Research Highlights

New Mexico VA Health Care System Physician Receives Distinguished Grant Award

Taken from the Veterans Health Administration Highlights dated March 29, 2002

Linda Macdonald, M.D., Medicine Service, New Mexico VA Health Care System, recently received a two-year grant for $300,000 from Take Care to Learn. This initiative, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation through Partnerships for Quality Education, supports the development of chronic illness management programs in asthma and diabetes that serve as platforms for innovative education in managing care.

At the New Mexico VA Health Care System, the program is called "Team Up for Diabetes Success." It has two integrated components: patient care and resident education. These components focus on improving the delivery of medical care for people with chronic illnesses. The residents involved will be from the Internal Medicine Residency program at the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center.

Dr. Macdonald earned her medical degree from the University of Washington, and completed a residency in internal medicine at the University of New Mexico. She is currently a staff physician with the New Mexico VA Health Care System and is an assistant professor of medicine at the University of New Mexico. She serves as the chairperson of the New Mexico VA Health Care System’s Diabetes Advisory Committee and the University of New Mexico’s Internal Medicine Residency Curriculum Committee. Her research experience is in the areas of diabetes clinical care and diabetes patient education.