​PHRONESIS PROJECT

Margaret Plews-Ogan

 

Dr. P-O is an internal medicine physician who attends in the residency clinic and the inpatient wards. She and her husband, Jim, began their work in health care as nurse practitioners working with migrant farmworkers. There they learned about public health and outreach based health care. They both went on to receive their MD from Harvard Medical School and Peggy did her residency in internal medicine at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston (Jim went to Children’s for Pediatrics). Peggy teaches about patient safety, humanism, positive emotion, and wisdom in medicine at the student, resident and faculty level. The focus of her research is on how people cope, change, and grow in the face of difficult circumstances (including how physicians cope with a medical error), and how people develop wisdom out of these trying circumstances. She is particularly interested in how we can foster wisdom in medicine. She and Jim have been married for 38 years and have two children, now grown and making their own mark on the world.  Jim and Peggy are working together (as usual) in the Phronesis project, and Jim is the inspiration (and the brains!) behind the house calls part of the project.     

 

Rachel Kon

 

Rachel Kon, M.D. is a clinician-educator dedicated to developing evidenced-based curricular interventions to promote resilience, compassion, and professionalism in our medical students. She is a general internist who works in a primary care practice and supervises internal medicine residents at the University Medical Associates clinic at UVa. She has been passionate about medical education since finishing her internal medicine training at Georgetown University in 2010. She has developed courses in health policy and public health, been an assistant program director for the Georgetown internal medicine residency program focusing on assessment and developmental milestones, and since coming to UVa has worked to further research in trainee burnout and resilience. She has been tasked with expanding the longitudinal patient experience to be available to all medical students at UVa and will be directing the LPE program. Rachel has a four year old son, Nathan and just had her second child this summer, a daughter named Kira. Rachel moved to Charlottesville from Washington, DC two years ago to bring her family to a college town near the mountains.  Outside of medicine, she loves hiking, skiing, and spending time with her family.

 

Natalie May

 

Natalie May, Ph.D. serves as the "glue" that holds the Phronesis Project together.  This is a role she adopts often within the Division of General Medicine, probably not for her organizational skills but for her enthusiasm. Natalie has her doctorate in educational research from UVA, and she also holds a MA in Creative Writing from Boston University.  As Associate Professor of Research she provides support to faculty research projects, writes grants, conducts qualitative research studies, and evaluates programs and curricula. She is an investigator with Dr. Plews-Ogan on the Wisdom in Medicine Project, and she is on the faculty of the Center for Appreciative Practice. She lives in Richmond with her husband; their daughter is a sophomore at the College of Wooster. In her spare time she volunteers with high school and college students who face homelessness and unstable housing. If she had more time she would clean her house, make quilts, and learn to play the clarinet.

 

Kevin Adams

 

Kevin Adams, Ph.D. is a staff chaplain at the University of Virginia Health System and is board certified by the Association of Professional Chaplains.  His clinical service area is the adult heart center.  In the Department of Chaplaincy Services and Pastoral Education, he is the department trainer and liaison for the Epic electronic health record (EHR) system and oversees and teaches research literacy to chaplain residents.  His professional and research focus is in chaplain assessment and articulation of care specifically in the EHR. Kevin has a long history of interprofessional collaboration in direct care and professional education across the medical centers he has served.  In addition to his work with CPD, he is a co-mentor in Cells to Society, is a participant in the HeART of Medicine curriculum, and is an occasional lecturer at the UVA School of Nursing.  Prior to coming to UVAHS, Kevin was staff chaplain at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, then the University of Cincinnati Health System, and was a member of the curriculum planning and implementation committee for Physician and Society, an on-going course in the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine.  Kevin accumulates books, movies, and music, likes having a personal library in his home, and enjoys, one again, living this close to the Blue Ridge Mountains.

