Meet our Residents

Areas of Interest:

• Urban Underserved Populations
• Spirituality and Whole-Person Care
• Women’s Health
• Full-Spectrum Medicine

Hello! I’m originally from the Pacific Northwest where I received a master’s degree in materials engineering at the University of Washington. I came to Chicago for medical school, and am excited to be sticking around for my residency training! I served on the executive boards for my medical school’s Christian Fellowship and Family Medicine Interest Group, and mentored medical students at student-run free clinics in the Chicagoland area. While in medical school, I lived in and served the North Philadelphia inner city by providing free door-to-door health screenings through the Summer Medical Institute. This ignited my passion for serving underserved populations and holistic family medicine.

As a Seattleite, I enjoy the outdoors and love birding/hiking (fun fact, I identified 22+ different bird species in North Chicago during my 1st year of medical school)!  As a Chicagoan, I enjoy the many sights and museums Chicago has to offer (especially reading museum placards).  I love spending time with family, friends, and church…and I take after my mom to enjoy drawing and painting whenever I have the chance.

I chose West Suburban for my residency training because…

Its mission to provide excellent primary care for vulnerable, underserved populations resonated with me. I wanted to train at a program with mentors and peers who embrace this mission, and this was reflected by everyone I met on my interview day. The FQHC setting, complex patient cases, exceptional full-spectrum training, and high-volume OB/GYN at West Sub offers opportunities for me to grow into a fully capable family physician, and be the advocate my patients need me to be.

Areas of Interest:

• Underserved Medicine & Social Determinants of Health
• Community Medicine & Public Health Policy/Advocacy
• Women’s & Maternal-Child Health
• Behavioral Health
• Addiction Medicine
• Sports Medicine
• Nutrition and Fitness Education
• Patient-Centered Medical Home models of care

Research Experience/Interest:

• Infants Cared for by Mother’s Family Physician Maternity Care Provider Have Higher Well Baby Attendance Rates”
• “Home-Based, Interactive Nutrition Education with High-Need Southeast D.C. Families”
• “Game On! Provider Usage of a Sports Directory to Target Pediatric Obesity”
• “Park Rx: Increasing Provider Prescription of Outdoor Physical Activity to Promote Long-Term Health and Well-Being”

Awards/Recognition:

• Silver TOUCH Award for community service
• ATSU MPH Scholarship

Leadership:

• Doctors for Camp Closure (D4CC) Member & Advocate
• School-Based Health Center Public Health Education Curriculum Coordinator
• Biomedical Ethics Club Executive Board

Non-Medical Interests and Hobbies:

• Tennis, soccer, running, hiking, concert going, netflixing, traveling to new cities, exploring new cuisines

I chose West Suburban for my residency training because…

It offers the perfect combination of things I was looking for in a residency program – commitment to providing excellent care to a diverse and underserved community in an urban, patient-centered medical home; a supportive, team-based environment; engagement in public health advocacy and community outreach programs; and robust unopposed training with an emphasis on maternal-child health, obstetrics, behavioral medicine, and inpatient medicine all in an awesome city! During my interview, I could sense how dedicated the faculty, residents, and staff were to improving the health and well-being of the surrounding community. I am beyond excited to be a part of the West Sub team!

Areas of Interest:

• Care for the Underserved
• Women’s Health and Obstetrics
• Addiction Medicine
• Behavioral Health
• Integrative Medicine
• Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine
• Health Disparities and Health Equity
• Immigrant and Refugee Health
• Full Scope Family Medicine

Research Experience/Interest:

• Homelessness and Conceptualization of Health
• Introducing Allopathic Medical Students to Osteopathic Principles and Manipulative Techniques
• Resources that dually focus on Homelessness and Substance Use Disorders

Awards/Recognition:

• National Health Service Corps Scholar
• Bioethics Honors Program
• Outstanding Student Medical Education, Scholarship, Research and Evaluation Poster Award

Leadership:

• Family Medicine Interest Group President
• Developed an OMT elective for allopathic students development, served as teacher assistant for this elective
• Missionary at a hospice and community clinic in Chimbote, Peru for 2 years before medical school
• Ignatius Spirituality Planning board member

Non-Medical Interests and Hobbies:

