Sergio Alvarez
Class of 2020 Medical School: David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
EM Interests: My interests include ultrasound, EMS, Underserved Populations, and medical education
Interesting Fact: I competed in amateur Muay Thai and collegiate wrestling during medical school.
Cortlyn Brown
Class of 2020 Medical School: Yale University
EM Interests: I am interested in the interface between mental health and the emergency department, specifically the boarding of psychiatric patients in the ED.
Interesting Fact: I climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro and got high altitude pulmonary edema. I was also a part of a professional women’s full contact football team (I am terrible at sports but great at embarrassing myself).
Josh Bukowski
Class of 2020 Medical School: UC Davis
EM Interests: Aeromedical Emergencies, Ultrasound.
Interesting Fact: Member of the University of the Philippines, Manila Dragon-Boat Race Team.
Winnie Chan
Class of 2020 Medical School: UCSF School of Medicine
EM Interests: Global health, Administration, Lean processes and Kaizen events, Health systems strengthening, Capacity building
Interesting Fact: I’m the odd one out in a family of entrepreneurs! I grew up with family businesses (50s diner, bar and grills, bakery and cafes and most recently a higher-end burger joint). My past jobs/positions have included administrative assistant, accounting/billing, barista, cashier, server, busser, burger-flipper, and burger-assembler. Next, I will work on becoming a knowledgeable bartender. I also took a year off to earn a Master’s in Global Health, during which I spent six weeks mapping where injuries that presented to an ED in Tanzania occurred.
Tiffany Cheng
Class of 2020 Medical School: Washington University
EM Interests: EMS, wilderness/disaster, critical care, ultrasound
Interesting Fact: Before I decided on medicine, I wanted to be a wildlife researcher or marine biologist. To explore this interest, I worked in a lab for a few years in college in which I took care of stomatopods, aka mantis shrimp (look up theoatmeal.com’s entry on mantis shrimp for an entertaining read, or YouTube videos of mantis shrimp vs other sea creatures). One time, I got sucker punched by one of them when I was trying to feed her; she subsequently committed suicide a few weeks later by jumping out of her tank, probably out of guilt. On a side note, mantis shrimp are considered delicacies in China, and I had to eat them one time (to be polite) when I visited my relatives, even though it felt like cannibalism because they were like my babies. I’m still slightly traumatized.
Brian Cheung
Class of 2020 Medical School: Stanford University
EM Interests: Pre-hospital care, health services/policy, healthcare operations.
Interesting Fact: I was on a team that designed and built a car run entirely on solar power. We raced this car from Austin to Calgary over ten days on less power than it takes to run your hairdryer.
Jessica Chow
Class of 2020 Medical School: UC San Francisco
EM Interests: Pediatric, Public health research/community development, Health policy and advocacy
Interesting Fact: I once held a baby tiger on a trip to China. I’ve memorized the lyrics to most Disney musicals.
Olga Diaz
Class of 2020 Medical School: University of Wisconsin
EM Interests: health equity, health policy, addiction medicine, infectious diseases
Interesting Fact: When I was a little girl, I sang Bob Marley songs in my father’s radio station. I feel pretty bad for our listeners as I recognize now that I lack any talent.
Shirin Kasturia
Class of 2020 Medical School: Emory University
EM Interests: Social Emergency Medicine/Access to care, EMS
Interesting Fact: While doing a summer internship abroad during college, I ate a whole salad made up of pig intestines and flying ants. I decided to stop asking my coworkers to order for me after trying frog legs, beef vein, snails, dried squid, and tarantulas (I couldn’t bring myself to eat a tarantula).
Ryan Martin
Class of 2020 Medical School: Baylor University
EM Interests: Administration, Sports Medicine, Health Policy
Interesting Fact: All put together I’ve probably spent over 3 months and traveled 400 miles in the woods
Jessica Paz
Class of 2020 Medical School: UC Davis
EM Interests: Quality & Process Improvement, Medical Education, Global Health
Interesting Fact: I learned how to make pad thai in Thailand and empanadas in Argentina
Michael Shelendich
Class of 2020 Medical School: Northwestern University
EM Interests: Public health, LGBTQ healthcare, medical education, critical care
Interesting Fact: As proud Minnesotans, my family and I have enjoyed learning to bottle our own maple syrup, brew beer, and make cheese.
Jesus Torres
Class of 2020 Medical School: New York Medical College
EM Interests: Research, Public Health, Underserved patient populations, Policy, Outreach
Interesting Fact: I once met Charles Darwin’s great-great-grandson.
Jessica Zhang
Class of 2020 Medical School: UC San Diego
EM Interests: Disaster Medicine, Integrative Medicine
Interesting Fact: I lived out of a ’97 Jeep Wrangler with my husband and dog one summer while camping our way through California and Oregon. In my life before medicine, I was a consultant for the Department of Homeland Security. I once played with a juvenile Giant Pacific Octopus – fyi, super stick and amazing!