PLA Leadership

  • President

  • Vice-President

    l am an alumnus of the Physician Leadership Academy and found the experience incredibly helpful in my development as a person, as a physician, and as a leader. I joined the board because I want to be a part of this transformative leadership team that greatly impacts the lives of other physicians.

    Bio

    Dr. Prall did her medical school and emergency medicine residency training at The Ohio State University.

    She has worked at Kaiser Permanente, Mount Carmel Health System, OhioHealth and currently is working for the US Department of Veterans Affairs as a practicing clinician. She has spent several years as a medical director for simulation-based healthcare education, and she is currently a national board examiner for the American Board of Emergency Medicine. She developed the initial chronic pain guidelines in the acute care setting and worked with the Ohio Department of Health and several other entities to collaboratively create the current guidelines for the state.

    Her special interests include ultrasound, emergency preparedness and process improvement in healthcare.

  • Secretary Treasurer

    Douglas G. Finnie, M.D. has been a practicing general internist in Columbus for over 35 years. Medical school was The Ohio State University. Internal Medicine Residency was done at Mount Carmel West. He has been a part of Mount Carmel Health System his entire career; becoming a member of the Mount Carmel Medical Group in 2009. He has served as the group's Medical Director and has most recently been named its Chief Medical Officer. The group is over 200 employed primary care, multi-specialty physicians, and APP's.

    He is a longtime member of the CMA and OSMA. He is married with a family and grandchildren.

    Dr. Finnie is passionate about the need for physician leadership in these transformative times. After evaluating numerous physician leadership training programs across the country, he came to the conclusion that the Columbus Medical Association had the capacity and should develop a unique, world-class program. His role has been as a committed physician champion for the program from its inception. It is his belief that this program should be local and should encourage physicians from all the local health care systems to learn to work together. The curriculum has been crafted over the past two years to provide physicians with insight into themselves as leaders, to give them day-to-day tools to lead change, and to provide lifetime value. This program will help physicians lead the innovative and transformative change that is occurring in health care today.

  • Where you were born and/raised? I was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico. My mom went there on vacation and decided to move there although she spoke no Spanish at the time. We moved a lot when I was a child, not for any particular reason. I went to 8 different schools growing up. I have lived in Puerto Rico, Florida, Michigan, New York, Missouri, Maryland and Ohio.

    What was your first job? My first job was in a small community hospital where I was the messenger. I basically acted like the tube system delivering everything everywhere.

    What do you like best about being a physician? What I like best about being a physician is meeting people and being intimately welcomed into their lives

    What hobbies do you participate in your free time? I fill my free time with my family, yoga and God. My hubby is Dr. Dean Agra. We have 2 great kids. I have studied yoga on and off for greater than 25 years. I am about to participate in an online retreat/study of the spiritual exercises of St Ignatius of Loyola

    What has been your biggest take away from completing the Physicians Leadership Academy (PLA)? My biggest takeaway from the PLA is to enjoy the ride. I can learn things that will make me a better provider and person.

    In your opinion, which animal is the best (and why)? The best animal in the world is the platypus. It's a mammal with a bill. It is proof that God has a sense of humor.

    What was the first concert you attended? The first concert I attended was Duran Duran in the eighth grade. Roger Taylor, the drummer, was my favorite band member.

    When you’re able to travel freely again, where is the first place you’d like to go? When were able to travel again I do not know if I really care where I go as long as I get to go with my family

  • Dr. Chan received her medical degree from Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine and then went on to complete her residency at Mount Carmel. Her special interests include Internal Medicine, Geriatrics, Preventative Health and Women’s Health.

  • Being an alumnus of the inaugural Physician Leadership Academy class, I found the experience so transformative that I desired to continue to be involved in this organization.  Timing was very crucial for me as ten years ago I was at a pivotal point in my medical career. Burned out running a solo rural practice and struggling to manage a chronic disease, the PLA offered a growth opportunity to embrace a change in the direction of my practice. As physicians, we spend a large amount of time studying other people with disease processes and health issues. The PLA nurtured the person inside within to grow, embrace mindfulness, connect with fellow physicians and learn to become an agent of change in the healthcare system we all work in.

    Background

    Completed medical school at Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine, did Family Medicine Residency at Doctors Hospital and practiced family medicine for 23 years as a solo rural physician. Completed a fellowship in Hospice and worked in hospice for 8 years. Finishing with added qualification in Addiction Medicine working at Maryhaven doing direct patient care and working as a researcher on studies for NIH/National Institute of Drug Addiction. Retired several years ago but continue to volunteer with the Physicians Care Connection.

    Also enjoy being a grandmother, becoming a Master Gardener through the Franklin County Extension Agency through OSU and volunteering at gardens all around Columbus, and traveling.

  • Jody Gerome, DO is an OB/GYN by training who serves in the role of Senior Associate Dean, Medical Education and Associate Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine, in Athens, Ohio. In addition to her work preparing our next generation of physicians, she practices Obstetrics and Gynecology for OhioHealth Physicians Group – Heritage College Obstetrics and Gynecology.  As a general obstetrician gynecologist, she aims to improve maternal and neonatal outcomes through education and high-quality patient care. A 2023 graduate of the PLA, she joins the board thanks to the impact it had on her personal development as physician and leader.

