Program Director – Elizabeth Butcher, MD, MPH & TM

Elizabeth Butcher joined the Harnett Health Internal Medicine Residency Program in June 2021 as the Assistant Program Director. Dr. Butcher received her medical degree from West Virginia University School of Medicine and a Masters of Public Health and Tropical Medicine from Tulane University. She completed her Internal Medicine residency, including a fourth year chief, at Cone Health and an Internal Medicine fellowship at Geisinger Health System. After spending time in a traditional Internal Medicine private practice in eastern NC, she returned to academics and the Cone Health Internal Medicine Residency Program, joining the faculty and serving as the residency clinic’s medical director from 2010 to 2021. Her academic interests including teaching, caring for underserved populations, and coaxing useful clinic reports from EPIC. Although a native West Virginian, Dr Butcher now considers NC her home.  She enjoys visiting her family on the family farm and teaching her nieces to bake.

Associate Program Director - Dr. Benjamin Putnam 

Dr. Benjamin Putnam is the Associate Program Director for the Harnett Health Internal Medicine Residency Program. Dr. Putnam grew up in Harnett County where he graduated high school and started his path in medicine as an EKG technician. After completing a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry degree at North Carolina State University, he attended medical school at East Carolina University. He completed his Internal Medicine Residency at Good Samaritan Hospital in Cincinnati, where he later became the Chief Resident. Dr. Putnam began his career in graduate medical education as teaching faculty with Campbell University and the UNC Health System shortly after residency. Since becoming Associate Program Director at Harnett Health in 2023, Dr. Putnam has continued to share his passion for medical education and patient care with medical students and residents, while being able to give back to the community that he calls home. In his free time, Dr. Putnam enjoys spending time with his wife and two children, traveling, and working on his project car.