Western North Carolina is currently in a state of emergency following Hurricane Helene, but we want to assure that our program is moving forward with its upcoming recruitment season. Please see our application process page for more details.
We believe that every person deserves great primary care. We believe that great primary care is care that is able to respond to the needs of a community. We believe that primary care is joyful and fulfilling work. We are a full-spectrum Family Medicine training program based in scenic Asheville, NC. Our community focused, not-for-profit residency program at the Mountain Area Health Education Center is set in the Blue Ridge Mountains and primarily serves urban and rural underserved populations of the Western NC region. In June of 2022, MAHEC became an FQHC, expanding our ability to offer the high quality care our patients have come to expect and upon which our community depends. Our primary practice site has consistently maintained the highest-level status as a Patient Centered Medical Home, helping to provide the best possible care for our patients and the best education for our residents.
Our goal at the MAHEC Family Medicine Residency Program in Asheville is to develop residents into highly skilled and compassionate physicians through collaborative, team-based care, quality education, innovative practice and evidence-informed decision making. Our graduates’ skills extend beyond the care of the individual patient into population health, community needs assessment, healthcare advocacy, scholarship and practice management in an evolving healthcare system. We train family physicians who can practice full-spectrum and community informed Family Medicine anywhere, from rural to urban and regional to global settings.
For more than 40 years, our curriculum has offered outstanding training in our Family Health Centers and our world-class hospital system. Residents have always been key contributors to our program’s environment of innovation. This comprehensive training is highlighted by strong commitments to global and community-based care, maternity care/women's health, behavioral medicine, geriatrics, sports medicine and rural medicine. We embrace the care of marginalized populations including patients with intellectual and developmental disabilities, substance use disorders, infected with HIV and Hepatitis C, needing gender affirming care, experiencing homelessness and transitioning out of correctional facilities. We remain committed to the care of our patients without regard to their ability to pay.
We encourage you to apply for a position with us!
Our Team
Acting Internships
We are pleased to offer Acting Internships (AI) to students interested in doing residency at the MAHEC Asheville Family Medicine Residency Program. Several options are available. If you are interested in doing an AI with us, please contact studentservices@mahec.net.
Come work with us on our full-spectrum Family Practice Service for four weeks. On this service, you will participate in caring for our family practice patients when they are admitted to the hospital. You will take care of adult medicine, pediatric, obstetrical, and laboring patients with our talented team of residents and family medicine faculty.
Join our family medicine faculty and residents as they care for their continuity patients in our beautiful family medicine clinic. Beginning July 2023, you will experience outpatient clinic work done in a team-based clinic-first model. We practice outpatient medicine with a cohort of residents on a team comprised of clinical pharmacists, behavioral medicine faculty, peer support specialists, and nutritionists. In addition to our broad scope of pediatric adult medicine, geriatric, sports medicine, and obstetrical patients, you will have the opportunity to care for a diverse group of people needing gender-affirming care or with Hepatitis C, HIV, intellectual and developmental disabilities, psychiatric diseases, and substance use disorders.
You will spend two weeks in Asheville and two weeks in Hendersonville and have an opportunity to see two great family medicine residencies in one rotation!
4th Year Medical Student Rotations
MAHEC offers a variety of student rotations in Family Medicine, Obstetrics and Gynecology, General Surgery, Rural Medicine, and Psychiatry for both in-state and out-of-state students interested in our residency programs. Learn more about our 4th year medical student rotations
Our Commitment
MAHEC is committed to creating an equitable and inclusive place to work, learn, and receive care. We actively recruit physicians, staff, and students from underrepresented minorities, and we strive to implement policies and procedures that value and support diverse backgrounds and experiences. MAHEC does not discriminate on the basis of socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, spiritual practice, geography, disability, or age.
This program is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of an award totaling $1,656,886 with 0 percent financed with non-governmental sources. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement by, HRSA, HHS, or the U.S. Government. For more information, please visit HRSA.gov.
Mission Statement
We train community oriented family physicians by promoting sustainable and fulfilling careers as leaders among diverse and innovative healthcare teams. We do this in order to address evolving needs of Western North Carolina and improve quality and access to primary care for everyone.
Values Statement
Excellence: We deliver quality activities and services that our customers and partners value.
Diversity: We promote equity and inclusivity.
Integrity: We act with fairness, transparency, and the highest level of ethics.
Collaboration: We value partnerships and support interprofessional approaches.
Improvement: We continuously innovate and improve our work.
Foundational Principles
Civility: We treat all people with respect and kindness, all the time.
Inclusivity: We value the contribution of people different than ourselves and the merits of an
organization that reflects differences in our teams and our community.
Empowerment: We value engagement, commitment, and ownership of MAHEC’s mission, work, and
budget.
Key Partnerships
Mission Hospital
Mission Hospital is our primary inpatient training site. It is an 800-bed community and regional referral center, which includes Mission Children’s Hospital. It is the only hospital in the HCA Healthcare graduate medical educations (GME) system which, as a whole, supports the most residency and fellowship positions in the country.
University of North Carolina School of Medicine
All of our faculty have academic appointments with the UNC SOM. UNC also has a branch campus of their medical school at MAHEC in Asheville, NC, meaning that medical students are a part of our training teams.
The Asheville Community and Surrounding Areas
Since its inception in 1974, our residency has developed and maintained a strong relationship with our local community’s residents, community organizations, and all of Western North Carolina. For decades, they have looked to us as a respected and dependable partner for solving community healthcare needs.
Faculty and Alumni Comments
What makes the MAHEC Family Medicine Residency Program so
special?
"The people! An incredible team to work with—I wouldn’t want to train
anywhere else."
— Marina MacNamara, Class of 2016
"The culture—peers and faculty are supportive, are looking to change
medicine for the better, and are just fun to be around."
— Kate Rasche, Class of 2015
"The energy of innovation, the incredibly positive and committed people
with a vision for the future of healthcare."
— Lisa LaVallee, Program Director
"Would you choose the Asheville Family Medicine Residency all over again?"
"Looking back on my medical training, I am so glad I got to do my residency training at MAHEC. It is a rigorous program that produces highly skilled full scope family physicians, but more importantly the culture at MAHEC is one of love and care for our patients and our community. I consider myself privileged to have learned from the incredible faculty, and have built lifelong friendships with many of my co-residents. I felt supported by our faculty, while also being pushed to reach my potential. It is true that residency years are some of the more challenging you will face, but they also were some of my favorite years so far. If I could go back and match anywhere, I'd still come back to the people of MAHEC and the city of Asheville; it truly is one of a kind."
— Brian Atkinson, class of 2021
What makes it a great place to practice medicine?
"The healthcare community is very unique… for a population of 80k, we
have high quality specialists, lots of respect for primary care, and a
bunch of doctors (primary care grads and specialists) who are innovators
in medicine."
— Kate Rasche, Class of 2015
What kind of relationship do the faculty have with
residents?
"The faculty have a collegial relationship with the residents. We look to
the residents as peers who are in training. They often teach us just as
much as we teach them. We want to be available for any questions or
concerns that they have."
— Blake Fagan, Department Chair
What are the inpatient and outpatient experiences like?
"I have especially enjoyed my inpatient experiences here in Asheville;
working closely with full-time hospitalists, ER physicians, as well as
MAHEC faculty members. Practicing in a large, mostly 'unopposed'
hospital has prepared me well to work as a hospitalist upon graduation."
— Bart Steen, Class of 2015
What opportunities are available internationally?
"Wonderful opportunities. We have a strong global health curriculum that
is inspired by the long-term and sustainable relationship we have with
Hombro a Hombro (Shoulder to Shoulder), which is a non-profit,
non-governmental organization based in rural Honduras. Twice a year, our
residents and faculty—along with many others—travel to Honduras to offer
their services and skills to the rural healthcare network. That is only
the beginning. Many of our residents choose to spend their elective time
traveling and providing healthcare around the globe."
— Keith Whiteman, Class of 2017
How does MAHEC serve the diverse community of Asheville?
"As residents, we get plenty of opportunities to interact with our
community. Asheville is a mix of people from many cultures. We have a
large Latina population as well as Moldavian, Black American, LGBTQQ,
along with more of the people who come from the WNC Mountains and
downtown West Asheville Bohemians. I love spending time with the
Mentoring Minorities in Medicine program and have worked with students
one-on-one along with speaking at some of their large events. As a
member of the Mission Diversity committee, I get to participate in all
of the Asheville festivals and let everyone know that MAHEC is a safe
space for everyone. We’ve started weekly Spanish classes so that I can
learn, and we can all work on communicating with all of our patients in
their own language. We get out into the schools and work on health goals
of the school communities. Asheville has something for everyone and it
is a privilege to walk down the halls of Mission and hear people call
out ‘Hey Doc.’"
— Margarette Shegog, Class of 2016
What is the most challenging part of residency? What support
systems are in place for the residents?
