Program Directors
Meet Program Director Brian Uthlaut
Welcome to UVA! I hope that you enjoy reading about our outstanding training program in Internal Medicine, known for strong clinical experience, ready exposure to mentorship, a resident-centered culture and outstanding camaraderie among the housestaff…all set in the picturesque and vibrant setting of Charlottesville and the Blue Ridge Mountains. With strong traditions and a commitment to innovate and grow, I cannot imagine a better place to live, work and learn!
After attending the University of North Carolina for college and medical school, I trained in UVA’s Primary Care Internal Medicine track from 2003-2006. Appreciative of the culture of education at UVA and inspired by faculty mentors, I stayed on faculty after completing residency. My early career included several years as a hospitalist prior to transitioning to a blend of inpatient and outpatient general medicine practice. I feel fortunate to serve a challenging and stimulating mix of patients who come from throughout the state of Virginia; to work with talented and hard-working residents who come from around the country to train in internal medicine; to innovate with and teach alongside phenomenal colleagues; and to mentor and instruct our brilliant and caring medical students. UVA is an amazing place…come see for yourself!
Meet Associate Program Director Rebecca Clemo
I am a lifelong Virginian, but first came to Charlottesville for myundergraduate degree at UVA in biomedical engineering. Medical school took my now-husband, Merrick, and me to Richmond and VCU, after which we returned to UVA for residency in dermatology and medicine, respectively. Right off the bat, I was blown away by how deeply education and resident wellbeing are ingrained in the core of the program. During my time in residency here, I built a family of lifelong friends and mentors that made coming to work not just hugely rewarding for the academically curious but also just downright fun! These, among many, were major reasons I stayed for a chief resident year and am ecstatic to have a continued role in the program both as an APD and an academic hospitalist. Some areas of interest for me are clinical reasoning and cognitive bias, as well as transitions of care and multidisciplinary communication.
Outside of the hospital, I enjoy Charlottesville’s easy access to hiking, breweries, and great restaurants. From taking my now toddler (Rhys) and dogs (Lucy and Franklin) splashing in the Rivanna River to hiking on the Appalachian Trail, there are so many fun outdoor activities in the area. I have now been lucky enough to live many phases of life in this area and continue to discover new things about Charlottesville every weekend!
Meet Associate Program Director Jessica Dreicer
Born and raised in the Midwest, I stayed to complete my undergraduate (Go Blue!) and medical school degrees (University of Cincinnati) and then ventured to the West Coast for residency at OHSU. I initially interviewed as a hospitalist at UVA because my father had recently joined the faculty. During my interview I got that somewhat indefinable “good feeling” that UVA was the right fit. That feeling was spot on. Training in a program with supportive co-residents, faculty, and program leadership is so important to help you weather the challenges of practicing medicine and you’ll certainly find that at UVA.
For me, one of the great joys of internal medicine is receiving three overnight admissions for “shortness of breath” and making three distinctly different diagnoses. The best part of my job is working with residents and medical students on the general medicine wards providing excellent patient care. I have a passion for helping learners develop their clinical reasoning and evidence appraisal skills. It is such a privilege to be a physician; I hope you’ll join us at UVA for the next step in your training!
Meet Associate Program Director Drew Harris
I joined the UVA Department of Medicine in 2017 after completing a pulmonary and critical care fellowship at Yale. Prior to fellowship, I spent two years working as an internist on the Navajo reservation (in the Indian Health Service). I did my internal medicine residency and chief residency at Emory #GradyMade. I’m originally from Pennsylvania and completed my undergraduate medical education at the University of Pittsburgh.
My role in the internal medicine residency training program is varied – ranging from attending in the MICU and on pulmonary consults/clinic to organizing the “community partnered medicine” program which includes didactics, advocacy training and community-based clinic experiences focused on caring for vulnerable populations. I’m also a community-engaged researcher, the medical director for the largest black lung program in the nation, and the co-director of the pulmonary-allergy collaborative clinic.
In my free time, I’m building things with my family (e.g., mountain bike jump, zip line, tree-house), hiking/backpacking/biking, shaving designs into my children’s hair, pitching baseballs, and flexing like Jay Huff – Go Hoos!
Meet Associate Program Director Rachel Kon
At UVA, we are passionate about medicine and teaching. I was drawn here by the wonderful people who are dedicated to their mission of caring for the underserved and training the next generation of compassionate physicians. I grew up in Michigan and North Carolina. After finishing med school at UNC in 2007, my husband and I spent the next eight years living in DC where I did residency, a chief resident year, and was faculty at Georgetown. As a general medicine attending, I found my academic home in medical education and served as an assistant program director for the Georgetown Internal Medicine Residency. When our family began to grow, my husband and I chose to escape the city’s ever worsening traffic. We arrived at UVA in 2015, excited to see the mountains out our window and watch our kids, Nathan (9) and Kira (5), play in the wide open spaces. Our family are huge Chicago Cubs fans. On the weekends, you may see us at the baseball fields, picnicking at a winery or hiking with our Cubs hats on.
I am one of the firm attendings at UMA, have my own primary care patient panel, direct a longitudinal patient-doctor relationship course for the medical students, and teach courses for both UME and GME. As an associate program director and director of the PC track, my goal is to help you develop as internists and achieve all your goals. I focus on clinical skills training, ambulatory topic education, interprofessional education, improving the quality of feedback in outpatient setting, and preparing our residents to be educators.
