Current Residents
Meet Our Current Residents
PGY3
Campbell University School of Osteopathic Medicine
Why you chose to apply to WakeMed: I was really excited about the opportunity to grow with a new program. I heard great things about it from my Campbell classmates who rotated here. I knew it would be the type of program where senior physicians would want me to succeed and listen to my concerns. I was also eager to work in a larger community hospital where I would see the depth and breadth of all medical cases and learn from so many attendings and consultants. The Raleigh population is so diverse, and you honestly never know what you’re going to see. And that’s what keeps it interesting. That’s the type of environment I wanted to work in. Also, I’ve been in NC for the past four years, and I had every intention to stay right here.
What makes you passionate about practicing medicine: The patients! There is nothing more amazing than understanding a patient in order to help figure out a diagnosis. The power of communication is a gift in itself, and it is so rewarding and humbling. I’m also passionate about the diagnostic aspect of medicine and the ability to carve out bits and pieces of a puzzle and then piece them all together. It’s truly fulfilling. It’s amazing how much I get to learn everyday and how easy it is to actually want to keep learning.
Fun facts about you: My name is the most Italian you can get, but I actually have no Italian blood in me. In fact, I’m Coptic Orthodox Egyptian. I’m also bilingual. I speak Arabic fluently! And I drink no caffeine.
Hobbies: Singing, working out, hiking, reading, watching movies, trying new restaurants and traveling
PGY3
University of North Carolina School of Medicine
Why you chose to apply to WakeMed: Having completed medical school at UNC Chapel Hill, I was fortunate to work with Dr. Contarino (Med-Peds PD at UNC Chapel Hill). Notably, he worked at WakeMed in Raleigh before working at UNC and strongly recommended WakeMed as a training location based on his experience working at WakeMed in addition to the strong relationship WakeMed has with the UNC IM program; UNC IM residents rotate at WakeMed to obtain their community hospital inpatient IM exposure. I decided to apply based on his recommendation. As an aspiring rural-community outpatient or inpatient provider, I wanted to complete my residency training in an environment that would provide me with the skills I need to comfortably manage a medically-complicated rural patient population. WakeMed has the needed medical complexity in its inpatient and outpatient populations to learn the management strategies and skills needed to be a successful, independent inpatient or outpatient provider. Additionally, WakeMed providers are not GME or UME naïve. Prior to the WakeMed IM program, providers have worked extensively with UNC IM residents, UNC medical students and Campbell medical students. In fact, my wife rotated at WakeMed as a medical student at UNC. She first called my attention to the program based on her experience. We couples-matched; she is completing Anesthesia training at UNC, and I am completing IM at WakeMed.
What makes you passionate about practicing medicine: My passion for medicine is derived from my home community. I grew up in Rutherfordton, a small town in Western NC between Asheville and Charlotte. I decided to go to medical school because I want to serve my medically-underserved, home community.
Fun facts about you: My family owns a 300-acre cattle farm in Rutherfordton, NC, and my wife is from Los Angeles, CA. I went to NC State for undergrad and UNC for medical school.
Hobbies: Home improvement, woodworking, gardening, bubble tea and grilling
PGY3
Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine — Virginia Campus
Why you chose to apply to WakeMed: I grew up in the Miami/Ft. Lauderdale area and went to medical school in Blacksburg, Virginia. I wanted a location that was a mix of both. Raleigh offers the city feel while still offering an abundance of outdoor activities like biking and hiking. I chose to apply to WakeMed because of the diverse population of patients I would see. It was important to me to see people of different backgrounds and socio-economic classes. At WakeMed, you see everyone.
What makes you passionate about practicing medicine: I had a professor in medical school say, "The more you know, the more you know you don't know." It sums up medicine very well. You are constantly learning and evolving in medicine. Not every day is the same, and no two patients are the same. It is also very humbling to be able to serve my community at their most vulnerable time. You learn so much about strangers and make a difference in their lives, even if it's for a few moments.
Fun fact about you: When I was a child, I was in a Spanish Nickelodeon commercial!
Hobbies: Biking, visiting farmers' markets, trying new restaurants and breweries, going to brunch, trying out coffee shops and watching true crime podcasts and reality T.V.
Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine — Carolinas Campus
Why you chose to apply to WakeMed: My decision resulted from the experiences I gained in providing care to the rural and medically underserved populations before and during medical school. As a result, I knew I wanted to attend a community-based program that tended to care for a diverse patient population, including those with limited access to care. In addition, the core missions and values of WakeMed and the Internal Medicine Residency Program also stood out as it primarily aims to produce capable internists that provide compassionate, evidence-based, and value-based care in promoting the community’s well-being. It was important to me to find a residency program that is invested in its residents so that the future generations of physicians can provide the highest quality of care possible; WakeMed was the residency program that stood out to me in this regard. The number of career opportunities in Raleigh and surrounding areas for my wife, who is establishing a profession in biomedical research, also made WakeMed a great choice geographically.
