Medical Advisory Board

Dr. Joseph Green served as the Senior Vice President for Professional Development and Chief Learning Officer for the American College of Cardiology from August 2007 until July 2011. He was Associate Dean of CME and Associate Consulting Professor in the Department of Community and Family Medicine at Duke University School of Medicine from 1997 to 2004. He also served as Director of Continuing Medical Education and Vice President of Educational Affairs for Sharp HealthCare, an integrated health care system in San Diego, California from 1989-1997. In 1988 Dr. Green founded and has served for over 30 years as founder and president of Professional Resource Network, Inc., a consulting firm that has provided assistance to more than 350 medical schools, national specialty societies, voluntary associations, communication companies and hospitals in the United States, Europe, South America and Asia Pacific.

 

Dr. Green is a Fellow in and served as President of the Alliance for Continuing Education in the Health Professions, where he had been a member of its Board of Directors from 1991-2000. He received many accolades for his contribution to the Alliance in his 38 years of membership, and was awarded the Distinguished Service award in 2008 for significant, life-long contributions to the profession.

 

Dr. Green was a member of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), Accreditation Review Committee between 1981 and 1988. He was also a Senior Staff Associate at the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) where he served as the lead editor and primary author for the AAMC textbook on CME, Continuing Education for the Health Professions: Developing, Managing, and Evaluating Programs for Maximum Impact on Patient Care (1984). Dr Green recently edited and authored his second book entitled AO Principles of Teaching and Learning with a director of the International Society of Surgeons in Switzerland. He was also one of three authors on the 2009 journal article entitled "Achieving Desired Results and Improved Outcomes: Integrating Planning and Assessment throughout Learning Activities."

Stephen A. Brunton, MD, FAAFP is Executive Vice President for Education of the Primary Care Metabolic Group and Executive Vice President for Education for the Primary Care Education Consortium (PCEC). He works in a group practice in rural South Carolina. He holds the faculty rank of Adjunct Associate Clinical Professor at Touro University in Vallejo California. He currently also serves as the Editor-in-Chief for Clinical Diabetes.

 

Dr. Brunton earned his medical degree at Monash University Medical School in Melbourne, Australia and completed his residency at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center in California. He is a board-certified family physician, with a certificate of added qualification in geriatrics.

 

As former president of the California Academy of Family Physicians and the Association of Family Medicine Residency Directors, Dr. Brunton has held many positions within the Academy of Family Physicians. He served as the director of the Division of Education in the the early 1980s and was a family practice residency director in California for 13 years.

 

A frequent lecturer, Dr Brunton also has published numerous articles, chapters, and monographs on family medicine and related clinical topics. He has served as a reviewer for American Family Physician, CMRO, Southern Medical Journal, Expert Review of Endocrinology and Metabolism and the Journal of Family Practice.

Dr. Colleen Cole began her career in nursing with an Associate Degree graduating in Nursing from East Tennessee State University in 1986. Following graduation, she began to work in several inpatient and outpatient healthcare areas including critical care, surgery, home health and the emergency room. It was at the Mountain Home Veterans Administration Medical Center that Colleen embraced the desire to return to school while working and raising her children, to pursue further education in nursing. She earned a Baccalaureate of Science in Nursing (2000) and a Master of Science in Nursing with a family nurse practitioner emphasis (2004) from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

 

Colleen received board certification as a family nurse practitioner in 2004, a Master of Business Administration in 2010 from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and in 2012, obtained a Doctor of Nursing Practice from Chatham University, Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. Her Capstone project was Back Injury Prevention in Healthcare Workers, 2012. Colleen has received several awards including being presented as a Healthcare Hero from Covenant Health, Knoxville, Tennessee, and Wealth Creators Extraordinaire from the University of Tennessee, 2009. In 2019-2020, she served as the President for the Association of Family Practice Physician Assistants and Nurse Practitioners and 2020-2022 as the Immediate Past President on the Board of Directors.

 

For 18 years, Colleen assisted the Knoxville Tennessee AAA organization in the annual Safety Patrol Field Trip to Washington DC. She was responsible for recruiting nurses and physicians, establishing medical guidelines, and providing care for an average of two thousand 5th graders and chaperones during each trip.

M. Elayne DeSimone has loved her career in nursing which began in 1974 as a Diploma graduate from New Rochelle Hospital School of Nursing. She soon thereafter attained her baccalaureate degree at Stony Brook University while working in critical care. Elayne received her first nurse practitioner degree in critical care, a Master of Science from Stony Brook University in 1981 and her second NP certification in Family (across the lifespan) from Widener University in 2014. She attained her PhD from Adelphi University in 1996.

