Santa Rosa Family Medicine Residency

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THIRD YEAR RESIDENTS

	Ian Hoffman, M.D. Robert Wood Johnson Medical School: Ian is a dedicated Californian who has been longing to get back to the "Left Coast" where he learned to drive, surf, and snowboard. He received his medical degree and Master's of Public Health in Health Policy from Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. Ian completed a bachelor's degree in Anthropology and Biology at the University of Pennsylvania in 1998. In the 10 years prior to starting residency, Ian has done research (neurosurgery, HIV/AIDS, and epidemiology), has helped to run non-profits (including a Philadelphia-wide medical supply recovery program and a cross-country bicycle advocacy tour for global health), and sat on the national executive board of the American Medical Student Association (AMSA). Ian's interests in Family Medicine include health disparities, universal health care, information technology, and the effects of poverty on health. When not in the hospital Ian enjoys reading poetry, playing guitar, gardening, restoring old houses, and staying active by running, hiking, bicycling, surfing, snowboarding, and skiing.


	Kambria Holder, M.D. University of Arizona College of Medicine: Named after the small coastal town, Kambria has always considered California to be her true home and is thrilled to return. Inspired by the beauty of the Southwest, she studied botany at Northern Arizona University. After graduating, lured by the idea of international travel by sea, Kambria lived on a sailboat for one year on the Atlantic Ocean. During medical school she took time off to help her husband, Greg, run his organic farm in Northern California. Her interests include cross-cultural, international, and alternative medicine. She finds joy in cooking, gardening, dancing, cycling, and spending time with friends and family.


	Ilona Letmanyi, M.D. Saint Louis University: The daughter of Hungarian immigrant parents, Ilona grew up in Northern Virginia where she developed her love of horses and the outdoors. She completed undergraduate studies at the University of Virginia, and worked in genetics research at the Armed Forces DNA Identification Lab before she began her westward migration and studied medicine in St Louis. She is eager to finally make it to the West coast, into a program that allows her to pursue her professional interests in complementary and international medicine, as well as in providing health care to underserved patients. Besides riding, other personal interests include music, golf, exploring, and poetry.


	Onna Lo, M.D. Brown Medical School: Onna was born in Hong Kong and came to study in the U.S. when she was 14. With Taoist influence from her parents, Onna began a journey early on in integrating the Western and Eastern concepts of the human mind, body, and spirit. She studied acupuncture and acupressure in Beijing while pursuing a degree in Neuroscience. She practices and teaches Kundalini yoga regularly in order to stay mentally and physically sane. She also bikes, hikes, surfs, and takes trips to the country for the purpose of eating fresh, good food. She is interested in pursuing a career of integrative medicine, working with chronic illness patients.


	Joe Matel, M.D. University of Minnesota: Joe is a Minnesota native and graduate of St. John's University in Collegeville, MN and the University of Minnesota Medical School. As a National Health Service Corps Scholar, Joe has committed to working in an underserved area after residency and hopes to focus his practice on working with the medically underserved. He chose a family medicine residency because he loves OB, children and adults and loves the procedures available for the family physician. Joe is a high-energy person who enjoys running marathons, hiking, traveling, biking and camping. Joe and his wife Brianna, a social worker, love being in California where they met doing AmeriCorps*VISTA in 2001-2002.


	Rain B. Moore, M.D. Penn State Hershey College of Medicine: After a four-year stint in Hershey, PA for medical school, Rain returns to her treasured West coast. Growing up in California, mostly Big Sur and Monterey Bay, Rain dropped out of high school. Years later she found The Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA, where she finished a BA and eventually premed requirements. Her interests both in and out of medicine include working with truly underserved and HIV+ patients, women's health and homebirth, wild crafting plants, mushroom hunting, cooking, knitting, gardening, and most importantly hanging out with her kid Lola, sweetheart Graham, and friends.