"Residency is hard, no matter what. It’s long hours and the learning
curve is steep. As a result, it’s important to find the right fit. For
me, it meant finding somewhere that would be sure to challenge me
intellectually in a supportive environment. In addition to the built-in
support groups here (heavy in the first year) to help discuss challenges
you might be facing, there are regular meetings with your advisor as
well as the residency program director. There is also a built-in back-up
system so that a resident will ALWAYS be able to cover for you should
you be called away to a family emergency, get sick, whatever. Finally,
MAHEC simply embodies support—I have never heard a grumble or a
complaint when someone needs to cover another person’s shift."
— Marina MacNamara, Class of 2016
What do our graduates do?
Class of 2017:
MAHEC Faculty, full scope inpatient/outpatient + non-surgical OB
IHS in New Mexico, full scope inpatient/outpatient + non-surgical OB
Private practice in NY, full scope inpatient/outpatient + non-surgical OB
Maternal Child Health (MCH) Fellow at MAHEC, then BRCHS rural Western North Carolina, does C-sections, full scope inpatient/outpatient + surgical OB
MCH Fellow at MAHEC, then rural Western North Carolina, full scope inpatient/outpatient + non-surgical OB
Celo Health, rural/outpatient FM – addiction medicine
MAHEC Faculty, Geriatric medical director of Deerfield Retirement community, full scope inpatient/outpatient + non-surgical OB
IHS, Cherokee, NC
IHS, Cherokee outpatient FM
Works for NCDHHS, MPH, CDC fellowship following residency
Adolescent Fellow at GWU, FM/Peds in Emory University
Class of 2018:
A married couple did a year of locums in New Zealand before coming back to private practice
70% research (but also inpatient, outpatient and addiction) at Boston Med Center
Team doctor for Georgetown University
EPIC leader for local hospital system and is now shifting to private practice at the family health centers
Palliative care at the VA
FQHC including inpatient obstetrics in Oregon then in Wilmington, NC
MAHEC faculty
MAHEC faculty at Hendersonville, inpatient, outpatient and non surgical obstetrics
After a hospitalist fellowship, doing a job share for half inpatient half outpatient in Burnsville
Class of 2019:
Two graduates from this class restarted deliveries by FM docs in rural Western North Carolina
Inpatient palliative
Graduate helped develop the precision med/DPC practice at Vickery Family Practice
Did a health policy fellowship at Georgetown before joining Duke Faculty
Full spectrum outpatient care in rural clinic in Linville, NC
Did an obstetric fellowship, previously faculty at W Virginia, now with HCA and now in the surgical obstetric call pool in rural Western North Carolina
Two graduates do sports medicine
Outpatient family medicine
Class of 2020:
Winner of Florida Academy of Family Physicians leader award for their work around expanding access to addiction medicine in their HM
Working at the Michael Jordan clinic
FQHC in the piedmont, followed by an academic job in Wisconsin
MAHEC faculty behavioral health
Two graduates are doing full spectrum family medicine on island in Alaska
Started a methadone clinic in Alaska and is running a “first step” clinic for those experiencing homelessness
Outpatient and newborn in Flagstaff
The head of WCMS (Western Carolina Medical Society) and working for local FQHC
Inpatient, outpatient, and addiction medicine faculty at Oregon Health Sciences University
Outpatient family medicine and addiction
2 graduates from this class are providing comprehensive reproductive health care including abortion care
Class of 2021:
Completed Sports Medicine Fellowship, and now faculty and Assistant Program Director of the Sports Medicine Fellowship at MAHEC
Practicing outpatient primary care in hometown of Midland, TX
Completed Sports Medicine Fellowship, now practicing sports medicine in Louisville, KY, physician to the jockeys at Kentucky Derby
Practicing outpatient primary care in Berkeley, CA
Practicing outpatient primary care in Spartanburg, SC
Faculty at St. Francis Family Medicine Residency in Midlothian, VA; full-spectrum inpatient, outpatient, and OB
Core faculty at MAHEC, doing full-spectrum inpatient, outpatient, and OB
Practicing outpatient primary care in Huntington Beach, CA
Completed OB fellowship, now practicing outpatient primary care and OB (including surgical obstetrics) as faculty at Providence Family Medicine Residency Program in Eureka, CA
Completed Palliative Care fellowship, now practicing palliative care in Corvallis, OR
Practicing outpatient primary care in Chapel Hill, NC
Practicing outpatient primary care in Exeter, NH
Beginning July 2023, we will be launching a new Clinic First curriculum with a 2+2 schedule. This restructuring is the result of our desires to make outpatient learning a central focus of the curriculum and to meet the 2023 ACGME New Core Program Requirements, which facilitates 6 months of elective time over the course of the residency program.
Below you will find our clinic first curriculum. Please reach out to our residency team with any specific questions you have and we would be happy to answer them.
See their own panel of continuity patients on their clinic team on a set schedule
Are supervised in person and via video by family medicine and behavioral health faculty
Learn about coding, billing, and practice management models
Access a variety of community resources for their patients
See patients in variety of specialty clinics such as diabetes, healthy living (Lifestyle Medicine), Next Steps (hepatitis C), osteoporosis, colposcopy, vasectomy, chronic pain, OMT, sports medicine, geriatrics, medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD), and skin conditions
Gain procedural skills such as skin biopsies, toenail removal, vasectomy, joint injections, casting, laceration repair, and sphenopalatine ganglion blocks
Age Distribution of FHC Patients for 2017-2018
Age
Percentage
0-2
13%
2-9
11%
10-19
10%
20-29
17%
30-39
16%
40-49
9%
50-59
8%
Geriatric
15%
Payor Mix for the Division of Family Medicine
Private/Commercial
16%
Medicaid
28%
Medicare
34%
Other Government
2%
Self
20%
Inpatient
Residents on the Family Practice Service at Mission Hospital......
Care for geriatric, adult, pediatric, newborn, postpartum, antepartum, and laboring patients all on one comprehensive and interdisciplinary service
Work one-on-one with our family medicine and pharmacy faculty
Work with the patient’s primary care provider and specialists to provide continuity and comprehensive care
Lead the code team in ACLS as the first responders to all adult codes in the hospital
Didactics
Weekly protected time for a full afternoon of simulation training, dynamic classroom instruction, and resident support
Simulation training on adult, pediatric, newborn, and maternity care is woven throughout didactic sessions
Use of innovative and interactive "flipped classroom" model of teaching that includes problem-based learning, case presentations, procedure rodeos, role-play, and audience response systems
Other didactic activities include an innovative evidence-informed decision-making curriculum and wellness workshops focused on resident well-being
Simulation Center
Our state-of-the-art Simulation Center is a 15,000-square-foot facility which opened in 2018. It includes high-fidelity manikins, standardized patients, task trainers, and laproscopic surgery, endoscopy/bronchoscopy, point-of-care ultrasound, and virtual reality simulators. This allows residents to work through patient case scenarios led by our own family medicine faculty and guest faculty. Residents are grouped by class to support optimal learning based experience and scenarios are typically grouped by teaching topic to hone specific skills and learning points. Each session highlights unique and powerful learning opportunities in key competencies including communication, teamwork, emergent conditions, and tasks that require well-practiced manual skills such as diagnostic and surgical procedures.
Adult Medicine
Residents on the adult medicine service at Mission Hospital...
Work closely with MAHEC Internal Medicine faculty and Team Health hospitalists.
Manage patients on the adult medicine unit, cardiac and pulmonary step-down units, med-surg ICU, cardiac ICU, and neurotrauma ICU
Work in teams with interns from FM, IM, psychiatry, and transitional year programs, IM and FM senior residents, pharmacists and pharmacy residents and students, and UNC Chapel Hill medical students.
Attend daily morning report
Pediatrics
Residents on the inpatient pediatrics, newborn, and family practice rotations...
Work closely with pediatric hospitalists and newbornists
Gain procedural skills including circumcisions and lumbar punctures
Attend community-wide pediatric conferences and neonatology seminars
Become comfortable managing neonatal abstinence syndrome through the Eat, Sleep, Console model
Residents in the outpatient setting...
Care for a high volume of pediatric patients—one-third of the visits in the residents' continuity clinics at the Family Health Center are with children
Work in pediatric practices in our community
Explore pediatric specialties in cardiology, orthopedics, obesity, hypertension, asthma, sleep, oncology, dermatology, endocrinology, neurology, allergy and asthma, developmental issues, and genetic disorders
Obstetrics & Gynecology
Participate in outpatient ob/gyn care including family planning clinics and STD clinics at the health department and Planned Parenthood, gyn clinics with local specialists, and dedicated prenatal clinic at the Family Health Center
Gain procedural skills including colposcopy, IUD and contraceptive implant insertion, endometrial biopsies, miscarriage management, ultrasound, obstetrical laceration repair, pessary fittings, induction of labor and intrapartum procedures, and vasectomy.
Weekly didactics cover preconception care, breast and cervical cancer screening, contraception, vulvar disease, abnormal uterine bleeding, sexual dysfunction, menopause, natural childbirth, and management of pregnancy complications and chronic disease in pregnant patients. We also use the Simulation Center for skills practice during some ob/gyn didactic sessions
Collaborate with the MAHEC ob/gyn residency program during high-volume rotations on the labor and delivery unit at Mission Hospital
Interested residents can pursue optional high-volume experiences at outside hospitals during elective time
Follow pregnant patients longitudinally through their prenatal care in the Family Health Center and through their deliveries on the Family Practice Service at Mission Hospital. We do everything possible to facilitate residents attending the births of their continuity prenatal patients
Note: Our maternity care curriculum is designed to accommodate the needs of those who are committed to practicing obstetrics and those who are sure they will not provide maternity care after graduation. The 3-year curriculum will prepare you to practice obstetrics after graduation if you wish.
