Faculty and Staff

Sharon Allen, MD, PhD
Professor
Physician and Patient I-III Course Director
612-624-2446
sallen@famprac.umn.edu

Sharon Allen holds a PhD from Pennsylvania State University in physiology and an MD from the University of Rochester, graduating in 1976. She had post-graduate training in medicine, surgery, ENT, and family medicine, which she completed at the University of Minnesota in 1981. She is the course director for PAP I-III. Her research involves smoking cessation in women, cholesterol changes with smoking cessation, and effects of smoking reduction. She is also in private practice in St. Paul. She is married to an ophthalmologist, Jim, and the two of them enjoy spending time with their three children, bicycling, hiking, and climbing mountains.

James Pacala, MD, MS
Associate Professor
Physician and Society I Course Director
612-624-0452
pacal001@umn.edu

Jim Pacala has been in the department since 1992. He is a graduate of the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry and has an MS in chronic disease epidemiology from Brown University. He did his residency training in family medicine at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and then completed geriatrics fellowships at Brown University and the University of Connecticut. He teaches in all four years of the medical school and directs the Physician and Society I course. His research is concentrated on the care of older adults. He enjoys wine collecting, running, and music, and he and his wife Kara have two children.

David Power, MD, MPH
Assistant Professor
Primary Care Clerkship Course Director
Standardized Patient Program Co-Director
612-624-2138
power007@umn.edu

David Power graduated from University College Dublin Medical School, Ireland, and a family medicine training program. He worked in Ireland and England for a few years, moving to the U.S. in 1992. He worked as a clinical instructor in the Department of Family Medicine, Creighton University, Omaha for two years. In 1994, he came to the University of Minnesota to complete a fellowship in academic medicine. He has been a faculty member at the University of Minnesota since 1996. He spends two days a week seeing patients, likes to deliver his own patients’ babies, and performs exercise stress tests in clinic. He is associate director in family medicine's Program in Medical Student Education and course director of the medical school's required Primary Care Clerkship. His medical loves are patient care, clinical teaching, and natural family planning. He is married to Dianna, an anthropologist at Macalester College, and, together with their two children, they like to keep active, listen to music, and travel.

Judy Hillstrom
Program Associate
FMCH Elective Courses, Primary Care Clerkship,
PAP I and III, Family Medicine Interest Group
612-624-0452
hills007@umn.edu

Judy Hillstrom is responsible for placing medical students in clinical rotations and administers the evaluation process for family medicine for Years 3 and 4 elective rotations for University of Minnesota medical students and visiting students. She coordinates department activities and events for Years 1-4 medical students, including the Family Medicine Interest Group and the student delegation attending AAFP's national conference. She loves gardening and spending time with her husband, Dick, and their two children. She also enjoys entertaining on the family boat.