|
Home > Residency Programs > Smiley's Family Medicine Residency Program > Faculty
Faculty
Jennifer Welsh, MD, Program Director
|
|
| Dr. Welsh graduated from Southern Illinois University School of Medicine in 1995 and completed a family medicine residency at Smiley's Clinic in 1998. She started as program director in 2004 after serving as a Smiley's faculty physician for six years. Dr. Welsh enjoys teaching in all aspects of medicine and is committed to the goal that each family medicine resident within the program have the opportunity to grow and develop professionally into an outstanding family physician. Her special interests include emergency contraception, adolescent health care, and innovations in clinical teaching. Outside of work, she loves being a mom to her two children and spending time with her husband. She is an avid reader and member of the Smiley's Book Club. |
|
|
Patricia Adam, MD, MSPH
Associate Program Director
|
| Dr. Adam joined the faculty in 1996. She is a graduate of the University of Virginia and completed her residency and fellowship in academic family medicine at the University of Missouri in Columbia. She has published articles on residency education, upper respiratory infections, and obstetrics analgesia. She thoroughly enjoys teaching the residents how to incorporate evidence-based medicine in their everyday practice. When not at work, she is running around behind her three boys, Alex, George, and Sam. |
Nancy Baker, MD
|
|
| Dr. Baker joined the faculty in January 2001. A graduate of the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Medicine, she completed her residency at St. Paul-Ramsey Medical Center. After a brief tenure teaching at Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, Illinois, she joined the faculty at St. Paul Ramsey (now Regions), where she held multiple leadership positions. Dr. Baker's clinical and teaching interests include community-oriented primary care, intimate interpersonal violence prevention, adolescent health care, and medical humanities. In her spare time, she enjoys canoeing with friends and family in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. |
|
|
Dana Brandenburg, PsyD
|
| Dr. Brandenburg joined Smiley's faculty in fall 2004 after completing a fellowship in primary care psychology and medical education through Michigan State University. She received her doctorate in psychology from the Illinois School of Professional Psychology in Chicago and completed her internship in health psychology at the Cleveland VAMC. Interests include integrated mental health care, smoking cessation, and working with individuals coping with chronic illness. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her husband and family, as well as participating in various endurance running events and recruiting Smiley's residents, staff and faculty to join her in endurance events and training! |
Nicole Chaisson, MD
|
|
| Dr. Chaisson is originally from outside Boston, Massachusetts and still enjoys visiting family in New England. She received a bachelor of arts degree in religion from Oberlin College in Ohio and then moved to North Carolina, initially working in HIV research and finally completing medical school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dr. Chaisson completed her residency training at Regions Hospital in 2003 and worked for a year as part-time faculty while starting an MPH degree in maternal and child health. She completed a year of fellowship training in adolescent medicine before starting at Smiley's. Areas of interest include adolescent health and wellness, community-based primary care, women's health, and underserved health care. When not at work she spends time with her family, Joe, Sam, and Charlie, enjoys going for long walks, and tries to keep her garden alive. |
|
|
Sonya Fuad, MD
|
| Dr. Fuad obtained her degree from the University of Minnesota Medical School and completed her residency training at the University of Utah. She has been an adjunct faculty member at Smiley's for several years and joined the core faculty group in July 2005. Her special area of interest is women's health. |
Peter Harper, MD, MPH
Medical Director, Department of Family Medicine
|
| Dr. Harper, who obtained his medical degree from Case Western Reserve University and his MPH from the University of Minnesota, joined the faculty in January 2005. He now splits his time between department-related continuous quality improvement projects and residency education at Smiley's. Dr. Harper came to us with 18 years of residency education experience as a faculty member at Regions Hospital Family Medicine Residency Program. He has particular interests in community-oriented primary care and has leadership roles with the Controlling Asthma in American Cities Project. Previously, he has led many local community projects including several immunization programs, a tobacco action group, a toy gun buy back program, and a violence action group. Whenever possible he and his family like to head up north to canoe in the Boundary Waters. |
 |
|
|
Suzanne Hecht, MD
|
| Dr. Suzanne Hecht graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison Medical School in 1993, completed her family medicine residency training there in 1996, and completed a fellowship in primary care sports medicine at Uuniversity of California, Los Angeles, from 1997 to 1999. Dr. Hecht was an assistant professor in the Department of Family Medicine and the Division of Sports Medicine and Orthopaedic Surgery at UCLA from 1999-2005. She also served as a team physician for UCLA athletics, was the director of the UCLA Pediatric Sports Medicine Clinic, worked in the UCLA Osteoporosis Center, and was on the faculty for the UCLA sports medicine fellowship. Dr. Hecht joined the University of Minnesota faculty in October 2007. Her clinical and research interests include bone health and nutrition in the female athlete, sports concussions, the pediatric athlete, body composition, osteoporosis, and injuries in gymnasts. She currently serves as a team physician for University of Minnesota athletics, US Figure Skating, and is a member of the USA Gymnastics National Healthcare Referral Network. Dr. Hecht is married to Chuck and has twin boys and a daughter. Her outside interests include playing competitive tennis and judging gymnastics. |
Diane Madlon-Kay, MD, MS
|
|
| Dr. Madlon-Kay is a New York Medical College graduate and did her residency training at Madigan Army Medical Center. After serving in the U.S. Army for five peaceful years, she was on the faculty of the Regions Hospital Family and Community Medicine Residency Program in St. Paul for 18 years before joining the Smiley's faculty in July 2005. Dr. Madlon-Kay received an MS in clinical research in 2003; her research interest is maternal child health. She likes to inline skate, read, listen to Weird Al Yankovic, and spend time with her husband and two sons although her sons are too old to want to spend time with their parents). |
