Ingram's October 2023

BENJAMIN GRIN Kansas City University

be the kind of doctor that could bridge those worlds of patient care and public health.” He’s doing that both through his role at KCU, where he also gets to scratch the academic/research itch and now as Rex Archer’s successor in the role of chief medical officer for the Kansas City Health Department. To that role, he brings his experience in primary care and internal medicine, shaped by his public health research and interest. “Working at a medical school has been an immensely rewarding part of my career,” he says. “First off, I love how medical students challenge me to be a better physician. They constantly ask me questions that help me learn and provide better care to my patients.” He sees patients at the KC CARE Health Center, which treats patients regardless of insur ance status; about half of that caseload is general adult primary care, and the other half involves adults living with HIV, along with substance abuse cases. But, he says, “One thing I have discovered as a primary care doctor is that my patients’ health needs often cannot be addressed within the walls of a clinic. It is very hard for someone to successfully manage their HIV or diabetes when they are facing challenges like homelessness and food insecurity.” That inspired his interest in pursuing the health department role. “Com munity health workers and social workers can help, but there ar en’t enough resources for those in need,” Grin says. “As the chief medical officer of the health department, I have the opportunity to work with our leadership team to get at the root causes of what makes people unhealthy and to help make change happen.”

He grew up in the KC area—a Blue Valley schools product—but Ben Grin turned Horace Greeley’s advice on its head to go east as a young man: Brown University for undergraduate and master’s in public health, Tufts University for medical school, and Brigham

and Women’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School for internal medi cine residency. When his partner, also a physician, took a residency position here in 2019, Grin packed his bags and came back closer to his family. He’s the product of two ophthalmologists but didn’t share that vision for himself. Volunteer work at a free clinic after col lege and some research in public health lit the match. “I fell in love with primary care and saw how re warding it was to take care of pa

tients and their families over time,” Grin says. “I also saw through my public-health research work that it was possible for physicians to take what they learn from individual patient care in order to address bigger public health challenges. I decided that I wanted to

Congratulations BENJAMIN

GRIN , MD, MPH Assistant Professor of Primary Care, Kansas City University & Chief Medical Officer, Kansas City Health Department Your leadership in promoting health in Kansas City and your commitment to educating future physicians highlight your passion for medicine. Your patient-centered approach and unwavering dedication to addressing issues of health equity demonstrate your compassion for those in your care.

We are proud to call you a member of the KCU family.

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October 2023