Program Director

Robert Pallay, M.D.
Northwestern University Medical School

Dr. Pallay earned his medical degree from Northwestern University Medical School in Chicago. He completed his family medicine residency at Somerset Medical Center in Somerville, N.J. He later owned and managed a private group practice in Hillsborough, N.J., for nearly 20 years. Dr. Pallay was medical director and later vice chairman of the Department of Family Medicine at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Jersey. Throughout his career, Dr. Pallay has served on numerous committees and commissions, including the American Academy of Family Physicians and the American College of Sports Medicine. The governor of New Jersey appointed him chair of the state’s Public Health Council. Dr. Pallay is a recognized consultant and advocate for fitness, sports medicine, cultural diversity, pharmaceutical issues, and start-up ventures. He joined Memorial University Medical Center in 2007 as director of the Family Medicine Residency Program and professor and chair of the Department of Family Medicine, Mercer University School of Medicine, Savannah campus.

Faculty

Shaun Franklin, M.D.
Morehouse School of Medicine

Dr. Franklin earned her bachelor's degree from Agnes Scott College in Decatur, Ga. She then enrolled in the alternative certificate program at Georgia State University in Atlanta and spent two years working as a high school science teacher in the Dekalb (Ga.) County public school system. Dr. Franklin earned her medical degree from Morehouse School of Medicine in 1994. She completed her family practice residency at Memorial University Medical Center. Dr. Franklin worked for the Chatham County Health Department and SouthCoast Medical Group in Savannah before joining Memorial Univrsity Medical Center. She completed a research fellowship for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 1991. She has given several presentations about minority women's health issues and was chosen Resident of the Year by the Georgia Academy of Family Practice in 1997. Dr. Franklin is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., the American Academy of Family Physicians, the Student National Medical Association, and the Georgia Academy of Family Physicians. She also does volunteer missionary work in Haiti.

Minkailu Sesay, M.D.
Saint Petersburg State Medical Academy
Saint Petersburg, Russia

Dr. Sesay was born and raised in Sierra Leone, West Africa. He attended Fourah Bay College (University of Sierra Leone) where he received a B.S. in zoology. He earned his doctor of medicine degree from St. Petersburg State Medical Academy, Russia. After completing medical school, he earned a Master of Public Health degree from the University of Alabama in Birmingham. He completed his residency in family medicine at Medical Center East Family Medicine, Birmingham, Ala., in 2004. After nine months of service as locum tenens physician at Curtis V. Cooper Health Center in Savannah, he joined the faculty of the Family Medicine Residency Program in December 2005. Dr. Sesay is a member of the AAFP, Georgia Academy of Family Physicians, Georgia Medical Society and National Lipid Association. His interests lie in preventive medicine and clinical research.

Michele M. Wellington, M.D.
International University of the Health Sciences
Saint Kitts & Nevis

Dr. Wellington earned her Bachelor of Science degree from Keuka College in upstate New York. She worked as a registered nurse in Binghamton, N.Y., while pursuing her Master of Science degree as a family nurse clinical specialist. Dr. Wellington then moved to the Washington, D.C., area where she started a home healthcare nursing business. After several years, she returned to academia and earned her post-master’s nurse practitioner certification from George Washington University. She worked as an adult nurse practitioner in Florida before deciding to enter medical school. Dr. Wellington received her Doctor of Medicine degree from the International University of the Health Sciences in 2000. She completed the Memorial University Medical Center Family Medicine Residency Program in 2007. Dr. Wellington was named Outstanding Resident of the Year by Mercer University School of Medicine and earned the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine Resident Teacher Award. She joined our faculty in 2007. Dr. Wellington is a member of the American Academy of Family Physicians, Georgia Academy of Family Physicians, and the Georgia Medical Society.

Claire Wheeler, Ph.D.
University of North Carolina

Dr. Wheeler was born and raised in Cartersville, Ga. She received a bachelor of arts degree from Samford University in Birmingham, Ala., and a master's degree in education from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. Dr. Wheeler earned a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She completed her intercept/residency at Durham VA hospital with child/family experience at the Duke Child Guidance Center. She worked in private practice in Savannah, Ga., from 1987 to 1993 before joining the teaching faculty at Memorial University Medical Center. Since that time, she has directed the behavioral science portion of the curriculum for the family practice residency. Dr. Wheeler is an assistant professor of family medicine for Mercer School of Medicine, Savannah Campus. Her professional memberships include the Society for Teachers of Family Medicine, American Psychological Association, and the National Register for Health Care Providers in Psychology. Dr. Wheeler is interested in cognitive behavioral treatment for anxiety and depression, the effects of illness upon the family, and teaching residents.