Ten family physicians graduated from Greater Lawrence Family Health Center’s (GLFHC) Lawrence Family Medicine Residency program in June. All have accepted full time attending positions at various hospitals across the country.

During a special in-person ceremony on Friday, June 25, a small number of staff, family, friends and residents gathered to celebrate the accomplishments of the residents. The Lawrence Family Medicine Residency (LFMR) graduation was live-streamed on GLFHC’s YouTube channel for those not able to attend due to COVID safety limitations. (Click here to view the graduation: https://youtu.be/efo53UNT8Cs.)

“It’s a special night because we are able to celebrate this amazing Class of 2021,” said Wendy Barr, MD, MPH, Director of the Lawrence Family Medicine Residency program.

“This group spent a lot of time witnessing suffering, as COVID made things way more challenging for this class and for all of our residents.”

All the residents worked tirelessly during the past year, staffing the dedicated COVID wings at Lawrence General Hospital – holding the hands of patients as they took their final breaths, and comforting those patients’ families by phone or tablet who just lost loved ones. It was unbelievably stressful, and none could have anticipated working in such conditions.

“Our residents advocated for their patients, making sure that their patients had the things they needed and could access the services that were there,” Barr said. “They educated the community about how to prevent the spread of COVID, and when the vaccines came, they doubled-down and this class was everywhere in Lawrence – in English and in Spanish – telling everybody about how important it was to get a vaccine.”

In their four years of residency, the Class of 2021 delivered more than 1,800 babies and treated more than 24,000 patients in GLFHC’s clinical locations in Lawrence, Haverhill and Methuen.

“You went from having a medical degree, to becoming a family physician,” Barr said. “I want to make sure you all know … you all made a difference.”

LFMR Class of 2021:

Elie Ata, MD

• Concentration: Health Systems Leadership
• Position: Family Physician
• Location: Community Medical Associates (Lawrence General Hospital), Lawrence, MA

Layla Cavitt, MD

• Concentration: Addiction Medicine
• Position: Family Physician
• Location: FQHC and Inpatient Detox Hospital, Miami, FL

Julia Cooper, MD

• Concentration: HIV Medicine
• Position: Residency Faculty
• Location: Institute for Family Health/Harlem Family Medicine Residency, New York, NY

Jamie Ellis, MD

• Concentration: Global Health
• Position: Family Physician
• Location: Community Medical Associates (Lawrence General Hospital), Lawrence, MA

Caroline Komanecky, MD

• Concentration: Surgical Maternity
• Position: Community Faculty/Family Physician (FPEP)
• Location: GLFHC North Site, Lawrence, MA

Rebecca Lee, MD

• Concentration: Addiction Medicine
• Position: Family Physician in Street Medicine
• Location: Boston Healthcare for the Homeless, Boston, MA

Yeri Park, MD

• Concentration: Women’s Health
• Position: Core Residency Faculty
• Location: White Memorial Family Medicine Residency, East Los Angeles, CA

Tuhin Roy, MD, MPH

• Concentration: Health Systems Leadership
• Position: Core Residency Faculty
• Location: GLFHC Main Site, Lawrence, MA

Sumana Setty, MD

• Concentration: Academic
• Position: Family Physician and Faculty
• Location: South End Community Health Center and Boston Medical Center, Boston, MA

Jennifer Wolf, MD

• Concentration: Surgical Maternity
• Position: Community Faculty/Family Physician (FPEP)
• Location: GLFHC South Site, Lawrence, MA