Here's
what our alumni say:
"I am so
thankful for the training I've received during my time at
Memorial. I feel more than adequately trained to practice
the full spectrum of family medicine. I learned so much
from our faculty, fellow residents, and our patients. As
an added bonus, I never expected residency to be so much
fun. I will really miss this place!"
Amy
Hogue, M.D., - Class of 2009
Muskegon
Family Care - Muskegon, MI
"The program
here has certainly prepared me for practicing family medicine.
Not only have I learned a great deal about medicine, I have
done over 60 colonoscopies, and likely will have 70 before
I graduate, allowing to bring this service to a previously
underserved and underscreened area."
Matt
Gullone M.D., - Class of 2009
Midwest
Health Clinic - Galena, IL
"If I had
to redo residency, I would still pick family medicine and
I would without a doubt choose to do it at Memorial Family
Medicine Residency at South Bend. Dr. Riley has built up
such a strong and reliable program and always makes sure
we are well taken care of. The faculty and staff at Memorial
are amazing; they truly enjoy their jobs and besides doing
an excellent job at teaching, they are great mentors and
friends. During my first few months of residency I never
thought I'd have enough time to learn everything I needed
to practice on my own; however, I now feel well prepared
to be an independent family physician. It's amazing to look
back and see the amount of growth and wealth of knowledge
I've gained. Another great aspect of the program is the
great relationship we have with community physicians and
specialists. They are also interested in teaching and often
staff our medicine and pediatric services and when we need
consults or rotate with the specialists, we are treated
as a colleague and our opinions are respected.
Beth
Gullone M.D., - Class of 2009
Midwest
Health Clinic - Galena, IL
"I feel very
fortunate to have graduated from Memorial Family Practice
Residency. The faculty are devoted to providing the highest
quality of education. And you could not ask for better residents
to be your co-residents. Everyone works hard, but has a
lot of fun as well. The community of South Bend is an ideal
size & the hospital community values the role of a family
physician. I feel so prepared to begin practice as a rulal
family physician, including obstetrics"
Jennifer Mollencupp,
M.D., - Class of 2008
Group
Practice - Rochester, IN
"I consider it
a privilege to have trained at Memorial! I learned so much
from my patients and colleagues. As a result I am a well-rounded
physician, confident in my ability to practice full-spectrum
family medicine in rural Iowa, including doing a variety
of procedures, practicing obstetrics, and providing inpatient
and ambulatory care. I wouldn't have done it any other way!
For me, Memorial was an awesome environment in which I flourished.
From day one, we were given the right balance of autonomy
and support to grow into capable physicians. The curriculum
provided the flexibility to cater my education to my interests.
For example, Memorial provided me an awesome opportunity
to learn more international medicine while rotating with
Dr. Suttor in Guatemala. Memorial is filled with bright,
ambitious, hard-working and dedicated residents. Everyone
is always looking out for one another. The Memorial faculty
members are a diverse and talented group. They were always
supportive and encouraging with me, excellent mentors, and
friends. I will always look back on my three years in South
Bend with many fond memories of my Memorial family!"
Laura Moeller,
M.D., - Class of 2007
Boone
Family Practice - Boone, Iowa
"I consider
myself very lucky to have trained at Memorial. The education
is second to none. My mentors are compassionate and extraordinarily
talented. Residents are a delight and share their talents
everyday in a supportive environment. The South Bend medical
community trusts and relies upon the residents creating
such a Family Medicine friendly environment that I just
couldn't leave town after graduating. I completed the 4-year
Health Services Management curriculum at Memorial, earning
a Masters in Public Administration. Previously naïve
in most matters involving business and legal aspects of
medicine, I gained the requisite knowledge to flourish in
today's healthcare system. This paid off before my first
day of "real" work as I was able to formulate
and present a strategic plan to the administration of my
health system. I was able to understand administrative concerns
and support my plan leading to a significant budgetary increase
for my practice. I firmly believe that this would have been
impossible without the training I received at Memorial."
