On July 1, 2017, the Department of Pediatrics welcomed 16 interns and two new chiefs to its residency program.
Each intern had outstanding educational, research and service accomplishments while in medical school. Of note, Ellen McCormack, MD, Kevin Pettit, MD, and Natalie Tedford, MD, were selected as members of the Gold Humanism Honor Society; and Rachel Harris, DO, was a 2016 recipient of a United States Public Health Service Excellence in Public Health Award.
Get to know the new interns and chiefs below!
Chief Residents for 2016-2017
Kathleen Miller, MD
I’m excited to be working with residents and medical students as one of the chiefs for the 2017-2018 academic year. I’m very interested in how we can promote wellness as a residency program, and look forward to working with residents and faculty to promote a healthy and positive environment for residents. As the global health chief, I’m also excited to be able to participate in global health education for members of the Global Health Track. I’m honored to be working with so many wonderful people and am most excited to have the opportunity to spend more time with our amazing residents and faculty.
Derek Spindler, MD
I am truly excited for chief year and looking forward to working with both the residents and faculty in this new role. I am most excited by the prospect of being a hospitalist and getting to spend time on service with the residents and students—I hope to build on my clinical teaching skills as well as teaching off the wards. I would like to work in academic medicine, and chief year will give me a great opportunity to build on skills and knowledge to carry forward in my career. We have a fantastic group of residents, and I think it will be a fun year!
Incoming Residents
Riley Boland, MD
Medical School: University of Iowa Roy J and Lucille A Carver College of Medicine
Dr. Boland grew up in Bettendorf, Iowa, and earned a bachelor of science in biology from the University of Iowa before entering medical school. His extensive volunteer experience includes working with children through a local Big Brothers Big Sisters and YMCA, and independently mentoring two teenagers. He was the president of his medical school’s Teddy Bear Clinic, a walk-through experience designed to ease children’s fears in the hospital. He enjoys spending time with friends, reading and collecting comic books.
Christopher Cardona-Correa, MS, MD, PhD
Medical School: Ponce Health Sciences University School of Medicine
Dr. Cardona-Correa has a passion for community activism. As president of his medical school’s Infectious Diseases Interest Group, he co-organized AIDS Awareness Day and educational talks with community-based groups and HIV/AIDS providers. Dr. Cardona-Correa has demonstrated interest in research involving organic and psychiatric comorbidities affecting youth. He also has a master’s degree and PhD in botany. Outside of the hospital, he is a Harry Potter enthusiast, and enjoys hiking, swimming and family time.
Collette Chorney, MD
Medical School: University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences
In medical school, Dr. Chorney helped teach kindergartners about medicine and healthy lifestyles by performing “stuffed animal” exams, and participated in Bismarck’s Mentoring for Youth program, which pairs medical students with at-risk Native American adolescents. She grew up in rural Montana and enjoys hiking, baking and reading in her free time.
Rachel “RC” Cooper, MD, MS
Medical School: University of Minnesota Medical School
A native of Minneapolis, Dr. Cooper received scholarships to participate in medical mission trips to Honduras and Panama; she also worked at a family medicine clinic in rural France. Fluent in French and Spanish, she was a medical interpreter at a hospital in New York City and her medical school’s student-run clinic. She also has a master’s degree in bioethics from Columbia University. Her clinical interests include adolescent medicine, global health and clinical ethics.
Shawn Damodharan, DO
Medical School: Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences College of Osteopathic Medicine
Dr. Damodharan participated in several research projects in medical school. He was a research assistant on a project with the Wichita, Kansas, Department of Health that focused on factors leading to increased pediatric obesity. At the University of Kansas School of Medicine, he helped develop an IRB protocol esophageal foreign body impaction management and follow-up care in a community hospital setting. At the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, he constructed a minigene splicing reporter assay to determine how alternative splicing mechanisms of the CSF3R gene promoted the development of various myelodysplastic syndromes. Outside of medicine, Dr. Damodharan enjoys sports, running and spending time with his wife and dog.
Rachel Harris, DO
Medical School: West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine
Before entering medical school, Dr. Harris earned her undergraduate degree in biomedical engineering from the University of Michigan. She was active in medical school through the student government association. Dr. Harris is a 2016 recipient of the United States Public Health Service Excellence in Public Health Award for her efforts in bringing medical education to community members in a “mini med school.” Through her medical school’s PAX club, she traveled with other students and faculty to the Dominican Republic to provide medical services to underserved villages. In her free time, she enjoys baking and running.
Allie Heizelman, MD
Medical School: Ross University School of Medicine
In medical school, Dr. Heizelman volunteered with two organizations in Dominica to provide medical care to people in a remote indigenous community, and to elderly and disabled patients in the local community. As an undergraduate at the University of Missouri, she coordinated with a national organization, Caleb’s Pitch, to provide an innovative arts program for critically ill, hospital-bound children. She has also been a competitive gymnast since age 3 and has a clinical interest in sports medicine and neonatology. In her free time, she enjoys cooking and outdoor activities.