	Chris Quan, M.D. Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University: Chris is a Californian at heart. He was born and raised in Northern California and attended UC Davis where he received his bachelor degree in biology. After medical school at Jefferson Medical College, he is extremely excited to begin residency in Santa Rosa. Chris hopes to join a private practice after his training. His hobbies include any activity outdoors and spending time with family.


	Tonya Southard, M.D. University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine: When Tonya thinks of Miami, she's reminded of sleeping to swaying palms, the scent of blossoming gardenias, and Abuelita's cafe-con-leches with Grandpa's guava pastries. After college, she volunteered in Guatemala and Austin, which inspired her to practice yoga and pursue medicine. She attended medical school in Chicago, indulging in the vibrant culture and energy of the city, while realizing that bitter-cold winters were something she could do w ithout. Tonya believes Manifest Destiny is what brings her to the Left Edge, where she hopes to work with underserved communities, develop an integrative approach to medicine, and play lots in between.


	Lauren Spieler, D.O. Touro University College of Osteopathic Medicine: Since moving from Los Angeles to attend UC Berkeley, Lauren dreamt of continuing her northern migration to make a home among the majestic Redwoods. As an Ethnobotany major, Lauren concentrated on Native uses of California plants. Her interest in medicinal plants eventually led to studying wilderness medicine and subsequent work as an herbalist and doula. As a physician her goals include building integrative practices that serve diverse populations, and exploring the relationship between environmental and personal health. Lauren is proud to be the wife of a lovely, vibrant man, Travis, and mother to a very silly, active toddler, Gavin. Their clan also includes a dog, a cat and a jungle of plants. She may often be found dancing, cooking, making potions, and celebrating the Wheel of the Year with family and friends. Lauren feels grateful for the opportunity to be part of the residency and hopes that her service will benefit our team, our community, and our sacred world.


	Suegee Tamar-Mattis, D.O. Touro University College of Osteopathic Medicine: Suegee moved to the Bay Area in 1984, in the middle of the AIDS epidemic, and has worked for many years providing service to LGBTQ people and people with AIDS. Just prior to entering medical school, Suegee was the director of a primary-care clinic for LGBTQ youth, many of whom were homeless. Suegee's professional interests continue to include working with underserved populations, homeless youth, and the LGBTQ community.


	Brooke Vezino, M.D. University of Arizona College of Medicine: Brooke grew up in the stark beauty of the Arizona desert where she met and married her partner in crime, Sean. Together they manage the social affairs of their dog Nellie. Brooke believes in a fully integrated system of medicine that prioritizes holism, commitment to active engagement in sociopolitical medicine, and celebration of diverse experiences, self-care, and intimate personal relationships. These beliefs were solidified while studying traditional Chinese medicine in China, working with lay health workers in rural Nicaragua, and acting as a national AMSA leader. Through AMSA, she organized medical student wellness retreats, a 4th year elective promoting activism, integrative medicine and self-care, and eventually took a year off to work at the national office in Washington DC. In her peaceful moments, you'll find Brooke barefoot, journaling, writing napkin poems, or knitting.


	Daniel R. Zanotti, D.O. Western University of Health Sciences: Dan is delighted and grateful to be here at Sutter with his "lovely (and forever superior) wife", Amy. He grew up in an Italian-Irish family in Traverse City, Michigan, which conferred a longing for better weather, and he says he has had the luck to have found it. After exploring biological academics, research and teaching at Central Michigan University and Exeter University in England, manifest destiny and a '94 Nissan Sentra provided Dan the motivation for moving to California in search of a Midwestern girl, a medical education, and a wonderful residency program. The National Health Service will become his next port of call, and with any luck at all, it will be very close by.


SECOND YEAR RESIDENTS

	Alana Benjamin, M.D. University of New Mexico; Alana is super excited to be joining the inspiring group at Santa Rosa. Highlights of her pre-Sonoma life include: growing up as a nerdy science kid in Los Alamos, NM, milking cows on a kibbutz during a year off before college, leading backpacking trips and teaching wilderness first aid at Princeton, cycling from Seattle to Boston after college, and advocating for universal healthcare and "pharmfree"policies through her work with AMSA during medical school. Her professional interests include community health with underserved populations, evidence-based medicine, women's health, pediatrics, and sports medicine. She also loves trail running, hiking, cycling, tennis, yoga, telemark skiing, chess, and wine-and-cheese parties!


