Medical Team

• Medical Alerts

  Seasonal flu vaccines are in! Please contact Gail Hale at 703-938-4604 x2 to set up a time to receive your vaccine. Or stop by on Friday between 10 and 5 during our walk in clinic. Cost is $25/shot.

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  Heading to college this Fall? We have meningitis vaccines. Call Gail Hale to make an appointment to come in.
  

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  Attention High School Athletes: Need your sports physical exam completed before the Fall season starts? Call us today to make a same-day appointment and don't miss a practice ... or try out!
  

• Press Alerts

  Dr. Dappen will be the guest on WEBR's "The Radio Hotline" with Dennis Price on Tuesday, July 27 from 8 to 10 pm. Find out more!
  

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  Dr. Steve Simmons appeared on NewsChannel8 to discuss kidney disease.
  

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  Valerie Tinley, nurse practitioner, is interviewed by NewsChannel8 about Women's Health Visits.

The DocTalker Medical Team is on call for you around the clock: 

Doctor:
Alan Dappen, MD

Dr. Alan Dappen graduated from the University of Washington Medical School in 1979. He completed his Family Medicine residency in 1983 at the University of California, Davis program in Modesto, California. A year later, he completed a Song-Brown Fellowship , and then finished coursework in Family Therapy in 1989. He has remained Board-certified in Family Medicine since 1983. Alan has practiced medicine in California, Kenya, Mexico, and since 1992, in Vienna, VA. He is an Associate Clinical Professor at Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Department of Family Practice, and recently became a graduate of Leadership Fairfax. Alan has published medical journal articles on diverse topics, including malaria, nutrition, and smoking. Thanks to his years living abroad, he speaks Spanish fluently. Alan is the founder of DocTalker Family Medicine and doctokr Inc.

Doctor:
Steve Simmons, MD

Steve is a Board-certified Internist, who received his medical degree from the University of Tennessee, and completed his residency at St. Joseph Hospital in Denver, Colorado.  In 1996, Steve was selected by his peers to receive the Dr. Annie Yee Johnson Memorial Award for compassion and professionalism. He has spent the past 10 years working in primary and urgent care at Kaiser Permanente.  Steve and Alan have worked together for the past five years.

Doctor:
Val Jones, MD

Val graduated from medical school at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City  in 2001. During her training she received a scholarship to conduct research in the department of plastic surgery at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, as well as a summer research fellowship in pediatric surgery at the University of Southern California, which was funded by the National Institutes of Health. She also completed research at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City in its Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.

Val was the principal investigator of several clinical trials relating to sleep, diabetes and metabolism, and the Chief Resident of Rehabilitation Medicine at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Manhattan. Val volunteered at Walter Reed Army Medical Center from 2008-2009. She is board eligible in Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation and holds medical licenses in DC, VA, and NY.

Val is a regular contributor to ABC News Channel 8 in Washington, DC, the CEO of Better Health, LLC.

Nurse Practitioner:
Valerie Tinley, CFNP

Valerie Tinley is a Certified Family Nurse Practitioner. She has 30 years of experience in nursing that includes obstetrics, operating room and 12 years in breast cancer research. In 1997, she graduated with honors from George Mason/George Washington University Collaborative Program with a Masters of Science in Nursing/Family Nurse Practitioner. Since then, her work experience has been in urgent care, family practice, infectious disease, rheumatology, and health exams, particularly dealing with women's health issues and pre-surgical screening of preoperative patients. She brings with her a wealth of healthcare knowledge, experience, and a caring attitude.

Nurse and Office Manager:
Gail Hale

Gail Hale, RN is the nurse manager for DocTalker Family Medicine. She studied a combined nursing course at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children and The Middlesex Hospital and Queen Charlottes Hospital for Women in London in the U.K., receiving her registration in General and Pediatric Nursing in 1977. She studied for her Health Visitors diploma at the University of the South Bank in London in 1984. She moved with her family to the States in 1985, and has since lived in New York, Chicago, and Toronto, Canada, before relocating to Fairfax County, Virginia, in 1992. She obtained her Virginia Nursing License in 1995 and, following a Return to Nursing course at the University of Virginia, has worked at Inova Fairfax Hospital for Children. As the mother of four children she also has extensive experience using different health care systems.Gail has been with DocTalker since it was founded in 2001.