Family Medicine
Marking the ECU Family Therapy Clinic recognizing the Brody School of Medicine’s Dept. of Family Medicine’s contribution to the clinic are, from left, Dr. Jennifer Hodgson and Dr. Kenneth Steinweg from the Dept. of Family Medicine; Greenville Mayor Pat Dunn; Dr. Dennis Russo from the Dept. of Family Medicine; Lisa Tyndall, director of the Family Therapy Clinic; and Dr. Cynthia Johnson, chair of the ECU Dept. of Child Development and Family Relations. (Contributed photo
ECU Family Therapy Clinic honors Brody Family Medicine
The East Carolina University Family Therapy Clinic presented its Excellence in Collaboration and Biopsychosocial Care Award to the Brody School of Medicine’s Department of Family Medicine and Family Medicine Center at the clinic’s annual open house in late January.
“Our collaboration with the Family Medicine Center has provided very rewarding internships for students at the clinic.” said Dr. Jennifer Hodgson, associate professor of child development and family relations. Hodgson is a pioneer of ECU’s medical family therapy doctoral program.
Marriage and family therapy interns and medical family therapy interns from the Family Therapy Clinic work closely with physicians at the Family Medicine Center. Medical residents have opportunities to learn about relational and psychosocial aspects of treatment, and interns from the Family Therapy Clinic learn more about how the biological components of patients’ health often affects relationships.
Honorees from the Department of Family Medicine included Dr. Kenneth Steinweg, department chairman; Dr. Dennis Russo, head of behavioral medicine; and Dr. Robert Newman, clinical director.
In 2008, Hodgson received reappointment time to teach the Brody family medicine residency program’s behavioral medicine curriculum, launch the integrated care behavioral health service, and initiate a behavioral health intern program. Since that time, more than twenty MFT master’s and MedFT doctoral students have received training and provided clinical services at the Family Medicine Center.
“Through the cross training with the family medicine residents and integrated care provided to the patients of the Family Medicine Center, our MFT and MedFT students have learned how to be both fully integrated and work effectively alongside medical providers,” Hodgson said.
Steinweg said, “In our efforts to create a medical home for our patients and to train the next generation of physicians, our ability to address the health care needs of those we serve has been greatly enhanced by our collaboration with the Family Therapy Clinic. Working side-by-side with other health care professionals, their faculty and students bring unique skills and perspectives and a central focus on the critical importance of the family in the prevention of illness and the care of those who are ill.”
The ECU Family Therapy Clinic, 612 E. 10th St., provides teaching and learning opportunities for professionals and students and offers high-quality services to families, couples and individuals on a sliding-fee scale. Call 737-1415 to schedule an appointment or to receive more information about the clinic’s services.
The clinic is part of the ECU Department of Child Development and Family Relations in the College of Human Ecology.
The ECU Family Medicine Center will move to its new building this spring near the East Carolina Heart Institute at ECU on the university’s health sciences campus.