Dr. Nicole T. Hemkes MD
Born and raised in Orlando, FL. Dr. Hemkes left Florida to attend the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and graduated with Distinction with a BS Biology minor in Chemistry in 2002. She went on to attend medical school at the the University of South Florida in Tampa graduating in 2006. Then Dr. Hemkes returned to North Carolina to attend one of the top Family Medicine residency programs at Wake Forest University in Winston Salem, NC, completing residency in 2009.
For the first ten years of her practice, Dr Hemkes gained experience in a diversity of roles and settings. She has worked in Emergency departments, in the inpatient setting as a hospitalist , and outpatient clinics as a traditional Family medicine doctor. Dr. Hemkes has worked in urban settings such as inner city Chicago and also in settings as remote as rural Alaska. She believes that this diversity of experiences has improved her skills and knowledge but also allowed her to become a more empathetic healer.
After being an employed doctor for 10 years, she was excited to find a different model of care called “Direct Primary care”. Dr. Hemkes believes that DPC empowers the physician and the patient . She will advocate for your health as if you were a member of her family. Everyone deserves a healthcare advocate.
Dr. Hemkes lives in Madison, WI with her two young daughters Margo and Mona. In her free time she enjoys running, pilates, gardening and exploring this wonderful state we live in with her family. She is proud to call Madison her home and to build a practice here to serve the community.
Dr Michael Aughey MD
Dr Aughey was born and raised in Wisconsin Rapids WI. Attended UW Stevens Point for his undergraduate degree, graduating with a BS in Chemistry. After working a few years in the private sector, he returned to medical school and graduated from the University of Wisconsin Madison Medical School in 1993. Dr Aughey went on to complete his residency training at the Family Medicine Department of Wake Forest University in Winston Salem NC and graduated as Chief Resident in 1996.
He decided to move back to Wisconsin, so him and his wife Barb moved to Sun Prairie, WI where he joined SSM Health Dean Medical Group . He has spent the last 20+ years practicing broad spectrum Family Medicine. He is excited to bring these years of experience to AdvocateMD. Dr Aughey believes the patient-doctor relationship is as important as the medicine itself, in providing high quality care.
Dr Aughey lives with his wife Barb (an RN) in Sun Prairie. They have three adult children – including a daughter in Medical School. He enjoys many outdoor activities (hiking, kayaking, and cross-country skiing) and traveling with his family.
Dr Adam Balin MD
Born in Chicago, IL. Dr Balin grew up in the suburbs of Chicago until moving to Grand Isle, Nebraska where he graduated from High school. He then went on to attend the prestigious Harvard University for Undergrad. Dr Balin then moved onto the University of Missouri-Columbia to attend Medical School and stayed there to complete his Family Medicine Residency (where he served as Chief Resident). Dr Balin and his wife then made the move to Wisconsin, where he started with Dean clinic working in Oregon, WI. Dr Balin practiced Full Spectrum Family Medicine care including OB, inpatient, nursing home and home visits for most of his career. The doctor held a number of leadership positions while at Oregon clinic, including chairing the Family Medicine Department.
Dr Balin looks forward to practicing in a model where he can spend longer with patients and leave the decision-making to patients and doctors instead of administrators. One area of special interest is in procedures and Dr Balin has extensive training and experience to be able to offer procedures such as prolotherapy, vasectomy and more complex skin procedures to patients.
Dr Balin lives in Fitchburg, WI with his wife Karin. They have two adult children Connor and Sarah. In his space time, the doctor enjoys fly fishing, traveling, camping, working outside and around his house on various projects.
Dr Karen Shulman MD
Dr Karen Shulman was born in upstate New York , but raised from a young age in Southern Ontario. She attended the University of Waterloo, studying Kinesiology and then went on to Medical School at Western University in London, Ontario. She completed her Family Medicine Residency in London before starting her career as a physician in the United States.
Dr Shulman worked for 3 years in Western Massachusetts before moving to Marshfield Wisconsin to work at Marshfield Clinic. She has worked as a Family doctor in a rural clinic in Stratford, Wisconsin for over 20 years. More recently she also took over an Administrative role as Medical Director of Adult Primary Care for Marshfield Clinic Health system.
Now Dr Shulman is really looking forward returning to her true passion of providing comprehensive primary care to a variety of different patients and different medical conditions. While Dr Shulman is new to Madison, she is excited to be living closer to her 2 sons who are already in Madison. Her daughter is not far way in LaCrosse. Dr Shulman and her husband Doug enjoy cycling, hiking, diving, and traveling when they have time.
