Get to know our residents

Hometown: Maeystown, IL

Medical school: Southern Illinois University School of Medicine

Why did you choose Spectrum Health for your residency/fellowship? I choose to Spectrum Health for residency because of the vast amount and variety of training opportunities. With over thirty faculty, the faculty-resident ratio provides terrific surgical autonomy with early operative experiences. Without an ENT or OMFS residency here, the plastic surgery residents get an incredible breadth of training in head and neck reconstruction and facial trauma. The affiliation with Michigan State University also provides endless opportunities for research and other scholarly activities. This program has the 'priva-demic' model of plastic surgery training, which provides broad academic and private practice exposure to create well-rounded surgeons that can practice anywhere.

What are your clinical interests? My clinical interests include hand surgery, microsurgery and peripheral nerve surgery.

Hobbies: I enjoy being outdoors. My hobbies include golf, running, weight training and spending times with my friends and family.

Hometown: Chicago, IL

Medical school: The Ohio State University College of Medicine

Why did you choose Spectrum Health for your residency/fellowship? I chose Spectrum Health because of how welcomed I felt despite it being a virtual interview. This program will give me all the opportunities I need to succeed career-wise, while also providing the support to grow on a personal level.

What are your clinical interests? My clinical interests are hand surgery, pediatric craniofacial surgery and oncologic breast reconstruction

Hobbies: I love trying new fitness classes/activities, reading novels of all sorts, going out for karaoke and spending time with my dog Gnocchi.

Why I chose this program: When I rotated at Spectrum Health as a medical student, I was very impressed by the collegial surgical culture, resident driven education, and exposure to different types of practice including an academic model and private practice model. This program is also very resident-focused— because there are no plastic surgery fellowships at Spectrum Health, residents and interns operate one-on-one with attendings. The mentorship-based training model also allows residents to develop close relationships with faculty. While many graduates have matched into competitive fellowships, several have also been able to go straight into private practice.

What I’m looking forward to the most about this program: Early operative time as an intern and exposure to a diverse mix of reconstructive and cosmetic plastic surgery.

What attracted me to Grand Rapids and West Michigan: It’s a relatively affordable place to live with great food, tons of breweries, and friendly people.

Clinical interests: breast surgery, general reconstruction, aesthetic surgery

Hobbies: music, concerts, surfing, piano, running, volleyball, breweries, sports, outdoor activities, aromatherapy, spending time with my boyfriend and family.

Why I chose this program: This program easily topped my rank list for a number of reasons. it epitomized the 'priva-demic' model of plastic surgery training, with broad academic and private practice exposure to produce well- rounded surgeons who were ready for anything and everything. It had a robust resident clinic, a unique academic/trauma service whereby the chief residents essentially fulfill the role of an attending, and an emphasis on early operative autonomy. But ultimately, I chose this program because of the people. I felt like I was being welcomed into a family, where everyone already knew my name and knew my application and were excited to have me. It had that unparalleled, intangible quality of being ‘the full package’ that I rarely experienced while on the trail.

What I like about the program: Huge case volume and variety, tons of operating from day one, incredible teaching-oriented attendings, lots of research opportunities, and an awesome group of residents to learn, train, operate, and hang out with.

What I like about Grand Rapids and West Michigan: The beaches are jaw-dropping, people are super welcoming, and there’s an amazing food and beer scene. Plus, the cost of living is so reasonable that you can afford to enjoy it all!

Clinical interests: Craniomaxillofacial, facial aesthetics, micro, hand

Hobbies: Golfing, rowing scuba diving, cooking, hiking, wine collecting, perusing art galleries and antique stores

Why I chose this program: I chose the Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery program at Spectrum Health because it offers the best of both private and academic training models. The large faculty-to-resident ratio and mentorship-based training model provide the ability to develop close one-on- one relationships with experts in each sub-specialty of Plastic Surgery.

What I like about the program: The residents here receive significant autonomy and early operative experience throughout their training, both with the faculty and through the resident-run chief clinic. Additionally, the academic affiliation with Michigan State University opens numerous doors for pursuing research endeavors ranging from basic science to more clinically oriented projects.

What I like about Grand Rapids and West Michigan: Outside of the training facilities, Grand Rapids is an accessible location in close proximity to the beautiful landscapes of West Michigan, while not being far from large cities such as Chicago, Ann Arbor, and Detroit.

Clinical interests: My main clinical interests revolve around pediatric plastic surgery and reconstructive microsurgery

Hobbies: My non-clinical hobbies include cooking, weightlifting, hiking, and spending time with my family.

Why I chose this program: I was so excited that I matched at this program. I originally heard about this program after my home institution Program Director told me to check it out. When researching this program, some of the things that I really liked about it was the large number of attendings that participate in our program as well as the fact that many are in private practice. What that translates to as a resident, is being able to see multiple ways to perform a procedure and be able to mold those into a way that works for you. We also get to see not only how to take care of patients but also how to run a practice. You truly get exposed to all the business models here. When I arrived on interview day, I immediately felt welcome. As soon as I stepped foot into the door on my interview day, everyone knew my name and some facts about me. I felt that any program that takes such pride in truly getting to know their candidates is a program that cares about its reputation and the training of their residents. Besides that, I wanted to be able to trust my co-residents and to have somewhere to turn for help and advice in the future, and I felt this program offered it all. The autonomy here is unbeatable and I cannot imagine training anywhere else.

What I like about the program: The operative training here is not only broad but starts on day one. I do not know many other programs that have PGY-1s in the operating room as often as this. There is also exposure to all the areas of plastic surgery, including cosmetic, reconstructive, hand, microsurgery, and craniofacial. I really enjoy our chief clinic and the autonomy this affords us as residents. Lastly, the interpersonal relationships amongst residents and between residents and attendings is phenomenal.

What I like about Grand Rapids and West Michigan: There are a plethora of activities to do (skiing, hiking, wine tasting, brewery tours, sports), easy access to Lake Michigan, unbeatable scenery, a safe town, and a good size where there are plenty of downtown activities without the heavy traffic

Clinical interests: My clinical interests include general reconstructive plastic surgery.

Hobbies: Walks and bike rides with my husband and dog, sewing, drawing, and slowly working on home improvement projects