Residents

Hi everyone, my name is Kiana! I grew up in Renton, Washington and attended Eastern Washington University for my undergraduate education. At EWU, I majored in Biology and played soccer. After graduation, I worked in a Dermatology clinic, where I realized I wanted to pursue a speciality with strong longitudinal patient relationships. I also worked at Seattle Children’s Research Institute in pediatric concussion education, physical activity, and time in nature, which was a perfect blend of my interests in sports and preventative medicine. I attended Western University of Health Sciences in Oregon for medical school and fell in love with the diversity and complexity that Family Medicine has to offer. I am so excited to return to my home state to continue my training with UWFMR. Outside of medicine you will find me playing or watching soccer, managing my EPL fantasy team, hiking, reading, and searching for a delicious cup of coffee.

Hi all! My name is Vanessa Elliott (she/her) and I grew up in northern Colorado enjoying lots of time in the sunny outdoors. In college, l studied Public Health, taught students wilderness skills, and learned Spanish. I entered medical school at the University of Michigan Medical School with a strong commitment to primary care and underserved populations, and I grew in my desire to encorporate size inclusive care and physician advocacy in my practice. My clinical interests also include addiction medicine and reproductive care. I fell in love with Washington when I worked as a sea kayaking guide in the San Juan Islands — ask me about reading marine charts or tide pooling anytime! — so it’s a dream come true for me to be back in the area. I’m part of the rural training tract, and I look forward to living in Chelan to be a part of a small mountain community and practice full-spectrum family medicine. In my free time you’ll find me making long distance phone calls, mountain biking, near the shore, or enjoying food with friends.

Coming Soon! 

Hello! My name is Amelia Mohabir (she/her), and I am excited to be joining the University of Washington Family Medicine Residency where I will continue to call the PNW my home. I grew up in Maple Valley, Washington, and completed both my undergraduate degree and medical school at the University of Washington. Before medical school, I worked as a substance use disorder counselor, which deepened my passion for caring for underserved communities and addressing barriers to care. During medical school, I continued my work in addiction treatment through pursuing research to identify barriers to hepatitis C treatment. My clinical interests include women’s health, addiction medicine, and population health. My career goals include bridging healthcare gaps, improving healthcare policy, and being an advocate for my patients. Outside of medicine, I enjoy spending time with family, reading, and taking advantage of the outdoors with my Pomeranian named Ollie

Hi there! My name is Vicki Tsao (she/her), and I’m so excited to be joining the incredible UW community. I was introduced to healthcare early on, growing up in New York in a family of acupuncturists. My parents are immigrants, which shaped my commitment to immigrant communities and Asian American health. I attended the University of Pennsylvania, where I studied Psychology and developed a strong interest in behavioral health. During medical school at the University of Michigan Medical School, I discovered my passion for Family Medicine through community work and mentorship. I am drawn to its emphasis on getting to know patients over time and within the context of their lives. A garden metaphor has always resonated with me: patients are like plants, and we as family medicine physicians help them grow by nurturing the “soil” and “sunlight” that shape their health. During medical school, I served as co-lead of our Family Medicine Interest Group (FMIG), led our Asian American student organization’s student-run health fair, and tutored underclassmen. My interests include women’s health, integrative medicine, behavioral health, and office-based procedures. Outside of medicine, I enjoy painting, playing board games, exploring matcha spots, and making dog friends!

Hi everyone! My name is Jenny Wu (she/her) and I am so excited to be joining the University of Washington community. I am from Bay City, MI and grew up helping at my family’s restaurant, where I learned early on how much community and relationships matter. I studied Biology, Health, and Society and Gender and Health at the University of Michigan, where I later attended medical school. Between college and medical school, I spent a year with AmeriCorps in the South Bronx, supporting a 4th grade classroom and leading after-school programs for elementary students, which deepened my interest in mentorship and community engagement. During medical school, I was involved in community and education initiatives, including organizing motivational interviewing workshops, facilitating support groups for pregnant and postpartum individuals, and teaching hands-on science lessons for elementary school students. I am passionate about family medicine because of its focus on long-term relationships, preventive care, and supporting patients through every stage of life. My clinical interests include behavioral health, reproductive justice, integrative medicine, immigrant health, pediatrics, and medical education. In my free time, I enjoy running, traveling, and exploring restaurants and boba/coffee shops.