	Alicia Cohen, M.D. Mount Sinai School of Medicine; Long having felt the Northwest calling, Alicia is thrilled to finally be moving to the Left Coast and Santa Rosa. Passionate about women's health, integrative medicine, and working with the underserved, Alicia took the "scenic route" through medical school. She spent a year in Jerusalem working with Israeli and Palestinian survivors of domestic violence, and another two years on a project to reduce disparities in care for women with breast cancer in East and Central Harlem. In her spare time, Alicia can often be found singing, writing music, dancing, cooking, and getting her hands dirty. She is especially looking forward to growing her vegetables in real soil, rather than on a Manhattan fire escape.


	Connie Earl, D.O. University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine; After nine years of migrating between Portland, Oregon and Portland, Maine, Connie is ecstatic to be reuniting her husband, Russ, with his childhood home north of the Bay. Connie has worked as a doula, providing labor support and childbirth education to mothers and families; she organized national workshops on leadership, activism in medicine and integrative health care; and believes in the power of community. She is thrilled to be joining the community here in Santa Rosa. Connie's professional passions include holism, reproductive health care, traditional healing modalities, natural childbirth and pregnancy, and addressing health care disparities. To balance her overachiever tendencies, she loves playing outdoors with her brilliant husband, card games and crosswords, cooking, big dinner parties, playing her conga drums poorly and sleeping in with her cat.


	Joseph Eichenseher, M.D. University of Wisconsin; Joseph was raised near the isthmus in Madison, Wisconsin. After career stints as a grocery checker, bus person, corn thinner, collegiate rower, 5th grade teacher (Teach For America in Baltimore), High School math instructor and varsity baseball coach (on the Navajo Nation), he has decided to try his hand at medicine. His interests include empowerment of underserved communities, evidence-based medicine, and working toward international health justice. He has found himself living in such places as Ann Arbor, Champaign, Kuala Lumpur, Spokane, B-more, and Rough Rock, and, after hitchin' up the wagons and heading westward again, he is looking forward to finally being settled in Santa Rosa (... at least for a few years). He enjoys spending time with family and friends, participating in team sports (especially ultimate), exploring, reading good books, gardening, and playing his classical guitar.


	Ann Figurski, D.O. Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine, Midwestern University; After growing up in a large family in the Midwest, Ann has been making her way toward the Pacific coast. She studied nutrition at the University of Michigan, where she began to explore her interest in holistic and integrative medicine. While she loves the Arizona sunshine, she is excited to be in northern California where water and greenery abound, two adorable nephews are nearby, and the journey of life continues. Ann loves running, dancing, being outdoors, laughing, practicing yoga, and being with friends and family. She desires to practice full spectrum family medicine including osteopathy and preventative medicine, and hopes to include teaching in her career as well.


	Veronica Jordan M.D. UC Berkeley/UCSF Joint Medical Program; Veronica is excited to be close to her hometown of San Rafael, CA, though coming from the UC Berkeley-UCSF Joint Medical Program, she really hasn't been too far away for the last few years. Except, that is, when she managed to hop a plane to places like Ecuador (she has been back a few times but was originally there as a Peace Corps volunteer with a focus on sexual education and women's autonomous banking); El Salvador (conducting Master's work on early childhood caries), Vietnam (working on her language skills and eating amazing street food), Kenya (where she got engaged to her wonderful Swahili-speaking husband), and most recently, Brazil (doing a research project on HPV).When she isn't away, she enjoys hiking, swimming, baking sweets, and playing some mean scrabble.