Some residents choose to pursue more intensive maternity care training. We have designed a 4th year maternal-child health fellowship to accommodate those residents’ educational goals. Feel free to reach out if you want to learn more about this fellowship opportunity.
Behavioral Health
Residents enjoy the benefits of an integrated care model in their outpatient continuity clinic. This means that Behavioral Health faculty providers will work together with residents to co-manage patient care and will be available for real-time consults as needed. This model affords innumerable learning opportunities as residents partner with an interdisciplinary team of providers for daily patient care.
Additional scheduled learning opportunities included working directly with MAHEC behavioral medicine faculty, peer support specialists, and psychiatry faculty as well as community providers.
Surgery
Perform initial surgical consults in the Emergency Department
Opportunities to assist with surgeries, intubation, and pre- and post-operative care
Perform office-based procedures in primary care and surgery clinics
Attend procedure rodeos to practice procedures in the Simulation Center
Electives & Scholarly Activities
We value individualizing the curriculum to meet resident’s personal educational objectives. Examples of resident elective activities listed in the table at the top of the page.
Continuous quality improvement is the fabric of how we practice medicine. All residents will participate in team-based quality improvement projects and initiatives in collaboration with nurses and other clinical staff.
Emergency Medicine
Supervision by emergency medicine faculty in the third-busiest emergency department in North Carolina (and one of the busiest in the nation)
Improve procedural skills with the “fast-track team” including EKG interpretation, incision and drainage, laceration repair, fracture reduction and splinting, point-of-care ultrasound, and ATLS
Spend time in rural emergency department settings in McDowell County
Attend monthly collaborative morbidity and mortality (M&M) sessions with emergency medicine faculty
Geriatrics
Longitudinal care for older adults at the family health center, at two skilled nursing facilities, and through home visits
Acute care for geriatric patients in the hospital
Participate in our home visit curriculum care retirement communities we serve, as well as with local palliative care and hospice services
Orthopedics & Sports Medicine
Attend primary care sports medicine clinic and provide continuity orthopedic care based at the MAHEC Family Health Center at Biltmore under the supervision of sports medicine faculty
Work with community-based general orthopedists, hand surgeons, spine specialists, physical therapists, chiropractors, and podiatrists
Administer sports physicals and provide side-line care at local sporting events and races
Diagnose and stabilize common musculoskeletal trauma and sports injuries, and inject soft tissues and joints
Gain procedural skills including shoulder and knee injections, aspirations, splinting, and casting
Obtain high-yield ultrasound experience through direct patient care and in the MAHEC Simulation Center
Community & Global Health
Provide primary care for underserved and underinsured patients in our office, at Mission Hospital, and at a free medical clinic through Project Access (a volunteer physician community-based healthcare initiative)
Collaborate with local schools under the School Healthy Lifestyle Collaborative
Visit multiple rural hospitals and clinics under a national Teaching Health Center grant
Participate, if interested, in a two-week trip to rural Honduras with the not-for-profit nongovernmental organization Shoulder-to-Shoulder
Assist Hispanic and underserved populations with navigating the healthcare system
Volunteer with local housing developments and equity organizations
Rotate with area federally qualified healthcare centers
I grew up in Atlanta and graduated from Emory University Medical School. I moved to Portland, Oregon for residency at Oregon Health Sciences University. Following residency, I stayed in Portland for 5 years where I was in a full spectrum private family practice with an emphasis on OB and Pediatrics. I decided to move back to the SE to be closer to my family in Atlanta and I specifically wanted to live in Asheville because of its location and the wonderful character of the town. Serendipitously, there was a faculty position available at MAHEC and I took the job in 2000. It has been the best decision I've ever made both professionally and personally. I have two beautiful daughters, Erica and Ava. Our family enjoys going to our lake cabin and hiking with our dogs Bella and Ruby. I love cooking, gardening, tending to my turn of the century house and growing orchids.
MAHEC is a wonderful place to be. The people here are committed to a set of core values of service, community focus and innovation. One of the things that I love the most about working here is that we have powerful inter-professional relationships that have allowed us to create a rich integrated care model of practice that serves the needs of our patients at a high level, is an ideal learning environment and a really fun way to practice medicine. MAHEC has always been and continues to be the kind of organization that calls me to be my best self. I am inspired by the residents, staff and my tremendous faculty to try something new, to stretch myself personally and to grow professionally.
Clinically I have special interest in osteoporosis and dermatology. As an educator I am interested in how we nurture the doctor patient relationship in a technological world and how racism, sexism and imposter syndrome can impact our development as physicians.
Assistant Program Director Family Medicine Residency
Special Interests: Maternal Child Health and Inpatient Medicine
I grew up in Charlotte, NC, attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for my undergraduate studies, and then attended Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem. I moved to Asheville to complete my residency, where I served as Chief Resident and fueled my passion for caring for patients in rural areas, from various cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds. I have had the privilege to continue here at MAHEC as a faculty member ever since! My husband, Heath, teaches middle school and our children, Tom and Charley, are full of energy and eager to learn and try new things! We enjoy all of the local biking, climbing, paddling, and hiking opportunities in the Appalachian mountains, but we also love to travel to pursue outdoor adventures in beautiful places around the world!
I truly love being a part of MAHEC Family Medicine. Having the opportunity to train here as a resident, and then continue as a faculty member, I have built long-lasting relationships with my patients and my colleagues. I have so much respect for my fellow faculty, who have mentored and fostered my own growth, and who demonstrate such support for our community and our teaching responsibilities for the region. At our Biltmore Family Health Center, I practice full spectrum family medicine and enjoy doing in-office procedures. I also attend our inpatient Family Practice Service and deliver babies at Mission Hospital.
Teaching is a big part of what I love about my job. I work closely with residents and medical students in both inpatient and outpatient settings. As the Assistant Program Director, I thrive in molding our curricula to meet and exceed national standards and resident needs. I am passionate about competency-based medical education and enjoy working one-on-one and in teams with residents throughout their training. As the curricular lead for the Family Practice Service, I am invested in helping residents achieve autonomy and confidence in the hospital setting, making this a capstone experience in our residents’ training.
Assistant Program Director Family Medicine Residency
Special Interests: Treatment of substance use disorders, innovations in primary care and auricular acupuncture
I grew up in the tiny town of Steeleville, Illinois. I attended undergraduate at the University of Southern Indiana, where I received my Bachelors in Biophysics and did a year of vaccine development research at the NIAID in Bethesda, Maryland, before starting medical school at The Ohio State University College of Medicine (Go Bucks!). I interviewed at MAHEC for residency after hearing many glowing reviews from physicians I met during my clinical years and was pleased to match into the program. After residency, I moved back to Ohio where my husband was living and spent time both in private practice and also as faculty at the OSU Family Medicine Residency. The mountains were always calling and my husband and I choose to return to Asheville in 2020 with our two kids, dog, and cat in tow.
I am so happy to be back in WNC working at MAHEC. MAHEC has a culture of curiosity, innovation, and service that highlight the importance and scope of primary care for a patient and within a community, and I am happy to be a part of that once again.
I currently serve as an Assistant Program Director, which allows me to working with residents particularly in the outpatient space and help them with their transition to practice as an attending. I also work with our special projects team, through which I assist some of our most vulnerable populations’ access substance use treatment and also help train clinicians across the state about substance use and safe opioid prescribing. Not surprisingly my professional interests include medical education, innovation in primary care, preventative care, behavioral medicine, and substance use treatment.
Outside of medicine, I love watching the sunrise over the mountains with a good cup of black coffee, spending time with my family, cooking, reading, traveling, and the occasional game of volleyball or ultimate.
Special Interests: Osteopathic manipulation and dermatology
Hi y’all! My name is Nicole, and I am very excited to be part of the faculty here at MAHEC. I was born and raised in the wonderful, quirky little college town of Athens, GA (Go Dawgs!). I stayed in Athens to attend the University of Georgia, where I majored in Biology and Psychology and developed a passion for medicine. The summer before graduating college, I participated in a medical research program at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, TX. The highlight of this program was volunteering at Texas Children’s Hospital working with very sick children. It was this experience that confirmed my desire to pursue a career in medicine. After finishing undergrad, I spent a year doing a premedical internship with a local dermatologist, working with patients on a daily basis, getting see a variety of disease processes and assisting with surgical procedures.
After living in the same town for our whole lives, my husband, Tyler, and I decided to make a big change. We moved all the way to the other side of the country so I could attend medical school at Western University of Health Sciences College of Osteopathic Medicine in suburban Los Angeles. Attending an osteopathic medical school allowed me to see a holistic side of medicine and learn Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine to treat my patients. During my clinical rotations, I found myself loving every rotation, whether it was delivering babies on obstetrics or treating a heart attack patient on adult medicine. I soon realized that Family Medicine was the place for me.
