Faculty
Maurice Duggins - Faculty
Why Via Christi? While working with the underserved, I also worked with students and residents as a Clinical Instructor- I loved it and decded to do teaching full time.
Passions: Hanging with my kids, wife, and friends
Favorite Books: Bible Strength to Love
Favorite Quotes: "...But the greatest of these is love."
Home town: Birthplace: St Kitts
Al Schmidt - Faculty
Al Schmidt – Faculty (Behaviorist) Licensed Specialist Clinical Social Work – LSCSW, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist – LCMFT Undergraduate in Social Work - Tabor College 1972, MSW - University of Kansas 1979 Why Family Medicine at Via Christi: Some time prior to splashing down here about 3 years ago, I read a polling survey that was taken by the American Academy of Family Physicians of their constituent members. Those physicians estimated that 2 out of every 3 patients who presented at outpatient medicine clinics were in need of psychological or emotional support, as much or more than their presenting physiological medical problems. My conclusion; great Family Medicine includes being aware of and actively supporting the patient’s psychological and emotional needs. It’s an exciting privilege to be a part of this faculty that endeavors to provide the Family Medical Home for so many in this community. Professional Background: Over 20 years in Employee Assistance at Via Christi Medical Center. Our team of six professionals and one support person provided EAP services to over 20,000 employees plus their families in over 100 companies. I handled the coordination of graduate practicums and the clinical work. I typically had had oversight of 6-8 practicum students in their final year of graduate studies providing free therapy to those employees and their families seeking services through our EAP. It was a very effective systems approach. Graduate students were immersed in direct therapy experience, employees got free help most couldn’t afford elsewhere, and our agency served exponentially more people by this systems method of working with people. The synergy of team work is powerful when well directed and harnessed. I see similar multi-disciplinary synergy in our agency. Prior to Via Christi my career includes providing many years of inpatient and outpatient clinical work. Past placements include: Prairie View Mental Health Center, Newton Kansas. St. Catherine’s Hospital Psychiatry, Garden City, Kansas. The Provincial Department of Human Resources, Terrace British Columbia, Canada. Family Consultation Service, and Wichita, Kansas. A sampling of other interests, accomplishments, and a little personal trivia: • In graduate school co-authored a Rural Villages Grant – Title XX – that was funded by the Kansas Board of Regents. We worked with all the incorporated towns in Kansas with populations of 250 or less. • Received “The Heart of Social Work Award,” from Kansas University. • Provided many keynotes on humor to local and national organizations and companies. • Served many years on the Wichita Chapter of Parents of Murdered Children Board, and helped host two national conferences. • Coached Biddy Basketball for many years. My two sons played for the state title in high school basketball four years apart. • Former member of the Holstein Friesian Association of America. I can start two cylinder John Deere tractors using the fly wheel. I dismantled a grain elevator in Partridge, Kansas and used the lumber to build a Geodesic home on 40 acres. • I took a three year position away from clinical work. I represented a privately held company that provided product development to a wide array of Original Equipment Manufacturing companies throughout the US and Canada. I traveled extensively and introduced our capabilities that included 21 articles under an international patent for forming square and rectangular structural steel. Among my present passions: All basketball – but the Kansas Jayhawks are my favorite. Picking and grinning on acoustic guitar, funny songs, hymns, bluegrass, poetry, therapeutic metaphors, humor, trees and landscape, redesign and remodeling buildings. At the present time I’m refurbishing a cabin on an acre of ground along the Little Arkansas River. It comes complete with plenty of creatures that stop by with random regularity. That would include beaver, deer, bald eagles, wild turkeys, Canadian geese, ducks, muskrats, song birds, fox, owls, bats, exotic snakes, and a host of others that never cease to amaze and enchant. There is a place for all God’s creatures – for some – it’s along the mashed potatoes and corn! Some favorite quotes: • Humor is the contemplation of the finite from the point of view of the infinite. - Christian Morgenstern • A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken sprit dries up the bones. - Proverbs 17:22 • Humor is not jokes or tricks, but a presence in the world that shines on everyone. -Garrison Keillor. • Start every day off with a smile, and get it over with! -W.C. Fields …….. (Please tell me your favorite!) Favorite Books: – many! One would be “Laughing Down Lonely Canyons,” James Kavanaugh. Hometown: I grew up on a registered Holstein farm near Hillsboro, Kansas. After Residency Plan: Something that involves faith – hope & charity.
