Skip to main content
Janet M. Townsend, MD

Senior Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs
Professor of Family Medicine
Department of Medical Education
Central Campus

LOCATION(S)
Geisinger Medical Center
100 North Academy Ave.
Danville, PA 17822
jmtownsend1@geisinger.edu
jtownsend@som.geisinger.edu

Professor of Family Medicine

Biography

Janet Townsend, MD, served as the founding chair of the Department of Family, Community and Rural Health from 2008 – 2015. In this capacity she recruited the founding faculty and established a program of community-based education and research. In her role as senior associate dean, she provided leadership, oversight and coordination of the delivery of all academic activities in Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine’s regional campuses to achieve Geisinger Commonwealth’s education, research and service missions and ultimately, to contribute to improved health in the region. She now serves as GCSOM's senior associate dean for Faculty Affairs. Dr. Townsend was recruited to Geisinger Commonwealth in 2008 after 25 years of medical education leadership at Montefiore Medical Center and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, N.Y.

Recent publications

Original communications in peer-reviewed journals

  • Strelnick, A.H., et al: “Graduate Primary Care Training: A Collaborative Alternative for Family Practice, Internal Medicine, and Pediatrics,” Annals of Internal Medicine, 109:324-334, 1988
  • Townsend, Janet M.: Preparing for the Crisis Inherent in Opportunity,” Family Medicine, Vol. 26, No.5, May 94.
  • Townsend, Janet M.: “Meeting the Leadership Needs of the ’90’s: Increasing Family Medicine Faculty is not Enough”, Family Medicine, Vol. 26, No.6, June 1994.
  • Townsend, Janet M: “Wake-up Call”, Family Medicine, Vol. 26., No.7, July-Aug ’94.
  • Townsend, Janet M.: “Mentoring at Every Moment”, Family Medicine, Vol. 26. No.8, Sept. ’94.
  • Townsend, Janet M. MD with Robin M. Clemons, MD: “The Balancing Act: Should We Perfect Our Juggling?” Family Medicine Vol. 26, No.9, Oct ’94.
  • Townsend, Janet M and Chinita Fulchon, Ph.D.: “Minority Faculty – Recruiting, Retaining, and Sustaining”, Family Medicine, Vol. 26, No.10, Nov – Dec ’94.
  • Townsend, Janet M, MD: “Remembering David D. Schmidt, M.D. Advocate for Excellence in Family Medicine,” Family Medicine, Vol. 27, No.1, Jan ’95.
  • Holloway, Richard L., A. Marbella, J. Townsend, et al, “Defining the Need for Faculty in Family Medicine: Results of a National Survey” Family Medicine Vol 27. No.2, February ’95.
  • Townsend, Janet M. MD: “Family Medicine Must Mobilize to Respond to Changed Environment”, Family Medicine Vol. 27, No.2, Feb ’95.
  • Townsend, Janet M. MD with Kenneth G. Reeb, M.D.: “AFMO – Leaders’ Foresight Pays Off” Family Medicine, Vol. 27, No.3, April ’95.
  • Arnsten JH, Grossman P, Townsend JM. “A scholarship-generating project for clinician educators”.
  • Medical Education, 2005 May; 39(5):532-3.
  • Strelnick AH, Swiderski D, Fornari A, Gorski V, Korin E, Ozuah PO, Townsend JM, Selwyn PA. “The Residency Program in Social Medicine of Montefiore Medical Center: 37 Years of Mission-Driven, Interdisciplinary Training in Primary Care, Population Health, and Social Medicine”. Acad Med, 2008 April; 83 (4): 378-89.
  • Townsend, Janet M. “One Last Question: Opening Pandora’s Box”, Annals of Family Medicine, March-April 2009.
  • Garrettson M, Walline V, Heisler, Townsend J. “New Medical School Engages Rural Communities
  • to Conduct Regional Health Assessment”, Family Medicine, Vol. 42 , No. 10, Nov-Dec 2010.
  • Simoyan OM, Townsend JM, Tarafder MR, DeJoseph D, Stark RJ, White MV. Public health and medical education- a natural alliance for a new regional medical school. American Journal of Preventive Medicine. 2011 Oct; 41 (4 Supp 3): S220-7.
  • Simoyan OM, Townsend JM. Improving the health of Northeastern Pennsylvania through medical education and community engagement, Public Voices. 2012; Vol XII, No. 2.
  • “One Last Question: Opening Pandora’s Box” in The Wonder and the Mystery: 10 Years of Reflections from the Annals of Family Medicine, Robin Gotler, Editor, Spring 2013
  • Schisterman E, Silver R, Perkins N, Mumford S, Whitcomb B, Stanford J, Lesher L, Faraggi D, Wactawski-Wende J, Browne R, Townsend J, White M, Lynch A, Galai N. A randomized trial to evaluate the Effects of low dose Aspirin in Gestation and Reproduction (EAGeR): Design and baseline characteristics. Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiolog), 2013, 27, 598–609.
  • Schisterman E, Silver R, Lesher L, Faraggi D, Wactawski-Wende J, Townsend J, Lynch A, Perkins N,
  • Mumford S, Galai N. Preconception Low Dose Aspirin and Pregnancy Outcomes: Findings from the EAGeR (Effects of Aspirin in Gestation and Reproduction) Randomized Trial). Accepted in The Lancet, in press.

