Salinas, Calif. – July 6, 2017 – Natividad Medical Center (NMC) graduated eight physicians from its Family Medicine Residency Program and welcomes its newest class to the only residency program on California’s Central Coast. NMC filled all available new residency positions with students from California, Washington, New York, the Midwest, Guadalajara and the Caribbean.

All new residents began rotations on Friday, June 30 while the graduation ceremony for the eight physicians took place on the same day at Perry House in Monterey.

“NMC is home to the only residency program between San Jose and Santa Maria, and just last year expanded its capacity from 24 to 30 resident positions,” said Dr. Steve Harrison, program director of NMC’s Family Medicine Residency Program. “We look forward to training the next robust class of residents while remaining a priceless asset for our community.”

NMC’s Family Medicine Residency Program is affiliated with the University of California, San Francisco. Since its founding in 1975, the program has graduated 277 residents who have gone on to serve locally, nationally and internationally. Currently, there are 15 graduates working full time at NMC, and roughly 22 percent of all graduates stay in Monterey County.

“This year more than 800 medical students applied for our ten positions, more than double a few years ago,” said Dr. Walter Mills, chief of staff at NMC. “With the many positive changes at Natividad, from the expansion of clinical care with the Trauma Center to the recognition for excellence in ICU, OB and other areas, our program has become a premier place to train residents to be full spectrum family physicians prepared to provide high quality, safe patient care in whatever community they ultimately serve.”

Most residents come to NMC with an interest in obstetrics and pediatrics, and a dedication to the underserved and disadvantaged. A number of residents have completed graduate degrees in public health, education, or business, and several are recipients of National Health Service Corps Scholarships. Program graduates have gone on to become leaders in community and academic medicine locally, across the country and abroad.

New family medicine residents include:

• Joshua Deutsch, MD, U. of Wisconsin School of Medicine & Public Health
• M. Alejandra Espinoza, DO, AT Still University Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine
• Forrest Hamlin, DO, Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine
• Anne Irvine, MD, Universidad Autonoma de Guadalajara
• Jordan Katz, MD, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the U. at Buffalo
• Natalie LaCorte, MD, Ross University School of Medicine
• Benjamin Ramsden-Stein, DO, Touro University California College of Osteopathic Medicine
• Tracey Taylor, DO, Pacific Northwest U. of Health Science College of Osteopathic Medicine
• Shane Walker, MD, University of California San Francisco School of Medicine
• Nicole Woodel, MD, American University of the Caribbean

Outgoing graduates include:
 

• Angela Brennan, DO: Dr. Brennan is moving to the East Bay where she is planning to work in an outpatient setting.
• Kristin Burstedt, DO: Dr. Burstedt is working at Natividad and participating in the HEAL initiative fellowship (NMC has announced that it has become a partner with the University of California San Francisco’s HEAL Initiative – Health, Equity, Action, and Leadership – which helps to create and sustain a pipeline of health professionals to care for the poorest communities domestically and abroad).
• Natalie Gallardo, DO: Dr. Gallardo is going to work at Kaiser Santa Cruz.
• Navneet Kaur, MD: Dr. Kaur is going to work at Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital.
• Sebastian Marchevsky, MD: Dr. Marchevsky is going to work at Clinica de Salud del Valle de Salinas in Salinas and Watsonville.
• Mary Pennington, DO: Dr. Pennington is going to New York to do a geriatric fellowship.
• Judi Wong, DO: Dr. Wong is going to work at the Clinics of the Chinese Hospital of San Francisco.
• Poorna Thiru, MD

About Natividad Medical Center (NMC)
Owned and operated by Monterey County, NMC is a 172-bed, acute-care hospital providing health care services to county residents for more than 132 years. Based in Salinas, California, NMC offers inpatient, outpatient, emergency, diagnostic and specialty medical care. NMC provides more than 38,000 patient days of care each year and has more than 52,000 emergency department visits per year. NMC is a Level II Trauma Center providing the immediate availability of specialized personnel, equipment and services to treat the most severe and critical injuries. NMC’s Trauma Center is a vital community service locally that saves lives and eliminates the need to fly critically injured patients to a distant trauma center. NMC is ranked No. 1 in newborn deliveries in Monterey County and is the only teaching hospital on the Central Coast through its affiliation with the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). With a medical staff of more than 350 physicians, NMC’s mission is to continually monitor and improve the health of the people, including the vulnerable, in Monterey County through coordinated, affordable high-quality health care. For more information, please call 831-755-4111 or visit www.natividad.com.