Peter Khang, MD, MPH is currently the Chief of the Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine at Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles and West Los Angeles.   Born in Philadelphia and raised in Connecticut, Dr. Khang earned his Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Tufts University.  Initially pre-med, Dr. Khang’s interest in teaching blossomed as he took education classes and veered off the pre-med track.  After considering Teach for America, he accepted a Fulbright Scholarship to study education in South Korea for a year.  There, he confirmed his passion for teaching and realized that the human mind and body were still most fascinating to him, leading him back to medical school.

He earned his medical degree and Master’s Degree from the University of Connecticut School of Medicine and School of Public Health, respectively.  His interest in family medicine was heavily influenced by working with the chair of family medicine during his four-year longitudinal clinical experience.

Moving to California, Dr. Khang completed his residency training at the Family Medicine Residency Program at Kaiser Permanente Sunset.  At Sunset, he conducted research, discovered his passion for geriatrics and was recognized as one of the top 20 family medicine residents in the nation, receiving the Bristol-Myers-Squibbs award.   Subsequently, Dr. Khang completed his fellowship at the UCLA Geriatrics Fellowship Program.

Shortly after returning to Kaiser Permanente, Dr. Khang’s interest in clinical education intensified as he took on the role of Program Director of the Geriatric Fellowship Program at Kaiser Permanente.  A coach at heart, he took great pride in developing young geriatricians.   As a faculty member of the Family Medicine Residency Program, he enjoyed teaching residents in the inpatient, outpatient and nursing home settings.  As Dr. Khang says, “The age wave is coming, we’ve got to increase our capacity to train Geriatric Fellows and improve the geriatric clinical experiences that family medicine residents get during their training.”

After five years as Program Director, Dr. Khang assumed the role of Chief of the Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine in 2010.  In this role, he’s been energized by the challenges of improving quality and patient safety levels in the long-term care setting, closing gaps in transitional care across the continuum, from hospital to nursing home to patient’s home.  Especially fulfilling is supporting the two fellowship programs in his department, Geriatric Medicine and Hospice and Palliative Medicine.  With 13 full-time faculty for the two fellowships, the academic environment stimulates the work environment, as faculty members continually come up with new ideas for advancing the fields.

Why are you a member of AAFP and CAFP, and why is being an Academy member important for your patient-care philosophy? Family medicine epitomizes the true spirit of doctoring, caring for families and communities in patient-centered, evidence-based and cost-effective manner.  The AAFP and CAFP espouse these values and promote family medicine as a key part of the solution to our health care challenges.   As a member, I feel supported by my academies and cherish the sense of community.

As an active CAFP member, which member resource is most helpful to you? The CAFP Annual Scientific Assembly helps me keep up with patient care issues and connect with the family medicine community at large.

How do you champion family medicine? As a clinician in education, I'm a faculty member for the Family Medicine Residency, Geriatrics Fellowship, and Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship at Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles and West Los Angeles. I teach medical students, residents and fellows how to care for the geriatric patient, and for those with life limiting illness.  As the specialty of family medicine includes the entire lifespan, my role is to help physician-learners understand the geriatrician’s approach needed when caring for the older adult, learn how to care for elders in a nursing home and learn how to  provide care in the home setting.  It is extremely rewarding to train residents and fellows who will shape our future.  I think it is critical for family medicine residents to see Family Physicians with additional fellowship training and additional board certifications as such exposure raises their awareness of what is available for them as they develop their career paths.

Are there any projects underway you would like FP colleagues to know about? The most exciting project I’m working on is developing systematic geriatric care within our Kaiser Permanente care model.  Through innovative programs, we are incorporating screening for common geriatric syndromes like depression, cognitive impairment, fall risk, incontinence and functional decline.    The workflow includes targeted populations, proactive office encounters whereby the nursing staff performs much of the screening and point-of-service tools to support physicians caring for geriatric patients.   With Kaiser Permanente’s size, this will benefit so many of our senior patients.  The current health care climate and focus on quality are two key drivers of this important work.  As evidenced by Kaiser Permanente’s five-star rating from the Medicare Star Quality Rating System, our organization is committed to complete care of the older adult, from the successful agers to the frailest of the frail.

What do you love about practicing family medicine?   Can you describe why you are so passionate about it?  Because my philosophy and that of family medicine are congruent, I am able to practice medicine that plays to my interests and talents.  Within family medicine, I’ve chosen to practice geriatric medicine, as I have a penchant for caring for the older adult.  The population is vulnerable, the care needs can be complex and it is a population that I feel privileged to serve.  As a family physician who specializes in geriatrics, I enjoy the opportunity to tackle patient issues in medical, psychological, social and financial domains.   At my core, I’m a clinician educator who appreciates the nuances of complexity in medicine, strives to master the art of teaching and loves teaching residents and fellows.  The reciprocal learning and stimulation that occur while teaching residents energizes and motivates me.

What is the biggest opportunity or challenge you see in the specialty in the next five years? The age wave is coming, if it’s not upon us already.  The leading edge of baby boomers has turned 65 and is reshaping the landscape.  As the geriatric population ages, we will experience an increasing shortage of fellowship-trained geriatricians to care for the elderly.  With the 85 years and older population being the fastest growing segment, there will be huge stresses on our health care system and in family physicians offices, in hospital wards and in the long term care setting.

It is a national imperative to increase the capacity of our health care system to provide high quality care for this population.  Aligning clinical quality programs with health care payment is a strategy that may prove effective.  Along with this age wave, there will be a greater need for palliative medicine, and we should see continued expansion of inpatient and outpatient palliative programs over the next 20 years.

Any advice for new family physicians transitioning into practice from residency? Understand that the practice of medicine is a lifelong journey of learning.  Be patient with yourself in the early years; you will identify numerous learning needs to address.  Espouse a humble approach to medicine, one in which you acknowledge that every patient is your teacher, that medicine doesn’t have all the answers, but it can offer solutions if you listen to the patient’s perspective.

What advice would you give to a colleague about work-life balance?  How do you do it? This is a tough question, because everyone has to find his or her own unique solution.   I believe emotional intelligence plays a role in the ability to set boundaries and to achieve a dynamic balance.  Self-awareness lets you assess your internal stress/happiness meter. Self-regulation lets you be professional and true to your values.  Empathy may help you find meaning in your work.  Social relationships will energize you personally and may accelerate your career path.  So, my recommendation is to do a self-assessment of your own EQ and use that knowledge to achieve life-work balance.

How do you define leadership?  Leadership is influence.  Leaders have the ability to define a vision, communicate that vision and motivate people to engage and perform.  Key core values a leader needs include humility, integrity and transparency.  Key skills needed are listening and communication skills, time management skills and empathic skills.  Developing and nurturing one’s emotional intelligence is critical for all leaders.  The health care environment is very complex, even chaotic, and a leader needs to appreciate the conditions and develop a strategy that is efficient and circumspect.

What book are you currently reading?   Reading The Checklist Manifesto, by Atul Gawande.

How do you spend your free time?   Masochist that I am, golf is one of my favorite stress relievers.  Sometimes the multitasking, deadline-driven nature of our work has me thinking about the next couple of items on my to-do list.  Golf lets me practice the art of being in the now, to get outdoors and be with nature. Golf is 90 percent mental; the other 10 percent is mental.

If you weren’t a family physician, what profession would you most like to try?  I would be a basketball coach at the high school or (small) college level.