Welcome to our Incoming Residents!
The American College of Preventive Medicine (ACPM) Standardized Acceptance Process (SAP) match took place on Feb 5 and we are thrilled to introduce our incoming cohort of residents!
Michael Zhao
Michael grew up in South Florida. He attended Rice University and graduated in 2011 with a B.S. in Bioengineering. He then attended UT Southwestern Medical School, followed by two years of family medicine residency. He spent 5 years working for the prison system as a medical director where he has enjoyed not only taking care of inmates’ health issues on a daily basis, but also working with management and security staff to help manage the day to day operations of the prison. His interests include improving quality of care and access to care measures for underserved populations, management of chronic conditions, and studying epidemiological disease trends across populations. He enjoys playing chess, swimming and writing poetry in his free time. He loves spending time with his golden retriever, Royal.
Trevor Cooper
Originally from Oconomowoc, WI, I attended the University of Wisconsin Madison for undergrad, where I studied neurobiology and global health. I took a couple of years off before attending medical school and filled my time with two AmeriCorps service years along with a Master’s in Medical Physiology through MCW. During my service years, I spent my time focusing on community health needs assessments, reproductive health education for middle and high school students, and assisting Wisconsin’s Free and Charitable Clinics. These experiences along with my time in the Wisconsin Academy of Rural Medicine (WARM) program at UWSMPH solidified my enthusiasm for public health, medicine, and health equity. I’ve now completed over a year of residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology and am excited to be transitioning to Preventive Medicine, where I can focus my efforts more broadly on advocacy, public health, and a systems-based approach to better help the communities I plan to serve.
Resident Update: Ayanna Vasquez (PGY-2)
It was a privilege to co-instruct the Population Health 712 class alongside Dr. Parvathy Pillai, the class’s co-instructor and our residency’s associate director. As a co-instructor with the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s School of Medicine and Public Health, I leveraged my experience as a clinician, epidemiologist, and evaluator to illustrate a career path in population health and preventive medicine to 1st-year medical school students. I aimed to highlight relevant preventive medicine and population health themes while stimulating students’ interest in the field. Hosting guest lecturers was a key feature of the class. All of the guest lecturers were lauded University of Wisconsin-Madison faculty and staff who were making local, regional, and international inroads in population health.
For example, we hosted guest lectures by Dr. Amy DeLong, who is a family physician centering Native American health at the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wellness Clinic, by Drs. Cate and Erik Ranheim, a hematologist and a pathologist, respectively, addressing healthcare needs for Madison’s medically underserved population, by Dr. Jonathan Temte, a family physician who uses his clinical and research expertise to advise on vaccine policy with the U.S. Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, and by Dr. Nikki St. Clark, a pediatrician, who is building global health programs that attempt to challenge inequitable power dynamics in traditional international health education as well as provide better supports for medical learners who engage in global health.
Throughout the class, students positively reflected on their future ambitions in population health and commented on their eagerness to incorporate population health principles into their future medical specialty.
For me, the course was equally instructive. Each week, I could reflect on our students’ curiosity, excitement, ambitions, and personally lived experiences shared in their weekly assignments and their classroom discourse.
Dr. Salisbury-Afshar selected for UW Health 2024 Physician Leadership Development Program
Our Program Director, Dr. Elizabeth Salisbury-Afshar, is among 51 physicians selected for the UW Health 2024 Physician Leadership Development Program. Over the course of the year-long program, participants will attend nine courses focused on leading within a culture of trust; resolving conflict; investigating the art of being a great boss; building and leading effective teams; taking part in effective meetings and communications; managing provider performance; understanding influence; and leading and managing strategic change. They will also receive training in how finance works in our health system and work on a group leadership project using A3 thinking.
Scholarship Update
- Ayanna Vasquez (PGY-2): presented the current research she is working on during her rotation with the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (see flyer left)
- Elizabeth Salisbury-Afshar: “Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Prevention of Substance Use Disorders through Socioecological Strategies.”
- Isha Jain (PGY-3) and Elizabeth Salisbury-Afshar: Jain I, Salisbury-Afshar E. “Informing Implementation of Mobile Harm Reduction Units in Rural Wisconsin.” HRSA 2023 Preventive Medicine Annual Stakeholder Meeting. December 6, 2023, held virtually. (Audience- HRSA program officer and managers, preventive medicine residency program grant awardees)
- Dr. Josh Hoffner (UW PMR Fellow, PGY-4): Presenting to the California Epidemiologic Investigation Service Fellows to help them succeed in the program and provide tips to help them with their research project on February 29, 2024
- Dr. Jasmine Zapata (PMR ’18): Featured on PBS Wisconsin for a piece on the impacts of having a preterm birth.