will benefit the entire MaineHealth system!

 

Bruce Kenney, DO has accepted a faculty position at CMMC's Family Medicine residency program.  After years of dedicated patient care in our community, Bruce will share his expertise with the next generation of family physicians.  We wish him well in this professional change.

 

Change in hospital care

Bruce's  former call group members including Jim Kirsh, DO, Cathy Crute, MD, Paul Balzer, Jr., MD and  Craig Johnson, MD will focus their hospital practice at Mercy. We will miss you! 

 

Family Medicine at MMC

We'd like to have family physicians and their patients choose MMC as their preferred hospital.  Many of you have been generous in providing your thoughts over the years about barriers to that goal.  Bud Higgins, our VPMA, has invited department members to share with him, with me, and with hospital administrators experiences and suggestions for making the goal a reality. Some issues are obvious, others may surprise us.  The meeting is scheduled for June 30th and includes participants from the major local group practices as well as "independent" family physicians.

 

Bill Dexter, MD is the winner of the "name the conference" contest:  the Quarterly Morning-long CME sessions (no wonder we needed a new name!) will henceforth be known as "Staying Ahead of the Curve:  Quarterly Updates in Family Medicine".  We'll have a brochure out to everyone with the 2005-2006 topics by the end of June.  Charlie Belisle, MD has done an excellent job in collaboration with others in outlining a practical, informative series for the next academic year.

 

International Award

In addition to his recent appointment to the Board of Directors of ABFM, Alain Montegut, MD was honored by the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine.  He received the Gabriel Smilkstein Award, given annually for "Outstanding Contributions to the Growth and Development of Family Medicine Education Throughout the World".

 

Inpatient service

April admissions:  174

May admissions:  196

 

The annual Research Forum included six posters from Family Medicine and Sports Medicine. 

 

Neil Korsen, MD has received a Maine Health Access Foundation grant to work with primary care and mental health organizations to improve care of people with mental health problems

 

Ethicist Frank Chessa, PhD now joins the family medicine team for rounds on a weekly basis.

 

Bill Dexter, MD has been busy this spring!  He co-chaired the American College of Sports Medicine Brasil International Team Physician Course last month.  He is the new chair of the ACSM Medical Education Committee, having just completed three years as a member of their Board of Trustees.

 

FAMILY MEDICINE RESIDENCY GRADUATION was held Friday, June 24th.  We celebrated their many achievements and wished them well as they moved to the next steps.  We said say goodbye to some of our grads, but others will remain in the community:

 

Tara Pelletier, DO will enter an OB fellowship in Lawrence, MA

 

Meg Staton, MD will stay on as our Chief resident.

 

Sean McCloy, MD will open a practice in Portland.

 

Erica Lovett, MD will do an Integrative Medicine fellowship here.

 

  

Jaime and Brad Bowman, MD will move to Washington State to practice and welcome a baby in October!

 

Rich Marino, MD will finish his geriatrics fellowship and join our faculty.

 

Ed Tumavicus, MD will complete the year as chief resident and do locum tenens work in our community.

 

We welcome our new graduates to our humbling and fulfilling profession!