Donald Seery - Faculty
I have been with the Residency Program for 20 years and still find that I love Family Medicine and working with residents and medical students.
Why Via Christi? The mission that defines Via Christi is the main reason I came here and is what keeps me here, the mission is in three parts: Excellence, Stewardship & Human Dignity.
Passions: Music, Scuba Diving and Reading.
Favorite Books: The Hunger Games or any book by John Grissom.
Favorite Quotes: Past behavior predicts future behavior! You Win or Lose by the way you choose!
Residency stats: I teach colonoscopy and EGD's along with Dr. Duggins, Dr. Lewis and Dr. Stephens. I also enjoy rounding with the residents at the patients bedside.
Philip Cherven - Faculty
Director of Pediatric Medical Education
Amy Curry - Faculty
I am the mother of two beautiful kids, Ella (think Fitzgerald), 12 and Coltrane (as in John), 10 and the wife to Craig (you guessed it, musician and free-lance composer), 40 something...I grew up in lovely southwest Kansas and attended Wichita State University. After spending 3 years "at the bench" in research, I headed back to school at KU School of Medicine for more education.
Why Via Christi? Why not? When I was a 4th year medical school student, a wise KU faculty member told me, "Run all over the country to interview if you want to move out of the state (I can't imagine why...), but you won't find better Family Medicine residency programs than the ones we have here inKansas." He was right. I have never regretted my decision to attend the Via Christi program.
Passions: Developing servant/shepherd leaders-think how different our world would be if we all led in that way!
Favorite Books: Who can pick! My most recent favorite is, "Falling Upward" by Richard Rohr. Recent guilty pleasures, "The Camel Club" and "Hell's Corner" by David Baldacci. I am aspiring to read, recently purchased, "Demystifying Opoid Conversion Calculations", but I wouldn't hold my breath on that one.
Favorite Quotes: My recent favorite kid quote, "Is this a patriarchal or matriarchal family?" Coltrane Curry.
After residency plan: After 9 years of private practice in Wichita, I transitioned to a faculty position in 2009. I love working for a faith-based residency and health system where they talk about Jesus even in their new employee orientation! Teaching has been a wonderful way to stretch and grow as a physician.
Home town: Ulysses, Kansas (Home of the fighting Tigers..Grr..)
Residency stats: No GI scopes for me, although I had plenty of numbers from our training here, but I have delivered alot of babies and taken care of alot of patients both in and out of the hospital. I do colposcopies and LEEP's.
Looking back: I believe this is the most noble group of people assembled in one place that you will ever find.
Unusual experiences: On any given day, I might circ a newborn, deliver a baby, admit an overdose, discuss hospice with an elder or perform a well-woman exam. It truly is Family Medicine at it's finest.
Advice: Dont be afraid. Get as much training as you can in those three years.
Mark Stovak - Faculty
Program Director - Family Medicine Residency & Sports Medicine Fellowship Born - Reno, NV College - University of NV Med school - University of NV Family Medicine Residency - Via Christi Family Medicine Sports Medicine Fellowship - Ball Memorial Hospital (Ball Sate Univ.) - Muncie, IN Married - Dr. Leslie Greenberg (part time faculty member) 3 kids - Luke, Nate, Jenna
Why Via Christi? The administration is great to work with and very supportive. The faculty are great clinicians, teachers, and role models. The residents and fellows are well-rounded, capable, energetic, and committed to learning. The medical community is primary care friendly and a wonderful place to practice.
Passions: Hobbies - Exercising, sports with my kids, yardwork. Passions - Family. Interests - Family and sports medicine, medical education, and sports.