	Rebecca Katz, M.D. UCSF; Rebecca Katz was born and raised among the redwoods of coastal northern California, which planted the seeds for her desire to live close to the earth, as well as an appreciation for small town family medicine. She finished out high school in Berlin, Germany, where she enjoyed being exposed to everything from illegal artist colonies to the opera. After a stint on the East Coast at Bryn Mawr College, she was ecstatic to be able to return to her native California for medical school. While in school she became passionate about holistic, integrative medical care from cradle to grave. In addition to involvement with the student homeless clinic, political activism, research in palliative care and ethnographic research in Guatemala, she volunteered doing body work with patients at Zen Hospice, where she met her fiance, Todd. They are excited to live outside of the city where they can soak in the quiet, garden, hike and continue practicing meditation, Qi gong and yoga.


	Jin Kwon, M.D. Tufts University; Born in S. Korea and raised in the suburbs of Boston, Jin's path to Santa Rosa has involved criss-crossing both careers and coasts. After graduating from Wellesley College and teaching stints in Boston and Korea, she found herself pursuing a masters in education at Harvard. Following her heart and dreams of warmer weather, she relocated to the SF Bay Area, where after a job in consulting and some serious soul-searching, decided to transition from a career in education to one in medicine. She returned to Boston (yet again!) for medical school, where she developed a love for international medicine, an awe of obstetrics, and a deep respect for palliative care. During her residency, she hopes to find creative ways to integrate her background in education with her medical training and practice. Outside of the hospital, she is either out on a run, trying to improve on her salsa form, or just out having a good time with friends.


	Nicole Mohlman, M.D. Northwestern University of Feinberg School of Medicine; Nicole was born and raised on a farm very near the geographical center of the United States, touted as a positive energy focus for all citizens of the world. True or not, it was a great place to grow-up, and she can still pitch hay and build fence with the best of them. She went on to attend the University of Kansas in Lawrence, and then straight to Northwestern University of Feinberg School of Medicine. Although the vibrancy and pace of Chicago is magnificent, after four years she is ready to explore the left coast for all it promises, warm weather, people, and places. She loves Family Medicine for its potential in all directions, and is particularly interested in the areas of the underserved and uninsured, rural health, family systems, and women's health. Nicole gets irrationally excited about flowers and plants, and she likes to cook, host, create, jog, bike, and generally be outdoors with the sun on her skin.


	Michele Reynolds, M.D. University of Nevada School of Medicine; Michele grew up in small towns in Arizona, California, and Nevada before moving to the thriving two-street metropolis of Bokoli village in Western Kenya. As a Peace Corps Volunteer there, she worked as an HIV/AIDS educator. She returned home with good memories as well as the physical and emotional scars of Kenyan public transportation. Happy to be starting her career in Santa Rosa, her interests in family medicine include public health, geriatrics, and mental health. In her spare time, she enjoys badly playing tennis and badminton, slowing killing houseplants, baking, hiking, and squandering her time outside.


	Elise Sullivan, M.D. University of Colorado School of Medicine; Elise Sullivan grew up in Pine, Colorado. She attended Lake Tahoe Community College and graduated from the University of California at Berkeley with a Peace and Conflict Studies degree. Elise completed her studies at the University of Colorado School Of Medicine; she plans to work in a small town practicing the full scope of family medicine including operative OB. Throughout her education she has worked with people with physical and learning disabilities, underserved and homeless populations and mentored a teenager with sickle-cell disease. Personal interests include skiing, backpacking, rafting, international travel, yoga and meditation.


	Sean Zager, M.D. University of Michigan; Sean completed his undergraduate and medical studies at the University of Michigan. His interest in the science of biomedicine has always coevolved with his love for integrative and international health care. Before his final year of medical school, Sean took one year off to join a rural clinic serving indigenous groups in southern Venezuela. He then traveled to the Peruvian Amazon and Ecuadorian Andes to learn about shamanic healing ritual. Sean has also participated in medical efforts in India, Nepal, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic and in his spare time enjoys running, reading, being outside, and strumming his guitar.


