Alison Bonow, MD

Email: bonowal@upmc.edu

Hometown:

St. Charles, MN

Education:

St. Olaf College, BA

University of MN Medical School, MD

Career Plans:

Primary Care.

Reasons for choosing UPMC:

UPMC is the quaternary, university setting I was looking for, with nationally-ranked hospital and subspecialty-areas. Because my interests lie in primary care, I was looking for Med-Peds programs with equally strong Medicine and Pediatrics departments. I was also impressed by the diversity of the experiences available at UPMC: as a resident I will rotate through both community and university hospitals in addition to volunteering at a free clinic; I will also benefit from exposure to the Women's Health and Global Health tracks. Above all, however, I was impressed with the people at UPMC - the leadership at UPMC elevated it in my mind above the other programs that looked great on paper. The program directors in each department are excellent; each one works to make sure that that residents are happy as individuals and as physicians-in-training. The presence of a Med-Peds fellow places emphasis on resident education. And the atmosphere among residents is very supportive. Finally, as a MN-native I appreciate all of the green space and waterfront areas Pittsburgh has to offer. There are hiking trails within the city limits and state parks within 50 miles, so I don't have to travel far to experience the wilderness.

Dorothy Alanna Fink

Email: finkda2@upmc.edu

Hometown:

Johnstown, PA

Education:

Georgetown University, BA

Georgetown University, MD

Career Plans:

I am interested in primary care, public health, and transitional care for survivors of childhood cancer.

Reasons for choosing UPMC:

Since I was not tied down to any area of the country, I was able to keep all of my options open and interviewed north, south, east, and west in search of my dream Med-Peds residency program. It was exciting to find that UPMC had all of the qualities that I desired in a Med-Peds program, including physicians in both medicine and pediatrics who are truly dedicated to the art of physical diagnosis and excellence in teaching. Numerous community and advocacy opportunities in conjunction with a free standing hospital dedicated to children were also extremely important to me. Our Med-Peds Program Director, along with the Medicine and Pediatric Program Directors are all wonderful people and very dedicated to resident education. Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh is an amazing free standing pediatric hospital, while the internal medicine program provides a rich experience in both academic and community hospitals. Given my interest in public health, Community Oriented Resident Education (CORE) makes the program unique and very attractive to me. Also, Pittsburgh is a beautiful city surrounded by rolling green hills and three magnificent rivers.

Andrew McCormick

Email: mccormickaa@upmc.edu

Hometown:

Upper Marlboro, MD

Education:

Grove City College, BS

University of Pittsburgh, MD

Career Plans:

Primary Care underserved vs. International Medicine. I have a strong interest in working within underserved communities on preventative health in the primary care setting and also working overseas in an academic hospitalist setting.

Reasons for choosing UPMC:

As a Pitt med alumnus, I had experienced the excellence of the faculty and also the diverse patient population that we treat. Furthermore, the strength of the two programs speaks for themselves as leaders in there respective fields. But what sealed the deal for me, was the unity and camaraderie of the med/peds residents and faculty. UPMC provides an environment with the resources for a well rounded training as well as the support that makes that process manageable. As for the city of Pittsburgh, I love it. It is a medium size city which makes travel easy but large enough to keep your free time busy with a wide range of activities from outdoors excursions to sporting events to cultural events and plenty of good restaurants. My advice would to give Pittsburgh a try and you will love it too.

Laura Simon, MD

Email: simonlh@upmc.edu

Hometown:

Sudbury, Massachusetts

Education:

University of Chicago, BA

Brown Medical School, MD

Career Plans:

I really enjoy working with special needs populations and one of the reasons that I chose med-peds is my interest in transitional care, working with adolescents who have chronic health care needs and helping them navigate the transition from pediatric to adult medicine. Since I love hospital-based medicine, I've also thought about becoming a med-peds hospitalist or getting into academic med-peds. We'll see where the four years take me!

Reasons for choosing UPMC:

I was looking for a program equally strong in both medicine and peds, with med-peds- trained leadership and a true med-peds identity. When I visited, I was impressed by UPMC's strong commitment to med-peds leadership, education, and resident support. As I explored different programs, I found that med-peds at UPMC uncannily matched my unique interests in medicine, from transitional care to medical literature and the role of humanities in medicine, and all in the setting of program strong in both medicine and pediatrics. However, it was my interactions with the residents and Dr. Kolarik, the program director, that truly sealed the deal for me. There is no one path in med-peds here. My co-residents are passionate about their varied career interests in primary care, international health, underserved populations, and academic medicine, just to name a few. I felt that if I came here, I could really develop my personal interests within med-peds in addition to getting a rock-solid background in medicine and pediatrics.