Favorite Books: Sports Illustrated and Babyhood by Paul Reiser
Favorite Quotes: "If you laugh a little, cry a little & learn a little - you have had a very full day." - Jim Valvano (former coach at N. Carolina State University)
Home town: Reno, NV
Sheryl Beard - Faculty
I am married with two beautiful girls. I graduated from the University of Kansas School of Medicine-Wichita. I was a 2002 Via-Christi Family Medicine Residency graduate. I then spent four years in the USAF after residency training, during which I spent a short deployment in Iraq. After separating from the Air Force, I spent 1.5 years in private practice before joining faculty at the residency. I have been teaching here since February 2008. I love teaching. My favorite part of teaching is the "ah-ha" moments that I get to witness on a daily basis. It is so wonderful to see adult learners really grasp something.
Why Via Christi? We have the most amazing residents. I have been so blessed to be from the area and have always wanted to teach. It was a nice fit.
Passions: Spending time with family and friends.
Favorite Books: Jane Austen "Pride and Prejudice"
Home town: Haysville
Richard Leu - Faculty
Education: 1970 - University of Iowa, BS; 1974 - University of Iowa College of Medicine, M.D. Postgraduate Training: 1974-77 - St. Francis Family Medicine Residency Program, Peoria, Illinois Board Certification: 1977 - ABFP Board Certification; 1983 - ABFP Board Recertification; 1988 - Certification of Added Qualifications in Geriatric Medicine; 1989 - ABFP Board Recertification; 1995 - ABFP Board Recertification; 1997 - Certification of Added Qualifications in Sports Medicine; 1998 - Recertification - Geriatric Medicine
Marc Stephens - Faculty
Education: 1977, AA, Central College, McPherson, Kansas; 1979, BA (Biology/Chemistry), Greenville College, Greenville, Illinois; Postgraduate Training: 1979-1980 - Dept. of Physiology, University of Kansas Graduate School, Lawrence, Kansas; 1980-1984, Doctor of Osteopathy, Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences, Kansas City, Missouri; Post-Doctoral Training: 1984-1987 - University of Kansas School of Medicine Family Medicine Residency, Wesley Medical Center, Wichita, Kansas; Board Certifications: 1987, 1993, 2000, 2007 - American Board of Family Medicine; 2007 - American Osteopathic Board of Family Physicians; ---Work Experience: --1987-1988, 2003-present, Clinical Instructor, Dept. Of Family Medicine, Univ. of Kansas School of Medicine, Wichita, KS --1988-1997 Private Practice, Minneola, KS --1997-2003 Private Practice, Greenville, Illinois; --2003-present Associate Director, Via Christi Family Medicine Residency; --2006-present Medical Director, Via Christi Family Medicine Clinics; --2007-present Director, Via Christi Osteopathic Family Medicine Residency; ****I married a beautiful, intelligent (except that she liked me), and musically talented nurse in 1981, raised 6 kids from 1986 until forever, worked with an awesome country doctor (my dad) in a little town in west Kansas for a decade, then worked with an awesome young family doctor and my best friend (and cousin) in a little town in southern Illinois for 6 years, and got to deliver 500 or so babies, then got chased out of Illinois by skyrocketting liability insurance premiums (87 grand a year!!!), and landed the most awesome job of all....working with an incredible bunch of faculty and residents every day. I am so blessed! I hope I can be a blessing to my patients and colleagues, and especially to our residents, for whom I have been "called."
Passions: serving God, loving my family, playing basketball, watching basketball, eating and drinking basketball, anything to do with computers, PDAs, information technology, electronics, magic, Dr. Pepper, frozen Reese's, fettucini alfredo.
Favorite Quotes: I'll never forget what my grandfather always told me. He said, "grandson.. .always...no, never...., no, always...oh, I forget...."
Home town: Minneola, Kansas
Residency stats: Residency & Practice Numbers: 1100 vaginal deliveries; 120 C-sections; 300 forceps/vaccuum; 6 twins; 3 breech deliveries (Kenya); most deliveries in 24 hrs: 14 (residency); most c-sections in 24 hrs: 6 (Kenya); 1 epiglottitis (residency moonlighting); 1 buffalo stampede victim (Minneola, KS); 200 colonoscopies, 400 EGDs; hundreds of treadmills; 7400 hospital admissions; 92,000 clinic encounters; 284,800 oz of Dr. Pepper consumed.
Lary Hill - Faculty
Passions: Interested in Scouts, woodworking, photography, and occasionally trying to keep up with Dr. Seery on the golf course.