Dr Christina Quale MD
Dr Christina Quale was born and raised in Stoughton WI. She attended Stoughton High School. She then went on to attend University of Wisconsin- Madison for Undergrad. Then Dr Quale attended Medical School at Medical College of Wisconsin and continued on to do her Family Medicine residency at Aurora St Luke’s Hospital in Milwaukee.
She choose Family Medicine because she enjoys getting to know her patients over time, and loves to hear their stories. Dr Quale appreciates being able to care for patients throughout different ages and stages of life. For her, it is an honor for them to trust in her, especially during some of their most difficult moments.
Dr Quale enjoys working with rescue animals and helped train dogs at the Dane County Humane Society. Her other interests include hiking, cycling, Scuba diving, watching Badger sports and traveling with family. Dr Quale lives with her husband Dave and two rescue cats in Edgerton, Wisconsin.
Dr Julia Danz DO
Dr Julia Danz was born and raised on Kaukauna Wisconsin. She attended Beloit College and then went on to attend Nova Southeastern for Medical School. Then Dr Danz completed her residency training at the McLaren Health in Lansing, Michigan. Dr Danz worked in Sauk Prairie prior to coming to work at Advocate MD.
Dr Danz believes that being a Family Medicine physician allows her to provide high-quality, comprehensive care while building long-term relationships with patients.
In terms of choosing Direct Primary Care and coming to work at Advocate MD, she says “Direct Primary Care allows me to practice Medicine the way it should be. Excellent care that is accessible, transparent and patient-focused.”
Dr Danz lives in Middleton with her husband Stefan and son Luca. She enjoys reading, baking and exploring Madison with her Family.
Dr Jennifer Philbin MD
Dr Jennifer Philbin was born and raised in Madison, WI. She received her Undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Then she went onto Medical school at the University of Illinois- Chicago. Finally she completed residency at Advocate Illinois Masonic in Chicago. Dr Philbin then moved back to Madison to be closer to Family. Dr Philbin says she chose Family Medicine “because of the breadth of the specialty and the ability to build meaningful, lasting, healthy relationships with people at different time in their lives.” She is looking forward to being a part of Advocate MD because she believes the model focuses on the patient/doctor relationship which enables better quality, outcomes and health. In her spare time Dr Philbin enjoys watching Wisconsin sports, reading, hiking, traveling and is a beginner birder. She lives in Madison with her husband Mike, two adult sons, and her dog.
Dr Gina DeGiovanni
Dr Gina DeGiovanni was born and raised in Prairie du Sac. She grew up in a medical household with a surgeon dad and nurse mom. Dr DeGiovanni went to the University of Chicago for Undergrad and Medical School. She completed one year of General Surgery residency before deciding to switch to Family Medicine and completing her residency at West Suburban Medical Center in the Chicago suburbs. Dr DeGiovanni lives in Prairie du Sac with her husband and teenage son. She is very excited to be part of Advocate MD.
Our Mission
Our priority is putting our patients first. We believe that insurance companies and healthcare administrators interfere with the patient -doctor relationship, undervalue quality of care, and increase costs. We take out these barriers to care of insurance and administration which allows us to spend quality time with our patients. When you greater time you are able to listen, discuss and thus you are able to provide better quality care. Removing barriers also allows the patient to communicate directly with the physician by phone, email and visits. We minimize additional costs to the patient by providing medications, labs, procedures and radiology at costs. Our patients are happier, healthier , and save money compared to the traditional fee-for-service system.
Your Questions
We see all ages of patients in our clinic from newborns to elderly patients.
We are available by phone after hours and weekends. For medical issues that need to be seen we are available after hours. For some issues which are life threatening we might refer to the Emergency department.
Currently we offer skin procedures including biopsies, incision and drainage, sebaceous cyst removal, toenail removal. Orthopedic procedures including joint injection and splinting. Gynecologic procedures including pap smears and endometrial biopsies.
When patients get admitted to the local area hospitals, they would be admitted under a Hospitalist physician. Which is the case of all private primary care doctors. Your Advocate MD doctor will make “social visits” and be in communication with the patient and their family during the hospital stay.
Billing is automatic monthly and can be billed on credit card or deducted from you bank account.
We will communicate directly with specialist via phone consultation. If seeing a specialist in person is required we will coordinate directly with the specialist and your insurance or try to negotiate cash prices.
While we do not accept insurance, you can still have a healthcare insurance policy to cover services that we cannot provide in our clinic. We encourage some sort of high deductible insurance policy in case of need for hospitalization, surgery, or specialist services.