Department of Family Medicine Alumni: James Wilcox
Dr. James Wilcox is an Assistant Professor of Family Medicine at Indiana University School of Medicine, and he attended Ball Memorial Family Medicine Residency for Family Medicine specialty training. He is also a fellowship-trained point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) expert. He always knew he wanted to be a family doctor. He was drawn to the eld's focus on holistic care and the ability to build relationships with patients over time. He also appreciated the ability of family doctors to always have an initial treatment or workup, and often de nitive care, available for any patient they see. When Dr. Wilcox was a resident
James Wilcox, MD
at Ball Memorial Family Medicine Residency, he was one of the rst residents to learn how to use point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) as part of this holistic care. At the time, POCUS was not widely used in family medicine. But Dr. Wilcox saw the potential of this technology to help him diagnose and treat patients more quickly and accurately. "I knew that POCUS would be a valuable tool for me as a family doctor," Dr. Wilcox said. "It can help me make faster and more accurate diagnoses in a broad range of areas, and it can also help me provide better care to my patients." The Ball Residency program was supportive of Dr. Wilcox’s interest in POCUS. They gave him the opportunity to train on the latest ultrasound machines and to attend conferences on the topic. He also helped to develop a POCUS curriculum for other residents at Ball Residency. He continued training in POCUS by attending a Sports Medicine fellowship to learn about the musculoskeletal system and how to diagnose and treat several disorders with ultrasound. During his fellowship, Dr. Wilcox received extensive training in Sports Medicine Ultrasound. After completing this fellowship, Dr. Wilcox went on to complete an additional fellowship in POCUS, through the Global Ultrasound Institute. He is now a fellowship-trained POCUS expert, and he is passionate about teaching other physicians about the bene ts of POCUS. He is currently a faculty member at IU School of Medicine, where he teaches POCUS to students, residents, and faculty. The support he received in residency for POCUS was essential in setting him up for success in fellowship and his academic career. He is grateful for the support he received from Ball Residency in his journey to become a family medicine doctor and a POCUS expert. He believes that the program's commitment to innovation and excellence helped him to achieve his goals.
Vice Chair of Education: Ruben Hernandez
Family medicine is the oldest medical specialty and is a practice devoted to providing comprehensive medical care to patients of all ages and backgrounds. The 1970s was a booming period for family practice. At that time, over 300 residency programs were available in the U.S., with upwards of 7,500 residents and 100 medical schools with a family practice department or division. One of those inaugural programs was Ball Memorial in Muncie, founded in 1969, and is now part of the IU School of Medicine family.
With four fully accredited Family Medicine Residency Programs, the Department of Family Medicine at Indiana University School of Medicine looks at the emerging expectations of family physicians. Including team roles, expanded care through telehealth and patient portals, identifying and intervening in modi able social determinants of health, addressing structural racism, closing gaps of inequitable care for their patient populations, managing addiction as a treatable chronic illness, and improving performance through clinical data registries, personalized medicine, and leadership. Wellness and assurance of a satisfying career will be a priority focus of preparation for career-long practice.
Ruben Hernandez, MD
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