Michael Rakotz, MD
Michael Rakotz, MD, is a graduate of Rush University School of Medicine in Chicago, IL. He completed his residency training at Michigan State University in Lansing, MI. He is the Lead Physician at the NorthShore Medical Group Primary Care office in Highland Park, IL.
In addition, he is the Vice-Chair for Quality for the Department of Family Medicine at NorthShore and the University of Chicago, a member of the leadership team at the NorthShore PBRN and a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at NorthShore and the University of Chicago.
Dr. Rakotz joined NorthShore after spending 10 years as Medical Director of a community health center in Lyons, CO. In 2000, he was one of 50 physicians in the United States to receive the American Medical Association Glaxo-Wellcome Emerging Leaders in Medicine Scholarship Award.
For the past three years, Dr. Rakotz has been integral to the NorthShore Center for Weight Management, providing medical weight management services to adolescents and adult patients. In that regard, Dr. Rakotz has over 30 years of culinary experience, having worked in commercial kitchens since age 14. For the last 3 years he has also taught healthy cooking classes to adults and children at Whole Foods Markets and farmers markets across the North Shore.
As a further compliment to his interests in weight management and healthy eating, Dr. Rakotz has expertise in teaching the benefits of physical fitness to children, adolescents and adults. He established a not-for-profit fitness facility in Colorado and strongly believes that physical fitness is a crucial part of achieving and maintaining the health of people of all ages.
Since coming to NorthShore, Dr. Rakotz has had the opportunity to receive specialty training in the areas of Quality Improvement and Research in Primary Care. His current research interests and efforts are focused on using health information technology and informatics to identify patients with undiagnosed hypertension in the NorthShore service area.