Steven Gorbatkin, MD, PhD, accepts position as nephrologist at the Seattle VA and the University of Washington

It is with mixed feelings that I announce that Steven Gorbatkin, MD, PhD, chief of medicine at the Atlanta VA Medical Center, has accepted a position as a nephrologist at the Seattle VA and the University of Washington, effective September 2020.

In his new position, Gorbatkin will be an attending physician on both the nephrology inpatient and general medicine services at the Seattle VA and will be the director of the Renal Specialty Care Access Networks-Extension for Community Health Outcomes (SCAN-ECHO) program, designed to afford greater access of primary care providers to specialty care using telemedicine and videoconferencing, over a multi-state region. Gorbatkin will help to strengthen the Point of Care Ultrasound Program (POCUS) at the Seattle VA and several other sites within the University of Washington system thanks to his involvement in creating the POCUS program at the Atlanta VA.

At the Atlanta VA, Gorbatkin oversaw approximately 300 staff members in 13 sections who provide care to more than 40,000 veterans. He was also chair of the Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee, which oversees expenditures of over $130 Million for over 114,000 veterans at 14 sites. His time at Atlanta has been capped off by serving as director of the Medical Care Branch for the COVID Incident Management team, overseeing the COVID response efforts of all specialties and subspecialties at 18 sites in the Atlanta VA system.

During his time at Emory, Gorbatkin received two Golden Apple Teaching Awards, a Kokko teaching award, was elected to the Academy of Medical Educators (AME), and served as chair of the board of directors for the AME. His research activities included serving as co-investigator for funded studies on geriatric care of renal patients and novel diagnostic tests for renal cell carcinoma.

Gorbatkin graduated from Emory’s medical school in 2006 following a career as a scientist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory studying materials processing for microelectronic applications. He completed his internal medicine residency, chief year at EUH, and renal fellowship at Emory. After two years in private practice, during which he continued to work at the Atlanta VA on a contract basis, he joined the Atlanta VA full time.

Please join me in congratulating Gorbatkin on his new position. We know that he will make a wonderful addition to the Seattle VA and the University of Washington.

Sincerely,

David S. Stephens, MD
Chair, Department of Medicine