Family Medicine Residency Program

Sachin Parekh, MD '06 Since graduating from the UCONN Family Practice
Residency, I work full-time as the Associate Director of Primary Care at Hartford Dispensary. My responsibilities include creating and implementing a
Primary Care program for Hartford Dispensary patients that lack a primary care physician. Using the bio-pyscho-social model, I help coordinate Mental
Health, Substance Abuse, and Primary Care services for our patients. I find it rewarding to teach preventive medicine and treat acute/chronic medical conditions in an urban patient population.

In addition, I serve as a Staff Physican at MedExpress, the urgent care component of St.Francis Hospital's Emergency Department. I see patients for a variety of acute problems including evaluations for infectious diseases, lacerations, and musculoskeletal complants, etc.

Pablo Hernandez, MD ' 04 Professionally, I am a faculty physician at Family Health Center of Worcester (FHCW), and an Assistant Clinical Professor at UMASS. I am teaching PPS 1 (Patient, Physician and Society) to 1st year med students.

I am about to be promoted to Assistant Medical Director at FHCW. My main responsibilities and major interest are:

Teaching, EMR, Diabetes Collaborative, Cultural Sensitivity and International Medicine.

Rama Bathala, M.D. ‘03 Rama really enjoyed residency and her experiences in Connecticut, but she wanted to return home to California to be closer to her family and friends. She now works for Kaiser Permanente in Orange County. Living a balanced life is her goal but “this can be difficult in our line of work”. She keeps trying! Rama hopes the reunion is wonderful! She’ll always remember her time at Asylum Hill!

Teresa Smith, M.D. ‘03 One of Teresa’s patients was due to deliver on May 12 th and she didn’t want to be away, so she didn’t plan on going to the Reunion. Of course, her patient delivered a week early! She said to say “Hello” to everyone. Things are going very well. She’s seeing 25-30 patients a day and her Ob is picking up. Thankfully, she’s quite happy with one baby a month!

Kar-yee Wu, M.D. ‘02 Kar-yee is still working for the Oregon Health Sciences University in the Department of Family Medicine as a faculty member. She says, “It’s great.” Their clinic is mostly rural but close to Portland. She precepts once a week and is on service four to six times a year. They recently had a new FNP and PA join their practice, and she “loves her staff”. Dr. Wu is in the process of remodeling her townhouse and plans to travel to Hong Kong in June and New Zealand in the fall. She states that life is pretty good – she just has to get out of her clinic earlier!

Krishnan Narasimhan, MD '01After residency, Krishnan spent a year doing locums work in Arizona and Washington State. For the past three years, he has been in a group private practice in Vancouver, Washington outside of Portland. He is starting a Primary Care Health Policy Fellowship at Georgetown Department of Family Medicine this year. He looks forward to a career that mixes patient care, teaching, research, and working on health care public policy.

Lucille Marchand, M.D. ‘90 Lou lives with her husband Phil Lomas, a psychiatrist in the community, and their two children, Sarah 14 and Noah, 11, in Madison, Wisconsin. They have lived in the area for 14 years and “like it here”. Her son is severely autistic and has been a major challenge. Her daughter loves horses, and is an “amazing, bright child”. Lou is currently a Professor of Family Medicine at the University of Wisconsin Medical School, a family physician at the rural UW Health Belleville Clinic, integrative medicine consultant at UW Integrative Medicine, and a medical director at HospiceCare, Inc. in Madison. She is board certified in family medicine, holistic medicine and palliative care. Her areas of professional interest include spirituality, communication, palliative medicine, ethics, professional well-being, the humanities in health care, and integrative medicine. Dr. Marchand enjoys all outdoor sports, and loves being active. She has allowed her creative muse to explore art and writing poetry and prose. She’s “happy, healthy, and like most doctors, works too hard.”

Susan Thomas, M.D. ‘90 After fifteen years of practicing full-service family medicine in Lewiston, Maine, Susan was asked by General Electric-Health Information Technologies (GE-HIT) to become their Medical Director of Physician Practices for their Centricity Electronic Health Record (EHR). She will begin her new career in April 2005, but will continue to see patients as time permits at her practice in Maine. Her husband, Leo Dymkoski, manages two of his own small businesses, and they now have two beautiful grandchildren from his eldest son. They still travel abroad as often as time (and money) permits, but their hearts are in a small Caribbean island named Carriacon, where they have a second home and Susan is involved in a local health center that opens this summer!

