Class of 2020

Brandon Abbott, DO

ATSU Kirksville

Where did you grow up? I spent the first part of my life growing up in Columbus, OH and then most of my childhood in Kansas City. I have developed a passion for Kansas City and am thrilled about the opportunity to complete my residency here.

What are your goals and interests? I am interested in completing my residency and likely doing a sports medicine fellowship. I have a passion for sports and hope to implement this passion of mine into my future practice. My ultimate goal is to be partner in a practice where I take a wide range of patients, as well as athletes, while also providing care for various sports teams.

Best day as a Doctor? My best day as a doctor thus far was probably my first delivery. Being able to work with the mother and the team and bring a new life into the world was truly a remarkable experience for me. I look forward to many more experiences similar to this one that reiterate how wonderful the medical field is.

Why did you choose UMKC for your residency? I chose UMKC for residency because it felt like home to me. Not only because it is Kansas City, but all of the people I interacted with during my time around the program made me feel comfortable and like I belonged. Also UMKC provides top tier training and ample opportunities to gain experiences in sports medicine.

Jessica Braure, MD, PhD

UFR des Sciences Médicales de l’université de Bordeaux

Where did you grow up? Bordeaux, France.

What are your goals and interests? Besides my interest for medicine and science in general, I like drawing to relax, reading, hiking in the Rockies, and gathering my friends or family around a good plate of cheese and wine. I enjoy traveling and discovering new people and ways of life. I am especially amazed by the Japanese culture, gastronomy and language.

My main goal as a doctor and as a person is to make a difference in people’s life when they are sick and fragile. I believe there’s no better way to achieve this goal than being a primary care physician. Family medicine is a specialty that allows a close connection with people from different backgrounds and needs. I am looking forward to having an educational role throughout a person’s life and being able to directly impact population health outcomes.

Best day as a Doctor? During my years of practice in rural areas as a PCP, every time I saw gratitude in my patients’ eyes was honestly a great time to be a doctor. I remember an elderly lady I followed up at some point for chronic back pain. I particularly appreciated being able to coordinate her care leading a team of nurses and physical therapists who were as concerned of her well-being as I was. Working along and communicate with other professionals in order to come up with the more adapted plan for a patient is one of the most enriching aspect of my career.

Why did you choose UMKC for your residency? First of all, interviewing at UMKC Family Medicine was a great experience for me. All faculty and residents were welcoming, friendly and gave me a ton of good advice. I was also amazed by the comprehensive education provided in this program and by the choice in areas of concentration. I have always been interested in palliative care and geriatrics, which are major upcoming challenges for family physicians, as the population is aging. I am confident UMKC will prepare me thoroughly for it, will allow me to research on these subjects.

Matt Hendrix, MD

UMKC

Where did you grow up?

What are your goals and interests?

Best day as a Doctor?

Why did you choose UMKC for your residency?

Christopher Koehn, DO, MBA

Kansas City University

Where did you grow up? Holden, Missouri. It’s a small, rural community southwest of Lee’s Summit.

What are your goals and interests? Every day I hope to develop and gain new skills so that in the future I will be able to provide quality efficient care in a full scope practice. My professional interests include OMM and rural family medicine. My personal interests tend to focus around my family and friends. My wife and I recently purchased our first home. It’s exciting to cross one of our projects off of our to do list, but then we always seem to add two more for every one that’s finished. It’s never-ending, but fulfilling as well.

Best day as a Doctor? There are a lot to choose from; every day that I get the privilege of continuing down this path is a blessing. Anytime that I have had the chance to work with a patient over a period of time and experience not only their improvement in the charts, but also see the patient’s physical improvement, their family’s relief, and the overall improved attitude and outlook that comes with this new lease on life.

Why did you choose UMKC for your residency? During my time with the residents and staff, I felt welcomed and knew that I wanted to be a part of a team that looked at each other as family. I grew up near Kansas City, so I’ve known the environment most of my life, and have family who live close as well. From the beginning, I’ve wanted to be a doctor who serves in their home community, and UMKC will help me to establish a strong foundation to do just that. It seems like fate that everything I had been looking for in a program was in my own backyard the whole time!

Andrew Kwan, MD, MBA

University of Kansas

Where did you grow up? I am from Lawrence, KS by way of Malaysia and Michigan.

What are your goals and interests? I love getting to know and seeing patients in clinic. I also enjoy the challenge and complexity of hospitalized patients. Ideally my future practice will be comprised of a combination of both inpatient and outpatient medicine.

Best day as a Doctor? Every time a patient tells me they want to stop smoking or need help with getting healthier (improving diet, getting active, etc.). Also when we figure out a difficult medical mystery.

Why did you choose UMKC for your residency? The people. Everybody I met was kind, smart and humble. Being a former engineer, I appreciated the technological focus in the curriculum (EHR, POC U/S). I felt UMKC would provide the best and most rigorous training. Also one of my heroes graduated from the program!

LiYin Lan, DO, MBA

Kansas City University

Where did you grow up? I grew up in Orange County, California with three brothers, one sister, and three cousins. It was a riot.

What are your goals and interests? My goal is to open my own direct primary care practice back in California. My interests are women’s health, international medicine, alternative medicine, and healthcare reform.

Best day as a Doctor? My goal is to open my own direct primary care practice back in California. My interests are women’s health, international medicine, alternative medicine, and healthcare reform.

Why did you choose UMKC for your residency? UMKC has a great reputation in the area and I was impressed with the resources available to the residents. I liked that it was an unopposed program that served urban and rural communities and was still near a metropolitan area.

Nichole Lee, MD

University of Virginia

Where did you grow up? Holmdel, New Jersey.

What are your goals and interests? Within medicine, I hope to become a well-rounded family physician, who is able to provide patients with not only the highest quality of care, but also compassion and understanding. I am particularly interested in obstetrics, women’s health and working with underserved populations. I love that family medicine affords me so many opportunities and options for future practice - I would love to be practicing true full-spectrum medicine some day!

Outside of medicine, I am passionate about animals and animal welfare. I spend most of my free time volunteering at the local animal shelter. I am especially interested in animal behavior and training. I also love spending time playing with my two rescue rats, Elfriede (Elfie for short) and Runa. I also love spending time hiking with my fiancé.

Best day as a Doctor? To be determined!

Why did you choose UMKC for your residency? I was looking for a residency program with strong training in internal medicine and obstetrics, in an unopposed, community setting, preferably with the resources of a larger academic affiliation, and UMKC fits all those criteria! My fiancé and I also visited Kansas City to attend the AAFP conference, and we were both very impressed by the area!

Bhavishya Narotam, DO

Kansas City University

Where did you grow up? I am originally from South Africa but my family immigrated to North America when I was three years old to provide us with better education opportunities. After living in Tucson, Arizona for a year, we relocated to Winnipeg, Manitoba in Canada where I spent much of my early childhood. My family and I returned to USA when I was ten years old and we lived in Omaha, Nebraska for eight years. Our most recent move was to Terre Haute, Indiana, where I graduated from high school. I attended Loyola University Chicago for undergraduate and was accepted to Kansas City University for medical school. I have spent the past few months at home in Indiana, but I am delighted to be moving back to Kansas City for Residency!

What are your goals and interests? My interests are women’s health and LGBTQ healthcare. Since high school and through college, I have become more aware of the challenges these communities face when it comes to accessible quality healthcare and I was inspired to become a physician to provide comprehensive care to women and underserved populations.

Best day as a Doctor? My best day as a doctor was the first time I scrubbed in for a Cesarean section during my third year clinical rotation. This was also the first delivery in which I had participated. The delivery went well, with no complications. I was honored to have had the privilege of witnessing and participating in the birth of a new person. This experience reinforced my goal to provide optimal maternity care and ensuring excellent women’s health, which are key components of every community.

Why did you choose UMKC for your residency? I chose UMKC Family Medicine for Residency because it is a university-affiliated community based program with a strong obstetrics focus, located in Kansas City. I completed a rotation at UMKC as a 4th year med student and I was impressed with the team environment and friendly atmosphere among the Residents, faculty and staff. The UMKC Family Medicine Residency will equip me with the necessary skills to provide excellent medical treatment options and preventative care in my practice of women's health. It will also enable me to empower patients through empathy, supportive care and education, which would serve to ultimately foster a positive change in the health and overall well-being of my patients and the community.

Hong Nguyen, MD

University of Kansas

Where did you grow up? Salina, KS.

What are your goals and interests? To grow in my clinial knowledge and develop a greater confidence in my medical judgement. I am interested in all aspects of medicine but have some affinity towards sports medicine.

Best day as a Doctor? I once had an elderly patient that had not been to the doctor for decades. That same day this person came in, through different tests ordered, we diagnosed that patient with terminal cancer. It was a very sad moment but also gratifying to know that I played a part in diagnosing it and was able to help this person be comfortable in the time he/she had left. It was one of my great fears going into medicine: coming to the realization that their was nothing left to do for a particular patient and facing the social and psychological aspects of their well-being in their final days. My experience with this patient helped me mature in my outlook of medicine.