I am constantly impressed by the residents and faculty, the support they have for each other, and their dedication to teaching. The hospital and clinic are amazing and the patient population is extremely diverse. And then there is all that Asheville has to offer: amazing restaurants, great local breweries, gorgeous landscape and endless outdoor activities. Contact me if you have any questions about our awesome program!
Special Interests: Global health, caring for Spanish-speaking patients
As a recent MAHEC Family Medicine Residency graduate, I am delighted to join the MAHEC faculty and continue working and learning in this stimulating community. After growing up in Tanzania, China, Washington D.C., Canada, and India, I attended Allegheny College in Meadville, Pennsylvania with my heart set on medical school. While in my sophomore year, I read Paul Farmer’s book Mountains Beyond Mountains and shifted my perspective on health, health care, and international development. Instead of heading straight to medical school, I studied global disease epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and then spent two years as a community health volunteer in Peru with the Peace Corps. After returning to the U.S., I attended medical school at the University of Virginia and participated in a primary care track where I learned about the breadth and versatility of family medicine. I was delighted to match at MAHEC not only because of the vibrant cultural and outdoorsy community of Asheville, but also because of the depth of the training at this residency program, and the kindness of its people.
My interests in medicine include global health, women’s health, and caring for Spanish-speaking patients. Outside of work, I love hiking, jogging, reading, bicycling, cooking and eating plant-based foods, and am starting to try my hand at pottery.
Special Interests: Maternal Child health and rural medicine
Hello! I am a late-bloomer to medicine. As a young adult, I fled to the west coast (go banana slugs!) after growing up in Charlottesville, VA. Then I spent almost five years in sub-Saharan Africa (including over two years in Togo with the Peace Corps), worked in a bagelry, and got my masters in public health at Yale. Ultimately, while managing an HIV/AIDS clinic in northwestern Kenya, I decided to become a physician. I completed med school at Brown University in Rhode Island.
For residency, I was looking for a program that offered well-rounded training to provide care either domestically or internationally, and where I could develop my interest in maternal and child health, as well as addiction medicine. Asheville is also a great fit for my entire family including my husband who enjoys gardening, brewing beer, and raising chickens (not necessarily in that order). After residency, I worked for a local hospital system in rural western North Carolina for six years, allowing me to apply the skills that I developed at MAHEC.
Now, I am so excited to return to MAHEC as a faculty member. I am thrilled to be a member of the program that was so inspiring to me as a resident. My colleagues are intelligent and thoughtful providers who continually strive to work for the betterment of our community.
Outside of medicine, I am steadily working on turning my acre-yard into a garden, in the company of our dogs, cats, and chickens. And I cook, (almost) every day.
Special Interests: Rural medicine and women with substance use disorder
Hi everyone! I hail from the wonderful small town of Marion, Virginia in rural Appalachia where I spent my formative years. I then went to college at the College of Wooster in Wooster OH and while I loved my liberal arts undergrad, I discovered Midwest winters and lack of mountains were not quite for me. After graduating with a degree in Neuroscience, I spent a year with Americorps building houses for Habitat for Humanity in Washington DC. I then took the trip 100 miles south to Richmond for medical school at the Medical College of VA, also known as VCU School of Medicine. I then was lucky enough to come to MAHEC for residency which got me closer to home (2 hours!) and back into the mountains. Someone told me Asheville was a black hole you will never leave and so far this has proven to be true – I met my spouse here and we now have two children, a dog, a cat, and, some years, a respectable garden. I’ve enjoyed getting involved in the soccer community here in Asheville as well as the outdoor community which is awesome.
I started my career after residency at a rural health clinic in Madison County and transitioned back to MAHEC in 2019 as faculty. I enjoyed my years in rural practice and felt well prepared for it with my training but I had a life goal of reevaluating my career after a few years and I realized I wanted to be more of a part of the “solution” for healthcare, working in an innovative place that fosters ideas and creativity as well as allowing for teaching and good camaraderie among staff. I jumped at the opportunity to join MAHEC.
I was hired as a substance abuse educator and do a lot of training and grant funded work around safe prescribing of opioids, treatment of opioid use disorder, and education about vaping and tobacco use disorders. I am also working in a collaboration with Project CARA, a division of MAHEC OB, working with women with substance use disorders in the postpartum period, helping them with their SUD as well as chronic medical problems and treatment of hepatitis C.
Hi! I grew up in Gainesville, Florida (Go Gators!) as a first-generation Sri Lankan Tamil. I then had a chance to experience the northeast and completed my undergraduate degree at Wellesley College in neuroscience and music, followed by medical school at Columbia University School of Physicians and Surgeons. For training, I split the geographic difference and completed my family medicine residency at University of North Carolina as part of the Underserved Track, where I had the amazing experience caring for patients in a rural federally qualified health center (FQHC). After completing a Career Development Fellowship in reproductive health and advocacy through UNC Family Medicine, I provided full-scope rural outpatient care at an FQHC in Chatham County, NC. I had the wonderful opportunity to become the medical director of the Chatham County Health Department and have also provided abortion care in the region.
My experiences in rural community health, public health, abortion care, and working with immigrant and uninsured and underinsured patients deepened my belief in the importance not just of equitable access to healthcare for all, but in the importance of community, equity, education, and basic resources to live a healthy life. I believe equity, social justice, and advocacy are integral to my role as a family physician and educator. In addition to providing outpatient and inpatient family medicine at MAHEC, I also provide colposcopy, miscarriage management, substance use disorder treatment, and am involved in equity, diversity, and inclusion initiatives. My clinic interests are broad, but include comprehensive reproductive health, social determinants of health, substance use disorder treatment, and refugee health as well as medical student and resident mentoring and teaching.
My spouse and I are proud parents to 2 great kiddos, a fabulous dog, and an ornery cat. We love the beauty of Asheville and the mountains as well as the amazing people we are surrounded by. I enjoy cross-stitching, quilting, baking with my kid, and attempting to keep plants alive.
Special Interests: Care of adults with Intellectual and/or Developmental Disabilities
Hey y'all! I'm from Austin, Texas and went to the University of Colorado where I fell in love with full-spectrum family medicine. I was considering doing a fellowship after I graduated residency, but couldn't decide whether to do hospice/palliative, addiction medicine, or obstetrics. I came to MAHEC because I felt like the scope of care I would experience here would not close any doors for me.
When I was a third year resident here at MAHEC I worked with our local Medicaid payor to develop a pilot clinic focused on primary care consults for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. I was so lucky to get hired on as faculty and have the opportunity to expand these needed services. Since the start of COVID I have also been serving as the medical director of our Acute Care Clinic, which was the first clinic in WNC to have resources to regularly test and treat COVID-19.
I really feel like I get to live my professional dream here at MAHEC, where my colleagues are just as focused as I am on meeting our community's changing needs. When I was an intern we were not regularly prescribing medication-assisted treatment for opioid use disorder, gender-affirming hormone therapy, or curing hepatitis C, but these are now regular parts of my day-to-day patient care. I also appreciate the opportunity to teach, both residents, UNC medical students, and pre-professional students. I am also on faculty for our Transitional Year residency that started in 2021.
My favorite part of being a family doctor is getting to stick with my patients through all of life's transitions. In addition to IDD care, my special interests include pediatric care, women's health including prenatal care, procedures, addiction medicine, genetic disorders, and working with patients to develop goals of care.
In my free time I enjoy hiking, maintaining my garden, cooking, and most of all spending time with my Asheville-local husband and adorable son.
Special Interests: Lifestyle medicine and system based practice
I grew up in Iowa and attended Grinnell College and then medical school at the University of Iowa before completing residency in Family Medicine here at MAHEC. I am so happy to be living in Asheville with my husband, who works for the US Forest Service, and our two really fun kids. I love enjoying great local restaurants and running through my wooded neighborhood. My daughter LOVES seeing bears dig through our garbage, the rest of us are less enthusiastic.
After residency I stayed at MAHEC to open our Newbridge clinic north of Asheville. I wanted to continue working with underserved populations and particularly have enjoyed lots of women’s health, pediatric care and working with Latinx populations. I adore teaching and mentoring residents and students. MAHEC is family; the people here are amazingly supportive. MAHEC continuously helps me grow as a physician. I believe that MAHEC is an exceptional place for residents to learn because it balances support and independence for our learners.
As a Lifestyle Medicine Certified physician I have enjoyed helping to develop our pediatric Healthy Living Group visits and our adult Healthy Living Clinic. I enjoy running, reading, and spending time with my family as wellness practices. I enjoy helping patients focus on comprehensive wellness through guidance on nutrition, exercise, stress reduction, and social connection.
I help to keep the gears turning and work with our team to help the clinics run well so that we can all be our best in patient care. I want all of our providers and staff to feel supported so that we can all grow together. Continuity is the foundation of family medicine and I have cherished knowing my patients for over a decade.
Please reach out to anyone who sparks an interest as we are all really excited to answer your questions and we would love to be part of your medical education!