Loren Friedman, M.D. ‘91 It has been a busy year for Loren and his family. In September he left the non-profit and academic positions which he had held for ten years at Capital Hospice and George Washington University, and began his own private practice, Arlington Palliative Care. He provides mostly consultative services to hospitalized patients at Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington, two blocks from their home. He did have an opportunity to publish a chapter, “Pain Management in Palliative Care,” in Clinics in Family Practice in June 2004. His wife Patricia Rodriguez is a partner in a five-doc Heme-Onc practice at the same hospital, where she has worked a 70 percent time position, which she has loved for ten years. Their 12-year-old, Amelia, will have a Bat Mitzvah at the beginning of July, 2005. Amelia swims M, W, F at 5:15 a.m. (Loren drives and is forced to work out at the gym!), plays guitar and excels at math like her mom. Joaquin is their 8-year-old. He is incredibly outgoing, unlike his parent who were nearly pathologically shy as children, wants to be an actor, and just has fun (amidst soccer, swimming and the rest of the overscheduled activities.)

Mark Hoch, M.D. ‘91 Mark is living in Minneapolis with his wife, Kathy, a movement therapist, and their eleven year old daughter, Ariana. He has a full-time solo practice of Holistic Medicine, mostly on a consultant level, and also providing family medicine for all ages. He is very involved with the American Holistic Medical Association (AHMA) and finished his term as president at the AHMA Meeting in May, 2003. He is Adjunct Assistant Professor of Family Medicine and Community Health and community faculty in the Center for Spirituality and Healing at the University of Minnesota Academic Health Center/Medical School. The Hoch family continues to enjoy the lakes and seasons of Minnesota.

David C. Anderson, M.D. ‘92David is working four days a week in a private practice in Annapolis, Maryland. His wife, Vickie (also a prior UConn resident at Saint Francis), switches jobs with him each Tuesday. David takes over the home front with their three kids, while his wife goes to see patients at their practice. Their children, Matt (8), Tommy (6), and Caroline (4) are happy, healthy kids and are the center of their world. David likes to help coach their teams in soccer, baseball, lacrosse, etc. Their own practice in Annapolis has seven physicians, but is part of a larger primary care group with twelve similar sites spread throughout surrounding counties in Maryland. The newest challenge, as a group, has been fully implementing their new electronic medical records system.

Neil Moynihan, M.D. ‘92 After graduation Neil took an interim job with the Emergency Department at Johnson Memorial Hospital. He was doing an ER rotation there when his practice plan fell through, and has been there since. He has also been precepting at the Asylum Hill Family Practice Center one half-day a week since his graduation. This has given him the opportunity to keep up with Family Medicine and it has been fun and rewarding. He and his wife, Jane, have four children – two girls followed by two boys. The girls keep the boys in line and the four of them keep their parents in awe of how the previous generation did it all with one car and no cell phones.

Sarah Nicklin, M.D. ‘92 After finishing residency Sarah did emergency medicine for three years in New Hampshire and North Carolina. She then did an Ob fellowship in Rochester, NY. From there she went to Allentown, PA where she’s been for the past eight years. Sarah went there to join Will Miller's family medicine residency at Lehigh Valley Hospital, which has been a challenging and fulfilling adventure, and also created the opportunity where she finds herself now. She is part of an innovative practice called HealthSpring in Bethlehem, PA, working with four other family docs and a psychiatrist and psychologist (all women), trying to create a new model of care, and continues part-time work in the residency program. Her family is busy and well. Her husband, Jim Moreno, after dabbling in various aspects of public interest law, found his passion in death penalty defense work, which he's done for the last 11+ years. They have three children: son Graham, born during her third year of residency, is now 13 years old and will be starting high school in the fall. He is passionate about soccer and loves verbal sparring. Their daughter, Clara, is 10 years old, loves reading and creating and caring for just about anything. Their youngest, Olivia, is 20 months and loves nursing, among other toddler-things.

Deborah Weiskittel, M.D. ‘92 Deb states that she has found it difficult to balance personal and professional life which is one of the reasons she began using the hospitalists and has elected to stop practicing obstetrics. She says “hello” to everyone, and is sorry that she can’t join the reunion events. She and John are living in Fort Collins, Colorado where she is working in a large family medicine group practice. John is currently a stay-at-home dad for their children. Theo is 9, in the fourth grade, and keeps busy with soccer and piano lessons. Spencer is 6, in first grade, and enjoys gymnastics. Both children are involved in cub scouts and after school Spanish lessons. As you can imagine, they keep their parents hopping! When they find the time, John and Deb love to travel and scuba dive. Their favorite destination was visiting Egypt four year ago (without kids!). Deb’s latest passion is pottery. She has been taking classes for the last year and one-half.

