Class of 2018 (current 3rd years)
Ted Apstein, MD
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Whoa-ho! I’m Ted. And it seems you’re interested in EM at the ‘Copa? First off, NICE! Second, in the words of a wiser man than I, come stay a while and listen. A little about me: I’m originally from Southern California, but can’t decide what counts as ‘home’ anymore. I was raised in Palos Verdes, made my way up to Berkeley for undergrad, and then transplanted over to the east coast for med school. Now I’m back on the warmer side of things, trading snow for sun in cactus country. (Did you know the saguaro cactus can get to be 40+ feet tall??). I’m somewhat of a social chameleon which is why I love EM — I get just as excited about tubing down the Salt River as I do about unwinding with a cold porter after a long day. I feel right at home at the Copa. Smarts and fun live in harmony here, and you can go from arguing about tPA in conference to blasting shotguns in the desert in less than an hour. One thing that killed me on the interview trail were all the stereotypes of EM that got thrown around. SAY ROCKCLIMBING ONE MORE TIME, I DARE YOU. But seriously, this speciality, and especially this program, are unique simply because of how atypical they are. A three year, county program, with a full orientation month, no wards, tons of ICU time, and a paid elective month every year? Combine that with the blue skies, warm weather, and a family of amazing residents — there’s a reason we have a reputation. Come visit and see why for yourself!
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Ashley Carter, MD
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Hello! I’m Ashley. I grew up in the beautiful Pacific Northwest near Seattle, Washington. As much as I love the lush PNW, I left it behind to learn medicine in the Arizona desert. I did not intend to stay at first, but during my time in medical school at UofA- Phoenix I fell in love with a native Arizonan who I get to marry next year! Arizona definitely has some perks: great hiking, seriously beautiful sunsets, awesome weather 8 months out of the year, and the most amazing emergency medicine residency program EVER -- the COPA! About me: standing up straight I’m a striking 5’0”, but I’m so loud and energetic that people often mistake me for taller. I love: coffee (Dutch Bros in particular – it will change your life), the color green, almost all food, country (and most other) music, baking, and running (yes, really). Some of my special interests in emergency medicine include toxicology, public health and epidemiology of disease, and pre-hospital care. When I’m not hanging out with my Copa Family, I like to spend time with my biological family who conveniently has all (independently, over the past 3 years) moved to Arizona.
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Callie Davies, MD
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Hi I’m Callie – a born and bred Arizonan! I graduated undergrad in 3 years, so instead of doing research (zzz..) for that extra year before medical school, I decided I wanted to travel the world ... problem? I had no money. Solution? I became a Delta flight attendant and flew all over the world in first class for free on my days off. I got pretty spoiled. So when you see me cry as I pay for a coach ticket you now know the reason why. I love to travel, rock climb, backpack, scuba dive, kayak, camp, hike, bike- pretty much anything outdoors with a sprinkle of adventure and I’m in. The residents, the program set up, an elective each year, every other day trauma procedures, one paid conference a year, diverse pathology, an awesome PD, and the wise faculty make this place a secret gem of the west.
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Levi Filler, DO
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Well hello there! My name is Levi and I hail from Big Sky Country (for those of you from states with inferior skies, I’m talking about Montana). I ended up spending my college years in Oregon and fell in love with the Pacific Northwest. I eventually decided to head for the heat for medical school (and now residency at the Copa-Cabana!) to see what the desert had to offer. When I’m not trying to become a learned doctor, I can be found hanging out with my pup and amazing fiancé, napping, drinking good beer, quoting terrible movies, checking the AZ sky for UFO’s, playing outside, and spending time with friends and colleagues. I am excited to spend the next 3 years at a great program with some of the best professionals you could meet!
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Tarann Henderson, MD
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Hey hey! My name is Tarann. I was born in the UK, but was raised here on the mean streets of Mesa, AZ. Once I graduated high school, I hightailed it to the University of Arizona. GO CATS!!! In my nine years in Tucson, I earned undergraduate degrees in biology and physiology, a Master’s in Physiological Sciences, got addicted to carne asada, learned to love teaching and distance running, and figured out translational research was not my jam. For my next adventure, I headed out to the Bay Area for medical school at the University of California – San Francisco for an incredible four years. When choosing my residency, I wanted to train at a county program with a large underserved patient population and with faculty and residents that were invested in their community. Apparently that very program existed right here in my hometown. So now I’m back home at the COPA and I’m having an amazing time. My current career interests are medical education, ultrasound, and health disparities. Outside of the ED, I like to cook, run, sleep, collect comic books, turn up at live concerts, and look amazing in formalwear (see picture).
