Division News

This blog post submitted by: Joseph Brogan, MD, Medical Instructor in the Department of Medicine, Duke General Internal Medicine.

Marie Witte, MD, recently joined our division as a Medical Instructor and Hospitalist for Duke University Hospital.  She comes to Duke from the Medical Group of the Carolinas in Spartanburg, SC where she was also a Hospitalist. Dr. Witte received her medical degree from Texas A&M College of Medicine in College Station, TX.  She completed her residency in internal medicine at the University of Minnesota Medical School. Welcome to Duke GIM, Dr. Witte!

The Duke Department of Medicine book club, led by GIM faculty member, Laura Caputo, MD, has been gaining attention and attendance since it started back in January of 2015. They have been meeting every 2-3 months since then and they cover a wide range of topics. The club is also open to all Duke faculty, fellows, and residents.

Last week, Becker’s Hospital Review, a monthly healthcare publication, recognized Dr. Eric Poon as one of the 33 top “Chief Medical Informatics Officers” in the U.S.

Within three days, this online first by DGIM authors published in JAMA Surgery boasts an altmetric score of 120 — besides tweets, blogs, and facebook, there were 11 news outlets and this one by CBS News: “Do the benefits of weight-loss surgery really last?”

We are excited to announce three new members of our Duke General Internal Medicine team: New Faculty Members Gerardo Alcazar, MD (left), is a Hospital Medicine Medical Instructor. Dr. Alcazar graduated from Baylor College of Medicine and completed internal medicine residency at the University of Arizona where he was also a Chief Resident, 2016-2017. He has joined the Duke University Hospital team.

The Division of General Internal Medicine welcomes David Casarett, MD, MA, as the new Chief of Palliative Care. Dr. Casarett relocated from the University of Pennsylvania where he was Professor of Medicine and Director of Hospice and Palliative Care.

Congratulations to the following faculty members who have received promotions in the division of General Internal Medicine.

In June, Dana Clifton, MD completed her combined Duke Medicine and Pediatrics residency and now launches her career in Hospital Medicine within Duke University Hospital.  “I stayed at Duke because of the incredible faculty in the hospital medicine group,” says Clifton. “They are an impressive group of people.”

Dr. William Yancy, associate professor of medicine and program director at the Duke Diet & Fitness Center, was recently interviewed by Women's Health magazine for an article on "The Best Cardio Workout to Blast Belly Fat". In it, they discuss the myth behind “spot reducing”—the idea that one workout will blast away fat in your stomach and nowhere else.