What makes you passionate about practicing medicine: What makes me most passionate are the relationships formed with patients over time and the art of practicing medicine. Practice means that you are always learning and applying what you know, and learning new things is always exciting to me. I have a background in tutoring and teaching and hope to teach in the future. The lifelong process of the “practice” of medicine will allow me to fulfill these ambitions.
Fun facts about you: I thoroughly enjoy coffee roasting, which my Dad and I became interested in a few years ago. My favorite coffee beans come from Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda. The perfect day off for me involves roasting a fresh batch of coffee, usually Ethiopian Yirgacheffe, and drinking coffee throughout the day while hanging out with my family and dogs.
Hobbies: Coffee roasting (obviously), hiking, mountain biking, working on my car and PC gaming
PGY2
Campbell University School of Medicine
Why you chose to apply to WakeMed: As a native of eastern North Carolina, I have always been aware of the great amount of respect that WakeMed has in the area. I also knew that I wanted to continue my training in a strong educational environment that has access to the resources of a large medical system while maintaining a community hospital feel. While at Campbell, several of my classmates were able to complete their rotations at WakeMed, and I always heard lots of great things from their experiences here. The opportunity to be one of the early residents of a new, growing program and help shape it was also exciting to me. The Raleigh area is also a great place to live. It is growing very quickly and has access to anything I would ever need, while also not being too far from home.
What makes you passionate about practicing medicine: Growing up in the small town of Dunn, NC, I saw just how much a person can give back to their community through a career in medicine. I was always inspired by the handful of doctors we had in the community and how much they cared about their patients. I wanted to go to medical school to be able to give back to underserved communities like the one I come from in a similar way. Medicine is also an exciting career that is always changing and encourages lifelong learning.
Fun facts about you: Before deciding to pursue medicine, I was considering music as a career. I played saxophone from middle school through college and graduate school.
Hobbies: Fishing, boating, hiking, grilling and spending time with my family and dog
PGY2
Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine — New York
Why you chose to apply to WakeMed: I was looking for a community-based residency program with strong academic affiliations and specifically a small program within a large healthcare network. Being a small program allows faculty to closely work with each individual resident and give tailored feedback to address residents' shortcomings and devise a plan to make improvements. Training within the WakeMed health network provides residents with the full breadth of patient pathology and undoubtedly prepares each resident to be confident individual practitioners at the end of their training. Furthermore, during the application process, it was very clear how dedicated the faculty and staff were to resident training and providing a well-rounded experience. Lastly, Raleigh is a really cool town and checks all the boxes that I look for in a place I want to live!
What makes you passionate about practicing medicine: Medicine provides an opportunity to make a difference in someone's life every day. Having the responsibility to take care of total strangers who entrust their lives and well-being to you is something that is unique to medicine and no other career can offer. Moreover, medicine is an everchanging field in which providers must be able to adapt to new information and advances in patient care that make it an exciting field to be in!
Fun facts about you: I started playing the steel drum when I was in 5th grade. During my senior year in high school, I tied the school record for most 3-pointers made in a season in basketball. I worked on the Tohono O'odham Indian Reservation in Sells, AZ during my gap year between undergrad and graduate school. I walked dogs as a side job in New York City during medical school.
Hobbies: Exercising, playing guitar, shooting hoops, trying new breweries/restaurants, live music and going to basketball/football/hockey/baseball games.
Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine
Why you chose to apply to WakeMed: I grew up in Wake County, and I was eager to return to North Carolina for residency. I chose WakeMed because I knew I would receive a strong education and the skills necessary to become a well-rounded internal medicine physician. I was impressed by WakeMed’s long-standing experience with educating medical students and residents across multiple specialties. I also loved the sense of camaraderie among the faculty and residents. As a large community hospital, I knew I would receive exposure to a wide breadth of medical cases. WakeMed felt like the perfect fit where I could care for patients in my home state. I am very excited to practice medicine and serve patients in the community that I grew up in.
Something you have enjoyed about your residency experience at WakeMed: It is incredibly rewarding to help patients on their journey to taking charge of their health. As a physician, I love that I am able to educate patients and use my medical knowledge to help provide the best health outcomes. I also enjoy the cerebral aspect of medicine. Medicine is constantly growing and changing with discoveries coming out regularly. I enjoy learning new and established innovations in evidence-based medicine to make informed decisions about patient care.
