Dr. Felisha Rohan-Minjares Named Interim Chair of Family & Community Medicine

Felisha Rohan-Minjares, MD, has agreed to serve as interim chair of The University of New Mexico Department of Family & Community Medicine. She is stepping in for David Rakel, MD, who has accepted a position as chair of the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health at the University of Wisconsin. 

Rohan-Minjares, a Gallup, N.M., native who joined the UNM School of Medicine faculty in 2008, currently serves as assistant dean for clinical education and learning environments.

“Dr. Rohan-Minjares brings many strengths in our missions and a strong commitment to our patients,” said interim dean Martha Cole McGrew, MD. “She is devoted to the education of those who will serve New Mexico in all of the disciplines within Family & Community Medicine, scholarship in health equity and anti-racism and a deep knowledge of the health needs of our state.”

Rohan-Minjares will start in her new role on June 15. “I was encouraged to consider the position by several residents and recent graduates of our residency program, in addition to members of our faculty," she said. "The encouragement of this newest generation of family physicians confirmed for me that it was the right time for my leadership to expand to all of our missions to best serve the people of New Mexico."

As the health system returns to normal in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, “The first thing is to ensure that we continue to hold a place of importance for primary care at UNM,” Rohan-Minjares said. She also wants to enable physician and physician assistant faculty “to do the hard work of providing patient care, teaching and research, all at the same time.”

Rohan-Minjares said her commitment to address antiracism in medical education continues. And while she will relinquish her student responsibilities in the School of Medicine, she plans to continue seeing patients at the UNM North Valley Clinic.

Rohan-Minjares completed her undergraduate studies at Notre Dame and then attended Stanford Medical School. She completed her family medicine residency at UNM, where she discovered a passion for teaching and McGrew recruited her to develop a culturally effective care curriculum for medical students.

She recently received UNM’s 2020-2021 Outstanding Teacher of the Year award. “She is an outstanding leader and deeply respected in the School of Medicine, as well as the department,” McGrew said.

Rakel, nationally known for his work in integrative medicine, was a longtime University of Wisconsin faculty member before being recruited to head UNM’s department in 2016. He said the Department of Family & Community Medicine will be in good hands with Rohan-Minjares as interim chair.

“I think she is going to be just awesome,” Rakel said. “She’s a fantastic physician, communicator and educator. I’m excited she’s coming in and taking on that role.”