Our Residents
We built the house, they made it their home…
Charles Grant III
• Med School: Wright State University - Boonshoft School of Medicine
• Undergrad: Western Washington University – Chemistry
• Grad School: Associate of Arts, Bachelor of Science
• Hometown: Enumclaw, WA
• If I wasn’t a doctor, I’d be a: Chemistry or Science Teacher
• Favorite hobbies: Computer Building, Video Gaming, Cooking, Playing Bass
• Favorite thing to do in San Diego: Go to the beach and watch the waves with the sunset. Also, exploring all the different/unique restaurants and cuisine.
• The best part of KPEM: The people, the culture, and the family feel. Also, the meaningful one on one teaching and mentorship we get.
Jessica Andrusaitis
• Med School:UC Irvine
• Undergrad: UC Davis - Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior Major
• Grad School: UC Irvine - MS, Biomedical Translational Science
• Hometown: Chico, CA
• If I wasn’t a doctor, I’d be a: Pro beach volleyball player
• Favorite hobbies: Garden, hike, horses, dogs, sports
• Favorite thing to do in San Diego: Hike, be outside, beach
• The best part of KPEM: The attendings are amazing humans and doctors who LOVE learners and to teach.
Chad Correa
• Med School: UC Riverside
• Undergrad: UC Riverside – Biology Major
• Hometown: Riverside, CA
• If I wasn’t a doctor, I’d be a: Farmer with a big ranch and all kinds of animals and crops!
• Favorite hobbies: Exercise, hike, stream fishing, horses, working on my cars, spending time with my wife and family, church, beer!
• Favorite thing to do in San Diego: Breweries, outdoor training, hanging with residency fam, small group, trying new restaurants with my wife
• The best part of KPEM: The best faculty, free food, the family feel of residents, no other learners On many rotations (GREAT for hands on practice and experience one on one with attendings)
Elizabeth Barreras-Rivest
•Med School: USC
•Undergrad: USC. International Relations.
•Grad School: SOAS. MA African Studies.
•Hometown: San Diego!
•If I wasn’t a doctor, I’d be a: Photographer
•Favorite hobbies: Family time, play with my 3 year old, sleep, Netflix, travel when possible
•Favorite thing to do in San Diego: Beach, eat out
•The best part of KPEM: Very supportive faculty and tight knit residents
Andrew Ciennik
• Med School: Michigan State University College of Human Medicine
• Undergrad: Wayne State University - Biological Science Major
• Hometown: Waterford, MI
• If I wasn’t a doctor, I’d be a: Lifelong minor league baseball player
• Favorite hobbies: Golf, tennis, exercise, beach, happy hour
• Favorite thing to do in San Diego: Golf, hike, fun in the sun
• The best part of KPEM: Great group of residents, and the one-on-one faculty instruction is second to none. Also, having multiple clinical sites provides a well-rounded training experience. Lastly, San Diego is an amazing place to live!
Lauren Van Woy
• Med School: Western University of Health Sciences
• Undergrad: UCSB. Bio Major
• Hometown: San Diego!!
• If I wasn’t a doctor, I’d be a: hostel owner somewhere tropical... or a SCUBA instructor
• Favorite hobbies: Anything and everything ocean related. Stand-up paddleboarding, surfing, snorkeling, lounging on the beach, spontaneous floatopias on my 15-foot inflatable paddleboard 'the megalodon', exploring foreign countries, hiking, snowboarding/skiing. Hanging out with my family, friends, crazy husband, and amazing co-residents!
• Favorite thing to do in San Diego: Watching the sun set over the ocean. Snorkeling with leopard sharks in La Jolla. Hiking Potato Chip. Eating the best Mexican food you'll find in the US. Or just crossing the border to Mexico itself for street tacos or to play in their "safe" waterpark.
