Stan Sonu, MD, named associate program director for the J. Willis Hurst Internal Medicine Residency Program

Stan Sonu, MD, has been named an associate program director for the J. Willis Hurst Internal Medicine Residency program. Sonu is an assistant professor of medicine, pediatrics, and public health/preventive medicine. He holds appointments in the Divisions of General Medicine, General Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, and Preventive Medicine. He also serves as the associate program director for the Emory Preventive Medicine Residency program, where he will continue to have substantive responsibilities with a focus primarily at Grady Hospital through July 2019.

Sonu will join the residency program’s leadership team along with six other associate program directors. Together, the residency leadership team helps guide the administrative, clinical, and educational oversight for the residency program. He will have a key role in resident advising and mentorship and development of new curricular and evaluation programs for the residency program.

Sonu completed his undergraduate studies at Vanderbilt University and attended medical school at the Medical College of Georgia. He completed his residency training in combined internal medicine and pediatrics at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, Ill., where he also served as the pediatric chief resident. During his clinical training, Sonu developed a growing interest in social determinants of health and health disparities research. He pursued additional training in population/public health at the Cook County Health and Hospitals System/Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine Preventive Medicine and Public Health Program, and he obtained a master of public health degree from Northwestern’s Institute for Public Health.

Sonu’s research interests include adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), trauma-informed care, and the integration of social determinants of health with clinical care. He is passionate about teaching about ACEs and training future clinicians on effective ways to address trauma in the primary care setting. During his time in Chicago, he was involved in a multi-institutional quality improvement and research study that piloted a novel screening tool for ACEs and social determinants of health in ambulatory general pediatric clinics. In 2017, he was invited to speak at the first annual TEDxChicago, where he highlighted the importance and need for human service institutions to have a deepened understanding of the multi-dimensional life-course effects of trauma.

Please join us in congratulating Sonu on his new appointment.