Welcome from the Acting Chair

Hello and welcome to the University of Kentucky College of Medicine Department of Family and Community Medicine (DFCM)!  I am glad you are here!  I would like to introduce myself.  My name is Ginny Gottschalk, MD, and I am currently serving as the Interim Chair for DFCM.  I am originally from Paducah, in western Kentucky.  I grew up wanting to be a physician and realized in middle school my ideal physician was actually a family physician!  I was blessed to have an excellent mentor in family medicine who inspired me to pursue this path.  I received my medical degree from the University of Kentucky College of Medicine in Lexington, Ky.  I completed a residency in family medicine at Palmetto Health in Columbia, S.C. 

I started my career in medicine after residency in private practice in Danville, Ky., practicing traditional inpatient and outpatient family medicine.  I loved being a small-town family doctor!  My patients were absolutely wonderful.  One of my favorite parts of this profession is seeing families and treating multiple generations.  I love chronic disease management and caring for the whole person.  But, I also found I love teaching about my specialty.  I enjoyed having third year medical students rotate with me for their family medicine clerkship so much that I decided to come back to UK so I would have more time and opportunity for teaching.  I returned to UK in 2014. 

I have had the opportunity to continue to work with students at all levels of training in my clinic and also served as the Family Medicine Clerkship Director for several years.  I work closely with our family medicine residents in clinic and the hospital service, too.  About four years ago, I became the Medical Director for Family and Community Medicine Turfland Clinic.  During my time in academic medicine, I developed a strong interest in healthcare administration and quality improvement.  I’m fortunate to utilize all of this experience now in leading the DFCM.  Our people—faculty, staff, residents, and students, are what make us truly outstanding!  Please contact me to learn more about our fantastic opportunities!