What drew you to this work?

I did this in the military. I was the graduate medical education program director and, for 20 years, I worked on developing the U.S. Army’s doctors. When I retired, this was a natural progression for me, and when I heard the mission, vision and values of Novant Health, it really fit with what I wanted to do next.

What milestones are you most excited about?

We are graduating our third class this June. We have a 100% board certification rate. And 12 of our 17 graduates have gone on to be employed by Novant Health in our area. We’re pretty proud of that because they get to be in an organization that’s focused on putting the patient first, and family medicine is one of those primary care specialties that we need more of. The United States is short 50,000-plus primary care providers, and Charlotte is in need just like everyone else. We’re trying to decrease utilization of our emergency rooms. We’re trying to improve the health of patients, and we’re trying to give a good dose of practice management and leadership development to our residents.

What’s unique about the program?

We receive about 1,000 applications to the program every year, and we interview some 100 applicants. In our applicant review process, we have a staff or faculty member who is assigned to each of Novant Health’s values — diversity and inclusion, teamwork, personal excellence, courage, compassion — and we evaluate each based on those values. The approach coincides with our goal for the residency program, which is to build character, provide a unique learning opportunity and learn by example to ensure our graduates receive a remarkable educational experience and are prepared to deliver remarkable patient experiences in an ever-changing healthcare environment.