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
Associate Professor of Family and Community Medicine
Dr. Wheat is the Program Director for the McGaw Northwestern Family Medicine Residency Erie Humboldt Park. This program is a Teaching Health Center Program that serves a largely Spanish speaking patient population at Erie Family Health Center a Federally Qualified Health Center in Chicago. She earned her medical degree at University of Illinois Chicago College of Medicine and her Masters of Public Health at University of Illinois School of Public Health. She completed a family medicine residency at McGaw Northwestern Family Medicine Residency Humboldt Park. She currently primarily provides fu...
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. Amy Schroeder specialized in Maternal and Family Care for 15 years at our Erie Humboldt Park location. Her current focus is on geriatric care. She received her BA at Washington University in St. Louis, completed her Premedical degree at University of Illinois at Chicago and received her MD from Rush Medical College in Chicago. She completed her residency at West Suburban Family Practice in Oak Park, IL. She is fluent in English and Spanish.
Assistant Professor of Family and Community Medicine
Dr. Farokhrani is board certified in Family Medicine and Sports Medicine. He sees patients at the Northwestern University Health Service. He received his medical degree from the Wayne State University (Detroit, MI), completed his residency at Wayne State University/Crittenton Hospital and sports medicine fellowship training at the Cleveland Clinic.
Dr. Farokhrani’s clinical interests include: exploring innovative models in primary care sports medicine, performing MSK procedures, clinical utilization of MSK ultrasound and biomechanical research. He is thrilled to share his love of teaching, lea...
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...
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 Assistant Professor of Family and Community Medicine
I practice primary care sports medicine, a newer field geared towards the non-surgical management of musculoskeletal complaints. Currently a team physician for the Chicago Bears (NFL) and US Soccer Men's National Team.
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).
Lecturer of Family and Community Medicine
Dr. Dschida is a faculty physician with the AMITA Saints Mary and Elizabeth Family Medicine Residency Program. This program is based on Chicago's west side and serves largely Polish and Spanish-speaking patient populations at PrimeCare Health Center, a Federally Qualified Health Center in Chicago. She earned her medical degree at Loyola University Chicago- Stritch School of Medicine and her Masters of Bioethics and Health Policy at Loyola University Chicago. She completed her family medicine residency training at McGaw Northwestern Family Medicine Residency Humboldt Park. As a faculty member, ...
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).
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
Your generous support helps us reach our educational and scientific goals.CONTRIBUTE TODAY