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Meghana Kukkamalla, MD
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Hey! My name is Meghana Kukkamalla, and I hail from Birmingham, AL where ya’ll is a real word and mac and cheese is considered a vegetable :P This is the first time I’ve lived out west, and Phoenix is definitely a change from my east coast upbringing; however, the Copa residents are one of the main reasons why I wanted to make the great trek out here. If you are coming to visit, I hope you see the amazing camaraderie and support system that we have here. In my spare time I love hiking (although my definition of hiking has significantly changed after spending a few hours on camelback-be forewarned!), shopping, attending live music events, and enjoying the company of my fellow colleagues.
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Gharett Meng, MD
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What’s up future colleagues! I’m assuming only the best and brightest candidates are carefully dissecting these profiles so we can skip the awkward getting to know each other phase at the pre-interview social. So here are the facts. My name is Gharett and I grew up in Missoula, Montana. Surprisingly I did not know Levi which is odd given the state has a total population of around 100 (or maybe it’s 1000). After high school, I went to Bozeman for college and to do a bit of skiing. I then spent a year becoming a more “balanced applicant.” I worked as a tour guide in Alaska, interned at a whitewater kayaking school in Africa, and cooked/ski bummed in Big Sky. I was able to keep the nomadic lifestyle rolling as I attended the University of Washington and did rotations in all but one WWAMI state…..sorry Wyoming. I’m now jacked to be starting at the Copa. I think it was love at first stache. If you’re curious just find me and I’ll tell you the story. Peace out!
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Daniel Orosco, DO
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Hola! Me llamo Daniel. I am from Southern California. I spent a year in Philly at Drexel (Jim’s has the best cheesesteaks), and spent a couple years in Phoenix for medical school. I finished up my last two clinical years in Los Angeles and now I am back in the valley of the sun (or as my wife and I call it, the valley of the scorpions). Growing up I became fond of bikes, camping, woodworking (smashed a few thumbs), working on cars, and really just tinkering with or dismantling anything I could get my hands on. I am the father of a beautiful daughter and look forward to taking family trips in our mini-van that we don’t have yet. My future goals are: I hope to be a great dad, complete a toxicology or critical care fellowship, learn to fly, rebuild a classic car, and climb some tall mountain that has a documentary on Netflix. In all seriousness though, I am grateful to be back in Phoenix and train with the incredible faculty and residents here at Maricopa. The welcoming environment and family feel are second to none! Stay classy Maricopa!
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Ashley Parrish, MD
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Hey-o!! My name is Ashley (yes there are two of us in the same class.) I was born in Tucson, AZ but moved to Chandler, AZ when I was 3 and have basically been here ever since. I went to The University of Arizona (BearDown!) for undergrad where I majored in Physiology and minored in Psychology. I was lucky enough to stay in Arizona for medical school as well but made the move up to Phoenix where I attended The University of Arizona COM- Phoenix. So essentially, I am a Wildcat for Life and proud of it! I am married and we have a dog named Cupcake! I love hanging out with friends and family, running, hiking, watching movies, baking and listening to music! Arizona is beautiful (for at least 8 months out of the year) and the sunsets are gorgeous. I loved Copa during my medical school rotation and am so excited to be here for the next three years.
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Cristian Patterson, DO
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One of the proud Arizona natives! I was born and raised in a small town in central eastern Arizona called St. Johns. St. Johns is up out of the heat and there are more cows than people, but I loved it. After high school I spent two years in northern Italy serving a Mormon mission, which was an incredible experience. What’s even more incredible is I didn’t get fat despite the delicious Italian food and gelato. After getting home I finished undergrad at Arizona State University and medical school at Midwestern University. Arizona is home sweet home and I’m glad I get to stay. I really enjoy the mountains, camping, swimming, boating, and going home to help out on the ranch. Basketball has been my mistress since high school and I still try to get out and play couple times a week. All in all, I am excited to be spending three years at the Copa where you can’t beat the education, attendings, or of course the residents!
