School of Medicine

A warm welcome! Hello to OHSU’s new residents and fellows

Dr. Ryan Dunkley and his wife
Dr. Ryan Dunkley and his wife

In July, 193 new resident and 85 new fellow physicians joined OHSU.

“Physicians who bring a broad range of backgrounds and experiences are essential to meeting the health care needs of Oregonians and the nation,” said Christopher Swide, M.D., associate dean for graduate medical education, OHSU School of Medicine. “In these challenging times of health care disparities, structural racism and a historic pandemic, there has never been a more important time to train high-caliber, culturally responsive physicians to meet the needs of the state, region and our nation. As the largest provider of graduate medical education in our state, we are proud to welcome our newest group of residents and fellows to OHSU.”

Within the 2020 cohort, 41 trainees are graduates of OHSU’s M.D. program, and 60 come from a rural background.

One of those is Ryan Dunkley, M.D., first-year resident at the Cascades East Family Medicine program in Klamath Falls. Born and raised in rural Minnesota, Dr. Dunkley found a perfect medical school match at the Duluth campus of University of Minnesota where the focus is on serving rural and Native American populations; Dr. Dunkley is a member of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe.

Now living in Oregon, Dr. Dunkley appreciates the full-spectrum, rural focus training of the Cascades East program and access to the nearby mountains.

“I love the people at Cascades East, and it’s been really exciting to start seeing patients again after a long time off due to COVID,” he said. “Always wearing masks seems to make it a bit harder to familiarize yourself with people; however, it’s inspiring to see all the amazing work that different members of the residency family are doing to help the Klamath Falls community get through the pandemic. That has been one of the bright spots that the virus has placed a spotlight on.”

Another bright spot is the safe and healthy birth of his and his wife’s first child two weeks ago, Cecilia. When he’s done with residency, Dr. Dunkley says he plans to practice full-spectrum family medicine care in a rural community, hopefully one with a significant Native American population.

Among the 278 residents and fellows in the 2020 cohort:

  • 10%, identify with underrepresented groups* (compared to 14% in 2019)
  • 22%, come from a rural background (compared to 20% in 2019)
  • 40%, faced disadvantaged or adversity (compared to 35% in 2019)

Meet more new residents from a sampling of residency programs below:

Welcome residents and fellows! We’re glad you’re here. (Did we inadvertently miss a residency program? Contact us and we’ll happily link to photos or website.)

* All URM statistics in this article are self-reported data from applicants and trainees. Groups underrepresented in medicine are American Indian/Alaskan Native, Black/African American, Hawaiian/Pacific Islander and Hispanic/Latino.