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Department of Family Medicine

Caring for Colorado Families and Communities for 40 Years

The Department of Family Medicine’s mission is to provide high-quality, whole person, primary care in the context of family and community at all stages of life.

We believe that innovation is a hallmark of excellence in an academic department. As such, our faculty and programs are nationally recognized for their commitment to innovation in education, clinical care, and scientific discovery. 

The Department of Family Medicine is organized into three principal mission areas and led by vice-chairs and an Executive Committee. See organizational chart.

Mission Areas:

  1. Clinical Care
  2. Education
  3. Research

Executive Committee:

Frank V. deGruy, III, MD, Chair

Colleen Conry, MD, Senior Vice-chair for Quality and Clinical Affairs

Barb Kelly, MD, Associate Vice Chair for Clinical Affairs 

Kent Voorhees, MD, Vice Chair for Educational Programs

Dan Burke, MD, Associate Vice Chairs for Educational Program Development

David West, PhD, Vice Chair for Research Programs

Don Nease, MD, Associate Vice Chair for Research Programs

Mary Lutz, MHA, Department Administrator 

Endowed Chairs: 

  • Frank V. deGruy, III, MD, Woodward-Chisholm Endowed Chair
  • Wilson Pace, MD, Green-Edelman Chair for Practice-Based Research,
  • Larry Green, MD, Epperson-Zorn Endowed Chair for Innovation
  • John Westfall, MD, Patrick and Kathleen Thompson Endowed Chair for Rural Health

 

 

Department of Family Medicine Facts and Figures:

    • Second largest department of family medicine in the country
    • Ranked 3rd in 2012 according to US News and World Report
    • Departmental home to 185 regular faculty and 550 clinical faculty
    • Shared teaching of nearly every medical student including: directing the required Foundations of Doctoring longitudinal course, a required 3rd year clerkship, a required Rural Health clerkship, a Rural Health track, a Global Health track, and various elective courses
    • Mentoring of about 20 medical students on required mentored scholarly activities
    • 3 accredited family medicine residencies with about 60 residents per year
    • 6 fellowship programs in Geriatrics, Palliative Medicine, Primary Care Psychology, Primary Care Sports Medicine, Primary Care Research, and Rural Medicine
    • 4 family medicine practices that receive more than 70,000 visits per year
    • Inpatient service at University of CO Hospital including operative obstetrics and care of newborns
    • Specialized clinics and services in Women's Health, Sports Medicine, Palliative Care, Geriatrics, Behavioral Health & Integrated Care, Substance Use Treatment, Cosmetics, and Student Health
    • 35 clinical faculty working at Denver Health's Federally Qualified Health Clinic 
    • Approximately $25 million of external research funding per year
    • 3 practice-based research networks (PBRNs) and shared operations for 2 additional networks
    • Shared research infrastructure with the Colorado Health Outcomes Program (COHO), which conducts $25 million of externally funded research per year
    • Founders of 2040 Partners for Health, a community-based participatory research partnership with five surrounding neighborhoods
    • Leaders of the community engagement section of the University of Colorado's Clinical and Translational Science Award (CCTSI)  

 

Innovation in Family Medicine as a Pathway to Excellence

Six department programs are working on innovative activities that cross mission areas:

Several of our projects aim to transform the way we practice medicine, the way we prepare clinicians for practice, and the way we do research. Examples that represent the leading edge of our redesign efforts include: