Meet and learn about our new interns!
Class of 2025
Other quotes from our residents
UMKC Family Medicine stood out from the very beginning when I met residents and attendings who showcased empathy and their passion for preventative medicine and patient care. The patients loved their doctor in every clinic I was in from sports medicine to labor and delivery. I knew I wanted these doctors as my mentor as I aspire to be a empathetic and caring family medicine doctor. I knew residency was going to be a tough journey so the people next to you through it are so important. I was excited to be a part of such a nice welcoming group who were all so excited to teach the next generation of medicine.”
Rachel Bentley MD, PGY-1 (Class of 2025)
“UMKC Community & Family Medicine was an easy choice for me for a variety of reasons. First and foremost, what stands out and truly sets this residency apart are the people. University Health is a safety net hospital that provides care to the underserved and innately attracts very mission-based healthcare workers; genuine, salt-of-the-earth type folks. Secondly, I appreciated that it offers the best of both working in an academic institution affiliated with UMKC, while the family medicine residents get to work unopposed at the Lakewood hospital. The program’s award-winning labor and delivery unit, connection with Truman Medical Center’s Level 1 trauma center, and the affiliation with Children’s Mercy Hospital provides a well-rounded learning experience that leaves no gaps in the full breadth of family medicine. Additionally, the population that we serve fully equips residents to be competent and efficient at treating complex patients with consideration of psychosocial, cultural, and economic factors. UMKC Community & Family Medicine is an incredible program with incredible people, and I am confident that I will graduate my training with all the clinical, systems-based knowledge, time-management, and empathy to make me a successful physician, regardless of where I practice!”
Wesley Goodrich, DO, MPH (Class of 2024)
“I choose UMKC because it felt welcoming from the very beginning! Their is a supportive vibe. Everyone here is very helpful. I liked feeling supported in my growth. They want the best for me so I know I can be better than I even expected, personally and professionally. The program had everything I wanted, University based unopposed community program. I’m just so excited to be a part of this legacy!”
Desztini Howard, MD (Class of 2023)
“I have only been a resident a few months now but I have felt incredibly supported and everyone is always willing to help out a new intern. I also love the emphasis on women’s health and OB, as these are big interests of mine as a family medicine physician. Plus Kansas City is a lot of fun and I am very happy to be staying here for three more years as I complete my training”
Carolyn Ward, MD (Class of 2023)
“I chose UMKC FMR due to the complex population Truman Medical Center is known for serving, the high volume of obstetric care experiences, in an unopposed setting, available to all residents and the close proximity to a larger community with a wide variety of social resources available to my patients and my family. I preferred having my pediatrics training at a large-volume children’s hospital where my training would be taken to a higher level and I found this at Children’s Mercy Hospital. I liked that among our faculty we have board certified FM specialists including geriatricians, sports medicine and FM obstetrics and that they regularly participate in our educational training focusing on their area of expertise. I also liked that although Truman Lakewood feels like a community hospital as opposed to an academic center, we are in fact backed by an academic center with adequate specialists to better my education and which allows me to follow my patients medical journeys if they progress to a higher acuity of care than can be completed at Lakewood. We are also backed by research faculty out of UMKC. I would choose this program again as I have found support by my faculty, administration and colleagues and have the ability to choose my own adventure here at Lakewood in a way that has permitted me to follow my hearts interests’ to whatever degree I have the time and energy to pursue.”
Rebecca Aguayo, MD (Advanced Maternal Care Fellow)
“UMKC Family Medicine is truly a unique residency being a primarily Family Medicine staffed, unopposed, university-affiliated, long-standing community program. Residents are encouraged and expected to independently treat patients with the supervision and support of top-tier faculty. The welcoming feeling of the program along with incredible camaraderie of the residents was evident the first time I entered the hospital. Specialists truly treat residents and students as colleagues and are just a hallway away.”
Kevin Gray, MD (Class of 2017, now faculty)