I am one of the new members of the MAHEC Family Medicine Residency Program faculty, but I am no stranger to this program or our community. I graduated from this residency program almost forty years ago.
I began my medical career in public health and for the last 35 years, I have been working in a private family medicine practice in Asheville. My medical career has also included work in community and hospital nutrition, medical staff leadership, medical administration, practice management, and teaching. I have also participated in several international medical programs.
A career-capping experience came in 2011 when I received a Duke Endowment grant to assist primary care medical practices throughout Western North Carolina achieve their designation as Patient-Centered Medical Homes.
As my professional career is winding down, I have found great satisfaction working in our community with those who are experiencing homelessness and sometimes caught in the web of mental illness and substance use. My work with MAHEC will focus on working with and teaching this population.
I am a husband, a father, and a grandfather. I am a fitness junky (hiking, biking, martial arts, weight training, some running… something every day), a gardener, a woodworker, a traveler, and a part-time in-home cook and sometimes baker.
Family Medicine Faculty Physician
Physician Medical Director Cane Creek satellite clinic
Special Interests: Medical acupuncture and rural medicine
Greetings! I am excited to be on the MAHEC team as it is a privileged place to be indeed - surrounded by hard-working, intelligent, fun, and committed physicians with supportive staff in the midst of an excellent medical community. Combine that with the cultural and outdoor opportunities of our progressive mountain town, Asheville can’t be beat.
I am originally a westerner (from southern California), turned northerner, (undergraduate degree in anthropology and psychology at Rutgers University), now southerner, (medical school at the University of Virginia and residency here in Asheville). My wife and I have traveled the planet and have decided we love living, working, and raising our family in this beautiful corner of the world.
My interests outside of medicine include trail running, camping, mountain biking, traveling, music, beekeeping, gardening, yoga, and aikido. My professional interests include full-spectrum care, primary care procedures including vasectomy, integrative medicine, and work-life balance.
I grew up in the suburbs of Atlanta, and I spent my childhood summers falling in love with the natural beauty of western North Carolina during visits to my grandparents’ cabin in Otto. I studied at Duke University, and upon graduation I commissioned as an Army officer and was stationed at Fort Carson. While on active duty in Colorado, I met the love of my life, Hannah. After my military service, I started at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, and we had our first child, Ollie, during my third year.
The breadth, depth, continuity, and endless possibility drew me to family medicine. The people, energy, and innovative adaptability drew me to MAHEC. My interests within family medicine include humanism, education, the quadruple aim, point of care ultrasound, and substance use disorders. And I’m excited to discover and develop new passions with my teammates in Asheville.
I love spending time outside – whether backcountry camping or just a walk around town. Hannah and I like to take Ollie on our adventures. I am a passionate furniture maker, and I’m excited to explore the woodworking community in western North Carolina.
Clinical Director of Substance Use Disorders at MAHEC
Professor of Family Medicine, UNC Chapel Hill
Diplomate of the American Board of Preventative Medicine, Board-Certified in Addiction Medicine
Special Interests: Treatment of opiate use disorder
I am from Missouri and still a big Cardinals baseball fan. I went to undergraduate school at the University of Missouri at Columbia and spent the coldest winter of my life in Chicago for a year before starting medical school in Nashville, Tennessee. I completed my residency at MAHEC in 2001 and have been on the faculty ever since.
What brought me to the residency, and what keeps me here as faculty are the people at MAHEC. The faculty are very committed to helping the underserved and teaching residents and students. The Asheville area made the choice to stay here a lot easier.
I love mountain biking and trail running, and the hiking around here isn’t bad either. I hope you get to visit us and see what a great city Asheville is, see the great outdoor activities available here, and the high quality residents and faculty.
Assistant Program Director, Addiction Medicine Fellowship
Faculty, Addiction Psychiatry Fellowship
Hey there! I’m Carriedelle Fusco and I’m a Family Nurse Practitioner. I grew up in Wilmington, NC on the coast but was lucky enough to spend part of the summer in Montreat just outside of Asheville. I attended undergrad in Raleigh and spent some time in Wyoming and Southern Sudan before returning to nursing school. The mountains have always had a piece of my heart and I moved here in 2006. I worked as an ER nurse for several years before attending graduate school at Vanderbilt. My husband Matt and I have two cattle dogs. We enjoy being outside as much as possible and traveling in our camper for biking, hiking, and other adventures.
I joined MAHEC in 2012 as part of a grant focused on appropriately and safely prescribing opioids. That work led me to work with a team to launch a clinic for treating opioid use disorder at MAHEC Family medicine. This work expanded to training healthcare providers about safe opioid prescribing and treating substance use disorders. I was the first advanced practice provider approved to teach the buprenorphine waiver training in the US. In 2018 we launched a Substance Use Disorders elective through the UNC-SOM and in 2020 we started an Addiction Medicine Fellowship. I’ve also worked with WCU to train FNP students since 2016. I absolutely love working with an organization that is always ready to respond to the needs of our community and I’m excited for what our future holds!
Special Interests: Community engagement behavioral pediatrics and ACES
I came to MAHEC in the fall of 2012 after 33 years of practicing full spectrum family medicine in Madisonville, a small town in East Tennessee. My wife, Barbara Levin – also a family doctor – and I settled there immediately after residency at the University fo Missouri. We raised our four children there and are now proud grandparents….feel free to ask me about the grandkids any time! Thirty-three years of small town medicine have left me with some firm convictions. I can’t imagine a more satisfying life than primary care and I believe integrated and holistic care is the best care. We have to do more as a society to look after all our members. American needs to be a healthier place for our kids to grow up and we in family medicine can make a difference; and they are all our kids.
What brought me to MAHEC was my sense of a shared idealism with the faculty and the residents. I have not been disappointed. I could not imagine a brighter and more committed group, working together to learn and improve our community of Western North Carolina, our country, and beyond. Since coming here, I’ve continued full spectrum practice, and have been involved with projects around a diverse set of interests including community engagement, behavioral pediatrics, ACEs and resiliency, behavioral teaching in family medicine, intellectual/developmental disability, and geriatrics.
When not practicing medicine I enjoy hiking and reading. I am depply engaged in Torah reading, and believe that chant is an ancient art form designed to breathe life into the words of Scripture. Oh, and did I mention my grandkids?
Rural Fellowship Director, MAHEC Family Medicine
Faculty Physician
Director, Rural Health Initiatives
My name is Benjamin Gilmer. Originally a native of rural TN, I moved to North Carolina to attend Davidson College and have now been a Tarheel for 3 decades! I first studied medicine at the Sorbonne in Paris, France and later at East Carolina. Inspired by a fellowship experience in West Africa at the Albert Schweitzer Hospital, I have committed my career to Global Health and have the great fortune to lead MAHEC’s global health program in Honduras. I was a student, resident and Global Health fellow at MAHEC and plan to be a “lifer” here. MAHEC enables me the perfect opportunity to pursue many of my academic passions, including serving a rural community, teaching and practicing full spectrum family medicine. Some of my other passions in medicine include point of care ultrasound, and team-based care. As the clinical director of our Rural Health Initiative and MAHEC’s Rural Fellowship, I am passionate about advocating for rural medicine and finding jobs for all of our residents! More recently, I have embarked on a mission to learn and promote social justice in medicine, focusing on the humane treatment of mental illness in the prison system. I recently published my first book, “The Other Dr. Gilmer” speaking to this injustice. My lovely wife’s name is Deirdre and our two proudest accomplishments are Kai and Luya. Together, we love to travel and explore the wonders of Western North Carolina and the world.
Faculty Physician
Transitional Year Residency Program Director
35 years experience in Primary Care and OB
I am a true product of the MAHEC program, having completed my FM residency here in 1987, then joining the faculty in late summer of that same year. I have stayed here due to the fine caliber of the faculty, residents, and staff I have the privilege to work alongside every day.
I did take a one year LOA in the early 1990’s, to spend some time pursuing interests in outpatient care of HIV/AIDs. There I worked with the Family Medicine Department and the ID Department at East Carolina University School of Medicine. I learned a lot, but boy was I ready to return to the cool beauty of these WNC Mountains!
I was born in the Mid South- in Arkansas; and spent my “growing up” years in Arkansas, Mississippi and Missouri. As the daughter of a preacher and a teacher, I learned the value of education and service, lessons that led both my brother and me into vocations of medicine. After attending college at Arkansas (now Lyon’s) College, I graduated from Medical School at University of Missouri, Columbia, MO., as did my older brother. My brother is now a physician in Chattanooga, TN.
It is a privilege to live and work in this progressive southern community, with a fine medical community that embraces education. We enjoy working for MAHEC and living close by on our “urban farm” where we have a few chickens, a bunny, dogs, and get to experience the joys of being able to walk to good food and fun activities. Outside of work we enjoy traveling, cooking, working in our local church’s community garden and trying to stay fit and healthy. We rejoice in watching our 2 adult children blossom and find their way in the world!
Within MAHEC and Medicine, I find great joy in caring for patients I have now known for MANY years, seeing families grow up into their own families, providing family maternity care, doing and teaching gynecologic procedures, and helping residents and students learn and find their passion in Family Medicine. I am excited by our increased ability to provide international experiences, and our local commitment to providing care to the underserved, through our office and through our community volunteer efforts.