    Dr. Gerome is a northern Ohio native and avid Cleveland sports fan, but now resides in Athens, Ohio, where she and her husband are raising 3 boys who love the outdoors and adventure-seeking

  • Along with all of the current PLA Board members, I was a member of the Advisory Committee of the PLA. We were the co-creators of the PLA. We believed that the PLA could give physicians an education in leadership that focused on introspection, mindful practices, with exposure to some of the cutting-edge participants in leadership from our community as well as from distant communities. This was an exciting prospect for me. Physicians do not typically have the opportunity to be exposed to this aspect of education, having to focus their time and energy on learning the complexity of the human body. We recognize that in order for physicians to be able to find balance in the highly stressful practice of medicine and in order for them to have the skills necessary to be an effective part of the larger discussion of healthcare, they need a broadening of their experience in these arenas. I find it personally fulfilling to be a part of an organization that is able to accomplish this task.

PLA Staff

  • President

    In his work as CEO, he is responsible for strategic direction, operations management, human resources management, policy development, government relations, and community relations. As a college-level instructor, he has developed a curriculum for and provided instruction in the area of leadership, which is his passion. He has provided hosting/facilitation and training for numerous organizations locally and internationally and has served on many Boards of community organizations.

    For the past 13 years, he has worked to develop a corporate culture of participatory leadership within the organizations where he is CEO. This real-world experience in developing a unique corporate culture serves to inform the hosting, facilitation, training, and consulting he does with other organizations. He enjoys working with the executive leadership of organizations to support them in developing organizational cultures that help their organizations thrive and also support their staffs to realize their highest possibilities.

    Meditation, the use of intentional dialogue, leading strategic change initiatives, and teaching are all areas of keen interest to him.

    He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Biology from Kenyon College, a Master’s degree in Counseling and Guidance from Fairfield University, and a Ph.D. in Counseling and Guidance from The Ohio State University. He lives with his wife Laura and is a proud father, stepfather, and grandfather, all of whom are the loves of his life.

  • Director

    “I am an energetic, lifelong learner who yearns to meaningfully connect with and impact the people and world around me.”

    Stephanie has a wholehearted interest in helping physician peers and healthcare colleagues attain well-being and fulfillment in all aspects of their lives and strives to remind them of the desire that prompted them to seek careers in medicine. She is the Director of the Physicians Leadership Academy and uses her robust well-being knowledge and experience as a 2016 PLA graduate to design and coordinate the Alumni Program for the Academy. Stephanie completed coaching training through the Hudson Institute and is certified through the International Coaching Federation. Having coached and supported hundreds of physicians during the pandemic, she enjoys using her coaching skillset to support physicians in the Leadership Academy and in the Central Ohio community. Stephanie enjoyed a 25-year practice in obstetrics and gynecology at the Kingsdale site of Avina Women’s Care in Columbus and has now fully devoted her career to supporting people working in healthcare in their quest for leadership development, well-being, and deep fulfillment. Meaningful relationships and time with family, friends and colleagues are of primary importance to her. A practitioner of mindfulness, one of her favorite ways of cultivating personal growth and awareness is by spending prolonged periods of time hiking in nature. Challenging herself physically and connecting with nature in a meditative way reminds her that she is part of a larger whole and prompts her to think about how she wants to belong in that whole.

  • Meditation Instructor

    Janice Glowski, Ph.D. is an educator, academic, and arts professional. She recently accepted a position as Otterbein University’s Museum and Galleries Director and also will teach Asian art history and museum and curatorial studies in the university’s Art Department. From 2006 – 2014, Janice taught in the Art and Religion Departments and East Asian Studies Program at Wittenberg University.

    Janice’s interest in a wide range of subject matter and interdisciplinary studies began early. She received her Bachelor’s degree with a major in Chemistry and a concentration in Religion from Wittenberg University. Following graduation, she worked with the Peace Corps and later in the industry as a Chemist. She completed an interdisciplinary Master’s Degree in Religious Studies at The Ohio State University and went on to earn a Ph.D. in Asian Art History. Her major areas of study were Himalayan and South Asian Art, with additional emphasis on Buddhist art throughout Asia. She worked as a Curator and Director of Special Collections at Ohio State and was a Curatorial Consultant prior to joining the Wittenberg faculty.

    Janice’s current research and publications focus on Asian art and Tibetan Buddhist art and architecture in the diaspora. She also works closely with pioneering computer artist, Charles A. Csuri. She curated an extensive retrospective exhibition of his work called Charles A. Csuri: Beyond Boundaries, 1963-present, which opened in Boston, traveled internationally and continues to be scheduled in new venues. She is intrigued by and hopes to further explore, the contemplative effects of Csuri’s more recent animations.

    Janice has been practicing meditation in the Shambala tradition since 1991 and is currently the Director of Practice and Education for Shambala Columbus. She began formally teaching meditation to groups and supporting individual practitioners as a meditation instructor in 2004. Janice teaches meditation workshops and other contemplative programs throughout the greater Columbus area, including schools and professional organizations. Janice is especially interested in collaborative leadership and social initiatives—particularly those that involve mindfulness—and in the transformative effects of meditation on individuals’ lives, society as a whole, and in all levels of education.