Training future generations of family physicians.
Why Choose Family Medicine?
Family medicine physicians provide comprehensive, continuous healthcare to all members of the family throughout the course of their lives. By building relationships based on communication and respect, these physicians gain a deeper understanding of the whole person, including the range of physical, emotional and socioeconomic factors that influence a person’s health status.
The Department of Family & Community Medicine integrates biological, clinical and behavioral sciences to train our physicians to provide outstanding levels of patient-centered and culturally appropriate care.
Education
Faculty Spotlight
Assistant Professor of Family and Community Medicine
Dr. Abbott is board certified in Family Medicine and Primary Care Sports Medicine. She sees patients at the Northwestern University Health Service in Evanston, IL and serves as the Medical Director of the clinic. This clinic serves only degree-seeking students at Northwestern University. She received her medical degree from the University of Toledo College of Medicine and completed her residency at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital and fellowship training in Sports Medicine at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Abbott’s clinical interests include sports and exercise medicine, care of the female...
Research Assistant Professor of Family and Community Medicine
Dr. Wright's research examines the effectiveness of health and education policy measures while considering the mediating and moderating factors that influence population metrics. Within this context, she has also developed new methodological approaches to account for missing data, and has extensively analyzed large scale data such as the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) and the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).
Assistant Professor of Family and Community Medicine
Dr. Anna Shannahan (nee Balabanova) is currently Associate Director of Education at the Osher Center for Integrative Medicine at Northwestern as well as Assistant Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at Northwestern.She was born in Russia, continuing to speak fluent Russian, and spent much of her life in Colorado Springs, Colorado. As an athlete and figure skating coach who earned a US Figure Skating Association Gold Medal, she is passionate about diet, exercise, and helping others achieve their health goals. At the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern as a medical student, s...
Instructor of Family and Community Medicine
Dr. Robert Kasper completed his residency in Family Medicine at Hinsdale Hospital in 2019. He is a 2016 graduate of Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine at Midwestern University, and a graduate with a B.S. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Benedictine University in 2011. Throughout his education, he has participated in various small-scale research projects in the fields of analytical chemistry, genomics, and obstetrics/neonatal care.
He has a broad variety of personal and academic interests, including providing excellent low-risk obstetric care, expanding the understanding and appr...
Clinical Associate Professor of Family and Community Medicine
Dr. Gatta is a data scientist that specializes in the application of predictive models within the healthcare and education sectors. Dr. Gatta is an Associate Professor and past Director of Research for the Department of Family and Community Medicine at Northwestern University, where he develops and directs graduate coursework in predictive analytics and machine learning. Dr. Gatta's work has been recognized in both the education and healthcare sectors. He has been the recipient of local and national awards such as educator of the year from Northwestern University’s Clinical and Translational S...
Clinical Instructor of Family and Community Medicine
Dr. Chase has over thirty years’ experience in healthcare. He has particular clinical expertise in infectious diseases, infection control, clinical epidemiology, and population health.
Clinical Assistant Professor of Family and Community Medicine
Dr. Rakotz oversees efforts to prevent cardiovascular disease for the American Medical Association. A practicing family physician for more than 20 years, Dr. Rakotz recently served as the Director of Population Health and Virtual Medicine at Northwestern Memorial Physicians Group. In 2014, his office was one of 30 sites in the U.S.to earn the designation as a Million Hearts® Hypertension Control Champion. In addition to his position in the Department of Family and Community Medicine, he is a Fellow for the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) for Health Information Technology (HIT).
Professor of Family and Community Medicine and Medical Education
Dr. Clements joined the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in 2013 as Chair of Family and Community Medicine and Program Director for the McGaw Northwestern Family Medicine Residency at Lake Forest. In this role, she sets the priorities and vision for family medicine at Northwestern and oversees the training of residents in three residency programs at multiple sites across the Chicagoland area. She is also responsible for the family medicine undergraduate medical education at Feinberg. Previously, she served as the Program Director for the University of Kansas Medical Center F...
Clinical Instructor of Family and Community Medicine
Anuj Shah is an Integrative Family Physician, based out of Heartland Health Center’s Lakeview Clinic. Dr. Shah graduated from Loyola’s Stritch School of Medicine, and completed his residency at the Greater Lawrence Family Medicine Center in Lawrence, Massachusetts. He continued onto a family medicine fellowship at MacNeal Family Medicine Residency, and received his Masters in Public Health at UIC. For almost 10 years, he worked as a family physician and educator at Erie Family Health Center in Humboldt Park.
Dr. Shah developed his passion for holistic care through the University of Arizona Int...
Clinical Instructor of Family and Community Medicine
Dr. DeHoek is board certified in Family Medicine. She sees patients of all ages at PCC South Family Health Center, a Federally Qualified Health Center in Berwyn. She received his/her medical degree from Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine and completed her residency training at West Suburban Family Medicine Residency. Dr. DeHoek’s clinical interests include: women's health, preventative medicine and behavioral health. She was among the first preceptors who piloted the Education Centered Medical Home (ECMH) program and enjoys introducing students to primary care through this innovative model.
Our Community
Our multiple affiliated care sites offer unique training experiences and comprehensive patient care.Starzl Academy
Physician-Scientist Training & Resources
We offer a wide range of resources, mentorship opportunities and training to help our residents excel as physician-scientists. Explore all of the resources and hear from housestaff who are making research a major part of their career development plans.
Health Equity
Our vision is to make Northwestern, our communities, all communities, our lives and the world a better place — with everyone having the chance and responsibility for reaching their own pinnacle of health
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