Dr. Derman has been practicing internal medicine since 1988. He earned his B.S. at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where he graduated cum laude, and his M.D. from the University of Illinois, Chicago campus. He completed his internal medicine residency at Northwestern University where he was chief resident and a member of Alpha Omega Alpha, the Medical Honor Society. Dr. Derman is President of Northwestern Memorial Physicians Group, a primary care multi-specialty group of 65 physicians which he founded in 1993. He also holds the title of Vice President of Operations for Northwestern Memorial Hospital. Dr. Derman is board certified in internal medicine. His special interests include preventive medicine and nutrition. He is the Medical Director of the Center for Partnership Medicine™.

Dr. Elliott has been practicing internal medicine since 1994. She earned her B.S. at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, graduating with high honors and with distinction. She received her M.D. at Rush Medical College, where she was awarded the Janet M.Glasgow Award of the American Medical Women’s Association, presented to the female student graduating first in class. She completed her internal medicine residency at the University of Chicago. Prior to coming to Northwestern, Dr. Elliott practiced at the University of Chicago for 10 years where she most recently held the title of Associate Professor of Medicine. She has been a consultant since 2002 to ABC World News Medical Coverage. She is now an internist with Northwestern Memorial Physicians Group and the Center for Partnership Medicine™. She is board certified in internal medicine and is a fellow of the American College of Physicians. Her special interests include preventive health, motivation, exercise and women’s health. Dr. Elliott is the Associate Medical Director of the Center for Partnership Medicine™.

Dr. Orelind has been practicing internal medicine since 1995. He earned his B.S. in Biology at the University of Illinois, and his M.D. at Rush Medical College. He completed his residency training at Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke’s Medical Center where he was Chief Resident. He has been an internist with Northwestern Memorial Physicians Group since 1998 and with the Center for Partnership Medicine™ at Northwestern Memorial Hospital since its opening in September, 2005. Dr. Orelind has been an instructor at Northwestern Medical School since 1998. He has taught courses on the patient-physician relationship, on ethics and values in medicine and on numerous clinical topics. He currently works as a volunteer attending physician at the Community Health Clinic in Chicago.

Gregory C. Vachon, MD has recently joined the medical staff at the Center for Partnership Medicine at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. Dr. Vachon received his medical degree from the Sate University of New York at Stony Brook and completed his residency in internal medicine at the University of Rochester. He is board certified in internal medicine and has been practicing since 1994.

Before joining the staff at Northwestern, Dr. Vachon was Medical Director of the Austin Health Center of Cook County, where he was also an attending physician. He is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Rush Medical College.

Dr. Vachon is an outstanding clinician who has made the physician-patient relationship paramount in his practice. He has developed curricula and taught courses for residents to increase their skills in working with patients. He has also published articles on clinical reasoning and motivational interviewing. He is passionate about our mission of helping patients achieve improved health, vitality and productivity.

Gretchen Peyton received her Bachelor of Science in Nutrition and Dietetics from The University of Dayton in 2004, and completed post graduate coursework and a professional dietetic internship with Loyola University. Prior to joining the team at the Center for Partnership Medicine, she worked at Loyola University Medical Center as a clinical dietitian where she provided nutrition consultation to patients with cancer, diabetes and cardiac disease. Gretchen is a registered dietitian (RD), a licensed dietitian and nutritionist (LDN), and a certified nutrition support dietitian (CNSD). She is in the process of completing her certification in adult weight management. She is a requested speaker on topics related to how nutrition contributes to health and wellness and is a resource to broadcast media on topics related to nutrition and disease prevention. She has organized and participated in corporate wellness health fairs. Gretchen is also a published author, and has co-authored a textbook chapter in The Interface of Neurology and Internal Medicine.

Dr. Conviser has been working with patients as a fitness professional for 25 years. He received his PhD in exercise physiology from the University of Wisconsin at Madison, where he had a clinical concentration in cardiac rehabilitation. From 1997 to 2004, he was an executive at Bally Total Fitness where he was responsible for developing the clinical content and continuing education for 6,000 fitness professionals nationwide. He has been Head of Sports Medicine Advisory Boards for Power Plate and Cosmed, two sports technology companies. He co-authored the text book Exercise Testing and Program Design, one of the foremost text books used to train fitness professionals. Dr. Conviser has operated three Certified Outpatient Rehabilitation Facilities and for more than 10 years, operated an international consulting company focused on bridging the gap between fitness and health care, which he founded in 1995.

Elizabeth Crane is Executive Director of the Center for Partnership Medicine™ at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. She is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Center and oversees everything that contributes to the overall patient experience. Elizabeth received her MBA from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management and her Masters in education from Loyola University. Before she joined the CPM team, she worked for many years at Cancer Treatment Centers of America, first as a therapist and then on the corporate staff, putting standards, processes and procedures in place for the entire organization. She has taken special training in Six Sigma and lean systems thinking and has special expertise and experience in reengineering health care processes to maximize efficiency without sacrificing quality. She has a keen interest in creating unsurpassed customer experiences and has broad experience with enhancing service levels in all parts of an organization.