Baraboo RTT Residents

Third year

1. Wesley Harden MD

   
   Medical school: University of Texas Medical School in San Antonio
   Undergraduate: Stanford University

   Originally from El Paso, Texas, Wesley Harden earned his undergraduate degree from Stanford University and his medical degree from the University of Texas Medical School in San Antonio. He completed his first year with the UW Internal Medicine Residency, but ultimately decided to transfer to Family Medicine to more fully develop his skills in community health and preventive medicine. Wesley has a longstanding commitment to the underserved. Before entering medical school, he was an active volunteer at the Community Health Clinic in El Paso, where he shadowed physicians and served as a Spanish language interpreter. As a medical student, he offered screening and counseling sessions at health fairs with Frontera De Salud, and he taught workshops about health and health care careers to economically disadvantaged youth in San Antonio. Wesley has an especially strong interest in serving communities along the U.S.-Mexico border. He completed his third year clinical clerkships in Harligen, TX, where he gained hands-on experience working in border communities with large underserved populations. Wesley joins the Madison Program as part of the Baraboo Rural Training Track. Outside of medicine, his interests include running, swimming, fishing, cooking, movies, and music.

2. Karen Swallen MD

   
   Medical school: University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health
   Undergraduate: Yale University

   Karen Swallen grew up in St. Paul, Minnesota. After graduating from Yale University with a B.A. in Political Science, she moved to California to conduct smoking cessation research at the Stanford Center for Research in Disease Prevention. She then went on to earn an MPH in Epidemiology/Biostatistics and a Ph.D. in Demography from the University of California at Berkeley before returning to the Midwest to pursue an academic career. For more than six years she taught sociology at UW-Madison, including courses in demography, aging, and medical sociology. Ultimately, however, Karen realized that her primary goal was to make a difference at the individual level for health, so she entered medical school at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health. As a medical student, she was a leader of the Dr. Mom interest group, a student organization that provides support and activities for medical students who are also parents, and also volunteered at MEDiC and in the Madison public schools. Her primary interests are in public health, preventative medicine, and the health of children and mothers. Outside of medicine, her primary interests revolve around her three children and outdoor family activities such as running, camping and biking. When she does get some time to herself, she enjoys reading and puzzles (Sudoku and Kakuro are current favorites).

Second year

1. David Danielson MD

   
   Medical school: University of Minnesota Medical School
   Undergraduate: Hamline University - St. Paul, MN

   David Danielson grew up in a small farming community in southern Minnesota, where he saw firsthand the impact that good family physicians can have in rural areas. He earned a B.A. in Biology from Hamline University in St. Paul and then went on to complete his medical degree at the University of Minnesota Medical School. He has a strong interest in rural medicine and joins the Madison Program as part of the Baraboo Rural Training Track. During medical school, as a Rural Physician’s Associate Program scholar, David completed a nine-month clinical experience in Redwood Falls, MN. He also returned to Redwood Falls during his senior year to serve as Project Organizer for a community health project that assessed the health needs of the community and worked to create solutions. Throughout his education, David has served in several leadership positions, including Board Member for the Northeast Minnesota Area Health Education Center and Alternate Student Director for the Minnesota Academy of Family Physicians. In his free time, David enjoys pottery, biking, bicycle mechanics, camping, backpacking, hiking, fishing, and golf.

2. Micah Puyear DO

   
   Medical school: Des Moines University - School of Osteopathic Medicine
   Undergraduate: Central College - Pella, IA

   Micah Puyear grew up in Pella, Iowa, a small town of 10,000 people. He completed bachelor’s degrees in Exercise Science and Chemistry before attending medical school at Des Moines University Osteopathic Medical Center. His small-town roots inspired a strong interest in rural/underserved medicine, and he joins the residency program as part of the Baraboo Rural Training Track. As a medical student, Micah completed rotations in two family medicine outreach clinics in Bussy, IA (population 500) and Sully, IA (population 1,000). These communities had significant numbers of low-income households, which allowed him to witness firsthand the need for good primary care physicians in rural, underserved areas. In addition to rural medicine, Micah also has a passion for teaching. During medical school, he served as a guest lecturer with the Central College Athletic Department, and he also worked as an Anatomy Teaching Assistant at Des Moines University. Micah enjoys staying physically active through cycling, running, lifting weights, and tennis, and he has completed several half-Ironman triathlons. He also enjoys trying new restaurants, going to concerts and plays, and learning new languages.

First year

1. Elizabeth L Matera MD

   
   Medical school: University of Louisville School of Medicine
   Undergraduate: Harvard College

   Elizabeth Matera took a non-traditional route to medicine, earning a B.A. in Literature at Harvard before entering the teaching profession. Elizabeth taught with Teach for America for two years before becoming a Program Director for the organization in Arkansas and Mississippi. Her time with Teach for America in poor, rural settings provided a deep appreciation for the health and educational challenges faced by these communities. Her desire to serve rural communities led her to pursue her medical degree at the University of Louisville School of Medicine in her home state of Kentucky. During medical school, Elizabeth mentored adolescents in exercise and weight loss and volunteered at the student-run free clinic, where access to specialty care and ancillary services was nonexistent. This experience forced her to find creative solutions to providing comprehensive care, something she hopes to build on in residency and beyond. When she has spare time, Elizabeth enjoys reading, film, gardening, hiking, canoeing, kayaking, pottery and music.

2. Nathan P Vakharia MD

   
   Medical school: University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health
   Undergraduate: University of Wisconsin - Madison

   Nathan Vakharia earned his undergraduate degree in Zoology from UW-Madison and spent time working in research here before completing his medical degree with the UW School of Medicine and Public Health. One of Nathan’s goals in becoming a family physician is to develop meaningful relationships with both patients and their families. During medical school, Nathan completed a longitudinal, community-based service project to improve rural emergency medicine education for family physicians. He served as a co-leader of the Rural Health Interest Group and interned with the Wisconsin Medical Society Foundation where he worked to build relationships with rural healthcare facilities, professional organizations and educational institutions to spread information about the Wisconsin Comprehensive Life Support Program. Nathan is one of two graduates in the first class of the UW’s Wisconsin Academy for Rural Medicine (WARM) program, which is working to increase the number of physicians who practice in rural Wisconsin.