On July 1, 2018, the Department of Pediatrics welcomed 15 interns and two new chiefs to its residency program.
Each intern brings outstanding accomplishments and a deep commitment to children to their residency education.
Two are members of Alpha Omega Alpha, the national honor medical society; one participated in the NIH/NIDDK medical student summer program; and one was an epidemiology elective intern at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Our two new chiefs, William Stanford, DO, and Christina Amend, MD (pictured at right), were selected for their teaching skills, role modeling of professionalism, and commitment to making the program better. We are excited to have their enthusiastic perspectives as part of the education program!
Get to know the new class below!
Nicholas Beam, MD
Medical School: Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine
An Eagle Scout, youth minister and member of Phi Beta Kappa, Dr. Beam received the Western Michigan University School of Medicine’s leadership scholarship three years in a row, and was a finalist for its Upjohn Humanism Society. While in medical school, he designed and executed a research project to address the health needs of a precariously housed population served by a community organization.
Arij Beshish, MBBCh, PhD
Medical School: University of Tripoli Faculty of Medicine
Dr. Beshish completed a PhD in physiology at UW-Madison, during which time she worked in the laboratory of Marlowe Eldridge, MD, as the lead researcher on a human study looking at the effects of prematurity on the right heart and pulmonary vasculature in adults born preterm. She is a co-author on several published articles and looks forward to a career in pediatrics that blends research and service to children and families.
Jesse Boyett Anderson MD, MS
Medical School: University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health
Before entering medical school, Dr. Boyett Anderson worked as a math and science tutor; an award-winning college instructor in biology, anatomy, physiology and pathology; and a science writer and editor. She is a member of Alpha Omega Alpha, the national honor medical society. She looks forward to synthesizing her education, life experience and communication skills into the tools of an effective pediatrician.
Christine Brichta, MD, MPH
Medical School: Medical College of Wisconsin
While in medical school, Dr. Brichta received a 2017 Medical College of Wisconsin President’s Community Engagement Award, and was also selected as an epidemiology elective intern at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She has a master’s of public health degree with a focus on human nutrition and dietetics, is a registered dietician, and has career interests in child obesity prevention, nutrition and public health research.
Victoria Brocksmith, MD
Medical School: Indiana University School of Medicine
Dr. Brocksmith grew up on a family farm in Indiana. She has volunteered at a school for the blind and for a global health organization’s clinics in Ecuador and Guatemala. In medical school, she received three scholarships for academic achievement, and is a member of Alpha Omega Alpha, the national honor medical society. She looks forward to a career in academic pediatrics.
Shane Colvin, MD, MA
Medical School: University of Washington School of Medicine
While in medical school, Dr. Colvin was nominated for a Roger Rosenblatt Community Health Award for his work developing a sexual health awareness course on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation in Montana. In addition to his medical education, he has a master’s degree in music therapy, and received a Howard Hughes Medical Institute grant to research and develop a college-level course on music and the brain. He looks forward to collaborating with music and art therapists during his pediatrics residency.
Lindsey Cox, MD, MSc
Medical School: St. George’s University School of Medicine
Before medical school, Dr. Cox earned a master’s degree in control of infectious diseases from the University of London, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, where she was the primary researcher on a project evaluating health workers’ knowledge, attitudes and experiences of human papillomavirus vaccination in Tanzanian schoolgirls. As a medical student, she completed many recent clerkships and elective rotations at community hospitals in underserved areas of Brooklyn, New York. Her experiences have inspired her to focus her future pediatrics career on primary and preventive care.
Thomas Harris, MD
Medical School: University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine
As an undergraduate, Dr. Harris competed for four years in NCAA Division III cross country, indoor and outdoor track and field, earning 12 varsity letters. Before medical school, he worked as a medical scribe supporting emergency physicians; in medical school, he completed a research fellowship studying the rates and severity of injuries sustained in local youth football leagues.
Adam Heinze, MD
Medical School: Medical College of Wisconsin
In medical school, Dr. Heinze served in Partnership for Urban Medical Education and Advancement, a student-run organization that holds a weekly after-school science club to promote medical education and advancement among underserved middle school students in Milwaukee. Before entering medical school, he worked as a student athletic trainer and medical scribe in emergency medicine and orthopedic surgery. He looks forward to completing his residency training in his home state of Wisconsin.
Rachel Heinze, MD
University of Minnesota Medical School
Dr. Heinze worked as an English teacher at an elementary school in Mexico before entering medical school. While in medical school, she completed a longitudinal experience providing care in an urban underserved community in St. Paul, Minnesota; participated in a service-learning trip to Nicaragua; helped medical students understand global health through monthly seminars; and participated in a global health experience in Tanzania.
Lindsey Kitzinger, MD
Indiana University School of Medicine
During medical school, Dr. Kitzinger, a long-distance competitive runner, coached an all-girl elementary running team through the Girls on the Run program. She also developed chronic disease prevention programming through the YMCA of Greater Indianapolis and co-chaired the local chapter of Medals4Mettle, an organization that donates endurance athletes’ medals to people battling illness. She looks forward to a residency program that prioritizes patient education and advocacy as she moves toward a career in community pediatrics.
Cassandra Rendon, MD
Medical School: Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth
In medical school, Dr. Rendon was a member of the Association of Native American Medical Students, ultimately serving as president of its national executive board in her final year. She also received the John T. Wolfe Award for Outstanding Native American Medical Student. In addition, she worked as a researcher at The Dartmouth Institute on a systematic review and meta-analysis of rooming-in as a management option in the treatment of newborns with neonatal abstinence syndrome, a project that was presented as a plenary session at three medical society meetings, including PAS.
Johanna Sehloff, MD
Medical School: Medical College of Wisconsin
In the year before medical school, Dr. Sehloff taught fifth through 11th grade science at a school in the Dominican Republic. Later, in medical school, she volunteered at Milwaukee’s Neulife Community Center, devising and implementing a summer “Wellness Wednesday” series for elementary students in its summer programs. She looks forward to a career in pediatrics where she can be a role model for children, teach them healthy habits, and make a lasting difference in their lives.
Carolyn Sleeth, MD, MPH
Medical School: University of Arizona College of Medicine
In medical school, Dr. Sleeth worked on research projects that evaluated the coverage of palliative care in undergraduate and graduate medical education, and evaluated the effects of a mind-body medicine pilot program on feelings of depression and burnout among medical students. A three-time Medical Award of Excellence winner and participant in her medical school’s Medical Education Distinction Track, she is excited to train at a residency program that teaches residents how to teach others.
Stephanie Syu, MD
Medical School: Tulane University School of Medicine
Dr. Syu completed an anatomy certification and leadership program before entering medical school. While in medical school, she participated in the NIH/NIDDK medical student summer program at Massachusetts General Hospital, on a research project that hypothesized that Acipimox (nicotinic acid analog) treatment will decrease plasma free fatty acid levels and improve insulin sensitivity by improving mitochondrial function. She anticipates a career in academic medicine, potentially focused on critical care, but looks forward to a residency that allows her to explore all the different opportunities in pediatrics.