APF Winter Newsletter 2026

CU Division of Hospital Medicine Presents:

APF Advanced Practice Fellowship Winter Newsletter

January 2026

IN THIS ISSUE

Recent Happenings

This month, fellows and alumni came together to celebrate Dr. Brian Wolfe’s 14 years of leadership and mentorship for APF, honoring his lasting impact on the community.

New Leadership Team

Meet the incredible individuals on our Advanced Practice Fellowship Leadership Team!

Farewell from Dr. Brian Wolfe

After serving on the leadership team for 14 years, Dr. Wolfe has decided to step down from his role. Read his note below!

Award Winners

Help us recognize the physicians and APPs who have made a lasting impact on our APFs over the past year.

Faculty Development in APF

Learn how we are transforming how we approach teaching, mentorship, and collaboration within our division.

Contact Us

A message from our Education Program Principal Professional, Kelsey Keil, M.Ed, and a chance to read past APF newsletters.

About Our Program

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We are always looking for new APF candidates and take referrals from our graduates seriously. Please feel free to share our email with any interested candidates: DHM-Education@UCDenver.edu.

Check out our previous APF Newsletter here to learn more about our curriculum, past APF graduates, and information about our program. Or you can learn more by visiting our website by clicking the button below!

RECENT HAPPENINGS

APF Get-Together and Celebration

Earlier this month, we had the opportunity to come together to celebrate Dr. Brian Wolfe and his remarkable 14 years of service and leadership within the Advanced Practice Fellowship. Fellows and alumni from across many cohorts gathered for a happy hour in his honor, creating space to reconnect, share stories, and reflect on the impact Brian has had on so many careers.

Throughout the evening, it was clear just how meaningful Brian’s mentorship and dedication have been to our community. Many current and former fellows contributed letters and notes of appreciation, sharing personal reflections on the guidance, encouragement, and humanity he brought to the fellowship over the years. This was such a powerful reminder of the lasting legacy he leaves behind!

The celebration was filled with laughter, gratitude, and genuine connection, capturing the spirit of the fellowship Brian helped shape. We are deeply thankful for his leadership, mentorship, and unwavering commitment to supporting fellows as both clinicians and people, and we wish him the very best in this next chapter.

Thank you, Brian!

Welcome Our New APF Leadership Team NEW LEADERSHIP TEAM

After 14 years of leadership, Brian Wolfe, MD, is stepping down from his role as Director of the Advanced Practice Fellowship. In recognition of the fellowship’s growth, maturity, and expanding national footprint, leadership is transitioning to a new dyad model, pairing APP Co-Directors with an inaugural Medical Director to further strengthen interprofessional collaboration, educational excellence, and strategic direction.

Frannie Lorenzi, MMS, PA-C, FHM – Co-Director

Frannie Lorenzi, MMS, PA-C, FHM, is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Hospital Medicine and serves as Co-Director of the Advanced Practice Fellowship, a role she has held for several years after previously serving as Associate Director. A graduate of the fellowship herself, she has been a foundational leader in curriculum development, faculty development, and national advancement of APP postgraduate education. Frannie is a nationally recognized educator and speaker, with extensive contributions to fellowship accreditation, professional societies, and interprofessional education. She is widely respected for her mentorship, clinical excellence, and sustained commitment to humanism, innovation, and team-based care, reflected in numerous institutional and national awards.

Erin Szemak, DNP, APRN, AGACNP-BC – Co-Director

Erin Szemak, DNP, APRN, AGACNP-BC, is the Co-Director of the Advanced Practice Fellowship and an Assistant Professor in the Division of Hospital Medicine. After completing the fellowship herself, she has served for several years as core faculty, educator, and mentor to fellows, trainees, and early-career APPs. Erin has a strong background in critical care, addiction medicine, and health equity, with a growing national presence in APP education and scholarship. She is known for her thoughtful leadership, commitment to humanism in medicine, and excellence in curriculum development.

NEW LEADERSHIP TEAM

Haley Briggs, PA-C – Associate Director

Haley Briggs, PA-C, is a hospitalist and Assistant Professor who serves as the Associate Director of the Advanced Practice Fellowship. A graduate of the APF herself, she brings deep firsthand experience in fellow education, curriculum development, and clinical coaching. Her academic interests include addiction medicine, rapid response systems, and simulation-based education, and she has contributed extensively to national presentations and scholarly work. Haley is widely recognized for her excellence in teaching, mentorship, and clinical care, with multiple institutional and national awards.

Caitlin Dietsche, MD – Medical Director

Caitlin Dietsche, MD, is the inaugural Medical Director of the Advanced Practice Fellowship and an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Hospital Medicine. She serves as a key liaison between the fellowship, physician faculty, and the Internal Medicine Residency, ensuring alignment in clinical education and teaching culture. A nationally recognized clinician-educator, Dr. Dietsche has led major initiatives in opioid stewardship, medical education innovation, and faculty development. She is highly regarded for her mentorship, teaching excellence, and sustained commitment to interprofessional collaboration.

Kelsey Keil, M.Ed – Program Manager

Kelsey Keil is the Program Manager for the Advanced Practice Fellowship and has served in this role for several years. With a background in education and program coordination, she oversees the operational, administrative, and logistical components that support fellows, faculty, and leadership. Kelsey is known for her organizational expertise, clear communication, and ability to manage complex educational programs with efficiency and care. Her work provides essential continuity and structure to the fellowship’s day-to-day and long-term success.

A Farewell from Dr. Brian Wolfe

Dear current and former fellows,

I want to offer my sincerest thanks for your faith in, and dedication to, the Advanced Practice Fellowship. I hope you’ll indulge me as I look back on my 14 years with the program. When Kristin Furfari and Laura Rosenthal entrusted me with the APF they built, I had no idea how unprepared I was to lead such an enterprise. I knew little about APP training, curriculum development, feedback structures, or recruitment strategies.