Hi everyone, I am so excited to be moving to Seattle!! I am a Colorado native and went to the University of Colorado Boulder where I studied Neuroscience and Spanish. In college, I worked in a dementia care unit as a CNA and volunteered in underserved clinics and classrooms. I loved the longitudinal relationships I created with the residents, patients, and students which inspired my interest in Family Medicine. In medical school, I got involved in leadership for public health initiatives, collaborated with a community organizer and local public health departments, participated in vaccine coalitions, and organized community health fairs. I became one of the chairs for the American Medical Association’s Minority Issues Committee, where I fell in love with the impact of health policy as a means to improve health outcomes and advocate for marginalized communities. My special interests in medicine include community health, health policy, full-spectrum reproductive care, and refugee/immigrant health care. In my free time, I enjoy lakeside hikes, listening to audiobooks, walking my cat, and planning surprise parties.

Hello! My name is Tate Atkinson (he/him) and I am excited to be joining the University of Washington Family Medicine Residency and to call the beautiful PNW my new home. I was born and raised in the Oklahoma City Metro and attended undergrad at the University of Central Oklahoma where I majored in Biology. My interest in health policy and the social determinants of health led me to obtain a Masters in Public Health at the University of Oklahoma. While there I worked for non-profit’s advocating for social policy change, the state department of health on pandemic relief, and helped lead our campuses student led clinic. I attended the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center for medical school. Here I continued my work in health policy and community health. My hopes are to combine my interests in primary care, public health, and health policy to nurture the health of my community. My clinical interests include full-spectrum family medicine, palliative care, and medical education. Outside of medicine I love hiking and climbing in the Cascades, spending time with friends and family, biking, playing board games, cooking a great meal, and having a slow morning with a cup of coffee and a book.

Coming Soon!

Hey everyone! My name is Monisha Gonzales (she/her), and I’m from Bellingham, WA – a place I’m always happy to recommend for hikes, yummy food, and fun activities. I studied Biochemistry and Psychology at the University of Southern California before returning to Washington for medical school. I took a gap year working for AmeriCorps, supporting underrepresented community college students in STEM. I later attended the University of Washington School of Medicine, where I explored my passions for family medicine, mentorship, and community service. And now I’m beyond excited to stay on as a Double Dawg for residency! I was drawn to family medicine because of its focus on building long-term, generational relationships with patients and its wide scope of care. I’m especially passionate about behavioral health, pediatrics, and patient advocacy. I care deeply about helping people navigate the healthcare system and supporting them in taking charge of their health. I also love mentoring students at every stage of their careers and hope to continue that work throughout residency. Outside of medicine, you can find me baking sourdough bread, playing racket sports, singing karaoke, or out adventuring with my partner and our dog.

Howdy! My name is Blake. I’m from a small town in Wyoming, where I grew up helping on my family’s farm and ranch. I went to BYU for undergrad and studied physiology, business, and Portuguese before deciding on a career in medicine. I attended medical school at the University of Washington, where I had the privilege of learning alongside incredible peers, working with outstanding physicians, and gaining invaluable experience in both rural and urban communities. I’m excited to be sticking around to join the UW Family Medicine Residency and to continue exploring my interests in wellness and preventive care, sports medicine, and rural medicine. When I’m not working, you’ll find me outdoors—mountain biking, climbing, skiing, hiking, or camping.