Meet Associate Program Director Allison Lyons
I moved to UVA seven years ago after completing medical school, residency and a chief year at Northwestern University. I have 2 amazing little boys (ages 7 and 4) and a law professor husband, Chris.
I bled purple for many, many years but quickly turned to supporting blue and orange based on the amazing support I have received both professionally and personally from the amazing faculty and residents at UVA. The UVA Department of Medicine is truly a family that cares for and supports its members.
I love working with the smart and hardworking residents at UMA, the resident continuity clinic. I am always impressed by how the residents go the extra mile to care for their patients whether that involves directly calling subspecialty care clinics, working with our social workers or pharmacist, or calling their patients outside clinic hours.
I have also enjoyed working with residents through our clinical educator track where we give residents training and exposure to adult educational theory as well as feedback to their own educational practices. In addition, we provide them with mentorship and projects in this area.
Meet Associate Program Director Alex Millard
After I completed my undergraduate degree at Boston College and my medical school training at the University of Nebraska, I looked all over the country for a residency. At UVA, I found a program that would provide excellent clinical training, opportunities for the next stage of whatever career in medicine I pursued, and a collegial relationship between residents. Other than one year at the University of Washington as a hospitalist after my chief resident year, I have been at UVA for the last 10 years as a resident first, then as a hospitalist. I have always enjoyed working with the stellar medicine residents here who help keep me up-to-date with my knowledge as well as our excellent medical students who see our residents as terrific medical educators.
I met my wife, Trish (who is faculty in Oncology), during residency training at UVA, and we both feel that UVA and Charlottesville are now home. We now have two children and enjoy spending time hiking in the Blue Ridge Mountains, spending time at the many local vineyards, and eating at the excellent restaurants in the area. I’m looking forward to getting back to playing on the soccer team in the city league with many residents and faculty from the hospital when the pandemic ends. I hope you’ll visit UVA to see why so many faculty members stay here after coming for residency and fellowship training!
Meet Associate Program Director Jeff Sturek
Welcome to UVA! This is a great place to grow your career and I am confident you will find it as welcoming as I have. I grew up in Columbia, Missouri and attended undergraduate school at Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois. I moved to Charlottesville in 2005 to attend the Medical Scientist Training (MD-PhD) Program at UVA and they couldn’t get rid of me! I stayed here for Internal Medicine residency, did a chief year as well, and then did my fellowship in Pulmonary and Critical Care. I started on faculty in July 2019, just in time for a global respiratory disease pandemic, truthfully inspiring times for me. I attend in the medical ICU as well as in outpatient pulmonary clinic where my focus is on Oncopulmonology, caring for patients with pulmonary complications from the treatment of malignancy, including chemotherapy, immune checkpoint inhibitors, radiation therapy, and hematopoietic stem cell transplant. I also have a basic-translational research laboratory focusing on lung inflammation and fibrosis, and I help lead clinical trials at UVA focusing on COVID and critical care through our Joint Emerging Diseases Initiative (JEDI J).
The real reason I can’t manage to leave UVA is because of Charlottesville. This is just an awesome college town with an abundance of good food, outdoor activities, and national champion sports teams – Go Hoos! It is also a great place to raise a family and I have three kids: Lily (age 11), Olsen (age 8), and Hank (age 6), all born right here at UVA. So, though residency is only three years, you never know how long you may be here! I look forward to working with you as you develop your careers here at UVA.
Meet Associate Program Director Andy Wolf
Having been up and down the East Coast during my early years, I’ve found my home at UVA. I grew up in northern Virginia, attended Harvard College, and returned to Virginia for medical school, graduating from UVA in 1984. I then went to Brown University for a residency in internal medicine; there I met my wife, Anne, who was completing her dietetic internship. After completing our training, Anne and I moved to Boston where I worked at Carney Hospital, an inner-city community hospital which at the time was a Boston University affiliate. I developed the primary care curriculum for its internal medicine residency program, and honed my generalist skills at the height of the AIDS epidemic.
After the birth of our first child, Tyler, and with our passion for outdoor activities, we were looking to leave the big city; it felt natural to return to my roots in Virginia. I’ve been back at UVA now for over 25 years. Anne runs the Virginia Center for Diabetes Prevention & Education, son Tyler is completing law school at William & Mary, and daughter Katie oversees student fundraising at UVA. When not in clinic or on the wards with the residents, I’m working on our comprehensive ambulatory medicine curriculum or on the Primary Care Track, which I direct, and in my spare time help to develop cancer screening guidelines for the American Cancer Society. UVA is a unique program, in that it combines great medicine, a geographic location that offers essentially no competition from other academic medical centers, a vibrant university town, and unparalleled outdoor activity. My passion outside of family and work has been soccer – I’ve been playing since grade school, though I’m now relegated to the OFL (Older Footballers – or “Old Farts” League!). All of these factors made it an easy choice to return to Charlottesville — but what drew me most of all was the opportunity to teach general internal medicine to a wonderful cadre of internal medicine residents, who have managed to keep me looking forward to work every day for over two decades. I hope to have the opportunity to meet you, and to imbue you with the enthusiasm I have for UVA!