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Training future generations of family physicians.

Why Choose Family Medicine?

Family medicine physicians provide comprehensive, continuous healthcare to all members of the family throughout the course of their lives. By building relationships based on communication and respect, these physicians gain a deeper understanding of the whole person, including the range of physical, emotional and socioeconomic factors that influence a person’s health status.

The Department of Family & Community Medicine integrates biological, clinical and behavioral sciences to train our physicians to provide outstanding levels of patient-centered and culturally appropriate care.

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Education

Faculty Spotlight

Rebecca Christine DeHoek

Clinical Instructor of Family and Community Medicine

Dr. DeHoek is board certified in Family Medicine. She sees patients of all ages at PCC South Family Health Center, a Federally Qualified Health Center in Berwyn. She received his/her medical degree from Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine and completed her residency training at West Suburban Family Medicine Residency. Dr. DeHoek’s clinical interests include: women's health, preventative medicine and behavioral health.  She was among the first preceptors who piloted the Education Centered Medical Home (ECMH) program and enjoys introducing students to primary care through this innovative model. 

Frances C Baxley

Instructor of Family and Community Medicine

Dr. Frances Baxley currently specializes in family medicine. She completed her medical education at Harvard Medical School and completed her residency training at University of California, San Francisco. She has written a publication for the Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine Journal and for the PRIMER journal of the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine. She serves on the Board of Directors for the HealthCare Foundation of Northern Lake County. She is also fluent in Spanish. 

Jessica D Lapinski

Assistant Professor of Family and Community Medicine

Dr. Jessica Lapinski completed her residency in Family Medicine in 2019 at Duke University in the Department of Community and Family Medicine. She served as the Education Chief resident from 2017 - 2018 and then as the Population Health Chief resident from 2018 - 2019. She is a 2016 graduate of A.T. Still University-Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine, where she completed a fellowship in Medical Education. She graduated from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2010, where she obtained a bachelor of science in biology, a bachelor of arts in psychology and studied abroad at Lancaster...

Santina J G Wheat

Associate Professor of Family and Community Medicine

Dr. Wheat is the Program Director for the McGaw Northwestern Family Medicine Residency Erie Humboldt Park. This program is a Teaching Health Center Program that serves a largely Spanish speaking patient population at Erie Family Health Center a Federally Qualified Health Center in Chicago.  She earned her medical degree at University of Illinois Chicago College of Medicine and her Masters of Public Health at University of Illinois School of Public Health. She completed a family medicine residency at McGaw Northwestern Family Medicine Residency Humboldt Park. She currently primarily provides fu...

John L Gatta

Clinical Associate Professor of Family and Community Medicine

Dr. Gatta is a data scientist that specializes in the application of predictive models within the healthcare and education sectors. Dr. Gatta is an Associate Professor and past Director of Research for the Department of Family and Community Medicine at Northwestern University, where he develops and directs graduate coursework in predictive analytics and machine learning. Dr. Gatta's work has been recognized in both the education and healthcare sectors. He has been the recipient of local and national awards such as educator of the year from Northwestern University’s Clinical and Translational S...

Michael K Rakotz

Clinical Assistant Professor of Family and Community Medicine

Dr. Rakotz oversees efforts to prevent cardiovascular disease for the American Medical Association. A practicing family physician for more than 20 years, Dr. Rakotz recently served as the Director of Population Health and Virtual Medicine at Northwestern Memorial Physicians Group. In 2014, his office was one of 30 sites in the U.S.to earn the designation as a Million Hearts® Hypertension Control Champion. In addition to his position in the Department of Family and Community Medicine, he is a Fellow for the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) for Health Information Technology (HIT).

Anuj Kumar Shah

Clinical Instructor of Family and Community Medicine

Anuj Shah is an Integrative Family Physician, based out of Heartland Health Center’s Lakeview Clinic. Dr. Shah graduated from Loyola’s Stritch School of Medicine, and completed his residency at the Greater Lawrence Family Medicine Center in Lawrence, Massachusetts. He continued onto a family medicine fellowship at MacNeal Family Medicine Residency, and received his Masters in Public Health at UIC. For almost 10 years, he worked as a family physician and educator at Erie Family Health Center in Humboldt Park. Dr. Shah developed his passion for holistic care through the University of Arizona Int...

Kristin E Abbott

Assistant Professor of Family and Community Medicine

Dr. Abbott is board certified in Family Medicine and Primary Care Sports Medicine. She sees patients at the Northwestern University Health Service in Evanston, IL and serves as the Medical Director of the clinic. This clinic serves only degree-seeking students at Northwestern University. She received her medical degree from the University of Toledo College of Medicine and completed her residency at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital and fellowship training in Sports Medicine at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Abbott’s clinical interests include sports and exercise medicine, care of the female...

Rosanne D Vasiloff

Assistant Professor of Family and Community Medicine

Dr. Vasiloff has been on staff at Northwestern Medicine since 2015. She is board certified in Family Medicine and Obesity Medicine. She sees patients ages 12 and up at Northwestern Medicine- Lakeview. She received her medical degree from Northwestern's Feinberg School of Medicine and completed her residency at Hinsdale Hospital, where she served as Chief Resident. 

Amy L Schroeder

Clinical Instructor of Family and Community Medicine

Dr. Amy Schroeder specialized in Maternal and Family Care for 15 years at our Erie Humboldt Park location. Her current focus is on geriatric care. She received her BA at Washington University in St. Louis, completed her Premedical degree at University of Illinois at Chicago and received her MD from Rush Medical College in Chicago. She completed her residency at West Suburban Family Practice in Oak Park, IL. She is fluent in English and Spanish. 

Our Community

Our multiple affiliated care sites offer unique training experiences and comprehensive patient care.

Starzl Academy

Former trainee - Luisa Morales Nebreda, MD

Physician-Scientist Training & Resources

We offer a wide range of resources, mentorship opportunities and training to help our residents excel as physician-scientists. Explore all of the resources and hear from housestaff who are making research a major part of their career development plans.

VISIT THE STARZL ACADEMY SITE

Diversity & Inclusion

We are committed to and inspired by a diverse and inclusive work environment. The Department of Family & Community Medicine seeks to attract inquisitive, motivated residents, faculty and staff and is committed to providing them with every opportunity for success.

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