Jeffrey Anderson, M.D. ‘93 Jeff and his wife, Chris, currently live in Tolland, Connecticut with their two boys, Erik, 11, and Luke, 7. Since completing his fellowship in 1994, he has worked as the Director of Sports Medicine in the University of Connecticut Athletic Department. Between work hours, kids’ sports and activities, community and church activities, they are not lacking for things to do! Jeff really enjoys helping out as a faculty member in the Family Medicine Department’s Sports Medicine Fellowship and teaching sports medicine to residents and medical students. This summer he will also take on responsibilities as the Medical Director for the Human Performance Laboratory in the UConn Department of Kinesiology.

L. Casey Chosewood, M.D. ‘93 After leaving residency, Casey practiced office-based pediatrics and family medicine for seven years. He then became Medical Director for the SE Region of Lucent Technologies. After two years there he joined CDC as the Medical Director of all CDC Occupational Health Clinics. In May 2004 he became Deputy Director of CDC’s Office of Health and Safety. “Best of all,” he gets to be dad to his two magnificent children, Alex, 14 and Emily, 12. Alec enjoys hockey, skiing, snowboarding and surfing (the net) while Emily plays softball, hockey and bass violin/bass guitar.

Madeline Frucht-Wilks, M.D. ‘94 Gary and she are the proud parents of Isaac (51/2) and Ella (4). Prior to settling in Bethesda, Maryland, they worked and studied in Connecticut, Nepal, Vietnam, North Carolina and Ohio. They had the opportunity to certify in medical acupuncture and to practice wilderness medicine in the Himalayas. Maddy currently works at LaClinica del Pueblo, a free clinic in Washington, D.C. Her patients are primarily from Central and South America. She provides the full scope of family practice in a wonderfully challenging environment. She also supervise medical students and residents from George Washington and Howard Medical Schools. Their next trip will be to Central America, but for now the journey is one of preschool play dates, immigrant medicine, gardening, kayaking Maryland’s eastern shore and parenting.

Andrea Gordon , M.D. ‘94 Andrea pulled up roots and began again five times since she left residency, but is very happy with where she finally landed. After residency graduation, a fellowship brought her to Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. Her first “real job” was at a branch of the Tacoma, Washington residency program in a town called Puyallup. After four years she missed the east coast and moved to Stamford, Connecticut to teach in a program there. But she fell in love and was lucky to find a teaching position in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania where Allen, who is now her husband, lived. Last March they learned that the Harrisburg residency would be closing and both got positions in the Tufts Residency. They’re excited to be in a program that is determined to be on the cutting edge and where the people are great. They are still exploring the area, but love the access to good restaurants, museums and New England. Perhaps a little less snow would be nice. She still does Tai Chi but needs to find a new class, and is exploring yoga. For those of you who remember Jasper, “the wonder cat”, he’s still alive and doing well!

Kris Karlson, M.D. ‘94 After graduation, Kris took a part-time job in Boston to try for the 1996 Olympic team but she didn’t make it. She then landed a sports medicine fellowship in Hanover, New Hampshire…perfect for her lifestyle….cross country skiing, biking, rowing. She met her husband Dave Stiger on the ski trail and they were married in September 2003.

Scott Boden, M.D. ‘95 Following residency training Scott worked in Emergency Medicine at Manchester (CT) Memorial Hospital. He has been involved in administration, and was Medical Director of an urgent care center for three years. In 2003, he began an accredited one-year surgical fellowship in Hair Transplantation Surgery, and is now building a hair restoration practice in West Hartford, having joined a large national group practice, Medical Hair Restoration. He finds it very gratifying helping men and women achieve their goals of appearing as young as they feel, while utilizing meticulous surgical skills. He lives in West Hartford with Mary, a psychiatrist and his wife of thirteen years, and their two boys, Noah and Isaiah.

