The inaugural cohort for the Primary Care Champions Fellowship celebrated the completion of their fellowship with a graduation luncheon on January 10. Six participants completed the one-year fellowship that aims to equip physicians and physician assistants to lead healthcare transformation and enhance their teaching in community-based settings.
“I have to say that since my residency in family medicine, I’ve been really excited about teaching and training the next generation of clinicians,” said Dr. Victoria Kaprielian, Primary Care Champions Fellowship program director. “This program is the perfect extension. I’m working with people who are passionate about training others to do clinical work and that really want to take care of people.”
The School of Medicine works in partnership with the Campbell University College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences and the North Carolina Medical Society Foundation (NCMSF) throughout the fellowship. These groups work together to help create the strong leadership component of the program.
“The NCMSF is responsible for the first semester, The Successful Clinical Leader,” said Kristina Natt och Dag, PhD., MA., vice president for leadership development health systems innovations at the North Carolina Medical Society Foundation. “The Successful Clinical Leader is designed to strengthen the primary care workforce through the development of confident and authentic leadership. Through self-awareness and the exploration of purpose and intention, the fellows embark on a journey that focuses on the inner game and understanding how that impacts the outer game.”
Along with attending weekly a weekly course on-campus, the fellows are required to complete a practice transformation project throughout the fellowship. This allows them to put new skills and strategies in place immediately in their practices and/or educational settings.
Allison Beam, PA-C, started a Teen Clinic at the Harnett County Health Department for her project. She was awarded the GlaksoSmithKlein Foundation Individual Recognition Award for Child Health because of the Teen Clinic initiative at the NC Public Health Association conference in September 2019.
“Although I had the dream of starting a Teen Clinic at the Harnett County Health Department before starting the program, I truly believe that the leadership skills I learned during the course gave me the knowledge base and confidence to help make it the success that it has been,” said Beam. “It’s been so exciting and such an honor to be recognized for work I’m so passionate about.”
Thomas Motyka, DO, chair and associate professor in the Department of Osteopathic Medicine, shared how the fellowship program had an immediate impact for him in the classroom as a professor.
“Learning new teaching strategies or learning about how to more effectively employ teaching strategies has really changed a lot of my presentations, lectures and labs right from the get go,” said Motyka. “The evaluation, organizational change and educational theory [topics] changed the way I interacted and helped counsel and mentor other people in my department or that I’m working with on educational projects.”
The Primary Care Champions fellows have the opportunity to complete a second year of the fellowship and earn a Master’s degree in Health Professions Education. Several program participants are moving forward with this opportunity, including Dr. Motyka, who also serves as faculty in the Harnett Health internal medicine residency.
“We have certain curriculum development projects and educational goals in mind for both the [internal medicine] residency and the OMM department,” said Motyka, “and now they will be done with a more state-of-the-art understanding of the science behind education.”
2019 Primary Care Champions Fellowship Inaugural Cohort / Graduates
Nancy Finnigan, DO
Shannon Jimenez, DO
Thomas Motyka, DO
Monica Stanton, MD
Allison Beam, PA-C
Ashley Nordan, PA-C
The fellowship has welcomed five new fellows for 2020 and will have three returning to complete year two.
Fellows – completing year I:
Tiffany Lowe-Payne, DO
Tucker Leigh Jr., DO
Miguel Pineiro, PA-C
Nathalie Ortiz Pate, PA-C
Kimberly Stabingas, PA-C
Masters – completing year II:
Thomas Motyka, DO
Nancy Finnigan, DO
Monica Stanton, MD
PHOTO CAPTION: Primary Care Champions Fellowship Inaugural Cohort: Thomas Motyka, DO; Allison Beam, PA-C; Monica Stanton, MD; Nancy Finnigan, DO; Ashley Nordan, PA-C; (not pictured: Shannon Jimenez, DO)