• The best part of KPEM: I love working one-on-one with the attendings, they all definitely have our best interest in mind. My co-residents are absolutely the best. We have such a happy, cohesive, and diverse group. Our residency truly feels like a family! We are also lucky in that we rotate through several major hospitals around the county, giving us exposure to diverse work environments and patient populations. Couldn't be happier :)
Nick Montano
•Med School: University of California, Davis
•Undergrad: San Francisco State University. Physiology Major, Chemistry Minor
•Hometown: Los Angeles
•If I wasn’t a doctor, I’d be a: professional zombie hunter 🤗😋
•Favorite hobbies: Music (guitar), motorcycles, and hanging out with my son
•Favorite thing to do in San Diego: Beach day!!!
•The best part of KPEM: The people, for sure!
Jack Taras
• Med School: Thomas Jefferson University
• Undergrad: Providence College - Biology Major
• Hometown: Moorestown, NJ
• If I wasn’t a doctor, I’d be a: Biologist
• Favorite hobbies: Surfing, hiking, reading
• Favorite thing to do in San Diego: Surf
• The best part of KPEM: Supportive attendings. Great group of residents. Variety of EDs. San Diego
Lisa Remington
•Med School: UC Irvine
•Undergrad: University of Hawaii- Biology/Marine Biology Major.
•Grad school: Cal State Long Beach, MS, genetics
•Hometown: Aiea, HI
•If I wasn’t a doctor, I’d be a: Bartender/Sky diver
•Favorite hobbies: Travel, jet skis, dirt bikes, scuba, new restaurants, snow boarding
•Favorite thing to do in San Diego: boarding--> brunch on the beach--> boat/beers/sunset... all in the same day!
•The best part of KPEM: Best residency fam ever! Large, diverse, supportive faculty; rotating at awesome departments; ability to travel/flexible electives; responsive leadership
Maria Sturchler
• Med School: Vanderbilt
• Undergrad: Florida Atlantic University, Nova Southeastern University - Biochemistry, Elementary Education Majors
• Postgrad: Nova Southeastern University / MS, EdD / Math Education, Educational Leadership
• Hometown: Madrid, Spain
• If I wasn’t a doctor, I’d be a: teacher
• Favorite hobbies: Mountain biking, trail running, road cycling, surfing, gardening, foodie!!
• Favorite thing to do in San Diego: Bike, hike, and eat
• The best part of KPEM: The supportive and highly educational environment; we are truly cared for in all regards!
Andrew Kaddis
• Med School: UC Davis
• Undergrad: UCLA - Biology Major
• Hometown: Los Angeles, CA
• If I wasn’t a doctor, I’d be a: Pilot! Or contractor!
• Favorite hobbies: Sleep. Also try all the hiking trails in San Diego, exploring new cat fac also try all the hiking trails and San Diego, exploring new cafés, swimming, ping-pong, photography, cooking with new recipes, and binging TV shows.
• Favorite thing to do in San Diego: Beach time! Finding the best coffee shop, going to restaurants with the best views.
• The best part of KPEM: The faculty who not only have such a passion to teach, but also make us all feel welcomed, included, and a real part of the ED team!
Xinwei Liu
• Med School: University of Central Florida
• Undergrad: UC San Diego – Biology Major
• Hometown: Los Angeles
• If I wasn’t a doctor, I’d be a: Spelunker
• Favorite hobbies: Instagram.
• Favorite thing to do in San Diego: EAT EVERYTHING!
• The best part of KPEM: Direct contact with admitting attendings; complicated medical patients; no shortage of procedures.
Caitlyn Gust
Caitlyn Gust
• Med School: USC
• Undergrad: University of Oregon. Human Physiology.
• Hometown: Portland, Oregon
• If I wasn’t a doctor, I’d be a: real estate agent (I love open houses)
• Favorite hobbies: run, try new happy hour with friends, be outside, spend time with my family
• Favorite thing to do in San Diego: walk to Hillcrest Farmer’s Market, explore all the tasty breweries, spend time in the sun (with sunscreen on, of course)
• The best part of KPEM: We have supportive attendings, get to experience a wide range of practice styles, but most importantly we are a family and we take care of each other.
Mark Lettinga
• Med School: University of Michigan Medical School
• Undergrad: Bethel College Indiana - Biology/Business Administration Major
• Hometown: Grand Rapids, Michigan
• If I wasn’t a doctor, I’d be a: Basketball Coach
• Favorite hobbies: Volleyball, Boating, Traveling to new places!