Favorite Books: Anything by Simon Winchester or John McPhee.
Home town: Ellinwood, Kansas
Todd Stephens - Faculty
Medical education obtained at KUSM-Wichita 5/89; Residency in Family Medicine at Via Christi St. Joseph Campus 7/89-6/92. Practiced in Olathe, KS, Minneola, KS and served in Kenya and Rwanda, Africa prior to Wichita.
Why Via Christi? I had a great experience here as a resident myself (then St. Joseph). I've always enjoyed teaching and I loved practicing medicine overseas (in Africa). When the position of directing the new International Medicine Fellowship was offered to me, it seemed like a great fit. Having a chance to encourage young men and women toward careers in international medicine is a worthwhile pursuit.
Passions: My family; wife, Dawnita and 4 children, Sarah, Sam, Lauren and Leigh Anne. World travel, the mountains, hiking, hunting, Kenya, birds, mountain flora, vacations, maps, scuba, South Africa, spending time with family and friends.
Favorite Books: Out of Africa, bird books, Grisham books.
Favorite Quotes: lines from Monty Python, and The Scarlet Pimpernel
Home town: Minneola, KS
Mark McVay - Faculty
I enjoy mentoring residents, as well as learning medicine--as an admitted 'medicine junky'. To teach and practice medicine with the quality faculty, residents, students and staff we have here at Via Christi is a dream come true and a privilege.
Passions: I really enjoy international medicine, especially in the Middle East, as I've been part of founding a residency program in Egypt.
Favorite Books: Best magazine: The Economist.
Tara Neil - Faculty
I am a Kansas girl who went to KSU for undergrad, KU for medical school and then longed for an experience in the northern midwest. I completed my residency at the University of Wisconsin-Madison program. I then did a Maternal Child Health Fellowship at West Suburban near Chicago. After all that training I tried my hand at private practice for several years in rural Kansas.
Passions: Cooking, Reading, Gardening... Things I wish I could become more passionate about: fly fishing and photography
Home town: Fort Scott, KS
Doug Neef - Faculty
I was in private practice 11 years before returning to Wichita as faculty for the last 12 years. I have 8 children and a wife whom I love. I enjoy my job here working with the excellent faculty and residents. I am grateful to the God who has loved me and saved me.
Why Via Christi? Strong residency. Great people!
Passions: Read/study the Bible. Play music. Recreational sports. Time on the lake. Generally longer on passion than talent.
Favorite Books: Bible
Annie Harvey - Faculty
The first of 7 children, I spent most of my life in Dayton, Ohio. My 20-year old daughter is currently attending my alma mater, the University of Dayton, where I was a young hippie in the late \'60\'s. Most of my family still resides in Ohio.
Why Via Christi? I came to Wichita at the end of my graduate training in 1992 to work as a consultant for the Psychiatric Research Institute of Via Christi. After PRI closed, I began working with Family Medicine to develop and support scholarship and research.
Passions: Recycling - I\'m planning to go to med school after I\'m dead. Worms City farming Psych, Depression, HPA, HGA, MHC, PMS
Favorite Books: Three Cups of Tea - Greg Mortenson
Favorite Quotes: If we knew what we were doing, it wouldn\'t be called research. [often attributed to Einstein] And the end of all our exploring Will be to arrive where we started And know the place for the first time. - T. S. Eliot
After residency plan: I may live here till I die.
Home town: Dayton, Ohio
Residency stats: 20 articles in peer-reviewed journals 6 letters in peer-reviewed journals 23 posters
Paula Knabe - Faculty
I call Kansas home because I was born in Emporia and raised in and around Wichita. However, I spent 25 years in Michigan, so I consider that my second home. I am a graduate of Wichita State University, did a year in Biochemistry graduate school at KU in Lawrence, KS and graduated with a DO degree from KCUMB (Kansas City, MO). I did my post-graduate training in Detroit,MI at Riverside Hospital. I enjoyed solo private practice in FM with obstetrics and part time ER in Muskegon, MI followed by a group practice there, ending up as an associate medical director of the Muskegon General Family Practice Residency in Muskegon, MI. We trained MSU and other medical/osteopathic students and osteopathic FM residents. I spent 2 years with MSU in Faculty Development Fellowships. I am board certified in Family Medicine. I came to Via Christi Family Medicine Residency Program in 2002 and have spent the last 9 years working with a wonderful group of people who value education and every individual as a whole person.
