The AFP team is pleased to welcome two editorial fellows for the 2005–2006 year. Lara Johnson, M.D., and Laurie MacDonald Crain, M.D., have accepted the John C. Rose medical editing fellowship. As of July 1, they joined the medical editors based at Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, D.C.

This unique fellowship program offers a wide range of editorial responsibilities as apprentice to Jay Siwek, M.D., professor and chair of the Department of Family Medicine at Georgetown and the editor of AFP. In addition to editorial responsibilities, the fellows’ activities include teaching medical students, precepting family medicine residents, and providing clinical care.

Lara Johnson, M.D.

Dr. Johnson graduated from the University of Texas at Arlington with a bachelor’s degree in biology. She earned her medical degree at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas. Her interest in medicine began at an early age, and she has always known she wanted to be a physician. Her experiences in the public health care system included dealing with several chronic illnesses in her immediate family. Dr. Johnson said she “loves pediatrics, geriatrics, the whole spectrum of family medicine.”

Dr. Johnson completed her residency at John Peter Smith Family Practice Residency in Fort Worth, Tex, where she won the Medical Knowledge Award in 2003 and 2004. She presented a poster on childhood obesity at the American Academy of Family Physicians 2004 Scientific Assembly.

Dr. Johnson’s clinical portion of the fellowship includes treating patients at Unity Health Care, Inc., a system of community health centers providing care to underserved areas of Washington, D.C. Dr. Johnson was married in May; her husband, David Gerber, M.D., is in a hematology/oncology fellowship program at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore.

Laurie MacDonald Crain, M.D.

Dr. Crain graduated from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, with a bachelor’s degree in western European studies. After working in publishing in New York and Seattle for several years, she decided that she enjoyed journalism, but not the topics she found herself writing about. She became increasingly interested in medical journalism, but also decided she wanted direct contact with patients as a clinician. She said she “wanted to see patients to know what it’s really all about.” That decision led to a one-year pre-medical program at Bryn Mawr College, obtaining her medical degree at Georgetown, and then her family medicine residency at the Georgetown University—Providence Hospital, where she was awarded the “String of Pearls” award for excellence in teaching.

Dr. Crain said her experiences showed her that she feels very much at home being a family physician. She said, “I believe this fellowship will help me be the kind of physician I want to be.” As part of her fellowship, Dr. Crain will see patients of all ages at a clinic in Arlington, Va. Dr. Crain and her husband Adam own a bed and breakfast, called Adam’s Inn, in Washington D.C. They are expecting their first child in October.

Academy and AFP orientation

Both fellows spent a week at Academy headquarters in late July. They observed the AFP editorial process and learned more about the Academy’s mission and goals. They also participated in the annual AFP editorial meeting, which involves Dr. Siwek, the other medical editors, and the professional staff editors. We are pleased to have Drs. Johnson and Crain on our team and look forward to working with them during the coming year.