Current Residents
RES-5 | RES-4 | RES-3 | RES-2 | RES-1 | Preliminary Residents | Research Lab Residents - PGY-2
RES-5
Megan Gross
What do you enjoy in your free time? Hiking, Backpacking, Making Pasta, and Sleeping
What are your career goals? Trauma or Transplant
Why did you choose UTHSC for your residency? For the operative experience and volume.
Maria Knaus
What do you enjoy in your free time? Play with my dogs and eat good food
What are your career goals? To become a pediatric surgeon and also the surgeon that other surgeons send their family to.
Why did you choose UTHSC for your residency? The wide breadth of experience residents get as part of their training and the patient population.
Devanshi Patel
What do you enjoy in your free time? Playing soccer, running, and being outside. Love to have friends over for dinners or backyard bonfire nights.
What are your career goals? I would like to pursue a path that would involve having a general practice with a focus on upper GI surgery.
Why did you choose UTHSC for your residency? The program at UT provides a lot of diversity in training. I wanted to be in a situation where I was confident leaving as a well rounded surgeon. The residents and faculty are also very supportive and genuinely look out for one another.
Maddison Porter
What do you enjoy in your free time? I enjoy running, wine tasting, and spending time with family and friends
What are your career goals? I wish to become a technically competent surgeon dedicated to serving my community
Why did you choose UTHSC for your residency? I chose UTHSC because I wanted a strong foundation in trauma and academic surgery. I was attracted to the cultural emphasis on work ethic, self-improvement, and dedication to the underserved of Memphis.
Aubrey Schachter
What do you enjoy in your free time? I love to take my dog to Shelby Farms Dog Park, try out new restaurants and bars in Memphis, and spend time with my co-residents! I am also learning to restore my Midtown home, and I always have a few projects going on.
Why did you choose UTHSC for your residency? I rotated at UTHSC as a medical student and got a great feel for the resident camaraderie. I also saw the experiences and opportunities residents have to both learn to manage patient care and to get into the operating room. Faculty and senior residents are supportive and eager to teach, and I felt welcome as a student.
Joseph Slaughter
What do you enjoy in your free time? Spending time with my family, working out, and reading.
What are your career goals? Academic Colorectal Surgery or Surgical Oncology.
Why did you choose UTHSC for your residency? I wanted to train at an old academic center with a rich history in surgery. UTHSC grants surgery residents access to all the competitive specialties and the appropriate mentorship to ensure a strong fellowship match. More importantly, the high case volumes, unique population, and autonomy in Memphis produces skilled surgeons.
Floyd Wilks, Jr.
What do you enjoy in your free time? I enjoy traveling to different countries, trying new foods, and cooking different recipes.
What are your career goals? Completion of General surgery training and pursuit of a fellowship in surgery, currently choosing which specialty. I have interest in surgical critical care, plastic surgery, and MIS.
Why did you choose UTHSC for your residency? UTHSC provides amazing surgical training with wide variety of cases and patients. Coming from an institution where treating the under resourced was a major part of the mission, UTHSC provides an opportunity to give back to that community during my surgical training.
Michael Wright
What do you enjoy in your free time? Cycling, Tennis, Grilling
What are your career goals? Colon and Rectal Surgery
Why did you choose UTHSC for your residency? For an intense and comprehensive training experience so that I could become a competent surgeon.
RES-4
Ladd Caballero
What do you enjoy in your free time? Playing piano/keyboard with my band, video games, eating
What are your career goals? Vascular surgery or MIS
Why did you choose UTHSC for your residency? Close to home and family, well rounded residents and faculty who constantly push you to improve, growing/evolving
Linnea Cripe
What do you enjoy in your free time? Cycling, running, visiting breweries, buying too many house plants
What are your career goals? Surgical Oncology, Breast Surgery. Still working it out!
Why did you choose UTHSC for your residency? Great training, good mentorship
Andrew Fleming
What do you enjoy in your free time? In my free time, I enjoy rock climbing, music composition, reading history, cooking, running, and spending time with my wife, Hannah, and our son, Irvin. We have one cat, Hoshino.
What are your career goals? My first career goal is to be a safe and effective surgeon. After completing residency, I plan to pursue fellowship training in complex general surgical oncology in support of my second career goal of academic surgical oncology.
Why did you choose UTHSC for your residency? I chose UTHSC for my surgical training given the high operative volume, the emphasis on surgical critical care, and the high acuity of the pathologies we treat in Memphis. The UTHSC department of surgery offered the clinical autonomy and academic resources I need to support my career goals, and the comradery and confidence of the UTHSC surgery residents are something I looked up to during my medical school years.