Assistant Professor of Clinical Education, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy
Special Interests: Infectious disease and transitions of care
Bill Hitch is the Director of Pharmacotherapy at MAHEC in Asheville, NC, and an Assistant Professor of Clinical Education at the University of North Carolina Eshelman School of Pharmacy. He received his PharmD degree from the University of North Carolina Eshelmen School of Pharmacy and completed a specialty residency in Ambulatory Care through Mission Hospital and MAHEC. Bill serves as the Assistant Director of the Pharmacy Practice Residency Program at Mission Hospital practicing in the Ambulatory Care setting and serves as a preceptor for pharmacy students as well as PGY1 and PGY2 residents. His practice is in inpatient family medicine where he rounds with physicians on the Family Practice Service at Mission Hospital. He is a Clinical Pharmacist Practitioner at MAHEC Family Health Center, which has been recognized as a Level III Patient-Centered Medical Home. Areas of interest include interdisciplinary education, transitions of care, infectious disease, and global health.
Special Interests: Curriculum development and sports medicine
I was born and raised in New York City and, through a series of fortunate events, have had the privilege of living in Western North Carolina for most of the past two decades. My wife, Tina, and I met in Philadelphia where I completed medical school and Family Medicine residency training at Jefferson Medical College and Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. With our baby daughter, Rachel, we moved to an Apache Indian reservation in San Carlos, Arizona in 1984 for two of the most exciting years of our lives, in the Indian Health Service. The environment was wonderful for professional and personal growth and recreation. In 1986 we loaded up our expanding family, now including the twins, Ben and Emily, and transferred to Cherokee Indian Hospital. The following year I joined the faculty of the MAHEC Family Medicine Residency Program, focused on Maternity Care, Children’s Health, and curriculum planning. I was honored with the opportunity to become the Residency Program Director in 1993, and the Division Director from 2008-2021.
My family has now grown up in Asheville. All the kids have attended the University of NC - Chapel Hill and are looking for the next great thing to do with their lives. We all still spend a lot of time together cooking, mountain biking, hiking, and playing tennis. Though New York was a great part of my history, I can’t imagine a more lovely environment, full of opportunities for my family and my career, than Western NC.
Primary Care Sports Medicine Fellowship Program Director
I grew up in Erie, PA in a tight knit family. I started my training as an undergrad at Penn State Behrend where I was inducted into the college’s Athletics Hall of Fame in 2014 for my achievements as a long-distance runner that included being named Female Athlete of the Year twice among other awards. Then continued to stay in my home town and went to Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine for her medical training. While in medical school, I served as head coach for high school and middle school cross country and track teams. Then I decide it was time to get out of the snow belt and trained in Wilmington, NC for family medicine and then completed a sports medicine fellowship at the University of Connecticut. After my fellowship, I worked as core faculty at Tufts Family Medicine Residency and spent several years teaching the physical exam courses at Tufts School of Medicine and Harvard School of Medicine. We decided to move out of the city in 2018 to be closer to friends and family, leave the snow, and enjoy the mountains! Since moving we have had our daughter Jane whose pics grace my presentations.
MAHEC has been a great organization to move to. We have made friends within the department and community. Teaching learners is absolutely my favorite part of my job and energizes me. I appreciate how willing MAHEC has been to embrace change culture.
I am very interested in research and over the past few years earned the Young investigator’s Research Grant Award and Humanitarian Award from the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine. I serve as the national subcommittee chair for Faculty Development American Society of Sports Medicine and completed the North American Primary Care Research Group Research Fellowship. My work focuses on female athletes and disordered eating, body image issues, the female athlete triad (energy deficiency, menstrual disturbances, and bone loss), the benefits of sports participation for young girls, group visits to encourage pediatric patients to get moving, health equity, and managing change.
Hello and welcome to the MAHEC Family Medicine Residency website! We are glad you may be considering our residency program!
I have been at MAHEC as a Behavioral Medicine Faculty member since 2008. I have lived in Asheville for many years and worked in the Charlotte area behavioral health system prior to the move to Asheville. My experience working in the MAHEC Program has been a wonderful blend of ongoing learning, in a stimulating environment, alongside incredible colleagues. The concept of team-based care is woven into all aspects of the MAHEC philosophy and I greatly appreciate the atmosphere of teamwork and comradery. I am grateful to be a part of the residency experience and feel honored to collaborate each day with so many dedicated and caring people.
Our program utilizes an Integrated Behavioral Health model which means that behavioral health services are available in the clinic and offered in tandem with medical care. This not only offers patients easier, more immediate access to care, but also provides multiple opportunities for our residents and behavioral health faculty to collaborate in caring for patients. I am especially passionate about being able to offer behavioral health services to patients who have experienced trauma and who may not have had prior access to therapy. Being able to provide trauma informed care to patients in a primary care setting is especially rewarding and meaningful.
Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me if you would like to chat more about MAHEC or our Integrated Care Model.
Best of luck on the interview trail!
Offers shorter-term counseling for Family Health Center patients referred by their physicians as part of the Integrated Care Model.
Faculty Physician, Deerfield CCRC Medical Director
Special Interests: Full Scope Family Practice OB - Geriatrics, Home-Based Primary Care
I was born here in Asheville and after a number of years away, I am thrilled to be coming back to serve the community in which I grew up. Since leaving Asheville after high school, I’ve been lucky to get out, see a little bit of the world, and realize how good we have it in the beautiful mountains of Western North Carolina.
My early indoctrination as a Cavalier led me to the University of Virginia for a degree in History. While in Charlottesville, I grew interested in the larger systems in which physicians work, an interest that led me to New York City to work for the Medicare Rights Center—a non-profit that works with patients who have problems with their Medicare coverage.
At UVA, I was also lucky enough to meet my wife, Caroline, the woman I have to thank for getting me to where I am today. She went straight to UNC law school after graduating, and after my time in NYC and an interlude in Asheville, I joined her in Chapel Hill. There, I was fortunately and gratefully admitted to the UNC School of Medicine.
I had the privilege of running into a couple of outstanding family doctors over the years and had a gut feeling that I wanted to follow in their footsteps. In medical school, I tried to keep an open mind, but the combination of getting to know my patients over long periods of time, the diversity and complexity of the illnesses we’d be treating, and the opportunity to improve our nation’s healthcare system through family medicine was too much to pass up.
One of the best parts of deciding to do family medicine was the fact that in MAHEC, I found a residency that shares and values those same interests that brought me to this specialty. Not only did I receive terrific, full-scope training, but I was also in an environment where we are working towards innovative, systems-based solutions to challenges in healthcare. PCHM’s, ACO’s, new practice models—they are all happening here in the mountains. Above all, at MAHEC, I received quality support from faculty members and fellow residents that enabled me to be the best physician I can be.
Like most good Asheville-ians, I love getting outside in my spare time, whether it be through hiking, gardening, or the occasional sail. Cooking, keeping up with the news, a good novel, travel, and time with my wife also keep me happy.
Faculty Physician
Transitional Year Residency Program Assistant Director
Special Interests: Lifestyle medicine
Ginger Poulton, MD, MSEd, DipABLM, is board certified in Family Medicine and Lifestyle Medicine. She is a former educator for Teach for America and a graduate of the University of Michigan Medical School. Ginger completed her family medicine residency at the Mountain Area Health Education Center in Asheville and joined MAHEC’s faculty in 2013, and has enjoyed working in a variety of roles at MAHEC since then.
Currently she is the Assistant Program Director for the Transitional Year Residency Program, the lead physician for the Community Health Worker Project at MAHEC and the Family Medicine Clerkship Director for the UNC School of Medicine for the Asheville campus. Additionally, she is the Program Director for the Lifestyle Medicine Residency Curriculum which is offered to all MAHEC residents.
Outside of work Ginger is an active runner, cyclist and sports enthusiast. She loves adventuring outdoors with her husband and sons in the beautiful mountains of Western North Carolina.
Stephanie Rosener, MD, IBCLC, FAAFP, joined MAHEC in April 2024 as Chair of Family Medicine. Prior to that appointment, Dr. Rosener served as Program Director for The United Family Medicine Residency Program, a community-based residency program of Allina Health in St. Paul, MN, which emphasized reducing barriers to care and eliminating disparities for under-resourced populations.
Dr. Rosener began her career as a registered nurse, after receiving a dual degree of a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and Bachelor of Science in Music Education from Penn State University. She shared her nursing skills at the University of Pittsburgh’s HIV Treatment Clinical Trials Unit, Presbyterian University, and Magee-Women’s Hospital in Pittsburgh.
The Pennsylvania native continued her education, obtaining her medical degree at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, followed by residency at United Family Medicine Residency in St. Paul. She completed the National Institute for Program Director Development fellowship while serving as Associate Program Director for the Middlesex Health Family Medicine Residency Program in Middletown, CT.
In addition to her current role, Dr. Rosener has held academic appointments at the University of Minnesota Medical School, the University of Connecticut School of Medicine, the Frank H. Netter School of Medicine at Quinnipiac University, Yale School of Medicine, and Boston University School of Medicine.
