Department of Family Medicine and Community Health
DEPARTMENT HEAD JAMES PACALA, MD, MS
The Department of Family Medicine and Community Health is part of the University of Minnesota Medical School.
The department was created more than 50 years ago in response to a legislative mandate to train primary care physicians.
RESIDENCY PROGRAMS
We have seven family medicine residency programs—five in the Twin Cities and two in Greater Minnesota
We train family physicians to provide comprehensive, personalized care for the whole family in any setting: urban, rural, global. Each program has its own curricular strengths, unique feel, and sense of community.
Our top-ranked educational programs include seven distinct residency programs and five fellowships, as well as many courses and opportunities for medical students and community physicians.
One of the top-funded family medicine departments in the country by the NIH, we focus on collaborative and cutting-edge research across multiple health-related areas, including diabetes, obesity, smoking cessation, health inequities and health equity, nutrition, integrated care, behavioral health, opioids, community-based participatory research, and sexual health.
Our approach to care is collaborative and team-based, within multiple clinics and hospitals across the state of Minnesota. We are dedicated to comprehensive, personalized care for the whole person, the whole family, and the whole community.
The Minnesota Northstar Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program
The purpose of the Minnesota Northstar Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program (MN GWEP) is to improve the health and healthcare of older adults across Minnesota. Together with leadership from medicine, nursing, public health, and community partners, the Minnesota Northstar GWEP is working to provide greater access to community education in aging and dementia, improve geriatrics training in health professions, and transform primary care clinical training and practice sites to provide Age-Friendly care. The Minnesota Northstar GWEP is led by Dr. Pacala, PI and head of the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, in an interprofessional team with other university experts in geriatrics and aging.