Current Residents
Here is a random sampling of residents from each class. If you want to see more residents from a particular class, click on the appropriate link. The year indicated is the year the resident will finish residency.
2009 Residents | 2010 Residents | 2011 Residents | 2012 Residents | Fellows
Casana Siebert - 2009 Resident
I am a small town Kansas girl who swore forever that I'd get out of Kansas as soon as I could. . . Until I realized that the "underserved populations" that I was working my way through med school to serve were in rural Kansas. I met Jason in medical school. We recently got married, and we are now starting our search for the perfect community to serve after graduation.
Passions: I LOVE spending time with my husband and our two dogs. We go camping, canoeing, and grill out every chance we get. We also enjoy traveling both in the US and internationally. Most recently we honeymooned in Costa Rica. I like cooking and cook books, gardening veggies and flowers (read: playing in the dirt), napping, dancing (esp in the rain), sushi, Thai food, chop sticks, and reading anything fiction.
Favorite Books: Harry Potter series, Lord of the Rings trilogy, Divinci Code, His Dark Materials trilogy, Eragon series. . . (Do you see a trend? I'm on a fantasy kick)
Favorite Quotes: I expect to pass through this world but once; any good thing therefore that I can do, or any kindness that I can show to any fellow creature, let me do it now; let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again. Ettiene De Grellet
After residency plan: Jason and I hope to join a group practice somewhere in the eastern half of Kansas. My passions within medicine include geriatrics and women's health. I am pulled strongly to providing care to the un- and under-insured, so part of the coming year will be spent figuring out logistically how to keep a clinic afloat while still providing care to those who can't really afford it. Good times!
Home town: Pretty Prairie, Kansas
For more 2009 Residents click here.
John Birky - 2010 Resident
I am married to a wonderful woman named Lisa and we just recently had a son (Jude) in July 2009. I grew up in rural Kansas about one hour north of Wichita near Goessel, KS, and Lisa grew up in western KS near Colby. College: Grace University (Omaha) & K-State. Med School: University of Kansas School of Medicine. My life has been shaped by many forces, including growing up in rural Kansas, but I am grateful for many others as well, including spending time overseas in a few developing countries, learning more of what it means to be a follower of Jesus while attending K-State, but I think most of all my parents and the key truth they instilled in me at a young age- that following Jesus above all else will bring a satisfaction far greater than I'll find pursuing the temporary things of this world. That has made all the difference.
Why Via Christi? The residents, the faculty, the opportunities... I could go on. You can come away from this residency ready to do clinic, be a hospitalist, do OB with C-Sections, endoscopy, International Medicine, Sports Medicine, you name it- the opportunities are there for you to pursue. Looking back as a third year resident, I see faculty who have become mentors and residents who have become close friends - more priceless than MasterCard.
Passions: Developing a heart like Jesus (it's a long road...), developing great friendships, playing and listening to great music, reading and discussing truth, watching people come alive when they discover the "openly hidden" treasure of God who became a man. My wife and I also love to travel, and living in a developing country may be in our future...
Favorite Books: So many...but currently I am reading The Jesus I Never Knew, Understand My Muslim People, and "Health The Bible and The Church" by Dan Fountain. I especially enjoy novels set in developing countries, and haven't yet found one quite as good as The Kite Runner.
After residency plan: After graduating, I plan to participate in the newly formed International Family Medicine Fellowship. After that, we will likely practice full-scope family medicine in rural Kansas. The physical and spiritual needs in the developing world tug at my heart however, and we're watching for God's leading, waiting to see what he wants to do with our lives.
Home town: Goessel, KS
Residency stats: All approximations... Vaginal deliveries: about 100. C-Sections: recently passed 50 primary. Forceps: 3-4. Vaccuum: 6-7. Colonscopy: 20-30, EGD: 5-6. LEEP: 3. Stress Treadmill: 1 OB ultrasound: 5-6.
For more 2010 Residents click here.
Jennifer Cheng - 2011 Resident
I was born and raised in Wichita, Kansas. I went to the University of Kansas for undergrad and majored in Psychology. Following graduation from undergrad, I began medical school at Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences. I met my husband in high school and we recently got married (May '08) after dating for 8 years. Lucky me, I had the same last name as him (no relation!) and I didn't have to change my name. Hoorah! He is also an intern and is doing his prelim in Wichita and will be starting Radiology next year in Wichita as well.