Why Via Christi? Our program is defined by change and remains at the forefront of learning. If you want the best experience and training and our program fits, it's a win-win situation. Also, a great bunch of people to work with.
Passions: Teaching, reading, scuba diving, traveling and making a difference in the world, on person at a time.
After residency plan: I would like to spend 2-3 years in a 3rd world country providing service. I plan to continue to do extensive traveling.
Home town: Wichita, KS
Andrew Porter - Faculty
I was born in Colorado and moved to Iowa when I was 10 and grew up in Cedar Rapids. I attended High School at Linn-Mar in Marion, Iowa graduating in 1996. I then attended Undergraduate at The University of Iowa from 1996-2000 where I met my wife Mandy. Medical School followed at Des Moines University from 2000-2004. During Medical School, Mandy and I were married and we had a daughter and a son. We then went to Wichita, Kansas for Family Medicine Residency at Via Christi from 2004-2007 and a Sports Medicine Fellowship at Via Christi from 2007-2008. During our training at Via Christi we had another daughter and son. We then moved back to Iowa to a small rural town called Bloomfield. I practiced full spectrum Family Medicine and Sports Medicine in Bloomfield from 2008-2011. During our time in Bloomfield we had another daughter. I had the honor of serving with the US Army as a Field Surgeon in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2009. I have also been honored to serve with the Iowa Army National Guard Medical Command from 2002 -2011. Mandy and I were married in 2001 and we look back at the last 10 years and feel truly blessed. God has given us 5 awesome children and many opportunities to serve and for great life experiences.
Why Via Christi? I initially chose Via Christi for Family Medicine Residency and Sports Medicine Fellowship because of the quality & character of the residents and faculty, the full spectrum training, and the mission of Via Christi to care for all people in “the way of Christ.” Faculty work with Via Christi gives me the opportunity to teach and mentor, be a part of a great team, and be involved with Sports Medicine and Family Medicine. It also gives me the balance in life between my family and medicine that I desire. I started as Faculty in 2011.
Passions: Serving God, my family, my patients & Country. Traveling. Reading. Sports. Ironman Triathlons. Marathons.
Favorite Books: The Bible, The Count of Monte Cristo, A River Runs Through It, and Mere Christianity.
Favorite Quotes: God has made us for Himself, and our hearts our restless until they rest in Him. St. Augustine.
Home town: Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Residency stats: Via Christi Family Medicine Residency Stats (2004-2007): 70 Primary Surgeon C-Sections, 205 Vaginal Deliveries (35 Assisted with Forceps or Vacuum), 130 Endoscopies (Colon & EGD), 30 CODE’s (20 Intubations), 30 Pregnancy Ultrasounds, 50 Stress Treadmills, 20 Colposcopies, and 10 D & C’s.
Scott Stringfield - Faculty
I have been on the faculty for 12 years and have the pleasure of being in charge of the recruitment process for the residency. It seems to fit my style of what I like to do in that I am allowed the privilege of meeting so many new students, some of whom become our residents. I have become convinced that my primary role here is not to teach, administrate, or see patients, although that is much of what I do. My primary role or calling here is to INFLUENCE and MENTOR residents and students to grow and change and see all that they can be both for themselves and for others.
Why Via Christi? They allowed me to come and be a faculty member who could freely mentor, influence and emphasize my passions with the residents.
Passions: My faith in Christ - this is my primary desire and passion, although I fail often at keeping this foremost in my life. Nevertheless, it is my goal to be clearly a Christian in my interactions with others. My life verse is Genesis 6:9 - "This is the account of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God." This is my hope - to live rightly with others in accordance with what I believe, to be blameless among others (even those who may not like what I believe) and treat them as they desire and in doing so honor my Lord and God. In addition, I desire to be walking with my God in all things (although as I said before, this is a weak area for me).
