Introducing the Class of 2010

Join us in welcoming the new incoming residents to the Madison and Baraboo Residency Programs.

Suhani Bora, MD - A graduate of the University of Michigan for both her medical school and undergraduate, Suhani is now giving up her Alma Mater's colors of maize and blue. As an undergraduate, Suhani spent a semester abroad in Zimbabwe where she helped raise awareness of HIV/AIDS through theatrical performances of which she produced two. She was involved with Theatre for Social Change, a cause aiming to educate the public using theatrical performances. Suhani was, and continues to be, very active in this arena, having written, directed, and produced works for the cause. Over the years she has lent much of her time to raising awareness of domestic violence. Rewarding to Suhani are the strong patient relationships formed when dealing with patients in crisis. Love of medicine might be genetic as Suhani has a twin sister who is also a Family Medicine resident out east.

Chris Frank, MD, PhD (Baraboo Rural Training Track) - A native of Ann Arbor, MI, Chris entered Johns Hopkins' Integrated MD/PhD Program in 1998. Along with his family, Chris will be leaving the luster of Charm City for the charm of Mad City to begin his residency. Chris' path to Family Medicine became clear while on a rural rotation with a family practitioner in Newfoundland. We would like to thank this doc for sending Chris our way. As a Baraboo RTT resident, it is a good thing Chris mentions cross-country skiing as a hobby. We imagine he may be able to fill some of his days off with practice. In addition to skiing, he likes to canoe and kayak. All the more reason why Wisconsin is the place for him to be!

Mindy Gensler, MD - Born, raised and educated on the east coast, Mindy comes to Madison from Wake Forest University of Winston-Salem, NC, tobacco country and the home of John Tesh. Mindy completed her undergraduate at Williams College in Williamstown, MA before heading to Williamsburg, VA to start her Masters degree in Marine Science at William and Mary. Upon completing her Masters degree, Mindy took on a fellowship offered by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration where she and other marine science graduates were put into legislative and executive positions to learn the impacts of national policy. Some of Mindy's medical interests include women's health, geriatric care and preventative medicine. Mindy is our second twin from the Class of 2010.

Nathan Hayes, DO - Originally from Antigo and a graduate of UW- Stevens Point, Nathan completed his medical education at Des Moines University-Osteopathic Medical Center in May, and will be crossing back over the border to begin his residency in Madison this summer. While in medical school, he served as a teaching assistant in two anatomy courses taught to first year students. Nathan has a strong love for the outdoors and enjoys running, fishing, golf and weightlifting. Among Nathan's medical interests are sports medicine, preventative medicine and pediatrics. Nathan's choice of Family Medicine is due, in part, to the opportunity he will have to incorporate osteopathic manipulative medicine into his practice.

Jill Holz, DO - Jill is returning to Wisconsin following a hiatus in Iowa for medical school at Des Moines University Osteopathic Medical Center. She began her college career as a Warhawk at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and will now come full circle as she and her husband Greg become Badgers. The transition should not be difficult as she enjoys boating, hunting and snow skiing. Jill is a self-proclaimed "great cook" and has volunteered (unknowingly) to cater some of the residency events. Thanks Jill. In medical school, she served as a teaching assistant for an Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine Lab and as an active member of the Preventative Medicine Club. In addition, Jill found time to volunteer at a local elementary school, serving as a tutor for children with special learning needs.

Nadim Ilbawi, MD - One of two representatives in the class of 2010 from Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine, Nadim brings to Madison his love of medicine and soccer. Before attending medical school, he was one of 1,800 students at Northfield, Minnesota's Carleton College, south of the Twin Cities. During his years as an undergraduate, Nadim managed to balance a full course load with four years of competitive soccer, even serving as team captain. His hard work in the classroom and on the grass earned him recognition on the MIAC All Academic Team. In addition, Nadim is a published author, having an essay printed in the New York Times as part of a contest to win a vacation with op-ed writer, Nick Kristof. While in medical school, Nadim had the opportunity to serve the rural population in Montana. He is interested in sports medicine as well as rural medicine.

Laura Lemont, MD - Laura has made the big journey west from far-off Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Born and raised in Whitefish Bay, Laura attended Northwestern University in Evanston, IL before joining AmeriCorps for one year prior to beginning medical school at the Medical College of Wisconsin. Her experience with AmeriCorps/Jesuit Volunteer Corps took Laura to San Francisco where she worked with women and children with HIV. While in medical school, Laura was a very active member of the community while volunteering at the Saturday Free Clinic, served as Treasurer of the LGBT in Medicine group, and President of MCW Cares. Her medical interests include sports medicine and childhood obesity.

Laura Mendyk, MD - A native of Illinois and a graduate of Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, Laura comes to medicine from a non-science background. She received a Bachelor's Degree from the Pennsylvania State University in communications, a key skill, she believes, that separates a truly good physician from a merely qualified one. Laura will be available to answer any questions you might have regarding what exactly is a Saluki. Some, but not all, of Laura's volunteer work includes Springfield's Project Fit City, a city program aimed at curbing obesity through encouraging physical activity. She also mentored elementary school-aged children with special needs. Laura served as Chair to SIU's FMIG and last but not least, ran the Chicago marathon in 2004. We welcome Laura and her husband, a UW grad student, to Madison.