Brandon Zabukovic M.D., M.P.A. - Class of 2006
Community Health Center - South Bend, IN
"I am privileged
to have received my training at Memorial. Entering residency,
it was my hope that, upon graduation, I would feel comfortable
working in a variety of settings. That hope was fulfilled;
I am well trained in the full spectrum of family medicine,
including adult and pediatric out-patient and in-patient
care, as well as obstetrics. I feel blessed to have worked
with the residents and faculty- a bright, hard-working,
enthusiastic group who create a wonderful environment for
learning. I will forever value the knowledge and friendships
cultivated during my years at Memorial."
Sarah
Davis, MD – Class of 2006
Group Practice - New Bronswick, ME
"It is difficult
for me to summarize all of the great things about a residency
program like Memorial. For me, it comes down to two things.
First, faculty (full-time and volunteer) at this program
consistently inspired me to strive for greatness and were
instrumental in shaping me into who I am today both personally
and professionally. Second, exposure to a huge variety of
pathology of all kinds gave me the base on which to build
my own practice experience and the confidence to handle
whatever comes my way."
Mettisa
McLeod, MD – Class of 2005
Group Practice - Collinsville, IL
“I cannot
say enough good things about my experience at Memorial hospital.
Without a doubt I received the best training in Family medicine
one could hope for. It was evident from day one that the
residency and each resident's involvement in it was valued
and respected by the community, hospital and all its constituents.
This helped to create the most complete training I could
ever hope for.
The faculty at
Memorial are fantastic teachers, outstanding physicians,
and fun to work with. I am truly confident that my training
was second to none and this has prepared me well for the
'real world' of medicine-largely in part because I was already
experiencing it first hand everyday as a resident. The training
at Memorial allows you to explore and tailor your own interests
for your future practice. I consider it an honor to have
trained/worked with all of the outstanding individuals at
Memorial. Most of all, however, I am thankful to have met
some of the most wonderful friends in my fellow residents,
friendships that my wife Desiree and I are forever grateful
for.”
Joel
Mulder D.O. - Class of 2004
Group practice - West Lafayette, IN
“I continue
to learn everyday in the practice of medicine and Memorial
Family Residency gave me a solid knowledge base on which
to build. I believe that anyone given the opportunity to
complete residency at Memorial will feel confident in their
abilities at graduation and beyond.“
Nicole
Norris M.D. – Class of 2004
Private practice - Peru, Illinois
"I knew before
I began residency that I wanted to practice the full spectrum
of family medicine in a rural community, and I wanted to
find a program that strives for excellence. My training
at Memorial surpassed everything I could have wanted, and
my practice now includes operative obstetrics, colonoscopy,
office procedures, and inpatient care.
More importantly,
coming to Memorial allowed me to work with some of the most
talented family medicine residents in the country, make
wonderful friends, and learn from the finest group of faculty
physicians anywhere.
The excellent
scope of training is truly the strength of the program.
While the core of the program focuses on traditional outpatient
family practice, some of my colleagues became hospitalists,
emergency physicians, and sports medicine physicians. You
really can go anywhere from here.
Coming to Memorial
has been the best decision of my professional career. If
your goal is to be a truly outstanding family physician,
then you belong at Memorial."
Ben
Adkins, M.D. - Class of 2003, M.P.A earn 2004, Group Practice
- Pullman, WA
“This month
I finish my first year of practice in rural North Carolina.
I've felt confident and competent during this transition.
I am doing everything with family practice that I want to
and feel I'm adding an important component to this community.
I'm very thankful for my 3 years in South Bend and can't
imagine a program that would have prepared me better for
private practice. “
Chad
Smoker, M.D. –Class of 2003
Group Practice - Burnsville, North Carolina
“I knew
that I would receive excellent medical training at Memorial
Family Practice, but what I got was so much more! As the
first graduate of the 4-year Masters in Public Administration
curriculum, I know that I could not have started my own
solo practice without the practice management training I
obtained during residency. Every new physician should know
as much as he or she can about practice management and opportunities
to gain advanced training in this area abound at Memorial
Family Practice. All of the residents get the basics, from
coding and billing to credentialing and financial management,
and more as they want! Graduates can rest assured that they
will be far out in front of their peers in both medical
and practice management abilities from the training that
they receive at Memorial.”