My name is Maggie Lai, and I am thrilled to be joining the UW Family Medicine Residency community. I grew up in Taipei, Taiwan and immigrated to California at the age of fourteen, witnessing firsthand the challenges my family faced navigating an unfamiliar healthcare system and language barrier. While getting my degree in Human Biology at the University of Southern California, I became involved in community efforts to improve access to healthcare and screenings for immigrant and underserved populations. I attended medical school at Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences in Yakima, WA, where I engaged with the LGBTQIA+ community, APAMSA, and local school mentorships, while discovering my passion for family medicine. I am drawn to opportunities to build long-term relationships with patients and families from diverse backgrounds. My clinical interests include immigrant health, reproductive justice, gender-affirming care, and advocacy. In my spare time, you can find me watching Mariners games, exploring new restaurants, playing board games, and traveling to warm places.

Hello everyone! My name is Jaret Nishikawa and I grew up in Fresno, California. I graduated from UCLA, where I worked as a sports medicine athletic trainer with the baseball and soccer teams. That experience sparked my passion for injury prevention, rehab, and showed me how staying active can play a vital role in long-term health. I attended medical school at Drexel University College of Medicine, where I served as student body President and had the privilege of representing and advocating for my peers. In that role, I learned the value of elevating the voices of others, building community, and driving change, lessons that I carry with me into my approach to medicine. I returned to California for my clinical years through Drexel’s Kaiser Bay Area affiliate hospitals, where I discovered that family medicine gave me the chance to combine my interest in continuity of care with my passion for advocacy. I’m drawn to the full-spectrum nature of family medicine and its emphasis on long-term relationships, preventive care, and meeting patients where they are. I hope to integrate sports medicine into my practice, helping individuals of all ages stay active, functional, and healthy. Outside of medicine, I love the outdoors whether I’m golfing, snowboarding, slacklining, hiking, or camping. I also enjoy spending time with my girlfriend and our Miniature Schnauzer, Monti. I’m incredibly excited to be joining the University of Washington Family Medicine community and look forward to growing alongside others who are passionate about primary care and community health.

Hello, PNW! While I was raised in Foxboro, Massachusetts and attended medical school at VCU in Richmond, VA, I fell in love with rural medicine and the unique west coast flavor of family medicine. The moving distance was long, but the decision to head west is not as surprising as it initially sounds…

Prior to medical school, I worked as a healthcare coordinator in a rural, western Massachusetts primary care group; this is where I started to realize the unique challenges and joys of rural medicine. Then, I was accepted into VCU and the wonderful fmSTAT program, which provides family medicine-interested students additional career advising and pro-FM guidance to counteract the prominent anti-FM (and anti-primary care) messaging plaguing medical education. I was lucky enough to be able to complete my FM and IM rotations in South Hill, VA and my inpatient FM AI in Front Royal, VA. Seeing the effect of inpatient-outpatient FMs on rural community health was powerful – and quite frankly, I haven’t looked back. When ERAS rolled around, and I kept hearing “Rural FM? Try the west coast!!” (even from a plastic surgeon, if you can believe it!), I had a feeling I’d end up with many of my friends in the PNW.

Lo and behold – Washington and the Chelan RTT!

Huge Fan Of: Community organizing, harm reduction, LGBTQAI+ care, neurodivergent care, my cats Space Heater and Little Green Man (LGM), comics, coffee, and bad art

Huge Hater Of: Charcoal as an art medium, empty pens, and MDROs (because they scare me)