Robin Bersch Gold, M.D. ‘95 After graduating residency in 1995, Robin took a few months to “collect my thoughts” (a euphemism for “I was unemployed!”), then ventured west for what proved to be the opportunity and adventure of a lifetime. What began as a three-month stint in Jasper, Texas to gain more Ob experience, turned into a one-year fellowship in Rural Family Practice and Maternity Care which included training to perform C-sections and other operative procedures. This was followed by 3.5 more years of employment in this Deep East Texas rural community, practicing the full scope of family practice with Ob. During those years, they trained two other fellows who originated from our UConn/Saint Francis Family Practice Program (Bob Monteleone and Mimi Koehm), who have both gone on to include operative Ob in their practices. She also acquired an appreciation for rodeo (or, actually, rodeo attire!) and skill at driving her 5-speed truck! A successful blind date in Y2K (“finally!”) brought her back to Connecticut, where she married her Beshert, the man of her dreams, on April Fools Day 2001. She landed a part-time faculty position at the Asylum and started in late June 2001, bought a new house in the Fall of 2001, moved in January of 2002 and gave birth to Leo in February, 2002 and Harry in February, 2004. Chuck, Leo, Harry and Robin are now settled* in West Simsbury, CT.

*Like the rest of society, they are trying desperately to keep the rollercoaster moving forward, but at a decent pace so they can enjoy all the twists and turns. She thinks the plaque hanging above the old broken answering machine and the last few years of telephone books sums up her life now: “We may not have it all together, but together we have it all.”

Wendelin Reymond, M.D. ‘95 Wendy and her partner, Heidi Eriksen, are rearing their three children, Max (11), and twins Paul and Marion (3) in Northampton, Massachusetts. She has been working for almost seven years at a Community Health Center in the eastern Berkshires. Stepping down as medical director and the advent of a hospitalist system at her hospital has made life more sane, but she still can’t claim to be pursuing any “activities”. Reduction of sleep deprivation is still on her list, though not, she’s afraid, at the top yet! She still is loving (almost) every minute of it!

Gary Wilks, M.D. ‘95 After practicing family medicine in Connecticut, Nepal and North Carolina, Gary did a fellowship in geriatrics. He now find myself in his fifth year of full-time geriatrics practice in Rockville, Maryland, just outside of Washington, D.C. Madeline and he are the joyous parents of Isaac, 5 ½, and Ella, 4. Gary continues to explore a variety of interests while striving to spend the bulk of my time with family.

Lisa Mancao-Hatch, M.D. ‘96 Lisa is “pretty happy” working part-time with the Indian Health Service. Her husband Robert and she work opposite schedules so that one of them is at home with their children, BJ, 4, and Sage, 18 months.

Carin Shapiro, M.D. ‘96 Carin and her husband live in Rockland County, New York with their two (almost three) daughters. She is working at the Westchester Institute of Human Development, an affiliate of New York Medical College, providing primary care to adults with developmental disabilities and traumatic brain injury. Carin enjoy gardening, building doll houses and volunteering with the Epilepsy Foundation. She is also going to school for a Masters in Public Health, focusing on health care policy and management.

Lynnea Villanova, M.D. ‘96 Lynnea writes that she has had a long, strong journey in medicine. She will email you the sob stories (of which there are many)! Suffice to say, she notes, that “ New York City is full of crooks in medicine”. She has been threatened and had money stolen. Lynnea has become certified in acupuncture and will be certified in Ayurvedic Medicine this year. She now enjoys working in physical medicine and has her own integrative medicine practice – really fun conglomeration of East/West. She is also a professional musician and you can check out her music at websites designed by her, www.thehappyending.info and www.sinclairtheband.iom. lynneavillanova@mac.com

Robert Monteleone, M.D. ‘97 After residency, Bob spent one year in Jasper, Texas completing a Rural Obstetrics/Family Practice Fellowship. He moved to Elkton, Maryland and joined a group practice doing Family Medicine with obstetrics to include C-Sections. After four years the practice closed. He then opened his own practice and added a PA and a partner. He became happily married to Sharon in the middle of all that. Now, he has two daughters, ages two and three months. This year he stopped obstetrics due to the increasingly high malpractice costs and he is able to spend more time at home. He also is precepting at a Family Medicine residency program one half-day a week. He enjoys running, mountain biking and spending time with his girls.

Kathleen Mueller, M.D. ‘97 Kathy and her husband Scott have stayed in Connecticut since residency. They have three children, Benjamin (8 ½), Alaina (almost 7), and Madeline (2 ½). She was in private practice for seven years and the Emergency Room at Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center for one year. She has just opened an alternative practice without traditional family medicine.

Steven Barnett, M.D. ‘98 Steve and his wife, Carol, are quite happy, but staying busy with their three children, Michael, Kiersten and David. They like their community in South Carolina, and his practice is great with three excellent partners. Working in a rural area allows him to care for many underserved and uninsured patients and to practice full scope Family Medicine including colonoscopies, colposcopies, inpatient medicine and (believe it or not, Dr. Z.) nursing home.