She is a published author and researcher with a focus on maternal child health, reduction in birth disparities, quality improvement, and innovation in graduate medical education. Dr. Rosener is also a classically trained vocalist and musician (piano, flute, sax, guitar), watercolor artist, outdoors enthusiast, and global traveler.
Chief Medical and Population Health Officer
Faculty Physician
Special Interests: Group visits and healthcare system leadership
I joined the MAHEC team in April of 2013 after living in Colorado for 17 years. I initially completed my undergraduate degree at Emory University in Atlanta, then received my Medical Degree at ECU School of Medicine in Greenville N.C. I completed my residency in Colorado at University of Colorado’s Community Health Center residency tract at Clinica Campesina.
I worked at Clinica for 17 years and served in a leadership role for 13 of those years. As the organizations medical director, I led a team of 80 medical providers and 10 behavioral health professionals who care for 42,000 low income, uninsured people in the Denver metropolitan area. As an organizational leader in clinical quality improvement, I was involved in initiatives to implement advanced access and team based care through office redesign. For over ten years I have been fortunate to be able to provide care for my patients in groups. I am experienced in CenteringPregnancy, CenteringParenting, as well as group care for patients with chronic conditions.
Joining MAHEC has given me the opportunity to be a part of an amazing team of faculty, residents and staff in a growing, innovative organization. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to teach residents and share my experience with practice management, community health and group care. My husband and I both grew up in rural North Carolina, so it has been wonderful to return to the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains.
Josh joined the MAHEC faculty in December 2014. He has worked in adult mental health since 1999 and adult/child mental health since 2007. Before coming to MAHEC Josh helped established walk-in counseling and assessment services for adults and children in an outpatient community mental health setting . Additionally, he regularly consulted with DSS on complex cases in Rutherford and Polk County. Prior to this, Josh worked in an adult substance use program and partial hospitalization programs.
Josh completed his undergraduate at the University of Massachusetts and Master's in Social Work at the University of Georgia. He works with patients to build on their strengths and resiliency, while working to connect them with resources in their own community. Josh believes strongly in matching interventions with patients’ readiness to change and having the relationship as the focal point for the change agent.
Offers shorter-term counseling for Family Health Center patients referred by their physicians as part of the Integrated Care Model.
I joined MAHEC Family Medicine in December of 2021, amidst the COVID pandemic. I am originally from Missouri, completed my medical school at the University of Michigan (Go Blue!), then spent almost 10 years in the lovely state of Colorado for residency, fellowship, and my early faculty years. In January of 2021, my wife and I welcomed our daughter into our family, and very quickly found ourselves juggling two careers and two young children without any family support in Colorado. Thus, I started to look at other opportunities and found a wonderful professional fit with MAHEC that also landed us near my family.
My professional interests are focused in primary care research, particularly dissemination and implementation science. I am passionate about studying the best ways to implement evidence-based interventions and programs in primary care and community settings with a focus on health equity. My work has been focused in various clinical conditions, including opioid use disorder, sleep apnea, cardiovascular disease prevention, cancer prevention, and vaccination. I provide outpatient primary care to patient of all ages, including pregnant patients, and have a special focus on the treatment of opioid use disorder and gender affirming care including hormone therapy. Within MAHEC, I have found a place where I am not only allowed to, but strongly encouraged to pursue my passions.
Outside of work, my main interests include cycling of all disciplines and coffee. I previously was the co-owner a bike shop, and still enjoy building, fixing, and tuning up bikes.
Faculty Physician
Medical Director Enka satellite clinic
Special Interests: Rural medicine, hepatitis C, QI
I was born and raised in Sevierville, TN and grew up camping, hiking, and fishing in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. I went to the College of Charleston in SC. While it was an amazing four years, I got my fill of the sand and heat and missed my mountains. So I came back to TN for medical school at ETSU. I met my wife, Dawn, in Charleston and we got married in my second year of medical school. We had fallen in love with Asheville and so were thrilled to match at MAHEC for residency. After residency, I was given the amazing opportunity to open the MAHEC Family Health Center at Enka/Candler and have been the associate medical director there ever since!
MAHEC has allowed me to practice full-spectrum family medicine, including prenatal and in-patient hospital care, just as I envisioned in medical school. MAHEC also not only allows, but encourages expanding opportunities for family medicine physicians to treat the patient and community with innovative and practice changing initiatives. It is a pleasure working for an organization so forward thinking and it’s invigorating to have colleagues as excited about full spectrum family medicine and with hearts focused on the health of the community!
My particular interests include rural health and creating access to care for families in our community outside of Asheville proper. I particularly enjoy prenatal care and pediatric care, expanding treatment in our region of Hepatitis C, and lifestyle and pharmacologic treatment of diabetes!
I am originally from New York City. I have lived in New York, New Jersey, Washington, Maryland and North Carolina. I received my Bachelor Degree in Biological Sciences from Binghamton University. My first career was in secondary education. I spent 10 years as a high school science teacher in NYC during which time I earned my Master’s Degree in Education from Queens College. I also had a brief career in the photography industry during a hiatus from teaching.
I moved to Asheville with my wife and two daughters in 2004. In 2007, I returned to school to study Nutrition and Dietetics. I earned my credentials as a Registered Dietitian and Licensed Nutritionist in 2010. Since then, I have worked to create Nutrition Care programs in primary care practices throughout the area. In 2007, I came to MAHEC to develop Nutrition Care and with the support of so many wonderful colleagues, we have built a robust program that offers Medical Nutrition Therapy to all MAHEC patients as well as patients from other practices in the community. I also serve as the clinical nutrition and dietetics educator providing didactic and participatory learning opportunities for all MAHEC learners from all disciplines. Working with patients, providers and learners at MAHEC has been the most rewarding professional experience of my career. I am always grateful for the opportunity to participate in the interdisciplinary care we provide, cooperate with so many special people, help our community improve their health, and provide our next generation of health care providers with knowledge and resources to integrate nutrition into patient care.
As my colleagues at Family Medicine will attest, I am passionate about incorporating healthful eating patterns and lifestyle practices into disease prevention and management. I believe that my role as an advocate for lifestyle intervention is as important as my role as a counselor in this treatment. It is always exciting for me to meet and work with residents and other learners who share this passion and show interest in collaborating with me in this advocacy.
Now that my daughters are grown and on their own, I have plenty of time for my other passion of exploring the forests by bike and foot. I have been an avid cyclist for over 20 years. I spend the majority of my free time mountain biking, running, hiking and enjoying our empty nest with Karen, my wife of 30 years.
Faculty Physician – Substance Use Educator, MAHEC
Board Certified in Addiction Medicine
Associate Professor of Family Medicine UNC School of Medicine
Special Interests: HIV substance use disorders and LGBTQ care
Genevieve Verrastro, MD, is a Family Medicine Physician and an Addiction Medicine Specialist. She completed her residency at MAHEC and worked at several Community Health Centers in Western North Carolina as a primary care physician. In 2020 she returned to MAHEC for the inaugural Addiction Medicine Fellowship and continues there as a faculty physician in the Addiction Medicine program. Her areas of interest include perinatal substance use disorders, care of people with HIV, and the LGBTQ community. Outside of work, her interests include biking, whitewater kayaking, gardening, and restoring her Craftsman bungalow.
Program Director, Pharmacy Residency PGY1 Ambulatory Care
Assistant Professor of Clinical Education, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy
Anne “Andy” Warren grew up in rural South Boston, VA. She received her undergraduate degree from Virginia Tech in Animal and Poultry Sciences and her Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. She went on to complete the ASHP-accredited PGY1 residency with Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital in Virginia and the ASHP-accredited Ambulatory Care PGY2 residency at MAHEC. During her first five years as faculty with MAHEC, Andy split her time between the inpatient Family Practice Service at Mission and the clinic at MAHEC Family Health Center. She currently serves as the PGY1 Residency Program Director and a Clinical Pharmacist Practitioner for the Biltmore and Newbridge clinics. Her areas of interest include transitions of care, collaborative interdisciplinary practice, diabetes management, and population health. She and her husband met during her PGY2 year and now have a young son, an extremely sweet doodle dog, and a fixer-upper first home! Outside of work, Andy enjoys riding her horse, Triple Down, spending time with family/friends, traveling, running/hiking, and anything Disney.
Program Director, Pharmacy Residency PGY2 Geriatrics
Co-Director, MAHEC Center for Healthy Aging
Associate Professor of Clinical Education, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy
Tasha Woodall graduated with her PharmD from Purdue University in West Lafayette, IN, in 2011. She moved to Asheville to complete her residency in ambulatory care with Mission Health and MAHEC and started as faculty at MAHEC in 2012. She serves as Co-Director of MAHEC’s Center for Healthy Aging and program director for a PGY2 specialty residency in geriatrics. She is an Associate Professor of Clinical Education for UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy and a Clinical Associate Professor for UNC School of Medicine. Tasha is a Board-Certified Geriatric Pharmacist and has served on the Board of Directors for the Council on Aging of Buncombe County and the Public Policy Committee for the American Geriatrics Society as well as chaired the Chronic Care Practice Forum for the North Carolina Association of Pharmacists. Outside of work, Tasha enjoys hiking and camping with her husband, dog, and two kids and enjoying all the great food and live music that Asheville has to offer.