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Adam Smith, MD
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Hey there! I’m Adam. I went to the University of Missouri for undergrad and med school. I will always be a Tiger at heart, but when I got the opportunity to move West for residency, I jumped on it and haven’t looked back since! Like many of the residents here at Copa, I love to do pretty much anything outdoors. In particular, I’m most excited about all the great hiking and mountain biking Phoenix and Arizona have to offer. When not getting educated or spending time outdoors, I’m always up for going out, catching a movie, or just relaxing by the pool (which I will be able to do year round now). To all you potential residents looking at this, congrats on finding the best residency program there is! Why Copa? The residents truly are a big family. We have some of the smartest and biggest names in EM as our faculty. We are the only program in the 6th biggest city, so we get to care for some of the sickest and most interesting patients there are. Also, we have an elective month each year (plenty of chances to go back to Africa or to Everest base camp). What more could you ask for in a residency?
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Jon Vashaw, DO
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Life seldom seems to move in straight lines for me. I’m frequently surprised at where it leads and amazed at how things seem always work out for the best. I grew up in a caravan of gypsies across 6 states and 2 continents, finished undergrad in Texas (Go UH!) and liked the nomadic life so much I just kept going! I added a few more states and a few more continents (Sydney rocks!). Along the way I married my high school sweetheart and we started our own band of gypsies. I went from a HAZMAT and managerial job to PA school. Being a PA was fantastic. I worked with some of the best docs in the business and was inspired by them to go back to med school. I entered A.T. Still thinking I knew a lot, and left realizing how much more there is to learn. But that’s the beauty of EM. There’s always so much to learn, so many diverse paths you can follow. Which is how I ended up here at COPA. Of all the programs I looked at, this one was by far the most driven to push you to explore your niche in EM and never settle for mediocrity. The residents here are great folk. The faculty are equally fantastic. I’ve worked on a lot of different teams with a lot of really good people, and I’m proud to call Maricopa home. Who knows, maybe I can finally sell the caravan? A final note on hobbies….hiking, camping, movies (Bogart to Walt), cat herding (did I mention I have kids?), art, building with wood, canvas, metal, whatever…, all things pre-hospital medicine, and yes even long walks on the beach with my family.
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Matt Veltkamp, MD
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Hey everybody! My name is Matt and I hail from the great mitten state (Look at a map. Michigan looks like a mitten. No one out here seems to know that). I studied business at Calvin College and after some time off decided to stick around Michigan for medical school at Michigan State University (Go Spartans!). Before starting med-school I spent my time participating in and planning adventure races. My wife and I were excited about making the big move out West, and now that we’re here we know it’s the right place for us. I’m so thankful that I ended up at Copa; this program has a wonderful mix of academics and good, real world experience. You will be able to handle just about anything coming out of this program. When I’m not in the emergency department you can find me mountain biking, trail running, or kicking back and drinking a good beer (although Michigan does have better beers than Arizona… and Montana).
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Kyle Watanabe, MD
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Aloha and welcome friends and future colleagues! I’m Kyle. Congratulations on making two of the best decisions of your career first, for choosing Emergency Medicine and second, for considering residency at the Copa. I hate the awkwardness of introductions so here’s a little about me: I’m from Hawaii. Home of Oahu’s famous North Shore, Pearl Harbor, Jurassic Park 1, 2, 3 and Jurassic World. You’d think after the dinosaurs escaped the first time we’d have learned something other than “I think we should create bigger scarier dinosaurs.“ Anyway, when not running away from velociraptors and getting “LOST,” you can find me in the ocean surfing, kayaking or spearfishing, trying to avoid those crazy “Pirates of the Caribbean.” If not there, I can usually be found in the forests; hiking, bow hunting or mountain biking occasionally getting caught in those “Tropic-Thunder”-storms. Unfortunately, life’s not always rainbows and butterflies or sunset drinks by the pool, so a good deal of time was spent at University of Hawaii where I completed an undergraduate degree, an MPH in epidemiology, and a medical degree. You might wonder why I’d leave the sun and surf for the desert heat of Phoenix. Simply put, it’s the people. No where else was there a bunch of guys and gals who were more dedicated, hardworking and inspired to learn one moment and afterward be equally motivated to relax, cut loose and have fun. Here at the Copa residents and faculty prioritize maintaining the balance between work and play. If that’s not enough, Copa’s EM residency is a 3-year, unopposed county program with a 30+ year history that’s based in Phoenix, the 6th largest city in the U.S. We have some of the biggest names in emergency medicine as our faculty, tons of ICU time, we run the traumas every other day and have one paid month of electives every year. But don’t just take my word for it, come on by, stay for a while and see why we think, “The Copa is always classy”.
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