Dear Residents, Faculty, Staff, and Alumni,
Last week, I announced plans for a transition in leadership of the UPMC St. Margaret Family Medicine Residency to Dr. Jonathan Han, who will be assuming the title of Program Director effective April 1, 2020. As most of you know, Dr. Han is eminently qualified to serve as the residency director. He has done amazing work as Director of the New Kensington Family Health Center, and his passion for high-quality family medicine is readily contagious. As an accomplished author and scholar, he has garnered significant respect among many in our specialty, and we are indeed fortunate that Dr. Han has agreed to assume this position.
One of the signs of a healthy and thriving residency program is the ability to make significant transitions without disrupting the experiences and culture which are so valued. St Margaret is really “a special place for family medicine”, and enacting a well-planned succession is a natural step. The program is in a very strong position, with a number of incredibly talented family medicine educators. Our intent is to make this shift happen smoothly over the next 6 months. To address a couple questions right off the bat—I am not suffering from some serious illness or other personal issue which has led to this decision. I have been blessed with quite good health and daresay I could still match a number of our residents in a 10k run! Nor am I leaving the faculty, as I will remain in a leadership role within the program in the newly created position of Chairman of Medical Education.
Sincerely,
Ted C. Schaffer, MD
Program Director, Family Medicine Residency Program
UPMC St. Margaret
Dear Residents, Faculty, Staff, and Alumni,
I want to thank each and every one of you for your support in this exciting transition. I’m really humbled to take on this new charge as Program Director for a great residency program, that has had exceptional leadership over the decades, from Ted Schaffer, Don Middleton, James Ferrante and Paul Dishart, and a great team of dedicated faculty and residents, administrative and nursing and support staff, for the past 48 years.
I’m excited about what we are doing to continue to meet the needs of our patients and families in challenging circumstances, as well as improving the educational experiences of our residents, fellows and medical students. We are blessed with tremendous resources for inpatient training at UPMC St. Margaret, and great relationships with our specialty training partners at Children’s Hospital and Magee.
Our foundational resource will remain, of course, our three Family Health Centers, and we continue to lead the health system in providing collaborative, team-based care for medically complicated patients and families. FHC-based programs such as integrated behavioral health, MAT, innovative school health programs and school-based education programs, FITWITS, early childhood literacy promotion, population health initiatives, case management, Multi Disciplinary Team meetings, to name a few – enrich our patients and fuel the pipeline of family physicians ready to work in any environment, to meet any need, with toughness and resilience as well as competence and compassion.
Ultimately, it is through our work together caring for patients, and doing whatever it takes to optimize that care and advocate for them and their families, that we will continue to strengthen and grow. A wise physician once said that when you care for the patient first, everything else will fall into place. Despite the multiple competing priorities and distractions from payers and regulatory agencies, insecurities from learning new skills, and taking on new responsibilities that each of us face daily as the “care” of patients becomes more complicated, I know that we will move forward with confidence, learning from one another on this exciting journey. Because our greatest resource is our people - our team - our group practice - our residency program.
Thanks for the opportunity to walk this path with you in this new role.
Jonathan Han, MD