Why did you choose UMKC for your residency? I appreciated the emphasis on being a well-rounded physician.

Holly Perkins, MD

Creighton

Where did you grow up? I grew up in Williamsburg, VA.

What are your goals and interests? In the field of medicine, having been an athlete my whole life, I’m very interested in sports medicine as well as women’s health. Outside of medicine I love to be active and outside, and am looking forward to exploring all new sights and food of Kansas City with my husband Bryan, an orthopedic surgery resident at UMKC!

Best day as a Doctor? Well, I’m not a doctor yet, but some of my best experiences as a medical student were on my rural family medicine rotation in Superior, NE, where I really got to connect with patients and develop relationships.

Why did you choose UMKC for your residency? UMKC offered me the kinds of opportunities and training I was looking for – a strong, well-rounded experience that would prepare to be a full-scope family medicine doc in the Navy, as well as opportunities to pursue my own interests in sports medicine and women’s’ health. Additionally, UMKC took both my husband Bryan and I so we were able to couples match here and are excited to begin a new chapter in Kansas City!

Steven Taki, MD

University of Washington SOM

Where did you grow up? I grew up on Mercer Island, WA which is a suburb of Seattle and stayed around there pretty much my entire life. My parents and siblings moved over to Keller, TX immediately prior to when I started medical school, so now I spend most of my vacations and holidays down in Texas.

What are your goals and interests? My goal is to provide full-spectrum, comprehensive care to my patients throughout their entire lives from birth to death. My interests include OB, pediatrics, medical education, and technology. There are also many problems with our current health care system and I hope to be an active part of the solution. Outside of medicine, I enjoy playing board games, spending time with friends, discussing politics, improving my computer programming skills and growing in my Christian faith.

Best day as a Doctor? My best days as a doctor are whenever I get to take care of entire families.

Why did you choose UMKC for your residency? I chose UMKC because I knew it would prepare me for whatever situation or patient I may encounter whether in a small rural or a large urban community. I was also impressed with the residency’s strong OB training as well as their Health Informatics Area of Concentration.

Joshua, MD

UMKC

Where did you grow up? I grew up in Bloomington, Minnesota spending my summers biking the city and the winters snowboarding at Hyland Ski Area. I did my undergraduate and medical school at UMKC in their 6-year program and love having Kansas City as my home!

What are your goals and interests? My goal is to become a versatile family physician and provide compassionate care for my patients’ body, mind, and soul and to teach other health care providers to do this as well. My interests include international medical missions, public health, medical education, and behavioral medicine. In my free time, I enjoy being outside running, biking, and snowboarding, playing music, travelling, spending time with friends and family, and eating Kansas City barbeque.

Best day as a Doctor? The most rewarding aspect of being a doctor is having the privilege of teaching patients. Taking the time to explain to patients what is happening and empowering them to take charge of their health is incredibly rewarding. Whether that’s explaining what an A1C is or celebrating a patient’s first day cigarette free, I love walking with my patients on their journey to live a fulfilled, healthy life.

Why did you choose UMKC for your residency? I chose UMKC because it is a well-balanced program that is excellent in several ways. Most importantly, the residents, faculty, and staff are the kind of people I want to emulate. They passionately serve their patients and each other. When I spent time at Lakewood as a student, faculty were teaching the residents every day and truly taking responsibility for their role as a teacher. Second, the program emphasizes servant leadership which I strongly believe makes for a healthy, encouraging, atmosphere to train in. Third, I wanted to stay in Kansas City. It is a vibrant and comfortable place to live with everything you could want in a city without feeling crowded. It is filled with some of the best people you’ll meet!

Brandon Abbott, DO ATSU Kirksville	Jessica Braure, MD, PhD UFR des Sciences Médicales de l’université de Bordeaux	Matt Hendrix, MD UMKC
Christopher Koehn, DO, MBA Kansas City University	Andrew Kwan, MD, MBA University of Kansas	LiYin Lan, DO, MBA Kansas City University
Nichole Lee, MD University of Virginia	Bhavishya Narotam, DO Kansas City University	Hong Nguyen, MD University of Kansas
Holly Perkins, MD Creighton	Steven Taki, MD University of Washington SOM	Joshua Williams, MD UMKC

Community & Family Medicine

(select each resident to read their bio)

Class of 2021

Class of 2022

Class of 2023

Class of 2024