Third Year Residents

Medical School: A.T. Still University
Undergraduate: Texas A & M University
Hometown: Lubbock, Texas

I grew up on the Texas plains just outside of Lubbock spending many summers working as a ranch hand in Fort Sumner, NM. My passion for fitness and the physicality of the work eventually led me to pursue a degree in Kinesiology from Texas A&M University. I moved to Salt Lake City, Utah in 2014 knowing very little about the state. What a change compared to Texas! My wife and I fell in love with the mountains and red-rock deserts and spent all our free time hiking, biking, camping, or skiing. I was later accepted to A.T. Still University in Missouri which led to me moving away while my wife stayed to complete her PhD at the University of Utah. Eventually we moved to eastern Pennsylvania where she began a post-doctoral program and I completed my clinical years. We loved our time on the East Coast but still felt drawn back to the Rockies. Training at McKay-Dee is like coming home.

Medical School: Rocky Vista University College of Osteopathic Medicine-Southern Utah
Undergraduate: Weber State University
Hometown: Eden, Utah

I grew up in Eden, Utah, which is about 30 minutes northeast of McKay-Dee Hospital. I discovered my passion for full-spectrum family medicine while on a 3rd-year rotation with a doctor who gave me a realistic view of what life and practice can be like for a family medicine physician who does deliveries, procedures, pediatrics, etc. I was initially interested in the residency program at McKay-Dee because of the proximity to home, but after doing a sub-internship here and seeing how well-rounded and supportive the program, the atmosphere, the residents, and faculty are, I would have gladly moved across the country to get the experience and training offered at McKay-Dee.

My clinical interests include obstetrics, hospital medicine, pediatrics, and procedures. I hope to have a broad scope of practice and to provide care to my community along the Wasatch Front. When I'm not in the hospital or clinic, I spend most of my time with my wife, dog, and two cats. We try to balance our time between indoor and outdoor activities, including climbing, skiing, hiking, reading, working on the house, and playing video games.

Medical School: University of Miami Miller School of Medicine
Undergraduate: Brigham Young University
Hometown: Firth, Idaho

I grew up in a farming town in southeast Idaho with aspirations to pursue a career in science. Later, while serving a mission in Mozambique, I learned to love working with people while also gaining an appreciation of worldwide health disparities and their impact on people's lives. After graduating with a bachelor's degree in molecular biology, I attended medical school at the University of Miami. Despite the allure of palm trees and sandy beaches, I eagerly returned to the West to pursue my dream of becoming a family medicine doctor.

McKay-Dee Family Medicine Residency is my dream program and appealed to me because of its broad training, supportive and friendly culture, and ideal location in the shadow of the Rockies. My medical interests include global health, obstetrics, and ultrasound.

Outside of medicine, I enjoy spending time outdoors with my wife Noelia and daughter Eva.

Medical School: Western Michigan University Homer Stryker MD School of Medicine
Undergraduate: Brigham Young University
Hometown: Eagle Mountain, Utah

The formerly small town of Eagle Mountain is the place I called home for the majority of my life. My brothers and I spent most of our time in the outdoor paradise we called our backyard snowboarding, mountain/dirt biking, hiking, camping, and playing sports. After high school, I spent two years as a missionary for my Church in the greater Detroit area. During that time, I often received requests to minister at local hospitals. Through these experiences and my interactions with patients, families, and medical personnel, I developed a passion for patient care, especially of underserved populations. After those two years, I attended Brigham Young University where I played for the men’s soccer team, married my wife Ashton, and earned a degree in neuroscience. We then ventured to beautiful Kalamazoo, Michigan for medical school. I enjoyed each clinical experience, but particularly enjoyed family medicine for its emphasis on community health, prevention, long-term relationships, and wide scope of practice. My personal medical interests include wilderness medicine, obesity medicine, rural medicine, sports medicine, and point of care ultrasound. As my wife and I considered residency programs, we were impressed by McKay-Dee because of the exceptional exposure to procedural training, warm and welcoming faculty and staff, a great community reputation, and a long history of training outstanding family medicine physicians who practice in a variety of settings. As we have transitioned back to Utah, our expectations of kindness have been exceeded by fellow residents. To say the least, we are grateful and excited to call Ogden home for the next few years!

If you can’t find me at the hospital, I will most likely be on an adventure in the great outdoors with my wife and three kids. We also enjoy new foods and restaurants, game nights, and movies. Gardening is a new hobby we are looking forward to trying.

Medical School: Kansas City University of Medicine & Biosciences College of Osteopathic Medicine
Undergraduate: Northeastern State University
Hometown: Rose Hill, Kansas

My interest in family medicine started at the beginning of third year when I saw how a family doc can be useful in so many different areas of the hospital. Before this, I never realized they could do outpatient, inpatient, OB and procedures all in the same day. At this point in my education, I knew that my clinical interests were broad, so I needed to choose a flexible specialty with a lot of variety. On a global health trip to Kenya later that year, I worked with a few family docs in a rural clinic to provide care to the patients in the surrounding villages. After this mission trip, I knew that I wanted to be prepared to treat patients in any clinical setting and that family medicine was a great avenue to help me reach my goals. Thus, my search began for programs with broad-spectrum training in a location where I would be happy in my personal life and that is how I found McKay-Dee. After interviewing there, I knew it was a good fit for me due to the great training with lots of procedures, welcoming environment of all the faculty and residents, and the beautiful location.

Outside of medicine, I like to cook and am currently learning Spanish. I love doing anything outdoors, including hiking with my dog Remi, mountain biking, fishing, snowboarding, and snowshoeing. Most of my experience in the mountains is outside of Denver so I am excited to explore a new area and avoid that I-70 traffic up to the mountains.

Medical School: Rocky Vista University College of Osteopathic Medicine-Southern Utah
Undergraduate: Utah State University
Hometown: Kaysville, Utah

When I began researching family medicine residencies, I was excited to find such an excellent program so close to home. Growing up in Kaysville, Utah, I occasionally visited McKay-Dee Hospital to see family and friends being treated there and was impressed with the facilities and caring atmosphere. During medical school, I became more familiar with the hospital and the Family Medicine Residency Program. I was very impressed with the residents, physicians, and faculty and could not feel any luckier to have matched at McKay-Dee.

One thing I love about family medicine is its broad scope. McKay-Dee has the ability and resources to educate residents in every area of such a vast field. Some of my medical areas of interest including sports medicine and behavioral health. Outside of medicine, I enjoy spending time with my wife, Abby and a variety of hobbies. Some of which include basketball, running, guitar, painting, and reading.