 

Mark Cohee

 

Mark Cohee, M.D. is faculty in the Department of Family Medicine based in the primary care center.  He works with residents and students in the clinic and inpatient settings. He is part of the residency faculty and also directs the 4th year electives in Family Medicine.  He moved to the area in 2016 with his wife, Amy, and their son, Nicholas.  His passions in medical training include primary care, hospital medicine, and taking care of entire families in a integrative model that works with multiple healthcare professionals to give patients the best healthcare experience possible.  Mark did his medical school training at Eastern Virginia Medical School and his residency training at East Tennessee State University.  He also served as faculty in Tennessee before moving to Virginia.  Outside of the hospital, he enjoys spending time with his family, cycling, and hiking.

 

Sharon Diamond-Myrsten

 

Sharon Diamond-Myrsten, M.D., M.S. is a family physician at UVA. She completed an undergraduate degree in English literature, and spent several years teaching underserved children and adults in a variety of settings before pursuing a medical education. She graduated from Eastern Virginia Medical School, and completed her residency in Lynchburg, Virginia. Prior to joining the UVA faculty in 2015, Dr. Diamond worked as a “country doc” in a central Virginia. She enjoys opportunities to teach and mentor medical students and residents, and is an active participant in the University’s efforts to increase diversity and inclusion. In her spare time, she likes to find new restaurants in Charlottesville, plan vacations with her husband and son, and try her hand at crafting projects.

 

Tabor Flickinger

 

Tabor Flickinger, MD MPH is an internal medicine physician who is based at UVA’s rural primary care clinic in Orange, VA.  She did her medical school training and internal medicine residency at UVA.  She then completed a Master’s in Public Health and a clinical research and education fellowship in general internal medicine at Johns Hopkins University.  She is particularly interested in humanism in medical education and in patient-doctor communication, especially for vulnerable patients.  Her research is focused on HIV care and mobile health technology to improve retention in care and social support.  She lives with her husband and 4 year old son.  In addition to playing with cars and trains, she enjoys travel and creative writing.  

 

 

Richard Fontaine

 

Until retiring and moving to Charlottesville in 2006, Dick was a business executive and advisor focusing on healthcare services companies.  His passions include mentoring young professionals and a commitment to lifelong learning.  Trained as a hospital chaplain, Dick co-mentors sections of the CPD and Cells to Society courses at UVA Medical School, and has spent the past 20 years as an active hospice patient volunteer.  At Westminster College in Salt Lake City, he co-created and led a group mentoring seminar for high-achieving MBA students, for which he was awarded an honorary Doctorate.  Dick has an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA in Biology and Chemistry (pre-med) from Bowdoin College.  He also graduated from Pricilla Mooseburger's Clown College and is trained in Wilderness First Aid (the two are not related.)  He lives with his wife of 52 years in Keswick and enjoys the many recreational opportunities in Central Virginia, community service activities and travel.

 

Simon Lehtinen

 

Simon Lehtinen, MD is an internal medicine attending physician who practices adult primary care at University Physicians, Charlottesville, located a few miles from the UVA hospital.  He attended Furman University in northwestern South Carolina before attending the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston for medical school.  Dr. Lehtinen came to UVA for residency in Internal Medicine and has never left UVA, joining the faculty in 2015.  His professional interests include medical education, trainee well-being, and mentoring.  He teaches medical students in CPD, as well as during the Ambulatory Internal Medicine (AIM) clerkship and inpatient internal medicine clerkship.  His research centers on the relationship between individual factors of well-being and burnout among medical students.  During his spare time, he enjoys spending time with his wife and traveling.  He is also a car enthusiast and a self-proclaimed "foodie," enjoying trying new restaurants and recipes, something that is easy to do in Charlottesville.

 

 

Julie Perry

 

Julie R. Perry, M. Div., B.C.C. is a board certified chaplain and has served as staff chaplain at the Emily Couric Clinical Cancer Center since June of 2015.  Prior to entering the ministry Julie taught special needs students in the public school system for fifteen years.  A major shift happened in 2005, when Julie left her teaching career and went back to school fulltime at Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond, graduating in 2009 with a Master of Divinity degree.  She completed six units of Clinical Pastoral Education at UVA in 2008-2009 as part of that degree program.  In 2009 Julie was ordained by her home church, Broadus Memorial Baptist in Charlottesville, and also endorsed by her denominational body, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.  Following ordination, she served as the chaplain at Fluvanna Correctional Center for Women for six years prior to returning to UVA. 

