I would like to re-introduce myself as I assume the role of Chair of the Department of Family Medicine, after 15 months in the interim position. First, I want to thank Dean Tim Dellit and his office for entrusting me with this important role and the DFM administrative team for supporting me in this transition.
I have been on faculty in the Department of Family Medicine for nearly 12 years, initially recruited to serve as the Director of the Center for Health Workforce Studies (CHWS) and which I continue to direct. I am also the Director of the Primary Care Innovation Lab, which I co-founded with Dr. Matthew Thompson, formerly on faculty with us. Prior to joining UW, I was at the George Washington University School of Public Health in Washington, DC where I was on faculty in the Master of Health Administration (MHA) program. I received a PhD in health economics from the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health.
Since arriving at UW, I have grown a team of researchers in DFM with the support of external funding. Our team has collaborated with faculty in departments within the School of Medicine and across the other health professional schools at UW to examine what is needed to strengthen our health workforce in the state and nationally. I have worked with leaders at state agencies and national organizations to translate our research into policy.
In my interim role over the past year, it has been an honor to work alongside a dedicated group of faculty, staff, and learners to address some challenging issues facing the Department. I want to name a few accomplishments that we achieved together over the past year: 1) the family medicine residency program moved off warning status and is back in good standing with ACGME; 2) MEDEX Northwest PA Program hosted a successful site visit by its accrediting body, ARC-PA, and resolved a number of citations; 3) we hired, transitioned, and promoted several faculty, including growing a group of new leaders, across our clinical, education, and research spaces; and 4) we secured new gifts from donors to support the exciting and important work you all do.
We still have work to do to secure the future of our research, educational, and clinical programs in light of ongoing challenges facing primary care, and health care broadly. We have great minds and an innovative spirit in this department that make University of Washington a leader in family medicine, and I look forward to working in partnership with our faculty, staff, learners, and School of Medicine leaders across the WWAMI region to continue elevating your voices and ideas.
I am eager to begin this journey as Chair and move forward together with you all.
Respectfully,
Bianca K. Frogner, PhD