Michele Despreaux, MD
Senior Care Clinic, Medical Director Senior Care/Internal Medicine Clinics

VMC Provider of the Month

Congratulations to Dr. Michele Despreaux, Valley’s May 2019 Provider of the Month. Dr. Despreaux works in Valley’s Senior and Internal Medicine Clinic. This story was relayed to the nominator from a patient’s wife:

“A patient of Dr. Despreaux’s was too tired to walk back to the car himself after an appointment. Dr. Despreaux took the time to personally ‘wheel’ him from the clinic to their car. The patient’s wife was blown away that a doctor would do that, and was very impressed by Dr. Despreaux’s dedication and thoughtfulness.”

Thank you, Dr. Despreaux, for your professionalism, accountability, and commitment to your patients!

Greg Morlin, MD

Infectious Disease Clinic

Dr. Morlin gave a presentation on Hepatitis C at a local symposium on June 7, hosted by Kaiser Permanente: Infectious Disease for Primary Care.

Jan Carlton, MD
Valley Family Medicine

Jan Carlton, MD, a much-respected Valley Family Medicine Residency Program faculty physician, will retire at the end of June. One of the original faculty physicians from the opening of the family medicine residency program in 1986, Dr. Carlton currently oversees a critical part of the residency curriculum which focuses on teaching family medicine residents how to maintain well-being and resilience as practicing physicians during and after residency.

Dr. Carlton's VFM faculty colleague says, "Jan has always encouraged me to be more than that person defined by my professional roles. She gently encourages growth in all areas of life. As she has flourished in her artistic endeavors, she has encouraged me in my writing. Jan brings her whole self to teaching and to medicine and she encourages others to do the same. She has as much compassion for her learners as she does for her patients."

During her career, Dr. Carlton briefly left Valley to teach in Olympia, returning to VFM as a faculty physician with the residency for the last 20 years and serving as an associate professor of family medicine at the UW School of Medicine's Department of Family Medicine.

Dr. Carlton also co-directs the resident Balint curriculum, nurturing a more therapeutic alliance between clinician and patient through a group process of exploration. Medical participants work toward transforming uncertainty and difficulty in the doctor-patient relationship into greater understanding and meaning.

Dr. Carlton is a talented watercolor artist and in retirement plans to spend more time in this endeavor

We want to recognize you or your VMC provider colleagues in a future post!

Have you authored a publication? Spoke at a conference? Gave a poster session? Served in a healthcare volunteer role? Participated in research? Received a grant, award, or other professional achievement?
Send an email to provider_outreach@valleymed.org with the name and details.

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