News and Events | Department of Family and Community Medicine | UC Davis Health

Marcia Faustin joined UC Davis Chancellor Gary May's Face to Face podcast to share her unique experiences working with elite athletes. The conversation focused on her role as a team physician for USA Gymnastics and her involvement in the 2020 Tokyo and 2024 Paris Olympics. Faustin is a family and sports medicine physician in the Department of Family and Community Medicine.

Spinal imaging for back pain may not be needed, but patients might still ask for it. A program designed to help clinicians engage patients with back pain did not help reduce imaging rates, found a study authored by physician researchers from the Department of Family and Community Medicine.

UC Davis Health's Department of Family and Community Medicine hosted a who’s who of state and national thought leaders and physicians eager to improve the declining state of primary care. The event was called the Rev PC Summit — short for “The Summit on Revitalizing Primary Care to Recenter Relationships and Enhance Health.”

UC Davis researchers received a new grant to evaluate a unique emergency department-based program to treat opioid use disorder. The study will assess utilization of outpatient behavioral health services. Joshua Fenton, a professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine, is the principal investigator on the study.

In an op-ed for The Sacramento Bee, Anthony Jerant shares his perspective on the shortage of primary care physicians and how it affects patients. Jerant, chair of the Department of Family and Community Medicine, co-authored the article with fellow physician and distinguished professor of medicine Richard Kravitz. 

Marcia Faustin, the co-head physician of the U.S. Gymnastics women’s team and UC Davis Division I intercollegiate athletics, reflects on her journey as a Black female physician delivering care to patients of all ages. Faustin is an assistant clinical professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine. 

Na’amah Razon, assistant professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine, is conducting a study to better understand the impact transportation and different modes of transportation have on dialysis patient outcomes. Razon and her team will analyze a quantitative data set looking at the associations of patient outcomes and particular modes of transport, including services provided by Medicaid, paratransit, public transportation, or private pay transportation.

Marcia Faustin, co-head physician for the U.S. Gymnastics Team at the 2024 Paris Olympics, shares her take on the impact of social media on athletes’ mental health. Faustin is a UC Davis family and sports medicine physician, who also served at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

New guidance recommends all women get screened for breast cancer every other year starting at age 40. The recommendation issued by the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) comes alongside a new systematic evidence review and modeling study published in JAMA that helped inform the updated recommendations. Joy Melnikow, professor emeritus in the Department of Family and Community Medicine, contributed to the USPSTF evidence review and co-authored the systemic evidence review in JAMA.

The UC Davis Health Family and Community Medicine Residency Program collaborates with CommuniCare+OLE to start a new training site to care for underserved patients in West Sacramento. Lizbeth Guillen, who moved to California from Mexico at the age of 12, is a UC Davis Health family medicine resident physician. She cares for patients with a similar background to hers at the training site.

The California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development has awarded $875,000 to UC Davis Health residency training programs to help ensure a robust primary health care workforce in California. The award included $500,000 for the Family and Community Medicine Residency Program.

UC Davis Health researchers evaluated California’s mental health crisis management and prevention programs in a report that called for more sustainable programs and community collaborations to support people with mental illness. Joy Melnikow, professor emeritus in the Department of Family and Community Medicine, is a co-lead author of the report. 

A UC Davis medical student takes to a national audience of family medicine physicians to advocate for better health care access for people experiencing homelessness. The student received invaluable guidance from several mentors from the Department of Family and Community Medicine.

Twice a week, providers from UC Davis Health board Sacramento County’s mobile health clinic to care for patients in and around homeless encampments. Mary Kathryn “M.K.” Orsulak, assistant clinical professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine, is the Sacramento County Health Center’s leader for the outreach effort. 

Joshua Fenton, Peter Franks and Anthony Jerant from the UC Davis Department of Family and Community Medicine developed a scale of socioeconomic disadvantage that led to increased medical student diversity at UC Davis School of Medicine. The scale helped UC Davis become the third-most diverse medical school in the country.

A new study sheds light on disparities in telehealth access and use among older adults, particularly concerning social isolation and loneliness. Department of Family and Community Medicine researchers Alicia Agnoli, Grace Amadi, Joshua Fenton and Rebecca Howe co-authored the study.

Rebecca Howe, a UC Davis Heather M. Young Postdoctoral Fellow mentored by faculty from the Department of Family and Community Medicine, presented at a seminar hosted by the Center for Healthcare Policy and Research. She discussed her research on advance care planning among Black older adults with serious illness and their caregivers.

A $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Justice will provide funding to help promote safe prescribing and reduce overdoses that involve prescription drugs. Joshua Fenton, a professor and vice chair of research in the UC Davis Department of Family and Community Medicine, is a co-investigator on the project. 

The specialist you see first for your neck pain has a big impact on how your condition gets diagnosed and treated, a UC Davis study has found. The study's lead author is Joshua Fenton, a professor and vice chair of research in the UC Davis Department of Family and Community Medicine.

Jennifer Karlin, assistant professor in the UC Davis Department of Family and Community Medicine, joined the Coming Together for Sexual Health podcast to discuss lesser-known forms of birth control such as self-injectable Depo-Provera, internal condoms and the fertility awareness method. She also shared how her family’s healthcare experience led to her focus on empowering patients.

Joshua Fenton, Peter Franks and Anthony Jerant from the UC Davis Department of Family and Community Medicine developed a scale of socioeconomic disadvantage that helped increase medical student diversity at UC Davis School of Medicine. The measure's value is underscored in a Jama article examining how the school enrolls one of the country's most diverse medical student classes.

Over the course of the July 2022-June 2023 academic year, we welcomed seven stellar new physicians to our Department, expanding the breadth and reach of our care and our expertise and impact in research, scholarship, and advocacy.

Congratulations to Adeola Oni-Orisan, who has been selected to be in the eighth cohort of the UC Davis Center for the Advancement of Multicultural Perspectives on Science (CAMPOS) Faculty Scholars!