FIRST YEAR RESIDENTS

	Allison Bacon, MD Allison was born in a nondescript house in San Bernardino, California, and later attended medical school a few miles down the road. In the intervening years, she lived in Malawi and Costa Rica, developing an interest in international medicine, and rural Washington State, learning to appreciate the value of family medicine and to operate a chainsaw. She loves being outdoors and such pursuits as mountain biking, skiing, backpacking and tree climbing. Medical interests include the underserved, wilderness medicine, and preventive care. She also enjoys improvisational acting, travel, goat husbandry, and spending time with her husband, Aaron, and son Aidan.


	Andrew Cunningham, M.D. Graduate of the University of Louisville; Andy enjoyed his last few years among family and friends back home in the bluegrass state. His decision to pursue medicine came on the heels of a couple great years of post-college exploration, during which time he tasted soymilk for a living, read a lot about Buddhism, and hitch-hiked around Patagonia. With interests in integrative and cross-cultural medicine, he has studied botany, traditional Tibetan medicine, and mind-body modalities during school. A longtime gardener who truly believes nutrition and lifestyle modification are the best medicine, he is thrilled to land in Northern California, where climbing, surfing, photography, and music will keep him active in his free time.


	Annemieke de Lange, M.D. Graduate of Loma Linda University. From trekking in the jungle to climbing glaciers to skydiving, Annemieke is always looking for a new adventure. She also views her professional life as an adventure and is especially passionate about integrative medicine, evidence based nutritional and herbal medicine as well as women’s health. Annemieke plans to practice international medicine in the future and has done training in wilderness/expedition medicine. In addition, she loves to work with athletes of all kinds and enjoys training for triathlons herself, as well as many other outdoor activities.


	Gabriel Flaxman, M.D. Gabriel grew up in northern California and went to UC Berkeley. He left Cal with a degree in History, a love of the Sierra Nevada, and a passion for telemark skiing. He pursued the latter for a year of endless winter before moving to the self proclaimed “Greatest City in America” to complete his postbac studies. After a year back in the western mountains working with the Park Service he migrated east for medical school. He is thrilled to put a hold on transcontinental road trips- for a while, and call Santa Rosa home. Gabriel is interested in palliative care, reading, cooking and being outside whenever possible.


	Rachel Friedman, M.D. Graduate of Yale University: The improbable product of a hippie American nurse and an Israeli rock star, Rachel grew up along the Jersey Shore with a strong belief in serendipity, a passion for both healing and music, and an unlikely yen for hummus and olives. As an undergrad at Harvard she studied the history of science with an emphasis on mind-body medicine, and decided she wanted to be a holistic physician-scientist-healer who could incorporate the best of biomedicine with the wisdom of other medicinal traditions. After spending two years sharing her love of biology and a cappella at a high school in North Carolina, she arrived back in the Northeast for medical school, intent on maintaining her passions for nutrition, integrative medicine, and rewriting song lyrics. Although she’s going to miss her East Coast family and friends and the joys of curling up with a good book in the middle of a snowstorm, she is nevertheless thrilled to be leaving cold winters behind for year-round mountain biking, trail running, and gardening and vegan cooking with her boyfriend Daniel.


	Catherine Hurley, M.D. Graduate of Jefferson Medical College – Catherine (known to friends as Trina) grew up with her three brothers in New Mexico, Colorado, and California’s Sierra Foothills. College lead her to UC Santa Cruz where she majored in physical anthropology, but spent much of her time rowing on the Monterey Bay, being an RA, a nanny, and playing ultimate. After five years in San Francisco, first as a “dot-commer” and then working in the community health system, Trina ditched the West Coast for med school and developed her interests in chronic disease management and women’s health. In her spare time, Trina likes to hike with her husband and dog, practice yoga, cook healthy meals and unhealthy desserts, and spend time with her family.


	Sharon Lin, D.O. Sharon loves observing how people live and being present to hear their stories. She studied Nutrition at UC Davis, Public Health at Columbia, and Osteopathic Medicine at Touro in an effort to inch closer to the art of healing and gather tools to promote holistic wellness. In addition, she delights in the topics of social entrepreneurship, smart urban planning, Oprah, creative resourcefulness, the immigrant experience, political salons, traveling, and community-building/social capital. Sharon is the daughter of a Traditional Chinese Medicine practicing father and an arts and crafts-loving mother, sister of a talented teenager, and is newly married to her college-sweetheart.