Hello! My name is Andrew Suscha, and I’m excited to join the UWFMR team at the Northgate clinic. I grew up in the “Malibu of the Midwest” (Sheboygan, WI) and studied Biochemistry and Philosophy at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where I helped organize two health equity symposiums, created the partnership division for Wisconsin HOSA, and conducted diabetic retinopathy research. I stayed at the University of Wisconsin for medical school as part of the Wisconsin Academy for Rural Medicine (WARM), which allowed me to rotate with community clinics across Eastern Wisconsin and gain firsthand experience delivering holistic, patient-centered care tailored to community-specific barriers. I’m passionate about health justice and believe Family Medicine is uniquely positioned to push back against systemic inequities through its blend of evidence-based medicine, community health, continuity of care, and empathy. My interests within Family Medicine include integrative medicine, health advocacy, LGBTQIA+ health, addiction medicine, and palliative care. Outside of medicine, I enjoy hiking with my partner (between her midwifery shifts) and our five-year-old Australian Shepherd, road trips to national parks, playing tennis and pickleball, and cooking. I’m excited to explore the Pacific Northwest and to grow as a physician as part of the UWFMR team!

Hi! I’m Daniel (he/him). I am from Oregon City, Oregon and have lived for the last decade in Seattle. I am thrilled to continue my training at UWFMR. During medical school at the University of Washington, I was drawn to Family Medicine as it’s a field that focuses on longitudinal, comprehensive care for people of all ages and all backgrounds. My extracurricular interests during this time included research on unhealthy substance use and volunteering with a free mobile health clinic serving patients experiencing housing instability. My specific clinical interests include working with patients with unhealthy substance use and with LGBTQ+ folks, along with practicing full spectrum family medicine. I aim to collaborate together with patients to reach their health goals with a nonjudgmental, patient-centered approach. Outside of the clinic and the hospital, you will find me tending to my plants, spending time with family and friends, eating good food, traveling, or running around Green Lake or on the Burke-Gilman.

Hello everyone! I’m delighted and honored to be able to return to the beautiful Pacific Northwest for residency. I was born and raised in Spokane and eventually made my (first!) cross-country move to attend Mount Holyoke College. During college, I studied politics and English and spent several summers interning with Planned Parenthood Votes and the Washington Bus, where I got my first taste of the joy and power inherent in community activism. After graduation, I moved to Las Vegas, where I taught high school science and mentored transgender and gender-nonconforming youth. During medical school at UMass Chan, I was active in education and research devoted to queer health and co-led our Narratives in Medicine elective. I find myself drawn to family medicine due to its longstanding focus on relationships, community, and advocacy, and the specialty’s counterculture roots are particularly resonant for me. Some of my interests in medicine include gender-affirming care, addiction medicine, reproductive justice, harm reduction, and palliative care, and I look forward to discovering many more in residency! Outside of medicine, I enjoy trivia, tabletop RPGs, thrifting, weightlifting, live music and theatre, and hanging out with my cat; I’m also a buffet connoisseur, and welcome recommendations! .

Greetings! My name is Brenda Fleshman, and I am so excited and grateful to be a part of the UWFM Chelan RTT program. I grew up on a cattle ranch in eastern Washington, just outside of Othello. I received my undergraduate degree from the University of Washington with a major in Neuroscience. During my undergraduate years, I had the opportunity to shadow healthcare workers in rural areas across Washington. It was through this experience that I discovered my interest in medicine, and I was particularly drawn to the unique aspects of caring for people in rural underserved communities. These interests lead me to attend medical school at the University of Washington and participate in the Targeted Rural Underserved Track. This allowed me to learn longitudinally from providers and patients in Chelan, WA, and I am so excited to be continuing my training in Chelan in the next couple of years! My goal is to provide rural full-spectrum family medicine with interests in reproductive health, LGBTQ+ health, and addiction medicine. Outside of medicine I like to spend my time reading, listening to music, spending time with family, crafting, and exploring the outdoors.