Integrated Behavioral Health Care Provider, Behavioral Medicine Faculty
I have my Master’s degree from the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Social Work. My clinical practice began in the late nineties when community mental health was a team-based approach. This shaped my belief which is that people can thrive when offered the opportunity for integrated care. My training is primarily with families and children (0-18 years) as well as pregnant and post-partum women. I’m passionate about supporting caregiver/child relationships because it can shift entire family dynamics and improve outcomes for all family members. My specialties include attachment, caregiver/child interactions, and anxiety reduction for children and adults using CBT strategies, mindfulness, and acceptance.
Offers shorter-term counseling for Family Health Center patients referred by their physicians as part of the Integrated Care Model.
The MAHEC Mary C. Nesbitt Biltmore Campus, constructed in 2013, houses the Family Health Center, Dental Health Center, Education Building, and Ob/Gyn Specialists. The newly constructed UNC Health Sciences at MAHEC building houses the UNC School of Medicine Asheville campus, UNC Gillings School's Master of Public Health Program in Asheville, the Center for Health Professions Education, the Rural Health Initiatives team, and the Center for Psychiatry and Mental Wellness. The Family Health Center includes 33 patient care rooms, behavioral health offices, group visit space, ultrasound, x-ray, and laboratory services.
Mission Hospital
MAHEC residents train at Mission Hospital, a part of the Mission Health system and a regional referral center for 16 counties in Western North Carolina and parts of TN, SC, WV, and VA. The medical staff is comprised of approximately 650 physicians, with nearly all subspecialties available. Mission is an 815-bed hospital, featuring state-of-the-art facilities. The Emergency Department at Mission averages over 95,000 patient visits per year.
In 2020, Mission Hospital was named North Carolina's Best Hospital by Business North Carolina; it is one of the busiest hospitals in the state. Read more about Mission’s various accolades here.
Welcome to a powerful approach for preventing, managing, and reversing
chronic health conditions through lifestyle and behavioral changes.
Our Lifestyle Medicine Residency
Curriculum, the first in North Carolina, builds on MAHEC’s tradition of delivering innovative medical education and whole-person care. It also takes advantage of Asheville’s abundance of outdoor sports and recreation, parks and greenways, local farms, and wellness practices.
A Whole-Person Approach
Lifestyle medicine focuses on six key areas:
healthful eating
physical activity
stress management
improving sleep
avoiding toxic substances
forming and maintaining relationships
This evidence-based approach provides physicians with powerful tools to partner with patients to improve overall health and well-being. By preventing, treating, and even reversing conditions such as diabetes, hypertension and high cholesterol, lifestyle medicine can make a significant impact on health and well-being across the lifespan.
Integrated Learning
All MAHEC residents are eligible to participate in the LMRC and have the opportunity to become board eligible in Lifestyle Medicine if they so desire. Upon completion of the curriculum, residents will qualify to sit for the American Board of Lifestyle Medicine certification exam after graduation.
Lifestyle Medicine Modules
Introduction to Lifestyle Medicine
Role of Physician Health and the Physician’s Personal Health
Nutrition Science, Assessment, and Prescription
Physical Activity, Science, and Prescription
Sleep Health, Science, and Interventions
Managing Tobacco Cessation and Other Toxic Exposures
Fundamentals of Health Behavioral Change
Key Clinical Processes in Lifestyle Medicine
Emotional and Mental Well-Being Assessment and Interventions
The Role of Connectedness and Positive Psychology
Program Director
Ginger Poulton, MD, MSEd, DipABLM Family Medicine Faculty Physician
Director, Transitional Year Residency Program
MAHEC Vision and Culture
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Program Overview
Campus and Facility Tours
Tour of the Simulation Center
Tour of Mission Hospital
Curriculum
Behavioral Health in Family Medicine
Behavioral Medicine Rotation
Family Practice Service
Full Spectrum Training
GYN Curriculum
Internal Medicine Rotation
Reproductive Health and Maternal Child Fellowship
Research
Rural Health Rotation
Simulation
Special Clinics and Interests
Center for Healthy Aging
Hepatitis C and HIV
Integrative Medicine
Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Clinic
Office-Based Opioid Treatment
Osteoporosis Clinic
Preconception Health
Project ECHO®
Rural Health Initiatives
Skin Clinic
Integrated Care
Nutrition
Pharmacotherapy
Fellowships
Behavioral Health Fellowship
Make Your Own 4th Year Fellowship
Sports Medicine Fellowship
IMPORTANT MESSAGE
Dear Residency Applicants,
We are excited that you are interested in our program! Asheville is currently in a state of emergency following Hurricane Helene, but we want to assure you that we are moving forward with our upcoming recruitment season and look forward to meeting each of you. During the COVID pandemic, MAHEC Family Medicine immediately mobilized to help our community with the city’s only drive-in COVID clinic and our community is looking to us now to help again. Answering our community’s needs is a hallmark of our residency and what brings us joy. Our immediate priority is the health of our community, our patients and the well-being of our residents, and we anticipate being fully operational by the next academic year. We are confident that our program will remain as strong as ever when Asheville is back to full capacity.
To ensure everyone's safety and ease and preserve access to hotel rooms, we will be conducting only virtual interviews this season, so there is no need for you to travel to Western North Carolina. Our residents and faculty continue to remain in the region, committed to their training and dedicated to providing excellent care for our patients.
We are excited to share with you how community service and many other things make MAHEC a unique and exceptional place to train and grow, and we look forward to connecting with you soon.
Sincerely,
Lisa LaVallee, MD
Program Director, Asheville Family Medicine Residency, MAHEC
123 Hendersonville Road, Asheville, NC 28803
(828) 257-4740
Signaling
In compliance with AAMC recommendations, MAHEC Family Medicine Residency suggests that applicants signal their most interested programs regardless of whether they are home or away rotations. This is the most fair and equitable process for all applicant types (MD, DO, and IMGs) and provides all programs that participate in receiving signals with the same information about interest level. This signaling information will be used in the process of choosing applicants to interview but not for rank list ordering.
Application Requirements
We invite you to apply to our program via the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS). We will review your application and contact you if we wish to invite you for an interview. Typically, our interview season runs from mid-October through mid-December. We have 16 interview date options and welcome applicants back for informal second looks.
A complete ERAS application is required, including:
Curriculum Vitae (CV)
Personal statement
Three letters of recommendation from faculty who have directly supervised clinical performance (at least one letter should be from a family physician)
Medical school transcript(s)
Medical Student Performance Evaluation (MSPE)
USMLE, COMLEX, or Canadian licensing exam scores (Step 1 required, Step 2 CK required before ranking, Step 2 CS preferred)
Questions regarding the application process should be directed to the residency program coordinators at fmrp.avl@mahec.net.
Eligibility and Selection Criteria
The Graduate Medical Education (GME) programs will select from among eligible applicants on the basis of residency program-related criteria such as their preparedness, ability, aptitude, academic credentials, communication skills, and personal qualities such as motivation and integrity.
Minimum Requirements
An applicant must meet or exceed the following minimum qualification(s) to be eligible for selection and appointment to MAHEC’s GME residency programs:
Be a graduate of a medical school in the United States or Canada, accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME); or
Be a graduate of a college of osteopathic medicine in the United States, accredited by the American Osteopathic Association (AOA); or
Be a graduate of a non-LCME- or AOA-approved medical school who also meets one of the following additional qualifications:
holds a currently-valid certificate from the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) prior to appointment; or
holds a full and unrestricted license to practice medicine in a United States licensing jurisdiction in his or her current ACGME specialty/subspecialty program; or
has graduated from a medical school outside the United States and has completed a Fifth Pathway program provided by a LCME-accredited medical school.
Passed USMLE Steps 1 and 2 or COMLEX 1 and 2 within three attempts, as required by the North Carolina Medical Board.
Be eligible for a NC resident training license.
Be eligible to work in the U.S. (citizen, permanent resident, eligible visa including J1). MAHEC does not sponsor H1B or other visas.
VISA Sponsorship
MAHEC does not directly sponsor residents or fellows that need a J-1 Sponsorship VISA. Non-U.S. citizen applicants needing visa sponsorship must secure this directory from the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG). The ECFMG is authorized by the U.S. Department of State to sponsor foreign national physicians for the J-1 Exchange Visitor visa for the purpose of participating in U.S. programs of graduate medical education or training. ECFMG is designated by the U.S. Department of State as a BridgeUSA sponsor for J-1 exchange visitor physicians enrolled in accredited programs of graduate medical education or training, or advanced research programs (involving primarily observation, consultation, teaching, or research). Although many universities and research institutions in the United States are authorized to sponsor exchange visitors as research scholars, ECFMG is the sole sponsor of J-1 physicians in clinical training programs.
Questions regarding VISA Sponsorship should be directed to the GME office at 828-232-2946 or gme@mahec.net.