	Ele Lozares-Lewis, M.D. Ele worked in cafes and had a catering business in San Francisco in the 1990s, intent on studying film production until her life spiraled out of control, leaving her living out of abandoned warehouses and depending on soup kitchens—but it was there that she discovered her interest in human behavior. Eventually, she and her future husband left the city for Southern California, where they cleaned up, started remodeling kitchens and went back to school. Ele studied neuroscience at UCLA—sure that she was going to have a life in drug addiction research. However, the laboratory proved to be less exciting than the UCLA Mobile Clinic, which served the homeless population of Hollywood. Working with family physicians there inspired her to pursue a career in medicine where she could focus on homeless health care, HIV medicine and addiction medicine on a more personal level than from a lab bench. Ele loves cooking for her family and friends, reading, surfing and playing with her amazing daughter—and has another one on the way!


	Daniel Parker, M.D. Born in central California, Dan grew up in an agricultural area at the heart of the immigration debate. His experiences growing up led him to further Spanish studies during his undergraduate years, and more importantly to yearly medical missions trips in Honduras through his local church. While in Honduras, Dan was overwhelmed with the need of the community and felt compelled to use his gifts where there is greatest need. At Tufts University, Dan received his MPH degree and hopes to combine the power of public health with medicine to effect change at the community level. He also hopes to pursue a sports medicine fellowship. Dan is married to a Hungarian American and is actively trying to learn Hungarian. He and his wife are involved in the local church. He enjoys biking, soccer, rock climbing, hiking, playing board games, and gardening.


	Heidi Reetz, M.D. Graduate of Johns Hopkins; Heidi was born and mostly raised in the rural Dakotas, and then headed slightly east to Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota. Feeling her education had only begun, she hitched up with the Peace Corps and went far east, to Chongqing, China—a sometimes delightful city—to teach environmental education at a medical school. After two years of growing steadily envious of her students, Heidi returned to the U.S. to move to Baltimore and study medicine herself. After a few years enjoying the east coast, she is excited to now experience some west coast culture (and weather). Her professional interests include environmental and integrative medicine and development of sustainable health care systems. She also enjoys fiddling, yoga, cooking, other people’s poetry, sewing and most other crafts, and travel.


	Anabel Ruiz, M.D. Graduate of Johns Hopkins University, Anabel was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. For College, Anabel stayed local, attending Stanford University. During her college years, she danced Ballet Folkorico Mexicano and discovered her interest in international health, public health, and infectious diseases. She moved to Baltimore, MD for medical school. During her third year, Anabel discovered Family Medicine during an international rotation in Honduras. Her interests include Latino health, infectious diseases, community medicine, and international health. In her free time, Anabel enjoys knitting, cooking, hiking, and spending time with family and friends.


	Elizabeth Schaefer, M.D. Libby was born and raised in Northern California and is excited to be returning home. After graduating from California State University, Chico and a brief research career at the NIH, Libby spent 2 years in the Peace Corps in The Gambia, West Africa, where she worked with inspiring community advocates and physicians and decided a career in medicine would be the right fit for her. Harvard Medical School has been her home for the past five years, giving her time to explore most neighborhoods in Boston and Cambridge and work in hospitals in China, Tibet, Rwanda and most recently Argentina and Bolivia. Libby is ready to jump into residency and continue this journey within community advocacy for the underserved both locally and globally. When not working Libby enjoys celebrating life with red wine (finally in the right place!), good food, music, dance and good friends and is happy to be back home, close to her family in Chico.

3324 Chanate Road
Santa Rosa, California 95404
(707) 576-4074
E-mail: fpsantarosa@sutterhealth.org

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THIRD YEAR RESIDENTS

SECOND YEAR RESIDENTS

FIRST YEAR RESIDENTS