Hi Everyone! My name is Megan Kerstein (she/her), and I’m so excited to join the UW Family Medicine Residency! I was raised in Chicago where my family still resides and attended undergrad at Washington University in St. Louis where I studied Anthropology: Global Health and the Environment. I completed a Masters in Medical Sciences at Boston University and then headed across the country to Seattle where I spent two years working in clinical research. While living in Seattle, I spent many days exploring all the beautiful parks, paddling on Lake Union in my inflatable kayak, and discovering new coffee shops every weekend. I headed back to the East Coast for medical school at Drexel University. Drexel has a clinical partnership with Kaiser in the San Francisco Bay Area, so I made yet another cross country move to Oakland, CA for my third and fourth years of medical school and completed all my clinical rotations in the Bay Area. I fell in love with family medicine for its emphasis on preventative health, being able to work closely with my community to listen to and advocate for their needs, and being able to treat patients of all ages. My interests within family medicine include gender-affirming care, trauma-informed care, and reproductive justice. Outside of medicine, you can find me hiking, backpacking in the mountains (my closet has become a mini REI with all my camping and hiking gear taking over), taking long walks to explore different neighborhoods, doing public transit and LGBTQ+ advocacy work, and sipping tea while reading a book next to my adorable cat, Atlas.

Hi everyone! My name is Laynee and I am so excited to join theUniversity of Washington community! I grew up in Seattle, WA and attended college at Claremont McKenna College where I majored in neuroscience and played soccer. After college, I worked in clinical research on autoimmune diseases, and am excited to continue scholarly activity throughout my career. I then attended medical school at Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences. During medical school, I realized my passion for full spectrum family medicine with a particular focus on preventative and lifestyle medicine. My special interests include women’s health, addiction medicine and palliative care. Outside of medicine, I enjoy spending time outside with family and friends, playing sports and spending time with my husband and our cat and dog!

Hi Everyone! My name is Muriel (she/her) and I am so excited to be joining UWFMR. I was born in Laval, Canada and grew up for the most part in the Boston Area. I went to college in Vermont at Middlebury College where I studied Molecular Biology and Biochemistry. After college I spent a year working as a barista (I love all things coffee, coffee shops, and latte art!). I continued my journey as a medical student at NYU Grossman School of Medicine where I was involved in projects about climate health and palliative care, served as a peer mentor and educator, and co-lead our Free Clinic. My passion for affordable healthcare access for all and health equity led me to pursue a Masters of Public Administration with a focus in Health Policy Analysis at NYU in-between my 3rd and 4th year of medical school. There I was able to learn more about health systems, the health insurance landscape, and how policy decisions impact the provision of care. Some of my areas of interest within family medicine include comprehensive reproductive healthcare, LGBTQIA+ health, addiction medicine, palliative care, integrative medicine, and musculoskeletal medicine. Outside of medicine I love to rock-climb, play volleyball, knit (I have about 3 projects going on right now), do trivia and game nights, and most importantly spend time with friends and loved ones (usually with food!).

I’m so excited to join the UW Family Medicine Residency as part of the Chelan rural training track! I was born in Sonoma County and grew up in an agricultural region of Northern California. I went to UC Davis on a water polo scholarship and majored in Genetics & Genomics. After college, I moved to Southeast Alaska in search of a new adventure. I ended up falling in love (first with the beauty & community of the area, and then with my now-husband) and have been based out of Alaska ever since. While in Haines, I worked as the education coordinator for a local museum, as a tasting room host at a distillery, and as the morning news host for our public radio station. I attended medical school as part of the University of Washington’s Alaska cohort and participated in the TRUST (targeted rural & underserved) program based in Soldotna, AK. I love listening to stories, people of all ages, and the ability to practice in different settings—all of which make family medicine the perfect fit for me! My family and I spent a month in Chelan during medical school and loved the beautiful setting, community, and outdoor opportunities. Paired with the academic backing of UW and the opportunity to practice broad-spectrum care at a community hospital and FQHC, we felt like this was the perfect residency for our family. My professional and academic interests include rural emergency care (including flight and disaster medicine), the doctor-patient relationship, genetics, One Health, and resource-limited palliative and hospice care. My husband Nathan and our two young boys can most often be found outside and are excited to explore more of Washington!