• Favorite thing to do in San Diego: Going to the beach in January, cycling year round, eating amazing seafood, rooftop happy hours, hiking
• The best part of KPEM: The Faculty is what brought me here all the way from Michigan. They are the most supportive group of physicians you will ever meet. KPEM gives you the opportunity to rotate through 6 different hospitals in a variety of practice models. We have no competition for procedures or interesting patients, no other residency at Kaiser San Diego except FM.
Jacob Szmuilowicz
• Med School: University of California, San Diego
• Undergrad: University of California, San Diego- Bioengineering major
• Hometown: San Diego
• If I wasn’t a doctor, I’d be a: Profession triathlete or Tour de France Champion (without the doping 😀 ).
• Favorite hobbies: Running, biking, haning with the puppy, adventures with my beautiful girlfriend.
• Favorite thing to do in San Diego: World Famous San Diego Zoo, swim La Jolla Cove, hike Torrey Pines
• The best part of KPEM: Amazing attendings that love to teach and care about my well-being, residency that feels like family
Kyle Hersh
• Med School: UC Irvine
• Undergrad: UCSB - Biology Major
• Hometown: Newport Beach, CA
• If I wasn’t a doctor, I’d be a: That’s a tough question. I would probably be unemployed. At least I would be married to an ER doc. Actually, I would be fun-employed. But if I could do anything, maybe a professional surfer. But honestly there is no more rewarding field than medicine. We have the opportunity to help people in their most vulnerable state and make a true difference. If I was not a doctor or other health care provider, I would continue to work in EMS as a Firefighter.
• Favorite hobbies: I love to spend my free time with my wife, family, friends and all my co-residents. I enjoy anything involving the ocean, especially surfing, spearfishing/lobster diving, paddling, megalodoning, and fishing. I love beach days. I still lifeguard occasionally in Newport Beach and still play water polo with a local club team. Traveling and working as an island doc in Fiji and Indo on vacations. My favorite travel buddy is my wife and we love spending our vacations abroad experiencing new cultures.
• Favorite thing to do in San Diego: I live in Ocean Beach and am a bike ride to Sunset Cliffs. San Diego is such an amazing city and there is something for everyone. I love exploring and finding new fun activities.
• The best part of KPEM: The residents are all amazing and the faculty are extremely engaged and dedicated to teaching. The faculty are invested in your success and will support you in every way possible to make sure you can reach and exceed your goals. It really does have a family feel. You rotate at such a variety of locations and experience a wide range of patient populations.
Steve Duleh
• Med School:University of California San Francisco
• Undergrad: Indiana University - BS in Biological Sciences/Chemistry
• Postgrad: PhD in Molecular and Cell Biology University of Berkeley
• Hometown: Bismarck, ND
• If I wasn’t a doctor, I’d be a: Ice Hockey Coach
• Favorite hobbies: Hockey, snowboarding, running, beaches, and food!
• Favorite thing to do in San Diego: Beaches, night hiking Cowles mountain, and tacos!
• The best part of KPEM: The best part of KPEM has been the opportunity to work one-on-one with amazing clinicians and educators who are truly invested in your development as an emergency physician.
Derek Yip
• Med School: Medical College of Wisconsin
• Undergrad: University of California, Los Angeles- BS Biology
• Hometown: Monterey Park, CA
• If I wasn’t a doctor, I’d be a: Doctor. Only ever wanted to be a doctor.
• Favorite hobbies: Being a dog dad, traveling, working out, trying to watch all the Dodgers/Lakers games, attempting to cook and trying new food, family/friends.
• Favorite thing to do in San Diego: Checking out new breweries, neighborhoods, and dog parks.
• The best part of KPEM: Honestly too many to name, but having a small program is one of the key reasons why KPEM is so special — engaging didactics, more personalized and hands-on training where every single resident is supported and represented, and really close relationships with the incredible faculty who are all great to work with, passionate about teaching, and genuinely invested in your growth as a resident and as a person.