Robert C. Like, M.D., M.S. is Professor and Director of the Center for Healthy Families and Cultural Diversity, Department of Family Medicine, UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. Dr Like received his MD degree from Harvard Medical School in 1979, and completed his residency and MS degree fellowship training in family medicine from Case Western Reserve University in 1984. He is a practicing family physician with a background in medical anthropology, and has carried out fieldwork in the Azores Islands, Portugal; Beersheva, Israel; Zuni, New Mexico; and the Kingdom of Tonga in Western Polynesia.
Dr. Like has served as co-chair of the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine's Group on Multicultural Health Care and Education, a member of the DHHS Office of Minority Health's CLAS Standards National Project Advisory Committee, and on numerous expert panels, committees, and task forces. He currently represents the Medical Society of New Jersey on the AMA/NMA/NHMA Commission to End Healthcare Disparities and is Physician Editor of MDNGlive.com’s Focus on Multicultural Healthcare.
Dr. Like was the principal investigator of an Aetna Foundation-funded study entitled, "Assessing the Impact of Cultural Competency Training Using Participatory Quality Improvement Methods.” He previously served as director of the HRSA-funded NRSA Primary Care/Health Services Research Postdoctoral Fellowship Program in the Department of Family Medicine at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. He has also consulted to the European Union's Migrant-Friendly Hospitals initiative and is a member of the WHO Health Promoting Hospital’s Task Force on Migrant Friendly Culturally Competent Health Care.
Dr. Like is nationally known for his work in the area of cultural competency and health professions education. He has received a variety of awards including the 2004 Distinguished Service in the Health Field Award from the National Association of Medical Minority Educators, and is a 2004 and 2007 Pfizer/American Academy of Family Physicians Foundation Visiting Professor in Family Medicine. He is actively involved in developing continuing medical education programs and provides training and technical assistance relating to the delivery of patient-centered, culturally responsive care to diverse populations.