MEMBER SPOTLIGHT Kara Frame, MD To start off, tell us a little bit about yourself and your background — where you grew up, went to school, your family, interests, hobbies, etc. I grew up in a Portland suburb, but I really call all of the Pacific Northwest home. Outside of medicine, my biggest hobby is spending time with my girls and husband. I love anything that will take me outdoors, particularly hiking, running and skiing. I also am happy when I’m cooking for others, especially baking. Where did you attend college? What is your undergraduate degree? Where did you attend medical school? I didn’t stray too far from home for college, heading north just a bit to go to Seattle University. Then, I headed to the Midwest for medical school at Creighton University. Residency was back in the Northwest at Spokane Family Medicine. Right after residency, I spent one year working in urgent care here in Utah before moving all the way across the country to Massachusetts. I completed a one-year fellowship at Lawrence Family Medicine in Faculty Development before moving back to Utah to join the faculty at the U. How/when did you choose family medicine as your specialty? What are some of the aspects of family medicine that drew you to it? I didn’t choose family medicine until quite late, the very end of my third year. When I started clinicals, I tried to keep an open mind and, as a true family physician, found myself enjoying everything. I had a very strong OB/GYN rotation and thought that was going to be my path for a long time. But then, I started questioning it. I didn’t want to give up caring for any particular group of patients, and when I did some true soul-searching, I realized that primary care and family medicine were the vision of being a doctor I had for myself all along. What has your career path been since finishing residency? Why did you choose to practice in Utah? Right out of residency, I spent one year working at a local urgent care here in Utah. I originally moved here to be with my husband, but quickly grew to love it, especially the people, the beauty and the ease with which we can be outdoors. Urgent care was a great first job. It helped me build confidence in my own skill and judgment. It pushed me in ways I didn’t expect … but pretty quickly, I also knew something was missing for me. First and foremost, I missed continuity of care; when you see patients repeatedly in urgent care, that’s not generally a good thing. And, I missed being in an environment of learning. I had great partners who were always excellent clinicians, but I missed being part of a residency where everyone was constantly asking questions and pushing learning. That’s what led me to the fellowship and academics. You are the new program director at the University of Utah Family Medicine Residency — how did you decide to pursue that? What have been the challenges/rewards so far? Becoming program director feels like a slow evolution. When I started in academics, I was part of the core faculty, and my focus was on day-to-day resident education, curriculum, clinical teaching, etc. Then I became the associate program director and started to get a glimpse of the broader structure. Becoming program director felt like the right next step to really think about the vision and mission of the program as a whole and to be able to further influence the education, experience and career paths of all of our residents. So far, it has been good. I still see patients, but on a smaller scale. Being a primary care doctor and taking care of patients is at the core of what I love about family medicine; it can be hard to have that account for such a small 29
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