Randa M Kutob, MD, MPH

Randa Kutob, MD, MPH, joined the UA Department of Family & Community Medicine in 1997 after serving for 2 years as Director for Urgent Care Services at University Medical Center. Her early career focus was on medical education. She directed the Family and Community Medicine Clerkship from 2002-2007, and served as Chair of the University of Arizona, College of Medicine, Educational Policy Committee (formerly referred to at the Curriculum Committee) in 2007. Her research publications focused on undergraduate and postgraduate medical education. She also (co)-authored and served a consultant on several online continuing medical education courses on topics such as culturally competent medical care, breast cancer diagnosis, intimate partner violence, and the management of chronic pain. Dr. Kutob's clinical work in primary care inspired her current research focus on promoting lifestyle change for the prevention and treatment of chronic diseases such as diabetes. With funding from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), her research team created an Internet-based course for health care providers that focused on culturally competent care for patients with diabetes. She conducted a randomized controlled trial of the course's effectiveness on a national sample of family medicine residents. With subsequent funding from NIDDK, she enhanced and conducted further research on this course, including the development of a cultural competence assessment tool for health providers. She also conducted a study of group office visits for patients with diabetes (Group Visits for Treating Type 2 Diabetes in Hispanics grant (Bassford (PI)). Most recently, with support of the American Diabetes Association, she served as the PI on Families United/Familias Unidas. This three-year grant targeted people who were at risk for diabetes but had not developed the disease yet. The core components of this six-month, family group office visit intervention were education on healthy food choices, weight loss/control, and increased physical activity utilizing an underlying cognitive behavioral approach.