Favorite Books: The Bible - top of the list (I try to read it through every other year). Margin - Richard Swenson - the most profound and impacting book I have read other than the scriptures. It changed my life's direction and how I have chosen to live. I highly recommend it. Mere Christianity - CS Lewis - So simple and yet so profound.
Favorite Quotes: "Real success is when those who know you the best, love you the most." - John Maxwell
After residency plan: I have no plans for leaving the residency in the near future, but if I left I have always been intrigued with and interested in politics and influence. Who knows?
Home town: Manhattan, KS
Residency stats: Vaginal Deliveries (over 24 years): Medical School (8-10); Residency (university trained plus extra elective months - 90); Private practice (320 ~ 40/year); Faculty Position (supervising and assisting - 600 ~ 50/year). C-sections (Prior to Faculty work): 85 Forceps: 40+ Vacuum Extractions: 60+ (but now prefer forceps when assistance is needed) Stress testing: 100+ Colposcopy: 100+ OB Ultrasound: Performed - 500+, Supervised - 5000+
Amy Seery - Faculty
Born and raised in Wichita, I attended Southeast High School and then went on to earn degrees in Biology and Pscyhology at Kansas State University. I went to KU Med, but deep down I will always be a K-Stater! I completed a residency in Pediatrics in Maine, aka "Vacation Land"! It was an amazing 3 years, but I am so excited to be back in Kansas and near to family! As the youngest, newest faculty member I have the pleasure of working with some of the Legends that make up the faculty in our program!
Why Via Christi? I practically grew up in this program! My father (the "other Dr. Seery") entered residency here when I was in middle school. Since then I have seen the program grow and change in ever better ways each year! Through medical school and residency I was exposed to many other family med residencies and it really hit home how special this program really is! I feel incredibly honored and lucky to return to this program as a faculty member. We always have dedicated, talented residents who are passionate about learning and living a fulfilling life. Teaching here is unbelievably fulfilling both professionally and spiritually.
Passions: Snow skiing, scuba diving, backpacking around Europe, salsa dancing. I also enjoy fly fishing in Colorado. I usually go hiking in a National Park about once a year. Like several other faculty members you can frequently find me at the YMCA. You can often spot me around town out for a stroll with my 7 year old beagle!
Favorite Books: Reading is a big passion- I usually go through a book every 2 weeks. When I'm on vacation I can typically crank through 4-5 novels!
Favorite Quotes: "Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning." -Albert Einstein
Home town: Wichita, Ks
Residency stats: Pediatric Residency at Maine Medical Center- Barbara Bush Children's Hospital. Graduated 2011.
Unusual experiences: Though I'm not musically inclined I have fulfilled the job of "roadie" for over 10 years for the faculty band, Shifting Dullness!
Leslie Greenberg - Faculty
Education: 1991 Northwestern University, BA; University of Nevada School of Medicine, M.D. Postgraduate Training:1995-1998 KU School of Medicine, Family Medicine Residency Program, St. Joseph Hospital, Wichita, Kansas Board Certification: 1998- ABFM Board Certification, Recertified 2005
Why Via Christi? My husband (Mark Stovak M.D.) and I couples matched in Wichita 15 years ago. We loved the broad-based learning, the vibrant and hard working fellow residents, and all the procedures!
Passions: I love to spend time with my family and . . . refurbish furniture, bake, make crafts, read books, write on my blog www.drlesliegreenberg.com , exercise at the YMCA and relax. I'd like to try everything at least once--change the oil in my car, make a mosaic, cut my kids' hair. . .
Favorite Books: Parenting books and Better Homes and Gardens magazine
Favorite Quotes: "Simplify." "Reduce, reuse, and recycle." and "Enjoy life!"
After residency plan: Interesting question. . . I taught as part-time faculty for 10 years and then February 2010 went into private practice in Wichita. I still teach at the Via Christi Family Medicine Residency 2-3 days a month in the clinic, lecture for the Advanced Life Support for Obstetrics course, and teach medical residents and students.
Home town: Reno, Nevada
Residency stats: 15 years of colonoscopies, EGDs, vaginal deliveries with forceps and vacuum (as needed). . . too many to count.