Other publications

  • Silberman, S, Correa, N, Strelnick, AH, Townsend, J, Spano, H. (Eds) Teaching Cases Exploring Cross-Cultural Care, Monograph published by the Bronx Center to Reduce and Eliminate Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities (BxCREED), Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 2007
  • “Caring for the Dying Woman” with R Guilbe Chapter 13E in The ACP Handbook of Women’s Health, eds R Fife and S Shrager, American College of Physicians, Philadelphia, 2009, 579-586.

Presentations (since 2008)

  • “Strategies for Conducting Culturally Sensitive Family Meetings at the End of Life,” STFM 28th Annual Conference on Families and Health, with R Guilbe, New Orleans, Louisiana, February, 2008
  • “The Impact of 3 Decades of Title VII Funding on the Residency Program in Social Medicine”, with P Meissner, HRSA Bureau of Health Professions All-Grantee Meeting, Washington, DC, February, 2008
  • “Using a Logic Model to Evaluate a Health Disparities Faculty Scholars Program”, with A Fornari and S Simon, HRSA Bureau of Health Professions All-Grantee Meeting, Washington, DC, February, 2008
  • “Using a Logic Model to Evaluate a Health Disparities Faculty Scholars Program”, with A Fornari and S Simon, Academic Poster, 41st STFM Annual Spring Conference, Baltimore, Maryland, April 30-May 4, 2008
  • Invited Lecturer, 2nd Annual Lila Kroser, MD, Leadership Lecture, Pennsylvania Academy of Family Physicians Foundation, Hershey, Pennsylvania, June 29, 2008
  • “Salsa Exercise in the Community: An Innovative Resource for Healthier Living” with M Vaca, R Shanker, F Daguilh, Amy Osorio. Society of Teachers of Family Medicine 2008 Northeast Regional Meeting, Baltimore, Maryland, November 1, 2008.
  • “How to Build a Professional Network”, Faculty, Minority and Women Career Development Day, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, December 4, 2008.
  • “Cultural Competence: You’re Never so Competent that You Can’t Learn Something New,” Grand Rounds Presentation, Mercy Hospital, Scranton, Pennsylvania, March 13, 2009
  • “Taking Everyday Work to Scholarship,” Workshop presented with P A Carney, PhD, Davidoff Education Day, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, March 17, 2009
  • “Preparing Physicians for the 21st Century: Achieving Equity through Accountability” , Invited Panel Presentation at Assuring Equity through Health and Health Care Reform Conference, sponsored by Institute for Community and Collaborative Health/Bronx Creed Health Disparities/Project Export Center, New York, New York, October 1, 2009.
  • “Regional Health Assessment in Rural Pennsylvania- Building Community Partnerships”, with M Garrettson and V Walline. Research Poster at Assuring Equity through Health and Health Care Reform Conference, sponsored by Institute for Community and Collaborative Health/Bronx Creed Health Disparities Center. New York, New York, October 1-2, 2009.
  • “The Commonwealth Medical College: Founded on Regional Need”, 2010 Pennsylvania Primary Care Workforce Summit, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, March 25, 2010.
  • “Community Engaged Scholarship: Building Partnerships with Communities in a New Medical School,” with M Garrettson and V Walline, seminar at 43rd Annual Spring Conference, Society of Teachers of Family Medicine, Vancouver, British Columbia, April 27, 2010.
  • “Regional Health Assessment in Rural Pennsylvania- Building Community Partnerships”, with M Garrettson and V Walline. Research Poster at 43rd Annual Spring Conference, Society of Teachers of Family Medicine, Vancouver, British Columbia, April 27, 2010.
  • “TCMC Regional Health Assessment: A Qualitative Study”, Susquehanna Health Visiting Professor Rounds, Williamsport, Pennsylvania, May 14, 2010.
  • “Obesity: What Works? Prevention and Treatment for Clinicians”, CATCH ‘10 (Convergence around Technology for Cardiovascular Health) Conference, co-sponsored by Community Medical Center and TCMC at WVIA, Pittston, Pennsylvania, September 30, 2010.
  • “Community engaged research: Building Partnerships in a New Medical School” with M Garretson and V Walline, Family Medicine Education Consortium Northeast Region Meeting, Hershey, Pa , October 31, 2010.
  • “Building Medical Student Research Programs: Supporting Engagement and Translation” with John Arnott, Moses Prabu, and Mark White, Northeast Group on Educational Affairs Meeting (AAMC), Washington, DC, March 11, 2011.
  • “Regional Interprofessional Education Coalition” with M Olenick,E Foote and M McManus, Collaborative Family Healthcare Association Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, October 28, 2011.
  • “Reflections on 10 Years of the Montefiore Summer Health Careers Program: Vision, Preparation, Excellence”, Keynote Address at MonteHOP Graduation, Montefiore Medical Center, August 10, 2012.

Education

BA – Sociology, summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, Tufts University, 1973, Marquette University Program in Madrid, 1971-1972
MD – Harvard Medical School, 1978
Family Practice Residency (PGY 1), 1978-1979 – University of California, Irvine Medical Center, Orange, California
Family Practice Residency (PGY II and III), 1979-1981 – Somerset Medical Center (UMDNJ-RWJ Medical School), Somerville, New Jersey