Department of Family Medicine and Community Health Creates Minnesota Chair of Family Medicine
The Department of Family Medicine and Community Health (DFMCH) has created a new endowed chair position, the Minnesota Chair in Family Medicine. The first chair holder is Dr. Pita Adam.
Pita Adam, MD, MSPH, is the DFMCH’s vice chair for clinical affairs. She teaches in the University of Minnesota Medical Center Family Medicine Residency Program and sees patients at the M Health Fairview Clinic - Smiley's and the University of Minnesota Medical Center.
The decision to create an endowed chair specific to clinical care in family medicine arose out of the quintessential value among all family medicine practitioners in our department: a steadfast dedication to caring for patients across the lifespan. By dedicating time and funding toward clinical efforts, Dr. Adam will be further empowered to make additional progress with longstanding initiatives.
“I am thrilled that Dr. Pacala has created this endowed chair position,” shared Dr. Adam. “Taking care of patients is what unites us all—our physicians, pharmacists, psychologists, and now, physical therapists. Not many departments have an endowed chair in clinical care, and the fact that the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health has created one really speaks to the innovative nature of our team. It also demonstrates that clinical care is just as vitally important as education or research.”
In the coming months, Dr. Adam’s goals with the endowed chair position will naturally evolve. She plans to put renewed vigor into her vital framework known as Joy in Practice while inspiring and empowering more faculty to champion clinical initiatives that align with their specialties and passions—and bring those initiatives to the broader clinical community.
“My goal is that every one of us goes home at the end of a clinical workday proud of the care we provided,” she said. “I want each of us to feel well grounded by our interactions with our patients, grateful to those who have chosen to come to our clinics, and energized by the efforts to help teach our learners how to be the best clinicians they can be. To that end, I plan to grow our Joy in Practice framework to measure and guide what we focus on to improve our collective experience caring for patients in our clinics.”
