Earl D. Kemp, MD, Program Director.
Dr. Kemp is a 1972 graduate of the University of IA School of Medicine and interned at McKennan Hospital. He serves as tuberculosis consultant and clinician for the SD Department of Health. Dr. Kemp's professional interests include smoking cessation, patient education, health promotion/disease prevention and maternity care in family medicine. Dr. Kemp is married and has three grown children. He enjoys church activities, running, biking and anything outdoors. In February 2002, Dr. Kemp was awarded the ACGME's Parker J. Palmer "Courage to Teach" Award presented to ten program directors from among the 8,000 specialty programs across the U.S.

Michael V. Bloom, PhD, Director of Behavioral Sciences.
He received his Clinical Social Psychology Ph.D. from the Wright Institute in 1977. He did his residency at Pacific Medical Center, San Francisco. Dr. Bloom regularly presents workshops at national meetings on Brief Therapy Skills for Family Physicians. He is married, has three grown children and enjoys sailing, biking, hockey, cross-country skiing and hunting-all of which are possible in South Dakota!

David A. Brechtelsbauer, MD, Associate Director.
He graduated from the Univ. of MI Medical School in 1973 and did his family practice residency in Saginaw, MI. Dr. Brechtelsbauer practiced for nine years in rural Virginia before joining the residency faculty. Having completed a mini-fellowship in geriatrics at the University of North Carolina, he is the residency geriatrician. Dr. Brechtelsbauer was selected by his peers as the 2004 South Dakota Family Doctor of the Year. He is married and has two grown sons. Dr. Brechtelsbauer and his wife enjoy hiking, biking, camping, public radio and traveling.

Robin Meyer, DO.
Dr Meyer grew up in Joplin, MO. She attended Missouri Southern State college where she obtained a BS in Biology. Dr. Meyer attended medical school at University of Health Sciences College of Osteopathic Medicine in Kansas City. Her residency was completed through the University of Missouri, Kansas City where she met her husband. After completion of the program, Dr. Meyer worked in private practice in Lees Summit, MO for several years before relocating to rural Iowa where she practiced for six years. Dr. Meyer's professional interests are in women's health. She enjoys spending time with her two young children, cooking, and gardening.

Cathy Miller, MSN, CFHP, Assistant Director of Geriatric Training,
joined the faculty in June, 2003. She is a graduate of South Dakota University and is a Certified Family Nurse Practitioner. She has practiced in various settings that include geriatric assessment, rehabilitation, and neuroscience. Her special interests include dementia and depression in the elderly, disease prevention, and health care ministry. She is married, has three grown children and two grandchildren. Interests include hiking, biking, playing with her grandchildren, and listening to music.

Wesley J. Nord, MD, Associate Director.
Dr. Nord is a 1975 graduate of the University of Minnesota and did his family practice residency at Hennepin County Medical Center. In 1987, he completed a residency in internal medicine at the University of South Dakota. Dr. Nord is board certified in Family practice and Internal Medicine. He has a certificate of added qualifications in Sports Medicine. In addition, he serves as a member of the Certification/Recertification Committee of the ADRP. Dr. Nord enjoys tennis, ping-pong, playing piano and Auntie Annie's Pretzels.

Charles W. Shafer, MD, Medical Director for the Falls Community Health Center.
Dr. Shafer earned his medical degree from the University of Nebraska in 1986, and completed residency training at Sioux Falls Family Practice Residency in 1989. His professional interests include preventive medicine, HIV/AIDS, Third-world medicine and working with the underserved. Dr. Shafer is credentialed as an HIV Specialist by the American Academy of HIV medicine. Dr. Shafer is married and has five sons. Dr. Shafer and his wife are active in their church and enjoy singing together. The Shafers took a six-month leave from the SFFPR to pursue a medial mission in Zimbabwe, Africa. Dr. Shafer also enjoys ornithology, tennis, Cornhusker football and playing with his boys.

