New leaders in Family Medicine have stepped into their roles at the Jerry M. Wallace School of Osteopathic Medicine.
Dr. Robert Agnello replaces recently retired Dr. Nicholas Pennings, an honored and much-loved professor and Health Center director who was with the med school since its inception in 2013.
Dr. Tiffany Lowe Clayton, an assistant professor in Family Medicine, is the department’s new vice chair.
Dr. David Tolentino says Lowe Clayton’s wealth of experience in Simulation and Clinical Education and as director of Clinical Site Engagement and Development make her “the perfect person and role model as vice chair.”
Tolentino is interim dean and Chief Academic Officer at the med school, as well as an associate professor of Internal Medicine.
Agnello and Lowe Clayton bring to their new roles unique skills as doctors and leaders, he says.
Lowe Clayton, who has been with Campbell’s med school since 2015, is a dedicated osteopathic physician who lives by the saying, “Think well, do well, and you will be well.”
She, too, is an obesity medicine specialist, practicing with WakeMed as well as Campbell, where she will assume the obesity medicine curriculum, a role Pennings held. An advocate of preventive care, Lowe Clayton teaches her students to understand obesity as a complex and chronic disease, training them early on to treat it as such.
She earned a Doctorate in Medicine and a residency in family medicine from Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine in Stratford, New Jersey, a master’s in health professions education from Campbell and additional certifications in obesity medicine, physician leadership and health equity.
Says Tolentino, “Dr. Lowe Clayton serves as an inspiration for young osteopathic medical students interested in Family Medicine and Primary Care, and she and Dr. Agnello will make a great leadership team for that department.”
Agnello believes an important part of teaching is helping students believe in themselves. Applauding their achievements and promoting their work.
“You have to instill confidence,” says Agnello, who has been with the Campbell medical school since its inception in 2013.
Board-certified in family medicine, Agnello earned a certificate of added qualification and previously worked at the Womack Army Medical Center at Fort Bragg in family medicine and interdisciplinary pain medicine. A graduate of the New York Institute of Technology, Agnello completed an undergraduate fellowship in osteopathic manipulation.
“I am very excited for Dr. Agnello and the opportunity to collaborate with him in his new role,” Tolentino says. “He is a great teacher, adviser and advocate for students. He worked very closely with our outgoing Family Medicine chair, Dr. Pennings, who mentored him and prepared him for this position and what lies ahead. I have been honored to work with them both over the years as they have promoted osteopathic Family Medicine as a career and profession for our students and residents.”
To Agnello, everything starts with primary care.
The primary care physician is usually the first doctor patients see, and it may be the physician they will see most often. Family doctors are taught to form relationships with their patients, to learn from them and care for them. The doctors offer advice, consultations and referrals.
Further, family medicine doctors, because of what they do, are skilled in myriad medical techniques and procedures.
“We can do a lot, depending on where you are,” he says of family physicians. “Sometimes there are restrictions, but we can do a lot of stuff, which can help to keep down the cost of care. “If you look at the data, patients prefer to stay in one place, if they can,” he says. “It could be internal medicine, it could be pediatrics, but family medicine does all of those things. We want to make it an attractive option to students, and we’ve seen pretty steady trends with our classes.”
The mission of the Campbell medical school is serving the underserved, training physicians who reach out to rural populations, bringing needed care to communities in Eastern North Carolina and beyond.
“If you look at the mission, it’s really about developing … awesome physicians in the rural setting,” Agnello says.
Being a department chair and faculty member gives Agnello a chance to work with first- and second-year students, as well.
“We teach a lot of different things,” he says. “I could teach in the cardio class, I can teach in the respiratory medicine class. I can give the clinical perspectives that build on what the Ph.D.s might be sharing with them, and what other non-clinical people are giving them as information within their first couple of years to build on top of the clinical experience.”
This past spring, all of Campbell’s 154 graduating medical students were placed in a residency program. Fifty student doctors will serve their residencies in North Carolina, and 99, or 64 percent, will serve in the Southeast. Thirty-two of the graduating students will specialize in family medicine and 29 in internal medicine.
Agnello, as Pennings did, will spend a lot of time consulting with and advising students. He and his Campbell Family medicine team work with dozens of students each year in developing a “great residency application” and helping students navigate toward their goals.
“That’s one of the real delights as the chair of Family Medicine,” Agnello says. “That’s a big responsibility … the advising component. The other thing is to make sure we have the sites for our third-year students to do their required rotations in family medicine.
“They have four weeks of exposure to family medicine to kind of get the essence of what it is, and maybe we even convert some of those students that might be on the borderline to consider it as an option.”
Lowe Clayton says family physicians act as gatekeepers, helping patients navigate a complex healthcare system, working to decrease disparities posed by the rural boundaries and underserved communities.
Taking care of their patients with understanding and compassion. It’s an ongoing commitment, through services such as mobile and standalone clinics and mission trips. As students enter clinical rotations, and as they become residents and progress through their respective careers.
“One of the things that Campbell understands very well is how to take care of people from rural and underserved areas,” Lowe Clayton says.
Family medicine addresses the needs of the entire patient, she says.
“And not just that individual patient, but being able to take care of the family, and having that continuity of care. Campbell is a place that really believes in more than just developing doctors, but we’re really talking about developing doctors who are grounded … helping students go out and take care of patients, to decrease those health disparities and to really make a difference in the world.”