Raj Woolever, MD, FAAFP
Dr. Raj Woolever is a native of upstate New York. He received his BA from Tufts University and graduated with his MD from the University of Rochester School of Medicine. He completed his family medicine residency at David Grant Medical Center, Travis Air Force Base, CA and earned a Faculty Development Fellowship at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He joined the teaching faculty at the Central Maine Medical Center Family Medicine Residency in August 2006 and has been Program Director since October 2009. Raj was recognized by the CMMC residents as the Family Medicine Teacher of the Year in 2008.
Dr. Woolever was a family physician in the US Air Force for 10 years, where he served as a residency faculty member and as the department chair/”flight commander” of Emergency Services. While on the residency faculty at Eglin Air Force Base, FL he was twice selected by the residents as the Family Medicine Teacher of the Year. As the flight commander of Emergency Services at Bitburg Air Base, Germany, Raj led the first implementation of a new electronic medical record in an emergency department setting in the whole US Air Force.
In addition to serving as Program Director at Central Maine Medical Center, Raj is also the Chief of the Medical Staff and spear-headed a major provider engagement initiative for all 300+ providers in the Central Maine Healthcare integrated system. He also serves on the Board of Trustees for the Family Medicine Education Consortium (formerly known as the Northeast STFM).
Dr. Woolever has a strong interest in international health and has worked extensively in South Asia with UNICEF and as a Fulbright Scholar. He continues to work closely with colleagues in India who are preparing to launch their country’s first accredited family medicine residency. His other areas of interest include patient safety, clinical decision making, definitions of health, the patient-physician relationship and the core values of family medicine.
He has published original research on patient safety initiatives and has presented at numerous national and regional meetings (Society of Teachers of Family Medicine Annual Meeting, PDW, RPS, AAFP Scientific Assembly, AAFP National Conference for Residents and Students, AAFP/STFM Conference on Practice Improvement, North American Primary Care Research Group, Uniformed Services Academy of Family Physicians).
Raj is married to a family physician, Cindy Dechenes, and they have 2 children. Kadin will soon begin his college career at Carleton College and Elina is preparing to enter high school. Their family enjoys travelling, skiing, running and reading. Raj and Cindy have run 5 marathons together.