Richard Daly, M.D. ‘98 Rick has worked full-time as a salaried M.D. since graduation. His wife Kirsten Zenker and he have been happily married since 2001 and live in Waltham, Massachusetts. They bought a horse last year, whose name is Thunder. His life is “pretty great”. Best wishes to every one at the program. He remembers his time in residency very fondly.

Mimi Koehm, M.D. ‘98 Mimi is currently working for Memorial Hospital in Rhode Island serving patients at the Primary Care Center of Plainville, Massachusetts as well as the Primary Care Center of Quality Hill in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, where she is the medical director. She continues to do deliveries, Csections, colpos and postpartum tubals. She has been appointed a physician representative to the Rhode Island Department of Health’s Advisory Council on Midwifery and works collaboratively with midwives from the University of Rhode Island. Mimi enjoys teaching fellows in the Maternal Child Health fellowship and residents in the Family Medicine Residency as a Brown University Clinical Assistant Professor of Family Medicine. After work, gentrification of a vintage home overlooking Seekonk keeps her busy.

Emily Daponte, M.D. ‘99 Emily and her family moved to western Virginia after residency and returned to the Hartford area in 2001. She lives in West Hartford with her husband Michael and children Will, 6, and Hope 4. Dr. Daponte practices in Enfield, Connecticut.

Elizabeth Freedman, M.D. ‘99 Liz and her husband live in West Hartford, Connecticut, right near the Center. They have two small children, Frances (5) and William (10 months). They are very “wrapped up in family activities” since they both have sisters with small children and home and gardening projects. “We are happy to have winter behind us” – with all the illnesses their children had and the juggle of managing snow days with two working parents. They are sorry to miss the reunion but family obligations come first for them! Liz hopes those who attend have a great time.

Monika Singh, M.D. ‘99 Monika writes: Hello everyone! It is hard to believe that it has been six years since graduation. After leaving Hartford we moved back to Boston for five years and truly enjoyed the experience of city life with Kunal (almost 7) and Meghna (4 ½). Since the birth of Sameer last May, we said “goodbye” to Boston and “hello” to Sudbury, Massachusetts, our suburban dream – kids, a house/lawn, a minivan, soccer and baseball games, gymnastics, etc!! I have been fortunate enough to have stayed at home this past year and shall soon be trying again to find that delicate balance between personal and professional life. Sorry we missed seeing all of you, Monika and Amit.

Michele Spirko, M.D. ‘99 Michele and her husband, Blake, enjoy an idyllic life in Western Massachusetts, and will celebrate their 12 th anniversary this year. They have two delightful children, Colton (5) and Anthea (l.75), and are eagerly anticipating the arrival of their third. She feels fortunate to be able to put her career on hold while she cares for their growing family. In her spare time Michele is a passionate quilter.

Carol Honeychurch ‘80 Carol Honeychurch of West Hartford, Connecticut is a consultant for Disability Determination Services (part of the Social Security Administration). She left private practice in 1987 when her first child was born and began consulting a few months later. She has consulted in Vermont and New Hampshire as well as Connecticut, where she and husband, Rev. David Roones, live. They have two children, Nathan, 18, and Rachel, 12. Carol is active in youth education and music programs in her church. Leisure interests include science and history museums, and computers and technology.

Karoline Kimball, M.D. ’80 Karoline has enjoyed a wonderful personal and professional life in Keene, New Hampshire. She practiced Emergency Medicine for three years and then worked in urgent care for sixteen years. She is now practicing occupational Health at the Dartmouth Hitchcock Clinic where she has worked for twenty-one years. She frequently moonlights in both the emergency room and in urgent care. Dr. Kimball has been married to the “same wonderful man” for twenty-nine years and they have two beautiful children, a daughter, Lindsay (23) and a son, Adam (20) who attends Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut.

Charlene Li, M.D. and William Harris, M.D. ‘80 Charlene and Bill are still married, and practice in Windsor, Connecticut. They have two children, Daniel (22 yrs.) and Alexandra (19 yrs). Charlene is active in the state academy and is co-editor of the Core Content.

