National Conference Scholar Positions Established for 23rd through 29th National Conferences on Primary Health Care Access

Last Updated on April 16, 2022 by Lee Burnett, DO, FAAFP

Over the past 29 years, the National Conferences on Primary Health Care Access have been conducted by the Coastal Research Group, a non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation, dedicated to the advancement of the goals of family and community medicine and public health.

The National Conferences are invitational and invitations are by tradition first offered to previous National Conference registrants. Therefore, each conference consists of large majority of conferees who have attended one or more previous conferences in the  series.

Those persons who have made plenary presentations and have attended specified numbers of National Conferences are designated as Senior Fellows or Fellows of the National Conferences. [The Senior Fellows and Fellows are listed at Fellows and Senior Fellows of the National Conferences on Primary Health Care Access.]

At the 23rd National Conference in Carlsbad, California a new position of honor was created, the National Conference Scholars. Each of these is a newcomer to the National Conferences, and whose Scholarship has been sponsored by his or her institution as a National Conference participant.

Each National Conference Scholarship bore the name of a current Fellow or Senior Fellow, except for two Memorial National Conference Scholarships honoring a deceased Fellow and Senior Fellow.

The 2018 National Conference Scholars

Stacey Gardner-Buckshaw, MD, Northeast Ohio Medical University has been designated the 2018 John Boltri MD National Conference Scholar

Paul McGinty, Saint Joseph Health, Eureka, California  has been designated the 2018 Allan Wilke MD National Conference Scholar

Scott Nass, MD, Citrus Valley Health Partners, West Covina, California, has been designated the 2018 Joseph Scherger MD National Conference Scholar

Shaila Serpas, MD, Scripps Mercy Chula Vista Hospital has been designated the 2018 William Norcross MD National Conference Scholar

Jon Thomas, MD, Northeast Ohio Medical University, has been designated the 2018 Donald Frey MD National Conference Scholar

Michael Witte MD, California Primary Care Association, has been designated the 2018 Virginia Fowkes, FNP MHS National Conference Scholar

The 2017 National Conference Scholars

Jeremy Fish, MD, Muir Healthcare, Walnut Creek, California, has been designated the 2017 Charles Q. North, MD, MS National Conference Scholar

Jessica Flinders, FNP, has been designated the 2017 Marc E. Babitz, MD National Conference Scholar

Ivan Gomez, MD, UCSF Fresno, has been designated the 2017 James Herman, MD National Conference Scholar

Lisa Graves, MD, Western Michigan University Homer Stryker School of Medicine, Kalamazoo, has been designated the 2017 Donald Frey, MD National Conference Scholar

Steven Harrison, MD, Natividad Medical Center, Salinas, California, has been designated the 2017 Rick Flinders MD National Conference Scholar

Kenneth LePage has been designated the 2017 J. Scott Christman National Conference Scholar

Holli Neiman-Hart, MD, has been designated the 2017 John Boltri, MD National Conference Scholar

Erik Porfeli, Ph.D., has been designated the 2017 Gary LeRoy, MD National Conference Scholar

Lisa Righter, MD, has been designated the 2017 Ana Bejinez-Eastman, MD  National Conference Scholar

Emilio Russo, MD, has been designated the 2017 John Geyman, MD National Conference Scholar

Valerie Sheridan, DO, has been designated the 2017 William A. Norcross, MD National Conference Scholar

Lisandra Soto, DDS, has been designated the 2017 Samuel Matheny, MD National Conference Scholar

Jeffrey Susman, MD, has been designated the 2017 Norman B. Kahn, Jr, MD  National Conference Scholar

Gina Weisblat, Ph.D., has been designtated the 2017 Allan Wilke, MD National Conference Scholar

The 2016 National Conference Scholars

Andrea Clarke, MD, Kaiser Permanente Napa, has been designated the 2016 Jimmy H. Hara National Conference Scholar

Amy McGaha, MD, Creighton University, Omaha, has been designated the 2016 Perry A. Pugno National Conference Scholar

Dennis Means, MD, Kalamazoo Family Health Center, Kalamazoo, Michigan has been designated the 2016 Donald Frey National Conference Scholar

Thomas E. Norris, MD, University of Washington Emeritus, has been designated the 2016 John Geyman National Conference Scholar

Keosha Partlow, Ph.D., Charles R. Drew University, has been designated the 2016 Ana Bejinez-Eastman National Conference Scholar

Adalberto Renteria, MD, has been designated the 2016 Hector Flores National Conference Scholar

Devin Sawyer, MD, Providence Health Systems, Olympia, Washington, has been designated the 2016 Kevin Haughton National Conference Scholar

Sunny Smith, MD, University of California, San Diego, has been designated the 2016 William A. Norcross National Conference Scholar

Sarah Woolsey, MD, has been designated the 2016 James Herman National Conference Scholar

The 2015 National Conference Scholars

J. C. Buller, MD, Associate Dean, Touro University, Vallejo, California, has been designated the 2015 Rick Flinders National Conference Scholar

Maria T. Carriedo-Ceniceros, MD, Vice President and Chief Medical Officer, San Ysidro Health Center, San Ysidro, California, has been designated the Marianne McKennett National Conference Scholar

Emily Dow, MD, Acting Chair, Department of Family Medicine, University of California, Irvine, has been designated the 2015 Joseph E. Scherger National Conference Scholar

Stan Kozakowski, MD, American Academy of Family Physicians, has been designated the 2015 Norman B. Kahn, Jr National Conference Scholar.