Jason
Marker, M.D.-Class of 2001, M.P.A. earned 2002, Solo
practice - Wyatt, IN
"Being a
resident at Memorial was like joining a big family. My expanded
"family" was always there to turn to and provide
support when I needed it most. There is an incredible sense
of teamwork to foster training. Like family, the faculty,
community physicians, fellow residents, hospital staff,
nurses and support staff at the residency do their best
to prepare you in three years to move on. However, despite
leaving "home" I'll always consider Memorial a
very special place."
Karen
Ng, M.D.-Class of 2001
Group practice – Providence, Rhode Island
"We came
because we were convinced that Memorial offered the best
place to train to be a family doctor. From that first night,
we felt welcome. Everyone went out of their way to make
us feel at home. Since that night, I have never felt like
I was in this alone. There was always someone there to help
or to listen. It seemed as though we were joining a new
"family." At times it seemed as though we were
more like brothers and sisters, than colleagues. The friendships
grew closer than those of college and medical school. We
became a different type of family, and learned a new meaning
to the words "family practice." We helped each
other learn to be better friends, spouses, parents, and
doctors. It was an incredible experience. During our residency,
we learned more about medicine than we ever thought we could.
We learned from our faculty, our preceptors, and each other.
But most of all, we learned from our patients. I never expected
it to be so fun. I had the time of my life."
Dale
Patterson, M.D.-Class of 2000, Faculty
Memorial
Family Medicine Residency Program - South Bend, IN
"The large
number of full time faculty was a great asset to my education.
In addition, the preparation in all aspects of family practice
was excellent. I came into practice with the confidence
of my skills in family medicine."
David
Darr, M.D.-Class of 1999
Group practice – Warsaw, IN
"From a wife's
viewpoint, the staff for Memorial's Family Practice Residency
really went above and beyond to make everyone feel welcome.
Whether you were single, married, or married with children,
everyone was part of a bigger family during residency."
Kristin Kreckman-Resident
Spouse, Class of 1998, Group practice – Mendota,
Illinois
"Memorial's
residency program was an exciting, challenging, and fun
program that truly trained me to be a complete family physician.
The program prepared me to perform multiple procedures including
ultrasound, vasectomy, colonoscopy, EGD, D&C, and the
ability to practice competently the full spectrum of obstetrics.
Anyone wanting to do obstetrics and/or practice rural family
medicine needs to look at Memorial Hospital's Family Practice
Residency. I am thankful for the training that I received.
I have the ability to practice anything within the realm
of our specialty, which is a great plus in my rural practice."
Scott
Anzalone, M.D.-Class of 1998
Solo practice – Logan, Ohio
"My training
at Memorial made the transition from student physician to
attending physician seamless. The clinical rotations were
excellent, with mentors that are great teachers and role
models. I am still actively performing vasectomies, cardiac
stress testing, colposcopy, and flexible sigmoidoscopy,
all of which I learned during my residency at Memorial.
If you are looking for a residency which will prepare you
for family medicine, Memorial is the place."
Jim
Cunnar, M.D.-Class of 1997
Group practice – Naperville, Illinois
"The things
that impressed me the most about Memorial's Family Practice
Residency Program was the willingness of the faculty to
take into account my special interests and needs and help
me tailor a program to meet those needs while still providing
an excellent core of knowledge. The sense of teamwork and
comradery among the residents was also outstanding
and led to friendships that I know will be lifelong despite
distant geographic destinations. Memorial will prepare you
to be a great family doctor!"
Kim
Harmon, M.D.-Class of 1996
Group practice – University of Washington
– Seattle, Washington
"By the end
of those busy three years of residency, I was more than
ready to move on because I was properly prepared to continue
practice as a Board Certified FP. I have been in private
group practice for 5 years and continue to recall those
"once in a lifetime" teaching moments that occurred
while at Memorial. Most valuable were the frequent opportunities
for one-on-one teaching by both FP and specialist attendings.
The patient population was quite varied and afforded me
the proper range of experience in the clinical setting."
Vicki Brown, M.D.-Class of 1995
Group practice – Norwalk, Ohio