Fun facts about you: My family is Ghanaian! It is a beautiful country and I highly recommend visiting. Also, in high school I memorized a few dozen digits of the number pi for National Pi Day and can still name a few!
Hobbies: Going to museums, watching movies, mini-golf, reading, board games and knitting
PGY3
Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine — Carolinas Campus
Why you chose to apply to WakeMed: I aspire to be an outpatient internal medicine provider and wanted a residency program at a community-based hospital that also had the resources to let me explore my other interests. Due to its location, WakeMed is a community-based hospital that sees a lot of high acuity cases and with its size comes the ability to do a wide variety of research. While the program is new, they have a long history of training residents and students from surrounding areas. With the lack of established norms for the program, the residents have had the ability to shape the experience into what we find most valuable. Additionally, Raleigh is a wonderful place to live. I'm slightly biased as I lived here for a period of time before medical school but there is so much to do in the area and if you want to get away, the mountains and beach are only a short drive.
What makes you passionate about practicing medicine: My passion in medicine comes from the education aspect of patient interactions. I love trying to take a seemingly complex topic and communicate it in a way that allows someone who has a completely different knowledge base to understand what is happening regarding their health.
Fun facts about you: During medical school, I taught adaptive alpine skiing to people with disabilities. Also, I can ride a unicycle.
Hobbies: Hiking, skiing, cooking, exploring new countries and working on my car.
Campbell University School of Osteopathic Medicine
Why you chose to apply to WakeMed: Ever since beginning medical school at Campbell, I’ve heard nothing but wonderful things about WakeMed and how much people trust it. With it's strong reputation, I thought how amazing it would be to partake in and learn from this program. During the application process, it was evident faculty were committed to teaching and supporting residents. I knew it was the best fit for me and a place where mentors and co-residents would want us all to succeed. I was also intrigued by the fact that it is a large community hospital with a variety of cases from a diverse patient population, presenting so many learning opportunities. In addition, Raleigh is a super cool town with a bunch of outdoor activities and an amazing food scene. As someone who loves to hike and wind down by the beach, it is in a great location between the mountains and the coast.
What makes you passionate about practicing medicine: It is an honor when patients trust their physicians to help them at their most vulnerable times. I don’t take that lightly. It is one of the main reasons why I strive to always improve and learn, so I can treat patients to the best of my ability. Medicine is a field that is innovative, and it’s always advancing; there really is lifelong learning which is one of the many things I enjoy about medicine. I also love that every patient is different and that makes every day special!
Fun facts about you: I have three siblings with whom I am super close. They keep me updated on all the new slang and trends that I can’t keep up with myself. I have 47ish first cousins (lost count). I am at a point in my life where I find grocery shopping fun. My parents owned a Chinese restaurant, so I grew up working in the kitchen and behind the counter. Although they sold the restaurant in 2016, I still have most of the menu memorized.
Hobbies: Exercising, hiking, cooking, baking and karaoke
Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine — South Carolina Campus
Why you chose to apply to WakeMed: I always envisioned myself in a community-based residency program with a diverse patient population both medically and culturally. To learn and practice within a small, tight-knit team focused on selflessly helping patients and team members is amazing. When I delved into the program and interviewed, it was clear WakeMed offered that and much more. I liked the idea of being able to grow within a new program that brought with it a rich history of training residents from other programs. Also, as a NC native with family in Raleigh, this is an area I look to call home for many years even after residency.
What makes you passionate about practicing medicine: My passion for medicine stems from the connections I am able to make with patients. It is such a rewarding experience to take complex medical information and communicate it in such a way as to improve patients' understanding and positively impact their health.
Fun facts about you: I am passionate about trying all kinds of coffee from around the world and have even tried Kopi luwak.
Hobbies: Kayaking, grilling, hiking and playing Mario with my nieces in California
PGY2
Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine
Why you chose to apply to WakeMed: It’s my aspiration to settle and practice medicine in the Raleigh area — which I call home. WakeMed has a history in the Triangle of training residents from other institutions and has the experience of a larger community hospital system. Raleigh also has a large and diverse population with different medical needs, conditions and complexities. Additionally, it is exciting to be part of a new and expanding health care system as I learn and grow with it. When I chose to apply, I desired an institution close to home in Raleigh which emphasized compassionate care for patients and families, and WakeMed was the clear choice.
What makes you passionate about practicing medicine: Medicine is a lifelong journey, no two patients are the same and you are always learning. I’m fond of connecting with patients and families, collaborating to translate complex medical conditions into ways they can understand.
