As their family and friends looked on, 60 resident physicians and three fellows from WMed were honored Friday, June 9, during a  at Western Michigan University's Miller Auditorium.
"This day marks an exceptional achievement signifying (our residents and fellows') dedication to the profession of medicine," said Dr. David T. Overton, the medical school's associate dean for Graduate Medical вÊÍø.
The graduation ceremony drew a large crowd to Miller. The graduates who were honored have spent between one and five years training and sharpening their skills as physicians in Southwest Michigan.
WMed currently has nine residency programs in the specialties of Emergency Medicine, Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, Medicine-Pediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Orthopaedic Surgery, Pediatrics, Psychiatry and General Surgery. There also are two one-year fellowships for Emergency Medical Services and Sports Medicine.
The medical school's OB/GYN Residency Program is new and was approved in April. The program will welcome its first four residents in July 2018.
Dr. Hal Jenson, WMed's founding dean, told the graduates at Friday's ceremony that the festivities were a reminder of what each of them had accomplished during their time at the medical school. He also said the completion of their residences marked "an important milestone" in their careers as physicians.
Dr. Jenson told the graduates he hoped their time at WMed helped instill in them an inspiration "to become the lifelong learners you will need to be."
"The future will demand, in fact, that you are the lifelong learners you will need to be to take care of the patients of tomorrow," he said. "Wherever you go, realize that you take a part of Kalamazoo with you "¦ and know that wherever you are, you're part of the family here at WMed."
In all, four of the residents who graduated Friday will remain and work in Kalamazoo. An additional eight residents will be working outside of Kalamazoo, but will still be in Michigan.
In addition to honoring resident physicians and fellows, Friday's graduation ceremony gave the residents and fellows a chance to honor the medical school's clinical faculty with 2017 teaching awards. A total of 15 faculty were honored.
Here's a complete list of this year's resident and fellow graduates, as well as faculty who received awards Friday:
Emergency Medicine
Tyler Brian Andre, вÊÍø (Chief)
Elizabeth Jean Arnall, DO (Chief)
Brett Lee Baumgartner, DO
Nicholas Robert Bope, вÊÍø
John Walter Brainard, вÊÍø
Christopher Adam Chesnut, вÊÍø
Maxwell Jason Geers, вÊÍø
Nicholas Jay Gould, DO (Chief)
Paul Michael Guernsey, DO
Charles Everett Mansell, вÊÍø
Daniel Stuart Mortensen, вÊÍø
Matt John Perala, вÊÍø
Mary Kathleen Russo, DO
Timothy Sean Ryan, DO
Paul Michael Shotkin, вÊÍø
Anton Lee Temple, вÊÍø
Aaron Forrest Triplett, DO
Christina Marie Weaver, DO
Daniel George Zindrick, вÊÍø
Emergency Medical Services Fellowship
Kevin Praful Patel, DO
Brian Lee Snyder, вÊÍø
Family Medicine
Nicole Marie Akers, вÊÍø
Elizabeth Lynn Albright, DO
Wesley Ryan Eichorn, DO
Zachary Alan Koehn, DO
Latifa Abdullah Pacheco, DO
Varinder Singh Sidhu, вÊÍø (Chief)
Alexander James Witte, вÊÍø (Chief)
Sports Medicine Fellowship
Juraj Zahatnansky, вÊÍø
Internal Medicine
Sumaiya Ansari, вÊÍø
Courtney Jo Barrett, DO
Hardik Satish Chhatrala, вÊÍø, MPH
Christopher Vittorio Di Felice, вÊÍø (Chief)
John Samuel Fleming, DO
Janie Marie Katarsky, DO (Chief)
Monoj Kumar Konda, вÊÍø
Andrea Marie Landon, DO
Sandeep Patri, вÊÍø
Anusha Surender, вÊÍø
Medicine-Pediatrics
Yashwant Agrawal, вÊÍø
Theotonius Juyen Gomes, DO (Chief)
Jason Khoa Lam, DO
Matthew Thomas Siuba, DO (Chief)
Orthopaedic Surgery
Jason Mark Habeck, вÊÍø (Chief)
Peter James Howard, вÊÍø (Chief)
Nicholas Miladore, вÊÍø (Chief)
Pediatrics
Meveshni Govender, вÊÍø (Chief)
Manasa Josyula, вÊÍø
Yamini Soundarya Kuchipudi, вÊÍø
Devika Malhotra, вÊÍø
Anju Patel, вÊÍø
Michael James Schmalz, вÊÍø (Chief)
Alissa Marie Welsh, вÊÍø
Psychiatry
Carmen Dolores Garcia, вÊÍø
Nauman Aman Khan, вÊÍø
Priya Mahajan, вÊÍø (Chief)
General Surgery
Daniel Stephen Krcelic, вÊÍø (Chief)
Julia Ng Miladore, вÊÍø (Chief)
Kyle N. Seudeal, вÊÍø (Chief)
General Surgery "“ Preliminary Year I
Hailey R. Chang, вÊÍø
Brandon Michael Tanner, вÊÍø
General Surgery "“ Preliminary Year II
Richie Gopal Goriparthi, вÊÍø
Yaqeen Abdullah Qudah, вÊÍø
2017 Teaching Awards
Emergency Medicine
David Hartman, вÊÍø
Family Medicine
Abigail Annan, вÊÍø
Lisa Graves, вÊÍø
Internal Medicine
William Nichols, DO
Kurt Schubert, DO
Michael Trexler, вÊÍø
Medicine-Pediatrics
Thomas Melgar, вÊÍø
Gregory Tiongson, вÊÍø
Orthopaedic Surgery
Karen Bovid, вÊÍø
Pediatrics
Allison Long, вÊÍø
Priscilla Woodhams, вÊÍø
Psychiatry
Peter Longstreet, вÊÍø
Perry Westerman, вÊÍø
General Surgery
John T. Collins, вÊÍø
Gitonga Munene, вÊÍø