Lillian Malach
What do you enjoy in your free time? Being outside, painting, and binging the most recent tv shows
What are your career goals? Surgical Critical care, general surgery, ACS
Why did you choose UTHSC for your residency? The variety of experiences and excellent training which prepares the residents for any fellowship or general practice they desire
Brenden Sheridan
What do you enjoy in your free time? Working out, Video games
What are your career goals? Trauma/Surgical Critical Care
Why did you choose UTHSC for your residency? Academics, research, and fellowship opportunities
Kaushik Varadarajan
What do you enjoy in your free time? Cooking, Watching and playing basketball, Video games
What are your career goals? Career goal is to be a surgical oncologist at an academic institution and to work with medical students and residents
Why did you choose UTHSC for your residency? I chose UTHSC because of the chance to work in a new environment but with a similar patient population and diverse pathology and strong support for residents to pursue any career avenue.
Tari-Ann “Tariana” Yates
What do you enjoy in your free time? Church, hanging out with family, friends, and my dog Ms. Yola Baby, dancing , listening to music, and chilling.
What are your career goals? To be a solid, safe, and humble academic surgeon.
Why did you choose UTHSC for your residency? It is a strong operative program lead by great leadership and residents.
RES-3
Samantha Brashier
What do you enjoy in your free time? Spending time with my family, running, and listening to true crime podcasts.
What are your career goals? My career goals at this point in my training are simply to learn how to be a good physician and surgeon.
Why did you choose UTHSC for your residency? I chose to stay at UTHSC for residency due to my time here as a medical student. I wanted a residency with high operative volume with exposure to all surgical fields, diverse patient population, and residents/attendings I “fit” with – UTHSC checked all of those boxes for me.
José González Gutiérrez
What do you enjoy in your free time? I like traveling whenever possible, running and playing soccer, deep cleaning my apartment, and watching new shows and movies.
What are your career goals?
Completion of general surgery and pursuit of a fellowship, become an academic surgeon in a place where I can be teaching and sharing my experience.
Why did you choose UTHSC for your residency?
Outstanding surgical training with a wide variety of cases and patients, great mentorship opportunities, and involvement in an academic center will provide the foundation for my future career.
Samantha Adrianna Kassner
What do you enjoy in your free time? Working out, biking, scuba diving
What are your career goals? I am interested in minimally invasive and bariatric surgery
Why did you choose UTHSC for your residency? I was most attracted to the apparent camaraderie between residents during interview day/social night, as well as the strong emphasis placed on generating well-rounded surgeons that are comfortable operating independently by the time they are finished with residency at UTHSC.
Morgan Lynch
What do you enjoy in your free time: Reading, writing, films, fitness, and midnight snacks.
What are your career goals? Undecided! Interested in general, trauma, and colorectal surgery.
Why did you choose UTHSC for your residency? Excellent scope of training, great trauma exposure, and cool people.
Logan Meyer
What do you enjoy in your free time? Cross stitch, crossword puzzles, finding new restaurants, finding good banana pudding
What are your career goals? Don’t quite know yet
Why did you choose UTHSC for your residency? Depth and breadth of experiences. Amazing faculty and fellow residents
Meredith Perkins
What do you enjoy in your free time?Boating, cooking, trying new restaurants/breweries, exercising
What are your career goals? Interested in trauma
Why did you choose UTHSC for your residency? I’m a born and raised Memphian and I want to continue to serve my city throughout my surgical training
Jennifer Schadt
What do you enjoy in your free time? : I enjoy being active- running, rock climbing, hiking, & slacklining- and creative- knitting, painting, & embroidery- and just relaxing with a good book or tv show
What are your career goals? : I am undecided on a subspecialty, but I would like to be involved in global surgery, and would like to integrate narrative medicine and bioethics work throughout my career
Why did you choose UTHSC for your residency? : Mostly because it was the interview day I enjoyed the most, I felt really great vibes from everyone I met!
RES-2
Jenna Davis
Medical School: University of Miami
What do you enjoy in your free time? Anything outdoors!
What are your career goals? Academic surgery, Surgical oncology
Why did you choose UTHSC for your residency? History of success in fellowship matches while also having a great breadth of experience
in general surgery. My partner is also from Memphis, and we were lucky enough to couples
match here!
Calvin Jung
Medical School: Mercer University School of Medicine - Macon Campus
What do you enjoy in your free time? Spending time with my fiancée and our orange tabby. Cheering for the Georgia Bulldogs.
What are your career goals? General surgery or Cardiac surgery
Why did you choose UTHSC for your residency? Broad exposure and excellent training.