Jo Nord, MD - Jo's worldwide travels began with the inherent values of growing up in a Minnesota farming community, which propelled her down the path of service to others. After earning an undergraduate at Gustavus Adolphus College in Minnesota, Jo spent four years as a Peace Corps volunteer in Thailand. She then worked as a volunteer and resource coordinator for Catholic Charities/Migration and Refugee Service where she redesigned, improved, and expanded the program to assist in the resettlement of refugees from Vietnam, Ethiopia, Somalia, Bosnia, and Haiti. From there, she became Acting Director of the Refugee Resettlement Agency, while still managing the Volunteer and Resource Program. Her work with refugees continued as she became country director of the American Refugee Committee's emergency relief program in Goma, Zaire. Between her third and fourth years of medical school at Oregon Health Sciences University, she returned to Thailand to do clinical research in HIV/AIDS.

Kyla Pepper, MD - Originally from rural Idaho, Kyla completed her medical education in Israel. In answer to the frequently asked "why Israel," Kyla sites the program's dedication to promoting health care for the underserved and underresourced. During the spring of her final year in medical school, she completed her two-month elective rotation in Sevagram, India. Her decision to pursue Family Medicine stems from her background. Her birthplace in Wyoming is considered medically underserved, as is the Idaho community where she grew up. Her undergraduate years at Marietta College in the Ohio River Valley brought her into contact with the local population who struggle with lack of time and resources to improve their health. After residency, Kyla plans to work in a rural area as a primary care physician and eventually for an organization like Doctors Without Borders.

Surya Pierce, MD - The sole UW-Madison representative in the Class of 2010, Surya will be an invaluable source of Madison-related information. Surya grew up in St. Paul and attended Macalester College before beginning his travels from Vermont to Minneapolis to New York and finally to Madison for medical school at the University of Wisconsin. Surya's interest in the integrative approach to medicine led him to found UW's Integrative Medicine Interest Group. He is a member of the Gold Humanism Honor Society, was awarded an Advanced Fellowship/Graduate Assistantship scholarship for his medical education, and undertook a rotation at the Tibetan Delek Hospital in India where he shadowed physicians while studying Tibetan language and international health policy. During his winter vacation, Surya provided medical services to victims of hurricanes Katrina and Rita in New Orleans. He currently serves on the board of the Namaste Yoga Institute, is an Ashtanga yoga instructor and has an interest in botany.

Melissa Simon, DO - Melissa comes to us from beautiful Blacksburg, Virginia where she attended Virginia Tech's Virginia College of Osteopathic Medicine (VCOM). Her class, by the way, represents the inaugural class of Osteopathic doctors from Virginia Tech. Originally from Iowa, she attended Wartburg College in Waverly before heading east for medical school. Some of Melissa's professional interests include women's health, sports medicine and rural medicine. Her rural medicine interest led her to cofound VCOM's Chapter of the Virginia Rural Health Association. Melissa fondly recalls her initial introduction to the world of medicine, one she credits to shadowing her mother in a medical laboratory as a young child. In medical school, Melissa served as secretary to her school's mental health club and was an active member of the sports medicine club.

Rienera Sivesind, MD (Baraboo Rural Training Track) - Rienera attended the University of Iowa in her hometown of Iowa City as an undergraduate, and opted for the McGill University Faculty of Medicine in Montreal, Canada for medical school. Her desire to pursue Family Medicine solidified after her core Family Medicine rotation, which she completed in the tundra of Northern Quebec. She worked with a handful of family physicians that provide medical care to the local community of Puvirnituq and eight other villages along the coast of the Hudson Bay accessible only by air. During her fourth year of medical school, Rienera spent a month in Kumasi, Ghana on an OB/GYN clerkship elective. Rienera brings to Madison her husband, a doctor of horticulture science, who will undoubtedly enjoy the beautiful rural Baraboo landscape. While in medical school, Rienera founded Mittens for Medicine, a group who knitted mittens for immigrants in the community.

Cayle Tompkins, MD - After four years of hard work in the Motor City, Cayle has opted for Madison's green parks and clean lakes to begin his residency. A graduate of Wayne State University School of Medicine, Cayle has strong interests in sports medicine, world health and physical fitness. Cayle arrives in Madison along with his wife, Tracy, an insurance agent and artist! For his undergraduate, he attended Valparaiso University where, in his free time, he shadowed an oncologist and volunteered for Habitat for Humanity while serving as his fraternity's philanthropy chair. Cayle's future plans are open as he would love to work in a multitude of settings - be it an urban, academic or rural. During medical school, he had the opportunity to shadow family physicians in these various settings, and it was the diversity of practice and doctor-patient relationships that solidified for Cayle his desire to pursue Family Medicine.

Parker Waller, Jr., MD - A native of Illinois, Parker attended Harvard as an undergraduate. He then joined the US Navy for four years, three of which he spent in Japan. He returned home to Illinois for graduate school at Northwestern University where he majored in Management and Strategy, Finance, Marketing, and Transportation. He worked for Northwest Airlines for a year until he returned to Northwestern University to attend medical school. In between schooling, the Armed Forces, and work, Parker still found time to mountain bike from Telluride, CO to Moab, UT and hike the entire Sierra mountain range, which is over 700 miles. He also completed five marathons, traveled throughout the Pacific Rim, Alaska, and Canada, and became a private pilot. In addition, he enjoys skiing, rowing, kayaking, sailing, art, and music - six more reasons Madison is the place for Parker.