Fun facts about you: I was born in Caracas, Venezuela and grew up in South Florida, moving with family to settle down in the Raleigh area during undergrad at UNC Chapel Hill. I’m bilingual, speaking Spanish natively, and am interested in learning new languages such as German.
Hobbies: Cooking new recipes, reading Sci-Fi books, movies, games and Star Wars.
PGY1
Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine — Virginia Campus
Why you chose to apply to WakeMed: As a trainee who will be pursing medicine in a community hospital after residency, I wanted to train in a setting similar to what I would be practicing in, but not compromise pathology or unique learning experiences. I think WakeMed is a perfect sized hospital, being large enough to train in a resource rich environment while being a community center. Raleigh was also a perfect location, being only three hours from my hometown as well as having some family and friends already in the city. The city itself is very nice, but I also have the ability to live just outside and have plenty of nature, which I prefer. The small class size was appealing - I felt it would help my class be more close and easier to get individualized teaching and feedback.
What makes you passionate about practicing medicine: It is both fascinating and practical. I love that every day is different and offers unique challenges. Investing in this skill makes you invaluable and your career options are highly flexible. Plus, it is rewarding.
Fun fact about you: I’m currently learning digital art as well as German language.
Hobbies: Movies and video games, art, golf, tennis, lifting, SCUBA, flying drones and fishing
PGY2
St. George’s University School of Medicine
Why you chose to apply to WakeMed: I chose to apply to WakeMed because my dream was to serve in my home state of North Carolina. Training in both Grenada, West Indies and Brooklyn, New York, I have been exposed to a massive variety of patients and care settings. From my first introduction to the WakeMed program, I knew that my time outside of North Carolina would only strengthen my commitment to the community we now treat. While this has certainly been a dream come true, the people of WakeMed have made this journey back home every bit sweeter.
What makes you passionate about practicing medicine: Medicine, to me, is the intersection of nearly every aspect of life — it doesn’t discriminate; nor does it have any roadmaps or timetables. With a background in television production, I have always valued an element of story telling in my work. In medicine, narratives are written every day; combined with sound scientific knowledge and compassionate care, physicians are able to help reframe the narrative of people's journeys during and after their stay in the hospital.
Fun facts about you: I grew up down the road in Chapel Hill and used to have the year that each building on campus was built memorized… not the case anymore though!
Hobbies: Do children count as hobbies? I have a soon-to-be 5-year-old daughter, and a recently-turned 1-year-old son who together bring my wife and me endless joy and entertainment. I also play a number of musical instruments pretty poorly — though I play the saxophone pretty well.
Chief Resident, 2024-2025
Dr. Sherry Wang will assume her role as the inaugural Chief Resident for the WakeMed Internal Medicine Residency Program in June 2024. Originally from Aspen, Colorado, Dr. Wang attended the University of Colorado at Boulder where she received a bachelor’s degree in integrative physiology and psychology- neuroscience. She subsequently earned a master’s degree in physiology at North Carolina State University and a Doctor of Medicine from St. George’s University School of Medicine in St. George, Grenada, where she graduated Summa Cum Laude. During her time at WakeMed, she has been a resident member of the WakeMed Graduate Medical Education Committee and served as resident faculty for Campbell University School of Osteopathic Medicine.
What is something you have enjoyed about your residency experience at WakeMed?
The best aspects of WakeMed are the people and the inclusive culture. What I have enjoyed the most is getting to know my amazing co-residents and attendings as well as other providers, nurses and staff. From the first day I stepped on campus, everyone has been incredibly kind and willing to help me grow as a person and physician. I have formed lifetime friendships and professional relationships.
What is something you are looking forward to about being Chief Resident?
I am excited to be the inaugural chief resident and am looking forward to learning more about how to be an effective teacher in medicine. I hope to play a role in helping our residents become the best physicians they can be and overcome the feelings of imposter syndrome, which I have often struggled with these past two years. Plus, I am grateful to get to spend another year at WakeMed!
What are your goals for your future career?
At this moment I am unsure whether I want to pursue a fellowship or become a hospitalist. What I know is that I love Nephrology and Critical Care, physiology intrigues me and I enjoy performing procedures. Regardless of what path I choose, I know I want to have a clinically-focused career where I am involved in medical education.
What do you like to do in your free time?
I enjoy tending to my house plants (which includes the ones I have moved into the resident lounge), trying new foods, reading fiction novels and spending as much time as possible outside with my dog, my husband and my best friend/co-resident Kristine.