But working alongside talented early fellows and committed APP faculty gave me a simple, guiding vision: that by investing in intelligent, industrious, and deeply curious clinicians, a remarkable hospital medicine faculty of APPs and physicians together could emerge. That investment helped shape a Division of Hospital Medicine culture in which APPs and physicians perform seamlessly as a unified team, supported by intentionally flattened hierarchies that allow talent, insight, and collaboration to rise from every corner. All one needs to do is look at the remarkable APP faculty within our division and the success of so many APF graduates across our system and the country to see how fully that investment has been returned.

Over the years, 149 fellows took the leap and accepted the invitation to join the APF. As I look over the list of alumni, each name brings back stories, memories, and moments that leave me overwhelmed with gratitude and humility—gratitude for how much I learned from each of you, and humility in recognizing the trust you placed in the fellowship to guide your clinical journey. Not every lesson was easy, and I am acutely aware of the missteps I made as a leader and educator. My hope is that my steadfast belief in the APP model and my advocacy for this fellowship helped offset those shortcomings.

On a personal note, I want you to know how deeply the fellowship shaped me as a teacher, a leader, and a human being. When my tenure began, I had a three-year-old daughter and an infant son. They are now a brilliant junior exploring colleges and a six-foot-one teenager on the cusp of high school. In many ways, I grew up professionally within the APF, continually challenged and inspired by new cohorts of fellows whose experiences and passions enriched both the program and the Division of Hospital Medicine. The ideas you brought and the lessons you taught now live permanently within the fellowship’s structure and culture.

I see nothing but a bright and exciting future for the APF under its creative and dedicated new leadership.

What an amazing ride. Thank you for allowing me to share it with you.

Brian Wolfe, MD

AWARD WINNERS

Each year, our fellows have the opportunity to recognize the physicians and APPs who have made a lasting impact on their training. Every August, fellows vote for clinicians they’ve worked closely with who exemplify Excellence in Education and serve as Role Models of Humanism in medicine. These awards celebrate not only outstanding teaching, but also the compassion, advocacy, and professionalism that shape meaningful learning experiences and patient care. We are proud to honor this year’s many award recipients and grateful for the dedication they bring to our fellows!

Strengthening Teaching, Feedback, and Community Building FACULTY DEVELOPMENT IN APF

In the Advanced Practice Fellowship (APF), one of our core goals is to provide exceptional education, not only to our fellows but also to the faculty who guide them. Joe Gulick and Alice Curchin, both distinguished graduates of the APF, have been leading efforts in faculty development that are transforming how we approach teaching, mentorship, and collaboration within our division. Their commitment to building a community of skilled educators is shaping the future of the APF and elevating the educational experience for our fellows.

Med Ed Nights: A Collaborative Forum for Faculty Development

Joe and Alice co-lead Med Ed Nights, a unique initiative designed to foster peer learning, practical teaching skills, and community building among Advanced Practice Providers (APPs). These sessions are a platform where APPs gather to discuss challenges they face in clinical education, strengthen bedside teaching techniques, and exchange valuable feedback with one another.

The focus of Med Ed Nights is on hands-on, real-world teaching strategies that can be immediately applied in clinical settings. Topics covered have included:

• How to give effective feedback: Participants discuss the importance of constructive feedback and the best approaches for delivering it in a way that encourages growth and improvement.

• Teaching when time is tight: Given the fast-paced nature of hospital settings, Joe and Alice emphasize strategies for effective teaching even when time constraints limit opportunities for in-depth instruction.

• Specialty-themed nights: Sessions have included thematic nights on oncology and step-down care, as well as lighter, team-building activities such as bar trivia. These sessions not only allow faculty to deepen their understanding of specific topics but also provide a space for socializing and strengthening professional bonds.

Most of the time, however, these sessions are about faculty practicing their own content, presenting materials or teaching techniques, and receiving feedback from their peers. This dynamic allows for continuous improvement, as faculty refine their teaching skills and expand their educational toolkit.

FACULTY DEVELOPMENT IN APF

Joe Gulick’s Role as Assistant Director of Education

In addition to his work with Alice on Med Ed Nights, Joe has taken a lead role in faculty development through his position as the Assistant Director of Education for the Division of Hospital Medicine (DHM). His efforts have had a profound impact on both new and established faculty:

• Onboarding for new faculty: Joe created a comprehensive series of education modules designed to orient new faculty to the teaching culture within the DHM. These modules provide new educators with the foundational tools they need to succeed in their teaching roles.

• Collaboration with Respiratory Therapy (RT): Understanding that interdisciplinary collaboration is key to delivering high-quality patient care, Joe partnered with our RT colleagues to develop a hands-on education series. This series focuses on improving the management of patients with tracheostomies and challenging airways, enhancing the skills of both APPs and RTs in this critical area of care.

• Empowering APPs as educators: Joe is also dedicated to creating innovative pathways for APPs to develop as educators themselves. Future initiatives will help APPs refine their teaching skills and expand their opportunities for academic involvement, ensuring that they are well-positioned to become leaders in clinical education.

Looking Ahead: Building Sustainable Pathways for Faculty Development

The work being done by Joe, Alice, and the broader faculty development team is not just about individual sessions—it’s about creating a sustainable infrastructure for continuous learning and teaching excellence. Their efforts are helping to lay the groundwork for a robust faculty development pathway that will support APPs throughout their careers, from their first day in the APF to their future as leaders in medical education.

By investing in faculty development, we are not only enhancing the educational experience for our fellows but also ensuring that our APPs are well-equipped to take on future roles as educators, mentors, and leaders in hospital medicine. Stay tuned for more updates on upcoming faculty development programs and initiatives!