Susan Miller, M.D. ‘80 After leaving Meriden in 1980, Ken and she went to New York and had two kids in three years. Research interests then took Ken to Richmond, Virginia. Susan founded Village Green Family Medicine in the suburbs where she practiced for twenty years with various partners. With their two children out of college and only the 15-year-old at home, Susan sold her practice to her partners and joined the faculty at Virginia Commonwealth University/Medical College of Virginia where she had precepted for many years. There she is pursuing her interests in “The Idealized Design of Clinical Office Practice”, EHR and quality improvement issues.

Allen Bassler, M.D. ‘81 Allen and his wife, Wanda, are living in Socorro, New Mexico, the “ Land of Sunshine”. He works in their small, local hospital staffing the ER. They are just finishing a cabin in the mountains, possibly their retirement home. He keeps very busy with work, church and community activities. Their daughter, Jennifer, lives in Goodyear, Arizona, and works as a laboratory technologist in Phoenix.

Tom Danyliw, M.D. ‘81 Tom is now a specialist in Occupational and Environmental Medicine and consults to employers, insurers, attorneys and others on a variety of medical-related issues. His clinical practice is as Medical Director of Middlesex Hospital Occupational Medicine. Family Medicine training and experience has provided “an excellent foundation”. He and his wife, Alyson, are “empty-nesters” in the Village of Essex, Connecticut. They enjoy boating, occasional golf and community activities. They truly appreciate their good fortune.

Ken Elam, M.D. ‘81 Ken is living in Seattle and has done only emergency medicine. He is now involved in urgent care since doing a residency in the “wonderful west”. His medical passions are pre-hospital EMS providers and projects in Romania and Haiti. His wife, Shannon Fitzgerald is a pediatric APRN and involved with the state nursing commission. They have two daughters, Clair, 23, University of Washington (teaching) and Fiona, 20, Seattle University (psychology). Dr. Elam noted, “all of those throw-away medical journals forever turned them off to medicine and science!”

Lucy Loomis, M.D. ‘82 After residency Lucy practiced for a year at the Novajo Nation Health Foundation in Ganado, Arizona. In 1984 she joined Denver Health and Hospitals working in one of their affiliated community health centers, and started precepting at the University of Colorado Family Medicine Residency. In 1992 she got a Masters in Public Health, and in 1997 helped start a track of the Family Medicine Residency in one of the Denver Health Community Health Centers. She is now the director of Family Medicine for Denver Health, and Associate Professor of Family Medicine and Preventive Medicine. She still does Ob! Lucy has three children (19, 15, 13). The oldest is a freshman at Weslyan, and Lucy’s parents still live in Hartford! She is sorry not to be able to attend the Reunion, but she hopes we do it again soon. She adds, “Please give my best to Hank Feder!”

Floyd McIntyre, M.D. ‘82 Floyd writes that his wife, Carolyn, who had a bone marrow transplant for CML in 1981 (during his residency) is alive and well! They are blessed to have a daughter who is a first year medical student at UMass in Worcester, Massachusetts and a son who is a sophomore at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut. He sends his “best wishes” to Hank Feder and any other faculty from “the old days”.

Michael Hortner, M.D. ‘83 Michael is married with two girls, resides in Allentown and practices in Northampton, Pennsylvania. He has been in a Family Practice, hospital-owned practice since 1986. Since that time he has not done in-patient work, which he says, “has greatly enhanced his quality of life”. He notes that what dampens his enthusiasm is the malpractice situation of his state and the country!

Susan Okie, M.D. ‘83 Two years after Susan finished residency, they moved back to the Washington area and she rejoined The Washington Post. She has spent most of her career as a medical reporter and science editor there, and covered many of the major developments in medical care and public health during the last twenty years. Her husband, Walter Weiss, is a malaria researcher, and their family spent three wonderful, life-changing years in Kenya. She is the author of Fed-Up!, a new book on the childhood obesity epidemic (Joseph Henry Press, 2005) and has two terrific sons, Peter (21) and Jake (18). Susan now writes for the New England Journal of Medicine from Washington, D.C.

Susan Okie, M.D. ‘83 In 1984, Susan started the Walk-In Medical Center in Plainfield, CT while she was starting a family in Norwich, CT. She is married to David Shiling who is a neurologist in Norwich and have three children. Ben, 23 who she had in her second year of residency is now a Lance Corporal in the US Marine Corps stationed in Okinawa and just returned safely from Felujah, Iraq. Noah, 19, just completed his first year at Tulane University. Danny, 16, a 2nd year high school student who has discovered school, lacrosse and driving. Dr. Okie served the CAFP board of directors for several years. Seven years ago, with some parents & teachers began a charter school in Norwich, CT. It has been an amazing and intensive seven years on the Board of Directors. They renovated the old Thermos Factory in Norwich and have now 270 children pre-K through 8th grade. Susan just retired from the board but remains very active in fundraiser and political maneuvering to get increased funding for the school at the state level. Two years ago she was able to sell my practice to Leah Briones, a wonderful family doctor and now she works for her. The practice has evolved over the years into a traditional family practice with hospital privileges at the Wm Backus Hosp. They maintain the walk-in part of the practice as well. She feels very happy with her choice of career and practice. Because of some health problems she has been very lucky to be able to transfer from owner to employee and still do the work she sees as a privilege more than a job.