Whitney Horsley, MD
Medical School: Indiana University School of Medicine
In medical school, Dr. Horsley spent two months in Kenya, where she had the opportunity to make global connections and serve as a link between engineering and medicine to create a new patient list for the surgical team. She’s excited to explore the subspecialties of pediatrics while gaining a solid foundation in general pediatrics. She enjoys baking and crafting in her free time.
Jared Kevern, MD
Medical School: University of Kansas School of Medicine Kansas City
While a fourth-year medical student, Dr. Kevern completed a sub-internship as a medic at the Philmont Boy Scout Ranch, a high-adventure camp in New Mexico. He provided care in the camp clinic and inpatient infirmary, and took emergency calls in the back country. He also worked in a Kansas City VA Medical Center lab investigating the role of microRNA as biomarkers for lung cancer treatment response. He enjoys spending time with family, taking his dog to the park, and playing and watching sports.
Hui ‘Katie’ Li, MD, PhD
Medical School: Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science & Technology
Dr. Li has a PhD in neurology, and is completing a transitional residency year as preparation for a future neurology residency. She was a research scholar and later a postdoctoral fellow at East Tennessee State University, and also completed postdoctoral fellowships at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and Temple University. She is an author on 22 peer-reviewed journal articles. Dr. Li originally comes from China, where she completed her medical education.
Sarah MacKay, MHS, MD
Medical School: University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health
Dr. MacKay is originally from Washington State, but moved to Wisconsin for medical school, where she was the co-president of her class at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health. She also staffed the student-run MEDIC clinic, tutored first- and second-year SMPH students, and coordinated several fundraising and social events. Before medical school, she earned a master of health science in health promotion from Boise State University, and served as the AmeriCorps Health Advocate for Head Start/Early Head Start programs in Idaho. Her hobbies include playing water polo, hiking and spending time with her husband. Her favorite things about Wisconsin are custard and cheese curds.
Ellen McCormack, MD
Medical School: University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry
Dr. McCormack is a member of the Gold Humanism Honor Society. In medical school, she volunteered at a camp in upstate New York for children with physical and intellectual disabilities. She also designed, piloted, taught and evaluated a one-hour, culturally specific sexual health curriculum in Spanish to 280 teenage students in Yantaló, Peru. Dr. McCormack is specifically interested in becoming a primary care pediatrician. She grew up in Colorado and enjoys hiking and dancing in her free time.
Matthew Naumann, MD
Medical School: Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
In medical school, Dr. Naumann oversaw a group of mentors who provided tutoring and extracurricular support for a Baltimore high school student facing academic and social difficulties. He also worked as a research assistant for the Hopkins Pediatric and Adult Antimicrobial Stewardship Program, where his work included an article on the legal implications of antimicrobial stewardship programs, a review article of outcomes related to antimicrobial stewardship programs at pediatric hospitals, a book of pediatric antimicrobial use guidelines, and a retrospective study examining outcomes of patients sent home with central venous catheters. Outside of the hospital, his hobbies include tennis, reading and playing the viola.
Kevin Pettit, MD
Medical School: University of Iowa Roy J and Lucille A Carver College of Medicine
Dr. Pettit is a member of the Gold Humanism Honor Society. In medical school, he received a scholarship to complete a pediatric specialty rotation at the University of Oxford Medical Sciences Division. He also developed interactive health lessons for at-risk high school students, facilitated an afterschool elementary health program and spent a summer in Haiti interviewing households for a community health needs assessment. As his medical school’s first governmental affairs chairperson, he brought state senators and representatives to campus and traveled to Washington, DC, to represent the student body at the office of an Iowa senator. He enjoys cooking, biking and plays the string bass.
Natalie Tedford, MD
Medical School: McGovern Medical School at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
Dr. Tedford is a member of the Gold Humanism Honor Society and is invested in medical ethics and humanities. She has specific interests in preventive and integrative medicine, child advocacy and health education outreach. In medical school, she was involved in global health, providing care to underserved communities and education outreach. She is also a committee endurance runner, cyclist and outdoor enthusiast. She enjoys cooking, meditation practices and watercoloring in her free time.
Brandon Tomlin, MD
Medical School: Medical College of Wisconsin
In medical school, Dr. Tomlin completed a Quality Improvement and Patient Safety Scholarly Pathway, in which he studied principles of human factors engineering and methods to improve healthcare efficacy, equality, and efficiency—ultimately earning an Institute for Healthcare Improvement Basic Certification in Quality Improvement. He also completed a Department of Otolaryngology and Communication Sciences Summer Research Fellowship, contributing to research on outcomes for patients with cochlear implants. Dr. Tomlin looks forward to continuing biomedical device research throughout residency, and hopes to complete a NICU or PICU fellowship after residency. In his free time, he enjoys rock climbing, backpacking and music.