Class of 2014: EM PGY-1
Cullen Averill
Medical school: UT Houston
Arif Azam
Hometown: Irvine, CA
Undergraduate school: University of California, Irvine
Medical school: Saint Louis University School of Medicine
Favorite food: Wings and pizza, I like to keep it classy.
Hobbies: Muay Thai kickboxing, being a beach bum, running, checking my fantasy sports teams on my phone 3-4 times daily.
Favorite TV Shows: Mad Men, South Park, Community, Family Guy.
Why UT-Houston: High volume trauma exposure, amazing faculty, the opportunity to work in the largest medical center in the world, no floor months.
Favorite music: Varies daily, but some artists I like are Trapt, Disturbed, Drowning Pool, Armin van Buuren, Paul van Dyk, Tiesto, Zion I.
If I wasn't a doctor: Realistically - a teacher. Unrealistically - first line left winger for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Adam Blystra
Hometown: Holland, Michigan
Undergraduate school: Hope College, Chemistry and Psychology
Medical school: Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine
EM interests: EMS/Wilderness Medicine/Search and Rescue
Best vacation: Bali, Indonesia
Favorite TV Show: Survivor
Favorite food: Pepperoni Pizza with a cold beer
Hobbies: Hiking, Biking, Snow Skiing, Cooking, Traveling, Photography, my wife and my dogs
If I wasn't a doctor: I would be a national geographic photographer
Daniel Brown
Hometown: Southfield, MI
Undergraduate school: Howard University
Medical school: Wayne State University School of Medicine
Best vacation: 2 weeks extended spring break spent hopping between England, France and Amsterdam
Favorite food: No favorites... I will eat just about anything!
Hobbies: Traveling, spending time out on the water
Why UT-Houston: The program and the city. UT gives the opportunity to be at a Level One trauma center with the high acuity and patient volume. Time at LBJ, a community hospital, provides the advanced disease processes and experience with sick patients I need for my education.
If I wasn't a doctor: Who knows??!! I'd have probably ended up a science teacher/ professor.
Peter Carlson
Hometown: Austin, TX
Undergraduate school: Stanford University
Medical school: Baylor College of Medicine
Best vacation: A week in Sweden to discover my ancestry
Favorite books: The Sound and the Fury, The Great Train Robbery, The Complete Calvin and Hobbes
Favorite food: Prosciutto wrapped steak
Hobbies: Drums, fiction writing, Yoga, travelling
Why UT-Houston: Great exposure and acuity, diverse hospital experience, centered in the largest medical center in the world in the nation's fourth largest city
Best previous job: Football and basketball referee
Favorite music: Anything with a drum beat (other than heavy metal), and you gotta love Motown
If I wasn't a doctor: I'd like to say that I'd be a writer, or personal trainer, or chronicler of the motown movement, but knowing me I probably would have just ended up a chemist.
Michael Carter
Hometown: Greenville, TX
Undergraduate School: Baylor University
Medical School: The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas
EM Interests: EMS/Ultrasound
Best Vacation: This one is a tie between Ireland and Italy.
Favorite TV Program: It's hard to choose between Firefly, 24, or college football.
Favorite Food: Tex-Mex.
Favorite Movie: The Empire Strikes Back
Favorite Books: The Lord of the Rings trilogy
Hobbies: Basketball, Traveling with my wife, Video games, Hanging out with friends, family, and my dog
Why UT Houston: This program presented an excellent opportunity to work at a high acuity center in the world's largest medical center. Further, my wife and I wanted to stay in Texas, and previous experience with Dr. Luber convinced me that he would operate an excellent program.
If I wasn't a doctor: I would be a football coach.
Raymond Cheng
Hometown: Houston
Undergraduate school: Trinity University
Medical school: Texas Tech
EM interests: not sure yet. to be determined
Best vacation: recent honeymoon (hawaiian cruise)
Favorite books: Michael Crichton anything, a song of ice and fire series
Favorite food: delicious kinds
Hobbies: tennis, computer games, reading
I spend my free time...: sleeping, couch surfing
Best previous job: tutoring
Favorite music: classical
If I wasn't a doctor: if it doesn't have to be realistic, a musician
Daniel De Los Santos
Medical school: UT San Antonio Medical school
Carolyn Gardiner
Medical school: UT Houston
Vanessa Garza
Hometown: Houston, TX
Undergraduate school: University of St.Thomas, Biology
Medical school: UT Houston
EM interests: Ultrasound, Disaster Medicine, and International Medicine
Hobbies: Soccer, Dancing, cooking, board games, and watching movies
I spend my free time...: With my family and friends & taking my dogs to the park
Why UT-Houston: Great city, awesome and extremely intelligent faculty, and a lot of diversity
If I wasn't a doctor: I would be a detective or a professional hip hop dancer!
