Odland Scholarship Program

Edwin Antonio

Areas of Interest: Academic Medicine, Medical Ethics, Leadership-making

My interest in complex medical care, particularly dermatology, has grown during my rotations as I've enjoyed the blend of procedural work, clinic visits, and inpatient care. Coming from a medically underserved community, I am passionate about practicing in areas where I can serve similar populations. Growing up in a community with limited access to healthcare has given me insight into the challenges and scarcity of specialty care that is often difficult to obtain. I am motivated to bring these much-needed specialty services to underserved areas and help ensure everyone can receive high quality comprehensive care.

Tarun Gandhi

Areas of Interest: Academic Medicine, Children's Diseases, Medical Education, Global Health, Leadership

My passion for medicine extends beyond my work in the patient-setting. Throughout medical school, I have discovered a passion for teaching, service-learning and advocacy which I attempt to root within my direct work with patients and underserved communities. One of my most meaningful experiences has been spearheading the UWSOM pediatric nutrition project which aims to empower youth with essential nutrition education through interactive workshops held in schools. Furthermore, my research interests center around global and community health, with my current research project focusing on using natural history computational modeling to estimate the prevalence of neonatal Herpes Simplex Virus 2 on a global and country-level.

Emina Gulbis

Areas of Interest: OBGYN, Leadership

In the future, I plan to continue working in leadership roles as a physician and hope to continue volunteering in free clinics. My goal is to one day become a medical director and I believe the skills I have gained leading various projects have built a great foundation to pursue this goal. In addition to leadership, I have developed an interest in obstetrics and gynecology. I plan on pursuing a career in OBGYN and plan to be involved in research studies that explore various diseases that are impacting pregnant patient populations. My goal is to continue volunteering in free clinics in Idaho as a physician and to also provide essential care in underserved rural areas.

Mehar Maju

Areas of Interest: Global Health, Academic Medicine, Medical Ethics

I’m interested in providing clinical care at the intersection of global health and dermatology. I’ve been exploring this topic as part of my advocacy work and research in immigrant and refugee health. My personal and professional experiences have deeply informed my beliefs surrounding healthcare delivery. One element that has remained steadfast is my desire to work with those considered medically underserved, particularly our immigrant communities, in a manner that reduces health inequities.

Marlow Schulz

Areas of Interest: Service, leadership, and challenging topics such as medical ethics and palliative care

Service, leadership, and challenging topics such as medical ethics and palliative care are what drew me to a career in medicine. Specifically, my experience at a free clinic in my hometown of Whitefish, Montana starting at a young age ignited a passion for caring for my neighbors. I found incredible pride in participating in the care of underserved patients and was surprised by the profound need in my community. I am lucky to have discovered incredible service opportunities along with cutting-edge research and technology within the field of Ophthalmology. I am excited to pursue a career that centers on preserving vision and ultimately hope to use my skills to care for those who are most vulnerable both locally and globally.

Olga Cherepakhin

Clinical/Research Interests: 
I am very passionate about providing accessible care and serving urban low-income communities. My research interests currently include pediatrics, tumorigenesis, health disparities, and the impact of lifestyle and psychosocial factors on health. I am also very interested in the role of technology in healthcare and the potential for telemedicine to provide accessible care to underserved communities. 

Career Goals/Plans: 
I aspire to have a future as an academic physician where I can pursue both my passion for research and patient care. Within academic settings, I also hope to promote the importance of patient-centered care and respecting personal and cultural identities.

Nianiella Dorvall

Clinical/Research Interests: 
I am most interested in providing healthcare to rural populations. I started medical school in hopes of gaining the skills that would allow me to help any individual that I came across.  

Career Goals/Plans: 
It is my goal to work with underserved populations both locally in the US and overseas. I was born and raised in a medically underserved area in Alaska and understand the importance of providing competent care to these areas. I would also like to become a mentor to individuals from rural areas who choose to pursue medicine to help them navigate the intricacies of medical school.   

Maddie Isler

Clinical/Research Interests: 
I am passionate about planetary health and the effects of climate change on human health, particularly in underserved populations. My research interest thus far has been focused on the interplay between climate change and inflammatory skin diseases, specifically, regarding alterations in the skin microbiome.  

Career Goals/Plans: 
I plan on pursuing a career as a dermatologist. As a physician, I hope to cultivate long-term therapeutic connections with my patients while continuing to learn the ever-changing science and art of medicine. I plan on returning to Wyoming to provide care to rural underserved and Native American communities while continuing to strongly advocate for system-level changes in health care as well as promote and implement sustainability practices.  

Ezie Nguyen

Clinical/Research Interests: 
LGBTQ+ care, global health, HIV, and health systems research with the aim to improve healthcare outcomes for trans and gender-diverse folks

Career Goals/Plans: 
I plan on applying to psychiatry residency this upcoming cycle. I envision my career in an urban environment working alongside underserved communities, with an emphasis on LGBTQ+ mental health and addiction.

Hannah Wolf

Clinical/Research Interests: 
After rotating on my third-year surgery clerkship, I fell in love with all things vascular! My research interests now center around vascular care and improving patient outcomes. I spent the last year investigating the importance of preoperative vein mapping in regards to hemodialysis outcomes and improving patient care.

Career Goals/Plans: 
It is my newfound dream to become a vascular surgeon and to one day be able to provide cutting-edge care to patients who often find themselves otherwise unable to turn to anyone else. After having the opportunities to train at such phenomenal institution, I hope to continue my medical training in residency at an academic center that offers world-class training and values patient care above all else.

