Even before medical school, our team is happy to connect with prospective students considering a career in family medicine/primary care. For those unfamiliar with the many career paths available for family docs, we encourage you to .

For 1st year medical students, we offer an introduction to family medicine elective course to further explore the profession and learn from family medicine physicians and residents. Our team also sponsors the Family Medicine Interest Group (FMIG). The interest group is a great opportunity to make connections and participate in fun socials, workshops, lectures, and other activities throughout the year.

During the core clinical year, you will be exposed to many specialties, including family medicine, as part of your Longitudinal Integrated Clerkship (LIC). Whether you are placed in a federally qualified health center, private practice, urgent care, rural health clinic, etc., we hope that you experience and come to appreciate the breadth and variety family medicine has to offer. We know this is a busy year and you have limited free time, but our core advisors are always available to meet with you!

We have a number of clinical and non-clinical electives available to students and partner with the family medicine residency programs across the state to offer acting internship experiences. We encourage you to attend a family medicine advising session and meet one-on-one with one of our core advisors to better understand your interests and help guide your 3rd/4th year planning. This is also a great time to pursue family medicine related research opportunities and local and national leadership roles through FMIG, AAFP, and other organizations. As you narrow your focus to family medicine, we offer several events to help with residency applications, interviews, creating your rank list, etc.

Roberto Silva, MD

Director DFM MSE; Rural LIC Director; Assistant Director SOM Rural Program

Professional Interest: Rural medicine; care of underserved populations.

Advising Expertise: Students who are undecided about residency choice, community health center/federally qualified health center residencies, rural medicine and residencies.

Email: roberto.silva@cuanschutz.edu

George Olsen, MD

DFM MSE Asst Director and Core Advisor; Director of FM Acting-Internships and Electives

Professional Interests: OB and Maternity Care, Medication Assisted Treatment for Substance Use, Medical 麻豆传媒高清, Primary Care for Underserved Populations.

Advising Interests: Interview preparation, Finding the Right Specialty, Making a Rank List, 4th Year Acting Internships.

Email: george.olsen@cuanschutz.edu

Heather Brougham, DO

DFM MSE Advising Director and FMIG Faculty Advisor

Professional Interests: Women’s health, contraceptive procedures, mental health, obesity medicine.

Advising Expertise: Experience in academic and community medicine, former chief resident involved in match list preparation.

Email: heather.brougham@cuanschutz.edu

  

Cleveland Piggott, MD, MPH

DFM MSE Core Advisor; Family Medicine Vice Chair for Departmental Engagement

Professional Interest: Health equity and social justice, behavioral health integration, academic medicine, advocacy, leadership development, public health, and achieving the quadruple aim.

Advising Expertise: 麻豆传媒高清 residency programs and those in the Southeast, connections to colleagues who have trained at many large family medicine programs around the country, and couples matching.

Email: cleveland.piggott@cuanschutz.edu

Melissa Johnson, MD

DFM MSE Core Advisor; Director Physicians as Educators Course

Professional Interest: Medical student education, outpatient family medicine (all ages), women's health (IUD's, Nexplanon placement), office-based procedures (shoulder and knee injections), and minor skin procedures.

Advising Expertise: 4th year applications, self-discovery and specialty selection, work-life balance, interview preparation. 

Email: melissa.n.johnson@cuanschutz.edu

Allie Lindbloom, MD

DFM MSE Core Advisor

Professional interest: maternal-child health in underserved populations, full-spectrum family medicine, public health and community advocacy, healthcare for recent immigrants

Advising expertise: crafting and editing a personal statement, exploring the right residency fit (urban vs rural, community vs academic, etc.), staying true to yourself and your goals through medical school and beyond

Email: Allison.Lindbloom@dhha.org 

 

Cara Rabin, DO

DFM MSE Core Advisor

Professional interest: gender affirming care, women’s health including HRT and contraceptive procedures, obesity medicine and exercise, and solving complex medical mysteries (though I am far from a Doctor House)

Advising expertise: Urban and east coast residency programs & navigating residency with a family

Email: Cara.Rabin@cuanschutz.edu 

Jess Zha, MD

DFM MSE Core Advisor

Professional interest: Health equity, medical education, global health, refugee and newcomer health, indigenous justice, quality improvement, patient-centered and trauma-informed care, outpatient and inpatient medicine, gender-affirming care

Advising expertise: Nontraditional pathways to medicine, navigating medical careers as a woman of color, choosing a specialty, how to write an effective ERAS application, interview preparation

Email: Jessica.Zha@dhha.org 

Mark Deutchman, MD

Director School of Medicine Rural Program; Associate Dean for Rural Health; Patrick and Kathleen Thompson Endowed Chair for Rural Family Medicine

Professional Interest: Full-scope family medicine, rural family medicine, rural workforce development, oral health, practicing in ambulatory and hospital settings including maternity care, ultrasonography, and clinical procedures.

Advising Expertise: 麻豆传媒高清 programs and rurally focused residencies. Defining and refining research options, choosing a career based on personal interests and aptitudes, personal financial management.

Email: mark.deutchman@cuanschutz.edu

   

Brandy Deffenbacher, MD, FAAFP

Director of Developing Our Clinical Skills (DOCS), Family Medicine Clinical Content Director, Director AMC LIC Integration

Professional Interest: Faculty development - teaching teachers how to teach, provide feedback, direct observation, and curriculum development.

Advising Expertise: Improving academic medicine and medical education.

Email: brandy.deffenbacher@cuanschutz.edu

Kari Mader, MD, MPH

DFM MSE Core Advisor; Director of Clinical and 麻豆传媒高清 Innovation, Aurora Community Health Commons; Chief Operations Officer, DAWN Clinic

Professional Interest: Women's health including obstetrics, immigrant health, community-based research and organizing for achieving health equity, innovative care for underserved populations, team-based care, and leadership training.

Advising Expertise: Supporting students in finding their "place" in any specialty, 4th year application and interviewing process, 麻豆传媒高清 programs, Southeast programs, and academic programs with innovative curricula.

Email: kari.mader@cuanschutz.edu

Melanie DeHerrera, EdD, MPA

MSE/Rural Program Manager

Email: melanie.deherrera@cuanschutz.edu 

Lucille (Lu) Heimerl

Admin and Student Support Coordinator

Email: lucille.heimerl@cuanschutz.edu

Melissa Darzins, MBA

Rural LIC Coordinator

Email: melissa.darzins@cuanschutz.edu

Julia Kendrick, MA

Rural LIC Coordinator

Email: julia.kendrick@cuanschutz.edu