Julie resides in Charlottesville with her husband, Lee, and cat, Anna.  They have two grown children, Jennie and Dan, and a new grandbaby, Blaire—who fortunately lives close by!  In her free time Julie enjoys writing, being outdoors and walking in the woods, running and practicing yoga.

 

 

Carrie Schaffer

 

Carrie Schaffer, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist with a private practice in downtown Charlottesville.  She also serves as a supervisor for psychiatry residents at UVa.  She enjoys working with the LGBTQ population, and teaching other clinicians about issues of sexuality and gender in psychotherapy. She received her Ph.D. from Yale University, where she studied attachment theory and how people regulate painful mood states.  Her clinical training both at Yale and as a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Austen Riggs Center, in the beautiful Berkshire Mountains in Massachusetts, specialized in working with people suffering from severe psychiatric illnesses.  She also has had an on-going interest in group dynamics and has consulted at an organizational level and conducts psychotherapy groups as well.  She came to UVa to work at the Center for Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) at the Student Health Center from 1995-1999, where she took the lead in developing a training program for advanced graduate students, interns, and residents in social work, psychology and psychiatry.  Carrie began her meditation practice at the age of 15 in the era of Transcendental Meditation, and later developed an interest in Vipassana (Insight) meditation.  She has increasingly integrated mindfulness meditation into her clinical practice as a way to help patients connect with themselves on a deeper level.   Carrie is also a potter, with a studio at City Clay and volunteers at the Paramount Theater (where she sees many wonderful shows), and at the Friends of the Library Semi-Annual book sales.  She is an avid gardener, an animal lover, a world traveler, an activist, and an enthusiastic dancer. 

 

Tiffany Scott

 

Tiffany Scott is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker at UVA.  She received her undergraduate degree in Social Work from JMU in 2007 and her master’s degree in Social Work from VCU in 2008.  She began her career at UVA in 2011 as an outpatient social worker in the Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Clinic working with children with Sickle Cell Disease and bleeding disorders such as Hemophilia and von Willebrand.  In 2013 she began working as a Clinical Social Worker in the Emergency Department.  Since March 2017 he has been assigned as the clinical social worker in the outpatient Teen & Adolescent Young Health Center and Outpatient Women’s Place which includes OB-GYN care in the Primary Care Center, and OB care in the Battle Building including high risk pregnancies.  Tiffany enjoys collaborating across disciplines to identify and help best meet the needs of patients and their families.  She strives to help give a voice to patients, ensure they understand their medical condition and plan of care as well as ensuring the medical team is aware of social situation and how it may impact their medical compliance.  When not at UVA, Tiffany works in the Charlottesville community as an in-home attachment therapist helping parents better understand the emotional needs of their children in order to strengthen their parent-child attachment.  Tiffany is the mother of 2 boys (Malachi & Isaiah) and on July 29th will welcome her second international exchange student, Claire, an 18 year old young lady from Belgium.  In what spare time she has, she enjoys co-coaching youth sports (flag football & basketball) with her husband (Victor) in the Louisa community.  I am a die hard JMU fan…Go Dukes!!!!!

 

Susanna Williams

 

Susanna Williams, PhD is on the faculty of the University of Virginia Mindfulness Center where she brings mindfulness into multiple disciplines, and does research on the impact of mindfulness in education and in healthcare. She also participates in the Center for Appreciative Practice. She has worked both domestically and internationally in the area of designing and implementing healthcare systems with a focus on full wellbeing. Her personal progression in health care led her from a curative model (hospital work), into a systemic approach (health care administration) and finally into a social medicine and primary care perspective (global health in developing countries). When the field of neuroscience revealed the amazing truths about the way humans develop, how we learn and what optimal wellness really is, she saw the relevance of her own personal meditation/mindfulness practice to her work in a powerful way.  She believes that the foundation of wholistic wellbeing is generated by our connections to others and to ourselves and began to integrate mindfulness practices in her work more and more until ultimately she has shifted her career focus to teaching, learning and researching mindfulness. She is an outdoor enthusiast, biking and hiking in the mountains whenever possible.