Steven Pollens, has ben designated the 2015 Robert Ross National Conference Scholar

JuliusAngelo Ramirez, MD, Western Michigan University School of Medicine, Kalamazoo, has been designated the Allan Wilke National Conference Scholar

Janice Spalding, MD, Northeast Ohio College of Medicine, Rootstown, has been designated the 2015 F. Marian Bishop National Conference Scholar

The 2014 National Conference Scholars

Suzanne M. Allen, the University of Washington Vice Dean for Regional Affairs, based at the WWAMI program in Boise, Idaho, has been designated the 2014 Norman B. Kahn, Jr National Conference Scholar.

Eileen Chaing, CFO of the Family Health Center, Kalamazoo, Michigan, has been designed the 2014 Marianne McKennett National Conference Scholar.

Desiree Cox-Maksimov, MD of Eden Healthcare Consulting Ltd and the University of Exeter, United Kingdom, has been designated the 2014 Jimmy H. Hara National Conference Scholar.

Cheryl Dickson, MD, Associate Dean for Community Health and Health Equity has been designated the 2014 Robert Ross National Conference Scholar.

Walter Mills II MD, of Natividad Medical Center, Salinas, California, has been designated the 2014 Perry A. Pugno National Conference Scholar.

Caryn Slack, MD, of the Utah Department of Health, Medicaid Division, Salt Lake City, has been designated the Michael D. Prislin National Conference Scholar.

The 2013 National Conference Scholars

Michael Fine, MD, Director of Health, State of Rhode Island, has been designated to be the David N. Sundwall National Conference Scholar, named for the former Head of the Health Resources and Services Administration, United States Department of Health and Human Services.

Robert Bowman, MD, A. T. Still University School of Osteopathic Medicine or Arizona, has been designated the Mitchell Kasovac National Conference Scholar, named for an Emeritus Professor of the A. T. Still University SOMA.

Denise Crawford, of the Kalamazoo Family Health Center, has been designated the Virginia Fowkes National Conference Scholar, named for the Senior Research Scholar Emerita, Stanford University School of Medicine.

Mark D. Goodman, MD of Creighton University School of Medicine, has been designated as the Gary F. LeRoy National Conference Scholar, named for the Associate Dean of Student Affairs and Admissions, Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine.

Colin Kopes-Kerr, MD of Peach Tree Health Care, Marysville, California, has been designated as the Perry A. Pugno National Conference Scholar, name for the Vice President, Education, of the American Academy of Family Physicians.

Carol Levitt, MD, of Generations Family Health Center, Danielson Connecticut, has been designated as the Cynthia G. Olsen National Conference Scholar, named after the Acting Chair of the Department of Family Medicine at Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine.

Eugenie Lewis, MHSA, LCSW, has been designated as the Allan Wilke National Conference Scholar, named after the Chair of the Department of Family and Community Medicine of Western Michigan University School of Medicine.

Carol Wilson Saffold, MD . of the Family Health Center, Kalamazoo, Michigan, has been designated the Ana Bejinez-Eastman National Conference Scholar, after the Associate Program Director, Family Medicine Residency, Presbyterian Intercommunity Hospital of Whittier, California

Elizabeth Schlegel, Ph.D., MBA, of the Ross University, Dominica, West Indies, has been designated the Marc E. Babitz National Conference Scholar, after the Director of the Division of Health Systems Improvement of the Utah Department of Health.

 The 2012 National Conference Scholars

David Squire, then a member of the Utah Medical Education Council, received the F. Marian Bishop Memorial National Conference Scholar position, named after the late Chair of the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine at the  University of Utah and President of both the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine and the Society of Teachers of Preventive Medicine.

Danielle Renaud, Ph.D., received the Thomas C. Brown Memorial National Conference position. Dr Brown was a major figure in the development of family medicine curricula in several California resident programs.

Sally Bachofer, MD, of the University of New Mexico, received the Charles Q. North National Conference Scholar position, named for the former clinical director of the United States Indian Health Service.

Benjamin Fredrick, MD, of Penn State University/Milton S. Hershey College of Medicine, received the Mark Clasen National Conference Scholar position, named for the emeritus Chair of Family Medicine at Wright State University, Dayton.

Frederick Schwartz, DO, of the A. T. Still College of Osteopathic Medicine, Mesa, Arizona, received the J. Jerry Rodos National Conference Scholar position, named for the former Dean of the Midwestern University College of Osteopathic Medicine.

Ramiro Zuniga, MD, of the San Joaquin General Hospital, French Camp (Stockton), California, received the John Geyman National Conference Scholar position, named for the Emeritus Chair of Family Medicine at the University of Washington.