Jeff Hanson, M.D. ‘84 Jeff is married with two girls, ages 17 and 12. He has been happily practicing in the same office for more that twenty years in Mt. Morris, New York. He loves the patient continuity, noting that he now sees children of children he cared for. Teaching medical students in the clinical setting has always been a focus of his. He was always inspired by preceptors in residency, in how much they seemed to enjoy the process. He says, “hello to all” and wishes he could have attended.

William Hernandez, M.D. ‘84 After residency Bill spent five years in rural New Hampshire being a true “country doc”. He states this was “emotionally very satisfying though incredible hours”. He moved back to Connecticut to help out other UConn alums, Claire Warren and Dave Henderson at their urgent care centers in Plainfield and Norwich. He has since taken over the Norwich Center. He has an internist as a partner who does primary care while Dr. Hernandez does all the urgent/occupational care. His youngest son, David, (named after Dave Henderson) is a junior at Plainfield High. His next son, Will, is a junior at Florida State studying Criminal Justice. His twin stepsons, Ed and Jeff are “all grown up now”.

William Graham, M.D. ’85 and Marcia Kelly Graham, M.D. ‘86 Bill and Marcia repaid their obligations in Phoenix, and Bill stayed in the Public Health Service treating Indians three more years beyond his contract. They started having three beautiful girls in Phoenix and moved them at ages 3, 5 and 7 to Missouri where Bill became a medical missionary in charge of pre-employment and every four-year exam clearance for more than 3,000 missionaries. They also take call for them around the world, and work part-time in a local family practice office to keep up their skills. Bill left for China yesterday (late April) to teach some doctors with another physician (surgeon). He also travels doing free clinics overseas. We hope to hear what others are doing!

Bryan Stamm, M.D. ‘87 Bryan is a part-time faculty member (Assistant Professor) at the University of Washington Family Practice Residency in Spokane. He is half-time staff physician for the Coeur d’Alene Tribe in Plummer, Idaho, and provides ob services with both practices. He and his wife, Jean, continue to bike, ski and travel the world as much as possible.

Colleen Casey, D.O. ‘88 Colleen writes, “Hello to the late ‘80’s disco crowd!”

After a short stint in Buffalo, she and her family moved to the Willamette Valley in Oregon where she worked for four years in a large private practice and seven years at Kaiser Permanente. The latter is a great practice but too much of a good thing and she is about to quit and move back to Connecticut to explore other options which will hopefully give her more time to bike ride, drink tea with friends and harass her children (now 12 and 14). She is enjoying her midlife crisis J and looks forward to visiting local folks after July.

Susan Porter, M.D. ‘88 After residency Sue and her husband, Bob, moved around a bit but twelve years ago they moved to Exeter, New Hampshire and “put down some roots”. The Exeter area is growing rapidly but trying to maintain its small town atmosphere. It’s a great place to raise their children, Kate (13) and Emily (10). Exeter Hospital is a community hospital with a strong primary care focus and a good range of specialists. Being only an hour north of Boston gives them easy access to top notch tertiary centers. It also allows Bob to get to several Red Sox games each year! Between Harvard and Dartmouth, the CME offerings are really amazing. Their family activities include skiing, hiking, kayaking and driving the kids to music lessons and sports practices.

Anne Reiher, M.D. ‘89 Anne has not traveled far in the last 16 years. However, she has still been challenged close to home. She is working at the Saint Francis Family Medicine office in East Hartford until the end of this coming June. She then plans to start practicing urgent care medicine for a while (or longer) as she takes a little time to contemplate the second half of her career. Anne and her husband, Herb, have had their biggest adventure enjoying their two sons, Patrick (14) and Tim (12).

