Meet the Class of 2023!
Emily Mitchell took a meandering life path that eventually led her to medicine, due to an irrepressible awe of the human body, love for human connection, and appreciation for the exposure to life's lightest and darkest moments that medicine offers. She is interested in research regarding how to repair the warranted distrust that many individuals harbor towards the American healthcare system.
Marguerite (Maggie) Susich took a pathway to medicine through a prior career in nursing and global health. Her prior work has fostered a desire to offer full spectrum care to anyone in need as she pursues future training to be a family practice physician with interests in reproductive health justice, transgender medicine and health policy.
Joseph (Joe) Nugent received his Bachelor's degree in Neuroscience and Psychology. He subsequently trained to become a Paramedic, Firefighter and Rescue Technician in Baltimore County, Maryland - and served as a field training coach and Education and Training Lieutenant. Joe also received his Master's degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Johns Hopkins. At OHSU, he continues to exercise his passion for teaching, serving as a tutor for the school of medicine and Wy'east Post-Baccalaureate Pathway, and co-founding Physical Diagnosis PDX - an open-access library of abnormal physical exam findings to advanced medical education worldwide. He intends to pursue a career in Neurosurgery.
Gina Richardson attended UCLA for undergrad, where she studied political science and public health. Prior to medical school she worked for the CDC, completing the Public Health Associate Program with a tuberculosis clinic in Arizona. She is most interested in pediatrics and has research interests in medical education, infectious disease and school readiness.
Sarina Chaiken has a passion for reproductive health and justice. To increase medical student family planning education at OHSU, she created a program to allow MS1 and MS2 students to shadow abortion patients. Sarina helps lead the OHSU maternal-fetal-medicine student research group with Dr. Aaron Caughey and has published manuscripts on the cost-effectiveness of the influenza vaccine in pregnancy and the public’s trust in anti-choice websites. Sarina’s academic interests include pregnancy loss, family planning, preventive care and cost-effectiveness analysis.
Christina Miller chose to become a physician, ultimately, to help people be happier. She believes that when patients feel more empowered to manage their health conditions (including those chronic ones that aren't ever going to go away), they live better lives overall. Because public health offers tools to identify specific areas of need across different populations, it was a natural addition to Christina's medical training. A primary care provider at heart, and a future geriatrician, Christina's professional interests include public health policy, community health, and epidemiology. She's especially passionate about de-prescribing and advance care planning.
Jen Davison is originally from rural eastern Washington. She is the first woman in her family to attend a university and will be the first person in her family to earn a doctorate degree. She believes that humanism is vital in medical education and is the founder of Students Offering Support (SOS), the only medical student support group in the Pacific Northwest for those who have lost loved ones. Jen volunteers as a mentor for pre-med students from diverse and underrepresented backgrounds, like hers, in the Pay It Forward program. Her main research interests include bias in medical education and intimate partner violence. She recently won the national American College of Physicians' abstract competition for her research on non-modifiable risk factors and Step 1 examination scores. She has held leadership positions in Structural Competency and the American Medical Women's Association, and has served as a dual degree representative in multiple School of Medicine projects including the Liaison Committee on Medical Education site accreditation process. Her long term goal is to be an internal medicine physician and an academic medical professor.