Josh Laird
Hometown: Dallas, Tx
Undergraduate school: University of Texas at Austin, Biomedical Engineering
Medical school: Penn State College of Medicine
Favorite books: If Dr. Luber is reading this…Tintinalli’s. Otherwise, it’s a toss up between Cat’s Cradle, Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, or Dune.
Favorite food: Tex-mex of course.
I spend my free time...: Watching as much college football as possible. In also like to golf, run, go to bars, meet new people, and travel.
Why UT-Houston: Houston is the fourth largest metropolitan city in the U.S. and we have the only flight program in town. We also have high acuity, down-to-earth residents and attendings, and exposure to a variety of hospitals (academic, county, and community).
Sonali Patel
Hometown: Chicago, IL
Undergraduate school: Illinois Institute of Technology - Molecular Biochemistry and Biophysics
Medical school: Rush Medical College
Best vacation: My trip to Costa Rica before residency started where we white water rafted, rappelled down waterfalls, went horse back riding through the rain forests, went zip lining by a volcano, went on an ATV trip through the rain forest to a waterfall, went surfing, and more!
Favorite food: Mexican Food ( one of the reasons I came to Houston!)
Hobbies: Dancing, cooking, travelling, teaching, spending time with family/friends, shopping, white water rafting, jetskiing, rock climbing, watching Friends and Family Feud
Best previous job: Performing on Carnival cruises
Favorite music: Hip Hop, RnB, and Bollywood
If I wasn't a doctor: I'd be a Performer/Choreographer
Andrew Potter
Hometown: Tulsa,OK
Undergraduate school: Auburn University
Graduate school: university of Texas: Austin
Medical school: UNT
EM interests: Trauma and to be able to manage almost any pt problem.
Best vacation: Europe
Favorite books: Harry Potter
Favorite food: sushi
Hobbies: running, kayaking, football
I spend my free time...: watching college football, going out with friends
Why UT-Houston: Great environment in a great medical center.
Best previous job: lifeguard
Favorite music: OAR, DMB, Frank Sinatra.
If I wasn't a doctor: architect.
Erica Richardson
Medical school: University of California, Davis
Mark Rogers
Medical school: Temple University School of Medicine
Nick Schilling
Hometown: Boerne, TX
Undergraduate school: The University of Texas at Austin (Hook'em)
Medical school: Texas Tech School of Medicine (Get yer' guns up)
EM interests: Ultrasound
Best vacation: Backpacking/Hostel-ing around Spain for 3 weeks post med school graduation
Favorite TV Show: Arrested Developement, Weeds, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Entourage
Favorite food: If I'm hung over, then indian food; If I'm feeling lazy, then Chinese takeout; Most other times, I default to Tex-Mex or Thai food
Hobbies: Mountain biking, rock climbing, exploring the masterpiece that is Houston
If I wasn't a Doctor: I would be trying to get into med school. I guess I never considered anything else... I could be a park ranger, I suppose, and teach fire safety to kids.
Jeff Stowell
Hometown: Gilbert, Arizona
Undergraduate school: Arizona State University
Medical school: The University of Arizona
EM interests: EMS, Academics
Hobbies: Mountain Biking, Golfing, Reading...
I spend my free time...: With my Family
If I wasn't a doctor: I would be a Fire Fighter
Samantha Wu
Hometown: Orlando, FL
Undergraduate school: University of Florida
Medical school: University of Florida
EM interests: international
Best vacation: backpacking through Europe
Favorite food: anything spicy
Hobbies: FOOD, yoga, spending time with friends doing anything, travel
I spend my free time...: catching up on life
Why UT-Houston: exposure to wide variety of patients, lots of trauma, awesome faculty, great city!
Best previous job: tutoring UF football players
Favorite music: anything mainstream, even country
If I wasn't a doctor: I'd be an interior designer