Vince Winkler Prins, M.D. ‘89 After ten years in private/group practice and some work overseas, Vince is now an Assistant Professor of Family Medicine at Michigan State University. His wife is also faculty there in the Geography Department and their two boys, Lukas and Lyle, are growing nicely. “Life’s just a little too full!” He says, “Please stop by/call if you are ever in my neck of the woods and congratulations to our residency!”

Max Jackson, M.D. ‘76 Max called to say that he considers his residency the most important years of his training, and that his graduation from residency was his most meaningful graduation. He is very thankful for the opportunity to have been part of the program. He mentioned that he named and started the Asylum Hill Family Practice Center (on Sigourney Street). He’s thrilled that our Center is on the Saint Francis campus now. He currently works in Kansas City as a Vice-President of Medical Affairs. His son will be graduating from high school the weekend of our Reunion. He said there’s a standing invitation for a free meal for any faculty member or resident who should decide to visit Kansas City and give him a call!

Gordon Brodie, M.D. ‘78 Gordon founded a private Family Practice in Manchester, Connecticut, formed a larger primary care group (HealthWise Medical Associates), and stays active at Manchester Memorial Hospital and with the UConn School of Medicine. He and his wife, Bea, have two children: Mark is an NPR news reporter in Phoenix, Arizona and Diana teaches fourth grade in inner-city Philadelphia. Gordon and Bea travel as much as they can, especially to National Parks and wilderness areas, where they try (usually unsuccessfully) to stay out of trouble with the elements. His patients are starting to ask him when he plans to retire. He now has a group of children in the practice whose grandparents are also his patients! “That is the best part of the whole practice thing.” He states that although the direction of the practice of medicine is definitely going in the wrong direction, and it becomes increasingly difficult to do the right thing for his patients and still stay solvent, being a family doc is the greatest thing he can imagine doing…..but not forever, at least until the college tuition bills are paid off!

Steven Dieterich, M.D., ‘78 Steven is married to Christina who works in the Costume Department at the University of Hartford. They have two daughters: Leah is married, lives in LA and works for an ad agency; Erin is single and lives in Silver Spring, Maryland. She works at the Discovery Channel World Headquarters. Steve is a DJ at WWUH 91.3FM radio one day a week playing Celtic music. He’s a producer/promoter of Celtic concerts at the University of Hartford. He is an avid gardener (perennials exclusively) and a bicyclist (road bikes).

Mark Tuttle, M.D. ‘78 Mark is married to Joann Sullivan Tuttle (UConn Dental ’77 and ’78 residency). They have two children. Beth, age 26, to be married July 5, 2005, has her masters and sixth year degrees in secondary school guidance counseling. Christopher, age 22, is a personal trainer certifier and a freshman at Manchester Community College. Mark practices in Marlborough, Connecticut. His practice started with two physicians and has grown to five physicians and one PA. They just opened a new office in a new medical complex. Weekends find him renovating an historic house in East Hartford. He also flies radio-controlled planes. His family is down to two mini horses, two mini donkeys, three dogs and five cats. (At their peak they had 29 pets!)

Anne Brewer, M.D. ‘79 Anne has been teaching at the Stamford Hospital Family Practice Residency since 1996 and is currently Associate Residency Director. She had previously been in private practice in Manchester, East Hartford, Hartford and Stamford. Her husband, The Very Reverend James Kowalski, is presently Dean of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City. They live in New York City and Anne commutes to Stamford. Their daughter, Becky, is a student at SUNY Downstate ( Brooklyn) and is surviving the rigors of the first year of medical school. Their son, Matthew, is a third year student at Northeastern in Boston where he’s studying electrical computer engineering. Dr. Brewer is active at the Cathedral and plays ice hockey for recreation. She recently competed at the Empire State Games in Lake Placid representing NYC.

Eric Henley, M.D. ‘79 Eric’s life since completing residency in 1979 has been an interesting journey, one that he would not have imagined. It has taken him to many different places and work: a family practice HMO in Portland, Oregon, an urban family practice in Cambridge (where he met and married his wife), rural locum tenens work in North Dakota, Appalachian Kentucky, rural Alaska and the Navajo Reservation, the Indian Health Service twice – three and one half years on the Hopi Reservation in Arizona and six years in Albuquerque. In between he went back to school for an MPH from Harvard. For the past nine years he has been a full-time academic family physician at the University of Illinois regional campus in Rockford, 85 miles west of Chicago. In the past five years he has been department chair.

He and his wife live on a five acre farmette. They have two girls, one now in college and one a high school junior. They love their daughters, gardening, and music, and they rediscovered Judaism after a long hiatus since our childhoods.