UMN Medical Center Residents

Stefania Baccino, MD

Medical school: Universidad de la República - Facultad de Medicina
Medical interests: Women's health, obstetrics, procedural and preventative medicine
Personal interests: Biking, going to the park with my dog, gardening, sewing
Why the Twin Cities: The big city vibe for its relatively small size, reminiscent of my hometown in Uruguay. It also has a lot of outdoor activities to enjoy during the warm weather, including great dog parks.
Why UMN Medical Center: I applied because I was interested in working with a diverse patient population in a University environment, but what ultimately won me over were the warm residents, faculty and staff I met during the interview season.

Kathryn (Katie) Barta, MD

Medical school: Creighton University School of Medicine
Medical interests: Procedural women's health and adolescent medicine
Personal interests: Kayaking, cross country skiing, gardening, and tennis. I also enjoy eating and occasionally cooking, petting my cat, painting and crafting.
Why the Twin Cities: Nothing beats the Twin Cities' park system.
Why UMN Medical Center: I did an away rotation at Smiley's and was blown away by the atmosphere here. Everyone treats everyone like family, patients/student/residents/staff/attendings/etc. I had never experienced such an open, friendly and community-centered program, and I couldn't wait to be a part of it!

Morgan Buda, MD

Medical school: East Tennessee State University Quillen College of Medicine
Medical interests: LGBTQ health, addiction medicine, and women's health
Personal interests: Traveling, hiking, biking, and exploring with my partner and our pets. I enjoy staying active, especially playing basketball and flag football, skiing, and taking advantage of the hiking trails around the city.
Why UMN Medical Center: This program is a well-rounded Family Medicine program that gives me the opportunity to pursue my passions in medicine. UMMC embraces diversity and focuses on patient-centered care. I also fell in love with the Twin Cities and the diversity here!

Charlie Goebel, MD

Medical school: Creighton University School of Medicine
Medical interests: Urban outpatient medicine with a focus on HIV Primary Care, LGBTQ health care, nutrition, and preventive medicine
Personal interests: Tennis, biking, kayaking, canoeing, cooking, eating, and hanging out with my cat.
Why the Twin Cities: I love the culture, food, and outdoors options here. 
Why UMN Medical Center: What drew me to Smiley's was the faculty and their open-minded, creative approaches to patient care. I also wanted a program with a diverse patient population, and good academic opportunities.

Vivian Liu, MD 

Medical school: St. George's University
Medical interests: Sexual health, LGBTQ healthcare, reproductive health, nutrition and culinary medicine, HIV primary care
Personal interests: Craft beer brewing and tasting, cooking, culinary medicine, exploring the outdoors
Why the Twin Cities: The nature, fresh air, and very friendly people. It feels like home!
Why UMN Medical Center: Its reputation as an academically rigorous and well-rounded family medicine program. More importantly, I experienced the culture of medicine here during the interview process and was touched by the collective spirit, camaraderie, and shared dedication of the program to issues of justice and health access for all, with special focus on populations such as the immigrant and LGBTQ communities.

Kristin Schwacha, DO 

Medical school: Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine
Medical interests: Reproductive health, LGBT care, osteopathic manipulative medicine
Personal interests: Hiking, yoga, history, visiting museums
Why the Twin Cities: I love how much hiking there is to do around the Twin Cities, the art scene, and the political engagement of its people.
Why UMN Medical Center: The UMMC's commitment to LGBTQ-inclusive primary care, reproductive health, and warm and friendly environment.

Julie Amaon, MD

Medical school: American University of Antigua
Medical interests: Sexual health, reproductive health
Personal interests: Reading, yoga, hiking, listening to live music, cooking
Why the Twin Cities: I love the live music scene, the farmers markets, foodie scene, outdoor activities, and friendly people. I'm scared to death of the winter as I'm from Texas, but I'm ready to learn the tricks of the trade to surviving it.
Why UMN Medical Center: I was looking for an academic-based program that was exceptional at training family medicine residents.
Career goals: I hope to provide sexual and full spectrum reproductive healthcare with openness and compassion in an underserved area.

Temur Chowdhury, MD

Medical school: Shandong University, School of Medicine
Why the Twin Cities: The atmosphere in Minnesota is incredible. When I visited Minnesota, I truly felt welcomed. Although Minneapolis is a metropolitan city, it still has a small town feel which allows for a sense of intimacy you can appreciate with a new location. Apart from the winters (from what I have been told), it is a beautiful and well maintained city where we become forced to step outside on a day off from work. Great way to remain active given the extensive bicycle trails.
Personal interests: Outdoor activities, cooking, exercising, car mechanics (enthusiast), sports (basketball and soccer).
Career goals: Genuinely become a well-rounded physician with a wide range of training extending from pediatric care to geriatric care. I enjoy creating an extensive relationship with patients to be able to truly make a difference in their life. I want to educate the community one patient at a time. 

