Career Pulse

Brown Joins JGS Family Medical Care

LONGMEADOW — Dr. Carolyn J. Brown, has joined the JGS Family Medical Care practice at Jewish Geriatric Services.

Brown is board-certified in Internal Medicine and has practiced medicine in the Pioneer Valley for more than 25 years. She operated a busy private practice, served as associate physician at Smith College, and worked in the Urgent Care Fast Track at Mercy Medical Center’s Emergency Department.

Most recently, Brown has been a physician at the MVA Center for Rehabilitation, and brings a broad spectrum of experience including urgent care, primary care, and rehabilitation, and as the administrative medical director at two local nursing homes.

Brown has also served on the board of directors of Mont Marie Health Care Center and as a consultant for both the “Home Health Watch” segment on WGBY TV 40 and the Health Care for the Homeless program at Mercy Medical Center.

Brown received her undergraduate degree from Mt. Holyoke College and attended the State University of New York at Stony Brook School of Medicine. She completed her residency in Internal Medicine at Baystate Medical Center and was the recipient of an AMA Joseph Goldberg Scholarship in Clinical Nutrition for study at the University of California at Davis Medical Center.

Thompson Joins Team at Pioneer Women’s Health

GREENFIELD — Obstetrician/gynecologist Dr. Julie Thompson recently joined the team at Baystate Medical Practices – Pioneer Women’s Health, located in the 48 Sanderson St. medical office building in Greenfield. She is also serving on the medical staff at Baystate Franklin Medical Center.

Thompson graduated from UMass Amherst in 1999 and went on to the Kirkville College of Osteopathic Medicine in Kirksville, Mo., earning her doctorate in Osteopathic Medicine in 2004.

Thompson returned to Western Mass. to complete her residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, where she received an Excellence in Teaching award from Tufts University School of Medicine for her leadership in the program; the Resident Laparoscopic Achievement Award for excellence in laparoscopic surgery; and the Fetus as a Patient Award for her care of women and their babies in high-risk pregnancies. She completed her training at Baystate in 2007.

“I was always interested in science and in working with people,” said Thompson. “What drew me to ob/gyn as a specialty field was that I wanted to make a difference in people’s lives, especially during key transitional times like childbirth. Though all my patients are women, when they have babies, on some level I am working with the whole family. I also enjoy the preventive care aspects of my work, developing a longstanding relationship with my patients as I see them year after year for their exams; and on the surgical side, am very comfortable with the newest minimally invasive procedures in gynecology.”

Johnson Named President of Credentialing Board

PITTSFIELD — Dr. Rebecca Johnson, medical director of the Berkshire Health Systems Department of Pathology and Clinical Laboratories, has been elected president of the American Board of Pathology.

The primary function of the American Board of Pathology is to provide certification to pathologists, determine competency criteria for pathologists, and help set criteria for pathology residency programs.

Johnson has a distinguished history of achievements, including being the first member of the Berkshire Health Systems physician staff to receive an appointment to the Residency Review Committee of the American Council for Graduate Medical Education. She was also honored by the College of American Pathologists (CAP) in 2003 with its William L. Kuehn, PhD, Outstanding Communicator Award, presented to a member of the college who has made outstanding communications contributions, strengthening the image of pathology and educating the public about vital wellness issues. In addition, CAP honored her with its Lansky Award in 1993 and a President’s Honor in 1997.

“Dr. Rebecca Johnson is an extraordinary physician, and this latest achievement is further recognition of her national prominence in pathology,” said David Phelps, president of Berkshire Health Systems. “Our community is very fortunate to have exceptional medical staffs at Berkshire Medical Center and Fairview Hospital, where many of our physicians are known nationally and even internationally for their clinical work.”

Johnson chairs the Department of Pathology and Clinical Laboratories at Berkshire Health Systems and holds the position of Clinical Professor of Pathology at UMass Medical School. She is also the pathology residency training program director and medical director of the School of Medical Technology at BMC.

Johnson, a fellow of the College of American Pathologists, received her undergraduate degree from Illinois State University and completed her medical degree at Southern Illinois University. She served residencies at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield and Hartford Hospital in Connecticut, and completed fellowships at Hartford Hospital and the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Md. She is certified by the American Board of Pathology in anatomic and clinical pathology, with special qualifications in hematopathogy and immunopathology.