The Department of Family Medicine’s (DFM) Kari Mader, MD, is taking on a new and exciting challenge.

Dr. Mader recently accepted a position as Director of Clinical and Education Innovation for the developing Aurora Community Health Commons – the joint venture between Salud Family Health Centers and the University of Colorado - which will soon house a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) just east of the Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora. The highly anticipated development will bring long-needed access to health care for the traditionally underserved communities in Aurora that surround the medical campus.

“I’ve been brought on to help the educational and clinical innovation arm which is just trying to decide what additional clinical things will we do in this space that are maybe different or an augmentation to Salud’s existing model,” says Mader.

In her new role, Mader will help formulate the menu of available clinical services that will be offered to the public and the array of educational opportunities and programs for medical students and residents that will be integrated into the project. It’s a big job and she is the first to admit that there is a mountain of imaging all of the possibilities and working to achieve them in her future.

“We’re teaching our students in this inter-professional model, but in this case, we don’t even know what the model is. I’ve been brought on to help wrangle those two buckets of things and to push the groups forward and have some dedicated time,” she says.“I can help start thinking of the right questions, through my experiences that I have learned through DAWN.” (The DAWN Clinic, which is a student-run free clinic dedicated to Aurora’s wellness and needs)

Mader will have to let go of some her current responsibilities and work that she says that she remains passionate about, including her role as one of the co-directors of the Family Medicine Undergraduate Medical Education team.

“It was really hard for me to decide what to let go. Because I was not unhappy in my other positions. I am deeply committed to education. I’ve loved running the student advising program,” she says.“But, I realized that I am a builder and even though I wasn’t quite ready to leave those other areas – I am ready to move on and create something else and leave space for others to take up the leadership positions that I leave behind.”

She will remain part of the DFM family and says that she is already looking forward to putting her full focus on her new adventure.

“I’m really looking forward to just dreaming stuff up along with other people and just trying to make it happen and having enough time dedicated to build it. Design with the community in mind,” says Mader.

“Bringing people together in service of equity for the people of Aurora is what gets me jazzed about this.”