William French

Clinical/Research Interests: 
I am most interested in perinatal psychiatry, neuropsychiatry and mitigating disparities between rural and urban healthcare. The focus of my research thus far has been on exploring ways in which telemedicine can be more effectively utilized in rural communities to improve healthcare access.  

Career Plans/Goals: 
I recently matched into the psychiatry residency program at Harvard Medical School/Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Over the course of my career, I will continue advocating for expanded educational opportunities for rural students and plan to remain involved in medical education.  

Amanda Galambas

Clinical/Research Interests: 
My clinical interests include orthopedics, specifically pediatrics and trauma. My research interests include patient safety screening programs and improving efficiency in workflows.

Career Goals/Plans: 
I plan to apply to orthopedic surgery residencies this coming year. I aspire to provide thorough, evidence-based, and compassionate care to my patients. I am hopeful that I will one day be able to offer the type of mentorship to other women interested in surgery, as mentorship has played a huge role in my decision to follow my future career path. I am eager to explore academic medicine and would love to be involved in training the generations of doctors that will come after me.

Ermyas Kahsai

Clinical/Research Interests 
Orthopaedics, Trauma, biomechanics

Career Plans/Goals: 
I plan to apply into a career of surgery, and hopefully work for a hospital that is able to serve a wide variety of community members, including those who are historically underserved. I have been fortunate to have mentors and help guide me to where I am today, so I hope to be able to pay this forward in the future whether it be the new generation of physicians or my future patients.

Sarah Smith

Clinical/Research Interests: 
I am passionate about autoimmune processes and the interplay between dermatology and rheumatology, fostering therapeutic relationships between provider and patient, mental wellbeing, and improving healthcare access for marginalized communities.

Career Plans/Goals: 
I matched into dermatology residency this spring and look forward to this next step in my training.

Michael Yeradi

UW Medical Student

Shanelle Briggs

Clinical/Research Interests:
Dermatology, global health, and mental health

Career Plans/Goals:
Starting residency this fall, my goal is to gain training that will help me provide for underserved populations worldwide through dermatology care, research, and service.

Jimmy Nguyen

Clinical/Research Interests:
Working with underrepresented students and others around me to promote a movement towards equal educational opportunities and to optimize our current healthcare system and improve patient outcomes

Career Plans/Goals:
I plan to pursue internal medicine with an emphasis in medical education

Jake Robertson

Clinical/Research Interests:
Pediatric dermatology, barriers to care that dermatology hospitalists face; treatment modalities for uveal melanoma; Hidradenitis Suppurativa; Sézary Syndrome; primary cutaneous peripheral T-cell lymphoma; DICER1 Syndrome (a cancer-predisposition syndrome that runs in my family); the effects of COVID-19 on dermatology residents.

Career Plans/Goals:
It is my dream to specialize in pediatric dermatology, allowing me to combine my passion for dermatology with my affinity for working with pediatric patients, along with my own experiences as a patient in pediatric dermatology.

Jonathan Trejo

Clinical/Research Interests:
My current research interests surround communications and language surrounding extremity amputations and its effects on patient and physician relationship dynamics and interactions.

Career Plans/Goals:
I am hoping I can be a physician who serves my communities as an Ophthalmologist. I also would love to establish partnerships with other community leaders to provide scholarships to underrepresented students in the STEM fields.

Michael Woodfin

Clinical/Research Interests:
Working with a diverse patient population, and medical resident wellness, but I’m always interested in documenting new and interesting pathologies through case reports, or searching for hidden truths through statistical analysis.  

Career Plans/Goals:
I’ve found that direct patient care is what energizes me the most and I’m excited that soon I will be someone’s doctor. The ability to participate in medical student education or clinical research would be major perks to any position. 

Colin Bartz-Overman

Clinical/Research Interests:
Medical education, health policy, social determinants of health, pulmonology and critical care, primary care 

Career Plans/Goals:
Recently matched into internal medicine residency program at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland. Considering a career in primary care vs. sub-specialization, either way involved in medical education.

Cesar Cardenas Jr.

Clinical/Research Interests:
Orthopaedics, use of orthobiologics and orthopaedic trauma 

Career Plans/Goals:
Matched into Ortho residency at the University of New Mexico. I value the opportunity to mentor and teach others, whether it be medical students, residents, or fellows. I have had incredible mentors during my time in medical school and hope to someday be in a position where I can pay it forward.

May Do

Clinical/Research Interests:
I am interested in pediatric dermatology, uncovering and reducing health disparities.

Career Plans/Goals:
Recently matched into Dermatology Residency at the University of Pennsylvania. After training, I hope to pursue a career in academic medicine with a focus on increasing access to care for our patients through clinical work, community outreach, and research. I would not be where I am today without great mentors along the way. I hope to pay this forward by incorporating mentorship and clinical teaching into my future career, especially for URM students. 

Nicki Jordan

Clinical/Research Interests:
Native American/Alaska Native health disparities and Native youth mentorship

Career Plans/Goals:
My immediate career plans include beginning my training in anesthesiology at Stanford beginning this summer. 

Ashley Williams

Clinical/Research Interests:
Primary care; adolescent health, wellness, and development; family planning; gynecology; behavioral health; narrative medicine; social determinants of health; health policy and advocacy; and mentorship for students underrepresented in medicine.

Career Plans/Goals:
I am excited to complete my Family Medicine residency training at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center in Long Beach, CA! During residency, I hope to continue developing and refining my clinical and research interests. As for my long-term plans, I am still weighing community versus academic medicine, and I am considering an Adolescent Medicine fellowship.