Erin Koffman
Medical School: University of Toledo
What do you enjoy in your free time? finding new walking/ running trails
What are your career goals? For now, to be a teachable resident and a humanistic doctor. Eventually: to be involved
in global surgery.
Why did you choose UTHSC for your residency? I was looking for a program with high volume trauma, high complexity, and a group
of residents who genuinely liked to be around each other. Luckily all of that has
come true!
Emma Levine
What do you enjoy in your free time? Baking, cooking, reading dystopias, pelotoning, outdoor activites
What are your career goals? I'm currently leaning towards pediatric surgery, but am keeping an open mind. I know I want to be involved in global surgery! My research interests fall in the cross between our diabetic patients and surgical care
Why did you choose UTHSC for your residency? The minute I interviewed here I knew this was going to be the right spot. I could feel the support from attendings and within the residents. I felt that life outside the hospital was encouraged and celebrated while being somewhere with top notch pediatric surgery and trauma surgery training.
Jordan Pringle
Medical School: Mercer University School of Medicine
What do you enjoy doing in your free time? Working out, running outdoors, watching football and soccer
What are your career goals? Private practice on the gulf coast of Florida
Why did you choose UTHSC for your residency? Good case numbers with early operative experience
Miranda Taggart
Medical School: University of Texas Medical Branch
What do you enjoy in your free time? Long walks, dancing to live music, spicy food, sunshine
What are your career goals? private practice general surgery with academic outreach, global surgery
Why did you choose UTHSC for your residency? High volume operative trauma, good vibes, culturally rich city with a lot of need
Bennett Thomas
Medical School: LSU Shreveport
What do you enjoy in your free time?I enjoy running, biking, hiking, exploring new national parks, and spending time with
friends and family.
What are your career goals? Still undecided
Why did you choose UTHSC for your residency? I did an away rotation here and really enjoyed how well the residents got along. I
saw that the residents here were able to match into great fellowships or graduate
and go directly into practice.
RES-1
Kye Bellu
Medical School: William Carey University
What do you enjoy in your free time: Running, Hiking and Kayaking. Home Improvement/DIY projects, Landscaping and Gardening.
What are your career goals: Currently undecided but I want to be a Surgeon Leader and be involved in mentoring
and teaching no matter what I eventually choose.
Why did you choose UTHSC for your residency: The institution serves a very underserved population which was important to me. The
unique demographic of Memphis combined with the brilliant residents and faculty here
offers a unique training experience that consistently produces fantastic surgeons
in all fields.
Julia Firnhaber
Medical School: ECU Brody School of Medicine
What do you enjoy in your free time? Taking my dog Lolly on walks in the park, trying new restaurants, spending time with
family and friends
What are your career goals? I’m currently interested in Plastic Surgery but I’m excited to get to experience
the wide variety of surgical specialties during residencies so still undecided.
Why did you choose UTHSC for your residency? The palpable camaraderie during interviews in addition to the wide breadth of training!
Jonathan "Chance" Fox
Medical School: Washington University in St Louis
What do you enjoy in your free time? Running, soccer, basketball, playing piano, and hanging out with my family
What are your career goals? General surgery, trauma/critical care, and global surgical work
Why did you choose UTHSC for your residency? Fantastic clinical training, diversity of training sites, presence of both academic
and community opportunities, and immense trauma experience.
Philip Morgan
Medical School: UTHSC
What do you enjoy in your free time? Getting outdoors with my friends and family, grilling in the backyard, and live music.
What are your career goals? I am excited to explore the breadth of general surgery during residency. I am highly
interested in trauma/SCC and thoracic surgery.
Why did you choose UTHSC for your residency? From my clinical experience here in medical school, I knew I would have excellent
training and mentorship. The exposure to trauma and critical care is second to none.
The resident culture is supportive, and it was clear to me that hard work and accountability
are truly valued here.
Mariah Perkins
Medical School: Texas Tech University HSC EP Foster School of Medicine
What do you enjoy in your free time? Exploring, cooking, traveling, self-caring activities
What are your career goals Pediatric Surgery or Surgical Oncology or wherever my heart takes me.
Why did you choose UTHSC for your residency? Great program with wide range of services and hospital experiences. Also helping a
community that is underserved and under resourced.
Imani Sweatt
Medical School: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
What do you enjoy in your free time? Collecting records, reading, yoga
What are your career goals? To become an effective and technically excellent surgeon. In terms of specialty, I
am currently undecided.
Why did you choose UTHSC for your residency? High operative volume, intense trauma/critical care experience, clinical autonomy,
and opportunity to serve a diverse patient population.