• Spending time with my family
• Refinishing projects with my husband
• Being outdoors
• Swimming, especially in the lake
• Running
• Game nights with friends
• Cooking
• Service/volunteering, especially abroad
• Photography

I chose West Suburban for my residency training because…

I know West Suburban truly cares for and prioritizes underserved populations and I know that it provides excellent, well-rounded, and full spectrum training. I loved the opportunity to have my clinical training site be an FQHC. West Suburban also has all the other aspects I wanted in a residency program including a strong focus in maternal child health, a solid foundation in addiction medicine, and rigorous inpatient medicine training.  The warm and caring nature of everyone at West Suburban really resonated with me; from the residents to the Program Director to the administration – everyone is so kind and it truly feels like a family environment! There is nothing more I could have asked for than to work in a place that feels like home. I have known I wanted to be a part of the West Suburban family since my second year of medical school! I spent multiple months at West Suburban during my medical school training and always loved the people I worked with. Some would say this was meant to be for I was born at West Sub!

Areas of Interest:

• Environmental Health
• Rural Medicine
• Health Policy and Global Health

Leadership:

• Assistant Physician, in a Family Medicine clinic prior to beginning residency

Non-Medical Interests and Hobbies:

• Yoga, dance, traveling, experiencing new restaurants and bargain shopping.

I chose West Suburban for my residency training because…

West Suburban will afford me the opportunity to train as a full spectrum primary care physician. I also appreciate working with a diverse patient population in a Great City!

Areas of Interest:

• Nutrition
• Integrative Medicine
• Women’s Health
• Underserved Medicine

Research Experience/Interest:

• Diet and Exercise behaviors after Kidney Transplant
• Food Insecurity in low-income older adults

Awards/Recognition:

• Gold Humanism Honor Society

Leadership:

• Chief medical student
• Family Medicine Interest Group Leader

Non-medical Interests/Hobbies:

• Cooking
• Swimming
• Hiking

I chose West Suburban for my residency training because…

While looking at family medicine programs, I continuously came back to the “gut feeling” I had when I was at West Sub. I could tell it was such a special place to train. I was lucky enough to do my third year family medicine rotation at PCC Lake Clinic and was immediately struck with the strong sense of community, the dedication to patients, and the commitment to providing outstanding care to some of Chicago’s most vulnerable patients and I am excited to be returning for my residency training. I am thrilled about the strong in-patient and maternal child health curriculum to ensure I can practice true full-spectrum family medicine after graduation!

Areas of Interest:

• Healthcare for people experiencing homelessness, full-spectrum family medicine, HIV and Hepatitis C, comprehensive care for people who use substances, geriatrics and palliative medicine, procedural care and point-of-care ultrasound

Research Experience/Interest:

• Survey of knowledge, attitudes and behaviors related to Hepatitis C care among healthcare providers in Washington D.C.
• Prior Quality Improvement projects including HIV outreach optimization and increasing the colonoscopy completion rate in patients with positive screening tests (e.g., fecal immunochemical test)

Awards/Recognition:

• AmeriCorps/Community HealthCorps Segal Education Award
• National Health Service Corps Scholarship
• Gold Humanism Honor Society
• Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society

Leadership:

• American Medical Student Association (AMSA) at GWU SMHS, chapter president
• HIV Public Health Summit at GWU SMHS, co-coordinator
• Syringe Access Services in San Francisco, naloxone educator and distributor
• Doctors for Camp Closure, medical volunteer recruiter for march in D.C.

Non-Medical Interests and Hobbies:

• Food! I enjoy cooking with my wife, especially soups and stews for dinner parties. A favorite is Hatch green chile stew from my home state of New Mexico. Other hobbies include reading (I am often found listening to Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings on audiobook), walking, skiing, and hiking/exploring national parks.

I chose West Suburban for my residence training because…

I chose West Sub for the opportunity to train in a robust and comprehensive program preparing me to practice anywhere. I love that it’s a community program with ample exposure to the gamut of full-spectrum Family Medicine. I was particularly impressed by the program’s mission of service to the community and providing full-spectrum care for marginalized patient populations. Training in an FQHC is a top priority and I was thrilled to join a program with multiple FQHC locations from which to choose as a primary site. In addition, I felt the true spirit of Family Medicine on my interview day. Everyone was so warm, committed, and brilliant. That feeling of “family” is essential as I believe it will help me fully succeed and weather the challenges of residency.