My clinical practice is family medicine. What family physicians do best is provide medical care to individuals within the context of family and community. An examination room filled with family members poses a great opportunity: I believe that patient health can vastly improve if family support augments clinical advice. Most of my patient visits include not only the patient, but family members as well, e.g., a spouse, son, daughter or caregiver. Often, these family members are my patients, too, which allows me to understand the family and provide the best, most appropriate treatment. I have cared for as many as five generations in one family, and multigenerational care gives me great satisfaction.

My practice is focused on patients with complex medical conditions and on preventive care. I like to guide patients to embrace healthier lifestyles, and I have learned a great deal from patients who have lived to advanced ages--many in their 90s--who have led healthy and happy lives. They are the role models and inspiration for me as I care for younger patients.

In addition to practicing family medicine for nearly 30 years, I have conducted research in medical education. My focus has been creating a clinical skills course for first-year medical students and developing authentic evaluation strategies. I have presented these topics and led discussion on them at many national conferences. More recently, I was an advisor to family physicians practicing in the national health system in Crete, Greece who sought advanced academic skills.

I am presently serving as the Chair for the Department of Family Medicine. From this vantage we work to optimize opportunities for scholarship, building the professional repertoire of our faculty, residents and medical students. Scholar teams will advance new knowledge in the many subjects aligned with family medicine and primary care, such as assuring proper cancer screening, caring for individuals and families affected by substance use disorders as well the analysis of educational advancements.

Our Family Physicians provide care to WNY families in urban, suburban and rural communities. Our department partners with many community-based faculty who provide meaningful educational placements for our learners.