2014 Primary Care Challenge Culminates in Hopeful Pitch-off and Discussion

Dr. Gina Luciano, the Associate Program Director of Internal Medicine Residency at Baystate Health, won the 2014 Primary Care Challenge on Tuesday night, following several weeks of crowd-sourced voting online. Luciano pitched her innovative plan to rework primary care residency programs, titled “Training Tomorrow’s Primary Care Physician,” to a panel of five judges and an audience of over 50 enthusiastic primary care innovators, physicians and students at Harvard Medical School.

Tuesday night’s pitch-off event was the culmination of a month long challenge meant to bring the most innovative ideas in primary care to light. Following six live pitches, a panel of healthcare providers considered the possibilities for the future of the primary care field, calling for everything from advocacy, to deeper team cultures, to innovation and new leadership.

“It’s about time that primary care is recognized for the cool that we are,” said Marci Nielsen, the pitch-off moderator and CEO of the Patient-Centered Primary Care Collaborative. “We’re here to do something. Action is what I want to see out of this evening.”