Alysse Cruz, MD

Medical school: Ohio State University
Medical interests: LGTBQ Healthcare, full spectrum women’s health, Native American health, hospice and palliative care, adolescent medicine, rural primary care.
Personal interests: Special effects makeup/face painting, cupcake decorating, and candy making.
Why the Twin Cities: This community is filled with the beautiful diversity of Minnesota and multitude of art forms. The Twin Cities also happens to have some of the nicest professional sports fans in all the nation (Go Twins!). And most of all, even though you’re immersed in the city, the outdoors life is still very much a part of the area, be it spending the day on a lake or biking the many miles of trails.
Why UMN Medical Center: It has an outstanding reputation for full spectrum training in a diverse city. Being a native of Minnesota, I knew of the strength of family medicine training in the Midwest, particularly Minnesota. Additionally, the program provided several areas of deeper training, including LGBTQ and women's health.
Career goals: As fairly common among those in family medicine, I have a spectrum of interest. First and foremost is providing for the underserved. Having grown up in a rural area, I hope to one day go back into a small town community to practice. I also hope to be involved with local schools and the community, providing preventive medicine lectures and health topic discussions.

Kelsey Finn, DO

Medical school: Des Moines University
Medical interests: Full spectrum family medicine, global health, women's health, osteopathic manipulative medicine
Personal interests: I love to do anything outdoors, whether that is hiking, running, swimming, surfing, or stand up paddle boarding. Photography is also important to me as it helps balance my busy world of science with art. I particularly love underwater photography!
Why the Twin Cities: My favorite thing about the Twin Cities is the diversity and culture. I love the wide assortment of food as well as the different music and art events. I am excited to finally live in the Twin Cities because the diversity reminds me of my home, Hawaii.
Why UMN Medical Center: I was drawn to it for many reasons, but the most important being the community of patients, residents, staff, and faculty. I truly felt the entire program's 'ohana was welcoming to anyone and everyone. The diversity that exists here is inspiring.
Career goals: I hope to be a primary care physician in an outpatient setting, providing care to patients in urban, underserved regions. I also hope to incorporate my love of global health into every day practice by caring for immigrants and patients of diverse cultural backgrounds. Women's health is another passion of mine, and I wish to continue be an advocate for women and their health.

Dan Johnson, DO

Medical school: Des Moines University
Medical interests: Preventative medicine, depression, suicide prevention, musculoskeletal medicine, joint injection, office-based procedures.
Personal interests: Fishing, camping, running and watching sports.
Why the Twin Cities: It is such an incredible place to live. The Twin Cities have more opportunities for recreation than any place I have ever lived, and it is a great place to raise a family. Since I love to fish, I especially enjoy having so many lakes and rivers nearby.
Why UMN Medical Center: The people! Everyone from Dr. Adam, Bobbi Kruse, the residents, and clinic staff had an obvious passion for Family Medicine and the program itself.
Career goals: My goal is to become the best family doctor I can! I want to develop a robust outpatient Family Medicine practice, and care for newborns to the elderly. I am very interested in preventing disease through exercise, screening and vaccination.

Joe MacDonald, MD

Medical school: University of Minnesota
Medical interests: Full spectrum family medicine, sports medicine, procedures
Personal interests: Playing and coaching hockey, fishing, camping, hiking
Why the Twin Cities: It's home to me. I love the abundance of outdoor activities, dining options, people, and ability to bike most places.
Why the UMN Medical Center: I had the opportunity to get to know some of the people during the application process and knew that this was where I’d like to continue my training.
Career goals: I have many interests from procedures to preventative care and am excited for the breadth that family medicine can provide.

Mitchell Mock, MD

Medical school: University of Alabama Medical School
Medical interests: Sports medicine, palliative care, behavioral health, and pain/addiction
Personal interests: Spending time with my wife and our fur baby Mango, video games, rugby, yoga, weightlifting, reading, and hiking
Why the UMN Medical Center: The diversity in residents and patients, the challenge of being somewhere new with different cultures than my own, and I love the Smiley’s clinic!
Career goals: I would like to practice in a rural setting and be the big fish in a little pond. From pediatrics to sports medicine, geriatrics, end-of-life care - I love it all.

Justin Penny, DO, MA

Medical school: Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences
Medical interests: LGBT medicine, ethics, HIV care and prevention, medical education
Personal interests: Volleyball, traveling, classical studies, NCAA basketball, fine arts
Why the Twin Cities: I'm excited to explore a new city and discover the hidden gems in the community. I can't wait to discover my favorite restaurants in each food genre and make memories with my new friends and colleagues.
Why UMN Medical Center: The welcoming community that fit my goals and values, in addition to the excellent training opportunities, especially in LGBT primary care and academic medicine.
Career goals: Continue to be involved in patient advocacy at the state and national level. I hope to provide primary care to underserved populations, specifically to the LGBT population, and teach medical students and residents in an academic medicine position.