Jennifer Welsh, M.D., ’95, Family Medicine

Dr. Welsh cites Dean and Provost J. Kevin Dorsey, M.D., Ph.D., as her mentor in medical school. “He taught me about connecting with patients at a deep level. He modeled the idea that medicine is a calling, and that it is our privilege as physicians to care for the people who come to see us.” Following residency, Dr. Welsh practiced a full-range of family medicine at the University of Minnesota, where she taught residents and medical students. She became residency director at age 34, helping to design and build a state-of-the-art outpatient practice facility. She also rewrote the academic curriculum for residents to focus on competency-based standards. Dr. Welsh now is a family practice physician at Fairview Medical Group in Minneapolis. She focuses on outpatient care but also practices obstetrics. She also is involved in a Care Model Innovation project, which seeks to revolutionize office-based care with improved access for patients, improved quality outcomes and decreased costs. She and her husband Bill have two children, Jack, 12 and Josie, 10.