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Medboard Matters Podcast

In this episode of MedBoard Matters, host, Jean Fisher Brinkley highlights the Board's 2021 annual report and speaks with Dr. Joe Jordan and Dr. Clark Gaither from the NC Professionals Health Program about a troubling threefold increase from 2020 to 2021 of public actions related to alcohol and substance use.

Posted April 26, 2022 | 
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Resources mentioned in podcast

NCMB 2021 Annual Report (watch the highlight video below)


NC Professionals Health Program website (learn more about the NCPHP Treatment Scholarship Fund below)

Podcast Transcript

Download Transcript (164KB pdf file)

Hosts and Guests

Jean Fisher Brinkley

Communications Director, North Carolina Medical Board

Jean Fisher Brinkley

Jean Fisher Brinkley is NCMB’s Communications Director, a role that involves developing and overseeing production of communications materials and strategies needed to enhance public and professional awareness and understanding of the Board and its mission. She joined NCMB in 2008, after an 11-year career in newspaper journalism, most of it dedicated to reporting on medicine, health policy and the business aspects of health care.

Brinkley earned a bachelor’s degree in English from Mills College in Oakland, CA, and a master’s degree in journalism from the University of California, Berkeley. She lives in Raleigh with her husband and two daughters.

You can reach Jean at podcast@ncmedboard.org

Joseph P. Jordan, PhD

Chief Executive Officer, North Carolina Professionals Health Program

Joe Jordan, CEO for the NC PHP

Dr. Jordan brings more than 25 years of experience in the areas of substance abuse and mental health disorders to his role as NCPHP’s Chief Executive Officer. Prior to assuming this role in 2016, he worked at NCPHP for nine years, first as the Clinical Director before taking on the position of Executive Director.

Before joining NCPHP, Dr. Jordan was the Ethics Officer and Director of Special Projects for The National Board for Certified Counselors, served as clinical director for a long-term residential program, and provided emergency psychiatric evaluation services while completing his graduate degrees. Dr. Jordan has previously served on state and national committees and boards devoted to the study, development, and refinement of the field of substance abuse counseling. He earned his undergraduate degree in Psychology and graduate degrees in Counseling and Counseling Education from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

You can reach Dr. Jordan at: jjordan@ncphp.org

Clark Gaither, MD, FAAFP

Medical Director, North Carolina Professionals Health Program

Clark Gaither, Medical Director for the NC PHP

Dr. Gaither has extensive personal and clinical experience within NCPHP and in the areas of addiction and recovery. He has served as a volunteer for NCPHP for many years, as a member of the Compliance Committee (two consecutive three-year terms), as a member of the Board of Directors for five years (2002-2007), and as the Board Chair for two consecutive years (2004 and 2005).

Since 2000, Dr. Gaither has served as a physician monitor for program participants. He has also presented on behalf of NCPHP to groups at hospitals, physician practices, and medical schools throughout the state. In addition to practicing as a family physician for 27 years, he has gained one additional area of expertise — Job-Related Burnout — a valuable asset to the depth and breadth of services NCPHP provides.

Dr. Gaither completed his Bachelor of Science degree in Biology at Lenoir-Rhyne College and later earned his master’s in Biology at East Carolina University. After graduating from ECU School of Medicine in 1989, he completed residency in Family Medicine at ECU/PCMH in 1992. He became a Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians in 2010.