John Worthen
Medical School: University of Tennessee HSC
What do you enjoy in your free time? Watching TV and cooking dinner with my fiancée, cycling, weightlifting, computer
programming
What are your career goals? General Surgery/Surgical Critical Care
Why did you choose UTHSC for your residency? I wanted to train at a high-volume program that could prepare me for any career
pathway in general surgery.
Carmen Zaldivar
Medical School: University of Arizona- Tucson
What do you enjoy in your free time? Hot Yoga, thrifting and sewing
What are your career goals? Trauma Surgery
Why did you choose UTHSC for your residency? For its Trauma center, the population it serves and faculty
Preliminary Residents
Sabrina Aaron
Medical School: Howard University College of Medicine, Washington DC
What do you enjoy in your free time: In my free time I love to obsess over my plants, learn tennis, and try new restaurants!
What are your career goals: Trauma Surgery
Why did you choose UTHSC for your residency: UTHSC exposes residents to a wide breadth of operative cases and allows the residents
autonomy appropriate for our training levels from the very first day. The program
also serves a diverse patient population, which is extremely important to me.
Timothy Davis
Medical School: Texas A&M College of Medicine
Free time: Spending time with my wife, playing video games with my friends, building computers,
collecting LEGOs
Career Goals: Either straight to general surgery or maybe MIS, Bariatrics, or Colorectal
Why UTHSC: While interviewing I had a wonderful conversation with Dr. Feliz where he discussed
his educational philosophy. That conversation told me all I needed to know about the
quality of the education, excellent resident comradery, and multiple professional
opportunities at UTHSC. I am excited to be able to contribute to this community.
Shaina Huda
Medical School: Lincoln Memorial University DeBusk College of Osteopathic Medicine
What do you enjoy in your free time? I love trying new restaurants, walking in Shelby Farms, and exploring Memphis!
What are your career goals? Trauma Surgery
Why did you choose UTHSC for your residency? I chose UTHSC because of its high volume and variety of cases of different acuity
levels. This combined with the supportive and inviting environment created by everyone
is truly meant for you to succeed.
Marco Martinez Cruz
Medical School: McGovern at UTHealth Houston
What do you enjoy in your free time? Fly fishing, strength training, and malacology!
What are your career goals? A healthy mix of research, academics, trauma, and critical care.
Why did you choose UTHSC for your residency? Excellent program, great faculty, and at one of the most diverse and vibrant cities
in America!
Research Lab Residents - PGY-2
Daniel Gehle
Research Site: St. Jude Children's Hospital
What do you enjoy in your free time? Hosting coresidents and friends for meals and games, spending time with my wife and daughter, soccer, tennis, watching basketball, exploring the Memphis restaurant and brewery scene
What are your career goals? Pediatric surgery
Why did you choose UTHSC for your residency? Large, busy program with early and high-volume operative experience, excellent pediatric surgery exposure, and collegial culture.
Kevin Lang
Research Lab: UT Health Science Center Pediatric and Adult Trauma Clinical Research Fellowship
Medical School: Creighton University School of Medicine
What do you do for fun: Running, triathlon training, spending time with friends
What are your career goals: Trauma, surgical critical care
Why did you choose UTHSC for residency: Excellent trauma exposure, broad surgical training, opportunity to serve this community
Julia Pedo Freitas
Research Site: UTHSC Cancer Research Building (Dr. Shibata’s Lab)
What do you enjoy in your free time? Hiking, rock climbing, going to breweries, playing with my cats, board games with friends
What are your career goals? Currently undecided, considering surgical oncology, breast or trauma
Why did you choose UTHSC for your residency? I wanted a program where I would feel prepared to practice independently as a general surgeon without needing a fellowship if I decided to do so, while also providing an academic setting with the opportunity for research. Also the opportunity to train at one of the busiest trauma centers in the country!
Jessica Pollack
Research Site:University of Pennsylvania and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
What do you enjoy in your free time? Cooking, indoor cycling, hiking
What are your career goals? Pediatric surgery
Why did you choose UTHSC for your residency? Excellent pediatric surgery department, operative experience
Michael Spinrad
Research Site: UT Health Science Center Cancer Research Building
(Dr. Glazer’s Lab)
What do you enjoy in your free time? Skiing, hiking, rock climbing, reading, boardgames, video games, oh and skiing.
What are your career goals? My current interest is in surgical oncology and HPB pathologies.
Why did you choose UTHSC for your residency? UTHSC has a great reputation for training skilled surgeons that get tremendous exposure to trauma and critical care, which is an excellent foundation to have for any surgeon. There's also plenty of opportunities for mentorship form surgeons the generally care about your education and will invest in your future.