Hello! My name is Akash Sharma (he/him) and I am excited to be joining the University of Washington Family Medicine Residency. My family and I immigrated to British Columbia, Canada, where I first had the opportunity to call the Pacific Northwest my home. I am thrilled to continue my medical training in this beautiful region of the PNW. I majored in Biology at the University of British Columbia (Go Thunderbirds!) after which I had the chance to become an entrepreneur within the logistics and supply chain industry. I attended the Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences for Medical School in Yakima, Washington. Here I discovered a passion for health care systems, particularly with improving the access and affordability of primary care to underserved regions. My hopes are to combine my experience and passion for entrepreneurship, logistics, novel technologies, and primary care to forge a career path that helps to empower better healthcare delivery systems. I am excited to connect with like-minded ambitious individuals whom I can learn and grow with. My clinical interests are full-spectrum care, health equity, health information technologies, and environmental medicine. Outside of medicine, I love nature and hiking, playing on sports teams, having a fun board game filled evening, cooking tasty meals for friends, and anything else that has to do with food or coffee!

Hello there, my name is Dominic Tapia! I was born and raised in rural Arizona, but I relocated to the Pacific Northwest nearly a decade ago. After college, I gained seven years of experience working in environmental public health before I entered the medical field and attended medical school at Oregon Health and Science University in Portland. As a longtime hospice volunteer, I appreciate what death has taught me about living more fully. I am passionate about family medicine because it allows me to support people’s health and well-being so that they can live fuller lives too. My biggest marker of success is people feeling supported and well cared for. My special interests in medicine include hospice, mental health, queer health, and advocacy for marginalized communities. Outside of work I strive to maintain close relationships with my family, friends and dog, Obi. I also enjoy making art, reading books, and hanging outside at parks with a strong preference for sunshine.

Hi! I’m Madison. I grew up in Claremont, California, and studied political science & communications at UT Austin as an undergraduate. There, I was part of a cycling team called Texas 4000 for Cancer, an experience which introduced me to healthcare and led me to view medicine as the best conduit for realizing my goal of a career grounded in connection, community, and service. After graduation, I spent a couple of years in Austin feeding my passion for urban agriculture with various urban farming & food access ventures while also learning about the healthcare industry as part of a health technology start-up advising team. I completed medical school at the University of Chicago, where I was involved in extracurricular activities related to medical humanities, healthcare delivery, and medical education. Learning the art of medicine on Chicago’s South Side underscored my desire to practice medicine through a lens of social change and to provide patient-centered, whole-person care. I am so excited to grow into my doctoring identity at UW, where I know I’ll be supported in developing my clinical interests in behavioral health, public health, and procedural care. Outside of the hospital, you’ll find me hiking, reading, gardening, and questing to find the best coffee shops in town!

Hi there! My name is Heami Yi (she/her), and I am absolutely thrilled to be joining UW’s family medicine residency. I was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado and grew up with the joys and challenges of a Korean American experience, including witnessing the difficulties my immigrant parents came across when facing the health care system. I attended the University of Colorado Denver where I earned my degree in Public Health and developed a strong interest in community health and social justice. During this time, I found mentors and avenues that would allow me to grow my passion for reproductive health and justice, particularly in contraception and abortion accessibility. I became a student at the University of Colorado School of Medicine during the height of the pandemic which underscored for me how existing health disparities impacting marginalized communities could be exacerbated by a global emergency. I found ways to engage and advocate for these communities by volunteering at a student-run free clinic for underserved patients, leading our school’s APAMSA and MSFC chapters, and taking part in a campus group dedicated to addressing black maternal and infant mortality in the Denver area. I am so excited to become a family physician because I get to make long-lasting, meaningful relationships with patients, families, and entire communities. My clinical interests include full-spectrum reproductive care, climate change in medicine, community health, and adolescent medicine. On my days off, you can catch me investigating Seattle’s bustling food and drink scene, enjoying the beautiful outdoors of the Pacific Northwest, and napping with the TV on.