Why Via Christi? I did my last two years of medical school in Wichita. Most of my core rotations (such as peds, OB, and medicine) were with Via Christi Family Medicine. I really enjoyed how the program was set up and I liked how involved the faculty was with the program. I liked how there were tons of opportunities for procedures that were always available to anyone. Most importantly, the residents were awesome, very knowledgeable, and were very confident in their skills. I'm not exactly sure what type of practice I wanted to have, but I wanted a program that would provide me the opportunity to learn everything and be confident once I began practice on my own.
Passions: In my spare time, I love to play with my pekingese, Gizmo, cook, go fishing, travel, spend time with the hubby, and spend time with my family.
After residency plan: I am really not sure where I'll end up after residency. Wherever that may be, I'd like to practice full spectrum Family medicine and try to squeeze in couple kids in between!
Home town: Wichita, Kansas
For more 2011 Residents click here.
Katy Liu - 2012 Resident
I was born and studied through fifth grade in Taiwan before moving with my family to Ames, Iowa. Since then I've lived in college towns and, with the continual flux of international students, thought Iowa was more diverse than it really was.
Why Via Christi? An Internal Medicine resident at the University of Iowa strongly recommended the Family Medicine Residency Program at Via Christi because he knew I wanted a hands-on, strong, and well-rounded training for possible future rural or international practice. When I visited Via Christi, the staff and residents were not only friendly, but they conveyed the spiritual support within the residency, as well as the active outreach effort in living their faith in patient care. In a world where the truth and the salvation of Christ are so desperately needed but deemed politically incorrect, how the medical and spiritual worlds merge at Via Christi really attracted me.
Passions: Singing- who needs an iPod when you can sing all day? Traveling- I enjoy experiencing different natural sceneries, visiting various museums. I love meeting different people and seeing the smiles that are brought on by a foreigner's simple greeting in their native tongue. Kids- I'm compelled to smile when I see one. I'm also an amateur reader and photographer learning to walk in others' shoes.
Favorite Books: Knowing God by J.I. Packer; Pursuit of God and Root of the Righteous by A.W. Tozer; Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis; The Holy Spirit by Billy Graham. Tale of Two Cities, The Count of Monte Cristo, Chronicles of Narnia, Lord of the Rings, Sherlock Holmes series, Arsene Lupin series, Agatha Christie series, Chinese martial arts novels by Jin Yong, and comic books such as Detective Conan and One Piece (maybe I shouldn't admit to this, but they are really good).
Favorite Quotes: "You must be the change you wish to see in the world." -Mahatma Gandhi. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." - 1 John 1:9, the Bible. "For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline." - 2 Timothy 1:7
For more 2012 Residents click here.
Kevin Raymer - International Fellow
Undergraduate studies: The University of Kansas, Medical School: The University of Kansas School of Medicine, Married: April 19, 2008 to the beautiful Katie Gee.
Why Via Christi? After visiting quite a few residency programs, I strongly felt the Via Christi would best prepare me to practice as a family medicine physician in an abroad setting. The additional training offered in the International Family Medicine Fellowship will also be invaluable when I serve overseas. In addition to the unparalleled training, the character of the staff and residents is second to none.
Passions: To serve others with what I've been blessed. Spending time with my wife and our family; wilbur, rosko (labradors), scrubs, and amaya (felines). Trailriding, water skiing, camping, hunting, "autoharping," reading, gardening, hop growin', lawn mowin', and the like. Re-watching the 2008 Orange Bowl and the 2008 National Basketball Championship games in the "Rock Chalk Man Cave" (my basement).
Favorite Books: Current fav: John Eldredge's "Walking with God"
Favorite Quotes: "It's our opinions that make us stupid." - Oswald Chambers
After residency plan: I will spend my first post-residency year as a fellow in the Intenational Family Medicine Fellowship. I will then find work in Wichita area until Katie is done with surgery residency. I will be looking to fulfill my loan commitment in an underserved community during that time. We will then likely move to Arizona to fulfill Katie's loan commitment in an underserved community. Once we get through all of that, we plan to overseas to serve as full-time missionaries as soon as our loan commitments are fulfilled. {The above is subject to much change as we learn to follow the will of God.}
Home town: Russell, KS
Residency stats: C-Sections: 77, vaginal deliveries: 132, forcep deliveries: about 6-8, vacuum deliveries: quite a few, colonoscopies: 31, EGDs: 20.