 

Her forty-six-year career has included academic leadership positions in three universities, an active clinical practice and a life-long practice of volunteerism, activism, and advocacy. She is a recipient of the Stony Brook University President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching, the New York State University Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching, Distinguished Alumni Award from Stony Brook University School of Nursing, the Nurse Practitioner of the Year from both the Long Island chapter and the New York State Nurse Practitioner Association, and the NYS award for excellence by the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP).

 

Elayne co-founded the Nurse Practitioner Association of Long Island and was a past president of the New York State Nurse Practitioner Association. She is a fellow of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners and an editorial board member for the Journal of the AANP. She has authored and coauthored more than thirty publications on a wide range of clinical and professional topics and has presented nationally and internationally. Currently, Elayne is a volunteer NP and preceptor at Community Volunteers in Medicine, a free clinic for uninsured people in Westchester, PA.

Dr. Michael Hanak is the President of the Illinois Academy of Family Physicians (IAFP) and a board-certified family physician who cares for patients of all ages, with an emphasis on prevention and education. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) and carries a second board certification in Clinical Informatics through the American Board of Preventive Medicine. His interests lie in health information technology and its role in improving health care delivery, particularly as it relates to managing the health of a community.

 

Dr. Hanak is Associate Professor and Vice Chairperson for Clinical Programs in the Department of Family Medicine at Rush University Medical Center, where he also serves as Associate Chief Medical Officer for Population Health. As chair of the medical group’s Quality Committee, he led efforts to achieve nationally ranked performance in key areas of clinical quality. His interests in value-based care and health equity, are informed by service on a national commission of the AAFP and his role as vice chairperson of the AAFP delegation to the AMA. His work in medical education includes service as chairperson of the IAFP CME committee and serving five years on the Illinois State Medical Society Council on Education and Health Workforce.

 

Outside of clinic, he is the team primary care physician for the Joffrey Ballet.

Dr. Kevin Miller was born on Eglin Air Force Base in Florida, and grew up on many different bases in the midwest and east coast. Inspired by his grandfather’s example of professionalism and caring, he chose to pursue medicine, graduating from Oral Roberts University in 1991, then going on to Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine where he did an additional year fellowship in Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine.

 

After graduation in 1996, he completed a residency at Ohio University. "Being a physician allows me to serve people in need through science and compassionate care," says Dr. Miller. After his wife, Dr. Eden Miller, a native Oregonian, finished her training in Portland, she suggested the family look for an opportunity to move to Central Oregon and High Lakes provided that opportunity. "We have enjoyed seeing the wonderful people of Sisters for 10 years. The combination of great people, natural beauty and wonderful opportunity for raising healthy children have kept us enjoying our practice."

 

Dr. Miller is a current board member of the Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons Board. He is the past President of Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons of Oregon (OPSO) and is also the current president of the American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians of Oregon. He has served as a delegate on the AOA board of delegates representing Oregon at their annual meeting in Chicago, and serves on the Governor’s Board of Rural Health. "I enjoy being involved in my children’s lives, going on family hikes and participating in their school and sports activities. I also serve on many boards in order to help improve the health and well-being of patients in our state and nationally."

Beth Smolko is the Past President of the Association of Family Practice Physician Assistants (AFFPA), a national constituent organization of the American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA) representing primary care PAs. She is a board-certified Physician Assistant, currently practicing Internal Medicine in Frederick, MD. Her clinical experience includes both family practice and internal medicine, treating patients in rural and underserved communities.

 

In addition to patient care, she serves as a clinical preceptor for both Salus University and Franklin Pierce University. Prior to earning a Masters in Medical Science from Midwestern University in 2007, she worked as a microbiologist at the National Cancer Institute at NIH studying plasmacytomas.

 

Ms. Smolko is passionate about driving policy change to ensure that all advanced practice clinicians can provide patient care within the full scope of their licenses. In 2012, she facilitated the first-ever panel discussion between the presidents of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) and AAPA to examine how their respective professions can work together on common legislative goals. She has led direct discussions with members of Congress on the role of PAs in hospice, home health and patient centered medical homes, and recently served as a panelist representing physician assistants at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the discussion on the implementation of Hepatitis C screening recommendations for baby boomers.