News

The Department of Family Medicine and Community Health has two graduate programs ranked among the Top 10 medical training programs in the nation, announced today by U.S. News & World Report. The Duke Physician Assistant Program is ranked No. 1, tied with the University of Iowa, among 169 programs evaluated — a top spot it has held for the past 8 years.

Effective March 1, 2019, the name of the Department of

On Feb. 4, Duke Family Medicine opened a second clinic location — Duke Family Medicine North Duke Street at 3116 N. Duke St. — with six patient rooms and three providers. Brian Halstater, M.D., and Lorraine Sease, M.D., MSPH, will see patients there, and an advanced practice provider (APP) position will soon be filled.

Effective January 1, Brian Halstater, M.D., assumed the role of medical director for Duke Family Medicine. In this role he oversees clinical operations at Duke Family Medicine Center, 2100 Erwin Road.

Kenzie Johnston, M.D., CAQSM, medical instructor of community and family medicine, joined the department over the summer. She graduated from University of Maryland's School of Medicine in 2014, is a 2017 graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill's family medicine residency, and completed the UNC sports medicine fellowship in 2018. She sees patients at Duke Family Medicine Center and also at Duke Student Health.

Audrey L. Blewer, Ph.D., MPH, joins the Department of Community & Family Medicine as research faculty, effective Jan. 1. She earned a doctorate in epidemiology from the University of Pennsylvania in 2018 and a master's degree in public health, social and behavioral sciences in 2008 from the University of Florida.

Chester Rodriguez, Ph.D., DABT, ERT, joined the Duke Toxicology Program in November. He earned his MS in chemistry from San Francisco State University in 1999, and his doctorate in pharmacology and toxicology from UCLA in 2005.

David Walker, Ph.D., joined the Duke Toxicology Program in October. He earned his doctorate in toxicology and nutrition from UNC-Chapel Hill in 1993.

By the time Joyce Copeland, M.D., was in the third grade, she had already narrowed her career aspiration list to three options: doctor, the first woman astronaut on the moon or the first woman president.

DataWorks NC, in support of Durham’s Community Health Indicators Project, is publishing Durham’s first public neighborhood-level dataset on chronic health conditions. The data, published in Durham’s Neighborhood Compass and in a new Health Indicators Project website, currently cover type 2 diabetes and will soon expand to include stroke and other conditions. Fred Johnson, MBA, assistant professor of the practice of community and family medicine, serves on the board of DataWorks NC.