Sylvester Domme - Faculty
Education: 1975 - Washburn University, BS; 1978 - University of Kansas School of Medicine, Kansas City, M.D. Postgraduate Training: 1990-93 - KU School of Medicine, Family Medicine Residency Program, St. Francis Regional Medical Center, Wichita, Kansas Board Certification: 1993 - ABFP Board Certification; 2000 - ABFP Board Recertification
Tracy Williams - Faculty
I'm a small town girl (graduation class size 18) who got undergraduate degrees in Nutrition and Exercise Science from Kansas State University. I then went to medical school at KU (I still cheer for KSU despite having given KU more of my money). I completed my family medicine residency at Via Christi. My husband is also a physician, our training took us to North Carolina where he did an Endocrinology fellowship while I did an OB & Women's Health fellowship. Our first child, Ruby, was born during our fellowships. I lovingly refer to her as my family medicine "honors project." I now coordinate the OB and Women's Health Rotations at Via Christi. My goal is for every resident to feel like they have done an OB fellowship by the time they graduate.
Why Via Christi? The midwest is still the "wild west" for Family Medicine. My residents never say...."I don't need to know that, because I am a family doc." Instead they want to learn it BECAUSE they are a family doc. They value the depth and breadth of care they can provide their patients as a family physician. This is especially evident in their attitude about learning to do obstetrics.
Passions: HOBBIES: Photography, Tandem bicycling (AKA marriage tester), watching movies, reading (I'm in a book club), playing with my kids (Ruby and William) PASSIONS:Family (my husband and kids), Ob (infant mortality, PNC for the underserved, diabetes in pregnancy), Women's Health (colposcopy, domestic violence)
Favorite Books: That is a hard one....I'm currently reading "On the Corner of Bitter and Sweet" by Jamie Ford for my book club.
Home town: Montezuma, Kansas
Sarah Houssayni - Faculty
My name is Sarah Houssayni, I am one of the three pediatricians on staff. We are in charge of teaching the Neonatal, Pediatric and Adolescent medicine with as much emphasis on the necessary pediatric sub specialties as possible (without driving the students and residents insane). We are also in charge of compensating for all the sadness and disappointment encountered on other rotations and hence the sudden outbursts of affection and happiness when you are on Pediatrics. Laughter is a daily exercise,if nothing is funny we make fun of ourselves and of you. You must be asking if I asked the permission of the other two pediatricians before I put this and the answer is absolutely not. But once you meet them you will realize that they are very professional, and that you are in wonderful hands. To learn and to take care of kids. I went to medical school in Beirut, Lebanon at the American University of Beirut and decided to come the the US for residency. Started at Upstate New York, Syracuse and transferred halfway to KU, Wichita to stay with Nazih Moufarrij, who eventually became the father of my twin boys. He is a neurosurgeon who has been a wonderful addition to the area, doing microscopic tumor removal, deep brain stimulation for Parkinson's, vascular neurosurgery, and other much needed sub specialized surgeries. I stayed in the Midwest initially because he was so happy and so needed and eventually I became happy and hopefully needed. My boys look just like their father, they are a Mendelian walking demonstration! I failed to mention that in order to achieve that result I laid on my side in bed for 6 months while I was pregnant! My mission as a pediatrician is to make sure that every time I encounter a pediatric patient I try. My mission as an educator is that every time I interact with my students and residents I try. I try to do my best and I try to do it for them and for the world. I do it while being my healthiest and my happiest and my most informed possible. I try by being a role model and by getting up as fast as I can when things don't go as well as I anticipate them to. Teaching is everywhere, residents can learn from the computer but what I am mostly put in their lives for is to make the learning experience more enjoyable, more efficient, and more human. My residents help me grow and make me a better person too. One of my biggest challenges is not to let them down, as a teacher but also as an individual. The family medicine residency at Via Christi is truly a family, a bright strong big family, one with diversity but one that takes ownership for her children and doesn't let go until they are ready to let go. They always come back with nice achievements, healthy growth and especially babies! The Via Christi family grand kids!
Douglas Lewis - Faculty
I am the son of a minister who moved around a great deal while I was growing up. Born in California, I've lived in San Diego, Los Angeles, Seattle, Denver, Kansas City, Little Rock, Wichita, and Western Kansas. My wife, Karmen, and I have been married for 18 years, and we spend almost all of our time nurturing and transporting to and from athletic practices two middle school age boys. We ferociously guard our family time and love to spend it together watching movies and ESPN. My wife donates her time several weeks a year to an organization which trains individuals in life skills coaching, something for which she has tremendous passion.