Roger A Shewmake, PhD, LN, Clinical Nutritionist; Professor of Family Medicine USD School of Medicine.
Dr. Shewmake received his Ph.D. in Human Nutrition from Texas Tech Univ. in 1980. He served as Chair of the Department of Food and Nutrition at the University of North Texas and South Dakota State University. He currently serves as Legislative Chair of the ADA Nutrition Educators of Health Professionals; on the ADA task force on Healthy People 2010; editor of the STFM Nutrition Newsletter; on the South Dakota Nutrition Council; and the South Dakota Board of Osteopathic and Medical Examiners Committed on Dietetic Licensure. Having worked with the Department of Interior as a National Park Ranger, Dr. Shewmake enjoys the outdoors with a history of training mountain search and rescue personnel.

Suzannah H. Spencer, MD,
is a gradute of the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and completed her family practice training with the Michigan State University - St. Lawrence Hospital Residency in 1983. In addition she completed a Family Medicine Fellowship at Michigan State University. Dr. Spencer practiced six years in Western Montana before joining the residency faculty in 1992. Her professional interests include health promotion including patient education and women's and children's health issues. Dr. Spencer and her husband, Craig, have three children and together they enjoy music, hiking, camping and skiing.

Fred H. Thanel MD, MPH, graduated from Creighton University School of Medicine in 1975, and did his family practice residency at Creighton-St. Joseph's Hospital in Omaha, NE. Dr. Thanel practiced for 13 years in rural Wyoming before joining the faculty at the University of Alabama, Birmingham. He completed an MPH degree in Epidemiology at the UAB School of Public Health in 1993, and joined the faculty here in December of 1993. His interests include rural health care issues, outpatient procedures, sonography, practice-based research and obstetrics. HE serves as a National Advisory Faculty for Advanced Life Support in Obstetrics (ALSO). Dr. Thanel is married with three children. He and his wife Diane and family enjoy canoeing, fishing, hunting, cross-country skiing, biking, and anything else that can be done outdoors.

Mark K. Huntington, MD PhD FAAFP, is a graduate of the Medical Scientist Training Program at Michigan State University, with graduate work in microbiology (parasitology). He received his Family Medicine residency training and a Diploma in International Health from the University of Cincinnati in 1998. Prior to joining the CFM faculty, he was in private practice for eight years in rural west-central Minnesota. He is extensively involved in international health in educational, clinical, and research capacities. Married with 5 children, he and his family enjoy outdoor activities, aviation, and are active in a local church.

Mary E. Watson, MD, graduated from USD School of Medicine in 1986 and completed two years of pathology residency in 1988. Dr. Watson completed her residency at the Sioux Falls Family Practice Residency in 1991. She practiced for nine years in rural South Dakota before joining the residency faculty. Dr. Watson's professional interests include patient education, preventive medicine, rural medicine and women's health. Her personal interests include her husband, Dr. Dan Rath, MD, and their four children; gardening, stained glass, and photography.

Jim Wilde, MD, graduated from the Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison Medical School in 1988. He then completed his residency at the Univ. of Wyoming - Cheyenne Family Practice Program. From there he traveled to Nome, Alaska, spending 6 ½ years tending to a largely native indigenous population. Appalachian Kentucky provided the next professional challenge, staffing a rural health clinic in Booneville for 1 ½ years before beginning his service here. Dr. Wilde's professional interests include rural medicine and an evidence-based approach to care. Dr. Wilde has three sons, and he enjoys hiking, camping, and golfing.

 

 

 

Tara Geis, MD, graduated from the University of Minnesota Medical
School. She received her family medicine training at the St. Joseph
Hospital-HealthEast in St. Paul, Minnesota. Dr. Geis also completed a
fellowship in Geriatric Medicine at the University of Minnesota and a
Primary Care Faculty Development fellowship at Michigan State
University. She brings six years of faculty experience from Iowa before
moving to Sioux Falls with her husband, Michael, a pathologist, and
their three children. Her special areas of medical interest are
geriatrics, women's health, dermatology, and preventative medicine. She
enjoys home projects, reading with her children, and family activities.

 

 

 

*All faculty members have clinical appointments to the USD School of Medicine