Summary
Amy L. McGaha, MD, MPH, FAAFP, is Professor and Chair of the Department of Family and Community Medicine at University of Nevada, Reno. She also serves as Chief of Family Medicine for Renown Health. Dr. McGaha is a graduate of the University of Missouri-Columbia, where she received her undergraduate degree in 1996 and medical degree in 2000. Dr. McGaha completed her family medicine training at the Tallahassee Memorial Family Practice Residency Program in Tallahassee, Florida.
Prior to joining UNR, Dr. McGaha was on the faculty of Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska for more than 13 years. Dr. McGaha joined the Creighton University Department of Family Medicine in 2011, serving as residency program director from 2011-2016. From 2017-2024, Dr. McGaha served as the Roland L. Kleeberger, M.D. Endowed Chair for the Department of Family Medicine.
In 2019, Dr. McGaha enrolled in the Milkin Institute School of Public Health at George Washington University, completing her Masters in Public Health in 2022.
Dr. McGaha was a leader in developing interprofessional educational and clinical practice (IPE/IPCP) at Creighton University. Under her leadership, the faculty and resident clinical practices transformed to an NCQA Level-3 Patient Centered Medical Home. Their work especially focused on refugee care, care for underrepresented minorities, and persons with limited access to care, so the priorities are elimination of health disparities and addressing social determinants of health through high quality, patient-centered, well-coordinated, team-based care. The team published their work demonstrating improvements in quality outcomes, efficiency, patient engagement, and healthcare worker satisfaction through team-based patient care.
Prior to joining Creighton faculty, Dr. McGaha served for five years as the assistant director of the Division of Medical Education at the American Academy of Family Physicians. Her work at the AAFP focused on medical student interest, workforce development, and leadership development of residents and students.
Dr. McGaha has served in many regional and national projects to improve healthcare and family medicine education. Dr. McGaha served on the Board of Directors for CHI Health. She was very engaged in medical staff leadership for the CHI Health CUMC-Bergan Hospital—the main academic medical center for Creighton University, serving as medical staff president 2018-2019. She served on the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) Family Medicine Milestones Committee, on the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) Commission on Education, and the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine Foundation Board of Trustees. In 2010, Dr. McGaha founded a college scholarship for students from her hometown who are pursuing careers in public service
In her spare time, Dr. McGaha enjoys running, paddleboarding, yoga, and learning the acoustic guitar. She enjoys exploring all the local trails with her Husky/lab, Ranger. Dr. McGaha and her husband, Simeon Bukacek, enjoy visiting the local art museums anytime they are in a new city. She is inspired by the work of Pacita Abad, Yayoi Kusama, and Kehinde Wiley.