Why Via Christi? As a graduate of the St Joseph Family Medicine program in 1999 before the program merged with the St Francis program and became VCFM, I felt more than adequately prepared for delivering several years of small town medicine before returning to the Via Christi as a full time faculty member. I chose this program because I felt like it most closely mirrored private practice, and it seemed logical to learn medicine that way. This is the best Family Medicine Residency Program in the country, and I am excited to be a part of it as an educator. In my years of private practice, I discovered within myself a strong affection for teaching residents. Since there is no better program, in my (of course) humblest of opinions, to get the quality and breadth of training that's necessary to succeed in rural practice; I would not dream of teaching anywhere else.
Passions: My Family- Wife, Karmen, and boys, Jack (10) and Jace (8), Triathlon, Colorado 14ers and 13ers, KU Basketball, CU Football, Starbucks Coffee, Good Rock (Alter Bridge, 3 Doors Down, Stone Temple Pilots, AC/DC), Faculty Rock Band, Tattoos, A good bottle of wine and an evening with friends, Missional Churches, Felt Bicycles, Watching the Tour De France. I have a significant interest in endurance athletics, training for and racing mainly in the sport of triathlon. I have found in it something which profoundly shapes me not only physically but also, and perhaps more significantly, spiritually, emotionally, and mentally. It's a place where I touch God and find out about myself and who I am.
Favorite Books: Surprised By Hope, NT Wright; Simply Christian, NT Wright; Mere Christianity, CS Lewis; Into Thin Air, John Krakauer; Into The Wild, John Krakauer; Deep Survival, Lawrence Gonzales; The Way of the Wild Heart, John Elderedge; Velvet Elvis, Rob Bell; Sex God, Rob Bell; Love Wins, Rob Bell; Divine Nobodies, Jim Palmer; A New Kind of Christian, Brian McLaren; The Story We Find Ourselves In, Brian McLaren; The Last Word and The Word After That, Brian McLaren; A Generous Orthodoxy, Brian McLaren. The Enoch Factor, by Steve McSwain; Patience With God, by Frank Schaeffer; The Brothers Karamazov, by Fyodor Dostoevsky; and The Naked Now, by Richard Rohr.
Favorite Quotes: "Boys are taught to win. We men can’t admit to anything that can’t be configured as winning. We have to pretend it’s not true and make another group or individual the loser, which for some strange reason is supposed to make us the winners. It becomes so clear to me as I grow older that people who change, and keep changing, are the only people who grow up. And we grow up when we allow events to touch us, influence us, and quite simply move us beyond our fortified home base." -Richard Rohr "They're not going to give you anything. You've got to go in there and you've got to take it." -Coach Don Haskins "Success travels in the company of very hard work. There is no trick, no easy way." -Coach John Wooden "Not all those who wander are lost." -JRR Tolkein "Remember, you can't put too much water in a nuclear reactor." "He is not a tame lion." - Mr. Tumnus (from The Chronicles of Narnia - The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe" - C.S. Lewis) "That which does not kill me makes me stronger." - Friedrich Nietzsche
After residency plan: Already doing it. Was in private practice in Osawatomie, KS, for 3 years before coming to join the VC residency faculty full time. I was at VC for 5 years. Then in 2007-2008 I worked as a full time Family Medicine Hospitalist for Kansas Inpatient Services, a practice that was started by VC graduates. I am now back on the faculty full time doing what I now know I truly love to do, educate and mentor residents.
Home town: Born: LaMesa, CA. Home is Colorado.
Residency stats: I don't really have any stats. One of my main functions with the residents other than the regular hospital call and clinic supervision duties is to teach endoscopy. Since this is the "stats" section I will estimate that I have performed well over 1,000 colonoscopies and 1,000 EGD's over the years which would include my own residency training, private practice, and supervision as a faculty member at Via Christi. Writer and Editor of the residency newsletter, \\\"The Bigger Dog.\\\"