|
|
Kara Pacala, MD
|
| Originally from Cleveland, Ohio, Dr. Pacala graduated from the University of Minnesota Medical School after working as an adolescent and family social worker for seven years. She completed residency at Smiley's and is currently part-time faculty. Dr. Pacala's areas of interest include urban community practice, immigrant/refugee health, and adolescent health. She is married to Jim, and has two children, Sam and Laura. |
|
|
Laura Pattison, MD
|
| Dr. Pattison graduated from Smiley’s Family Medicine Residency in 2007 and joined the program as a faculty physician in December. She was born and raised on Staten Island, New York, and earned her bachelor's degree (with a major in English) from Carleton College, in Northfield, Minnesota. Dr. Pattison graduated from the University of Minnesota Medical School in the Twin Cities, and has had special interests in medical education, community health, and early childhood literacy throughout her training. She and her husband enjoy spending time with their two young children. She is glad to continue to be a part of the Smiley's program, while balancing a happy and peaceful family life. |
Chrystian Pereira, PharmD
|
|
| Dr. Pereira is a graduate of the University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy. He completed a post graduate pharmacy residency at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and then specialized in primary care at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, Washington. He is an assistant professor with the College of Pharmacy and is working toward a master's degree in public health. His interests are with medically vulnerable patients and urban community health. Outside of work he has a fascination with bicycles and likes to play soccer and Ultimate Frisbee. |
|
|
Timothy Ramer, MD, Patient Care Director
|
| Dr. Ramer joined the faculty in 1993. He graduated from the University of Minnesota Medical School and completed his family medicine residency at Smiley's. He has interest and experience in international medicine, obstetric ultrasound, and quality improvement. Dr. Ramer grew up in India and continues to enjoy cooking curries. His interests include biking, canoeing, and swimming in the river. His favorite holiday is Halloween. He is married to Martha Johnson, a teacher, and has two daughters and a son, Hannah, Nalini, and Jeffrey. |
David Satin, MD
|
|
| Dr. Satin completed family medicine residency training at Smiley's in 2004 after earning his medical degree from the University of Western Ontario, London, a health science degree from Marianopolis College, Montreal, a bachelor's degree in philosophy from the University of Western Ontario, London, and the Robert Jones Scholarship to St. Andrews University, Scotland. He is a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Minnesota Center for Bioethics and a staff physician in the University’s Department of Emergency Medicine. Special interests include improving physician comfort with ethical issues, the underserved, and emergency and inpatient medicine. |
|
|
Luree Schneider, MD
|
| Dr. Luree Schneider was born in Iowa, but spent the greater part of her life in California. She attended the University of California, Berkeley, for her undergraduate training, the University of California, San Francisco, for medical school, and Contra Costa Regional Medical Center for her residency training. After finishing her residency in 2003, she traveled the world for a year before making the move to sunny Minnesota. Her medical interests are broad, but women’s health is an area of particular interest. Outside of medicine, she enjoys biking, playing bridge, dancing (especially Irish and ballroom), and traveling. She joined the Smiley’s faculty in December 2007. |
|
|
Steven Shu, MD
|
| Dr. Shu graduated from Shanghai Medical University, China in 1984, completed his surgical residency, and worked as a surgical attending physician until 1991. He received his master's degree in molecular microbiology from the University of Miami in 1995, followed by a year-long surgical internship at Flushing Hospital, NY, and a residency in family medicine at Michigan State University in 2000. He obtained his physician E-MBA from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville in 2005. Dr. Shu is especially interested in surgical outpatient procedures and practice management. He is one of few family physicians in the US who can do numerous office procedures. Dr. Shu has been actively involved in teaching residents in family medicine and office procedures for years, and serves as a part-time faculty member at the University of Minnesota. |
Carolyn Sparks, MD
|
|
| Dr. Sparks completed her residency training at Regions Family Medicine Residency Program in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 2003 after receiving her medical degree from Southern Illinois University, and her undergraduate degree in chemistry at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota. Dr. Sparks joined the Smiley's faculty in 2005. Her previous work experience includes teaching high school math and science and working at an outfitter's near Grand Marais, MN. Her interests include immigrant and refugee health issues and community medicine. She is currently working on a master's in public health at the University of Minnesota. |
|
|
Steven Stovitz, MD
|
| Dr. Stovitz joined the Smiley's program in July, 2000. He completed the Primary Care Sports Medicine Fellowship at Hennepin County Medical Center and has been team physician for several high schools and colleges in the Twin Cities and western Wisconsin. Dr. Stovitz graduated from the Medical College of Virginia and completed his residency in Lawrence, Massachusetts. Prior to moving to Minnesota, he was on the faculty at the Greater Lawrence Family Health Center, a community health center that operates a family medicine residency and provides care for a predominately Hispanic population. He is a former Division I intercollegiate volleyball player and coach, and he now spends his free time with his wife chasing after their two active little boys. |
Joel Wegener, MD
|
|
|
Dr. Wegener is a graduate of the University of Minnesota Medical School with a bachelor's degree in biology from Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota. He is a 2004 graduate of the Smiley's Family Medicine Residency Program. His medical interests include caring for patients with chronic disease, diabetes, quality improvement, and practicing full-spectrum family medicine. Outside of clinic, Dr. Wegener likes to spend time with his family, run, and enjoy the outdoors.
|
|
Feedback | Notice of Privacy Practices
|
|
|
Return to: Medical School : Academic Health Center : myU : U of M Home
