Residents | Kaiser Permanente Undergraduate & Graduate Medical Education Northern California

Welcome from our Chief Residents

Once a child-life volunteer at Kaiser Oakland during my premedical years, I was thrilled to return as a pediatrics resident in 2022. Now, as chief resident, I’m incredibly excited to help deliver the highest quality education in high-value pediatric care that any program has to offer. The benefits at Kaiser are robust, and they have taken care of me and my family like no other institution I’ve been at. I’m honored to be serving at a place that prioritizes the health of its physicians and residents just as much as the populations we serve. As a Northern California native, a young father, and an avid hiking and sports enthusiast, I can think of no better place to begin my career than right here in Oakland. Here, we serve a diverse population with many needs—it is a place that has so much to offer and a place where there is so much we can give in return.

Ross Perry, MD

2025-2026 Chief Resident

Hi friends! Thanks for checking out our residency website. I hope you can feel the warmth of our program through your screen. I love it here for many reasons. Great location, salary, benefits, union protection, research opportunities, 3+1 schedule, protected learning time (weekly academic half day), protected advocacy time (monthly REACH), free lunch, free parking, etc. I have felt very supported as a doctor, as a woman in medicine, as a parent in medicine, and as a fellowship applicant by all the people who make up this program. It is an honor to be able to serve as chief for this amazing group of humans! When I’m not “chiefing” I am at home wrangling my three feral children with my husband – it’s chaos but it’s seriously the best!

Kelly Morgan, DO

2025-2026 Chief Resident

Our Residents

Our residents reflect the greatest strength of our program through their accomplishments, dedication, and commitment to advancing the health of children! Residents join our program from medical schools across the country with terrific success and diversity in their individual experiences. The “culture” of our residency emphasizes collegiality and excellence in a friendly atmosphere, as our residents embody these both in and out of the workplace. There are frequent outings and events including nights out at restaurants, game-night, sporting events, and potluck dinners.

Follow our resident spotlights on Instagram!

Class of 2028

PGY Year	Resident	Medical School
PGY-1	Aliyah Al-Islam, MD	St. Matthew’s University SOM
PGY-1	Whitney Hovater, DO	Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine
PGY-1	Kimberly La, DO	Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine of Midwestern University
PGY-1	Aidan Loeser, MD	University of Washington SOM
PGY-1	Adrian Mercado, DO	Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine at New Mexico State University
PGY-1	Cecília Pinheiro, MD	Faculdade de Medicina de Bahia, Universidade Federal de Bahia
PGY-1	Stephanie Sawicki, MD	George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Science
PGY-1	Hannah Shimizu, DO	Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences College of Osteopathic Medicine
PGY-1	Monica Suriaga, DO	University of the Incarnate Word School of Osteopathic Medicine
PGY-1	Vivian Vo, DO	A.T. Still University of Health Sciences School of Osteopathic Medicine

Class of 2027

PGY Year	Resident	Medical School
PGY-2	Tziporah Amgott-Kwan, DO	Touro University, California
PGY-2	Robertha Barnes, MD	State University of New York Upstate
PGY-2	Mark Douglass, MD	Stanford University
PGY-2	Hannah Hu, MD	Albert Einstein College of Medicine
PGY-2	Yasamin Jahanmir, DO	Western University of Health Sciences
PGY-2	Jaibir Khera, MD	Indiana University
PGY-2	Young Lee, MD	Saint Louis University
PGY-2	Oyebola Oyewole, MD	Morehouse School of Medicine
PGY-2	Rachel Skladman, MD	Rush Medical College

Class of 2026

PGY Year	Resident	Medical School
PGY-3	Kritika Amanjee, MD	Albany Medical College of Union University
PGY-3	Jordan Andersen, MD	University of Colorado School of Medicine
PGY-3	John Chhoa, MD	Albany Medical College of Union University
PGY-3	Amanda Cooper, MD	University of Utah School of Medicine
PGY-3	Spencer Gilles, MD	University of California, Davis
PGY-3	Fabiha Hossain, DO	Touro University Nevada
PGY-3	Elvia Jimenez Ramos, MD	University of Arizona College of Medicine
PGY-3	Wendy Laurence-Diaz, MD	Georgetown University School of Medicine
PGY-3	Shih-Dun Liu, MD	University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
PGY-3	Cicilyn Xie, MD	Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso

MPH Candidates

Keegan Bowers, MD
PGY4 MPH Candidate

Christine Rizkala, MD
PGY4 MPH Candidate

Our Graduates

Our graduates pursue a variety of careers in pediatric medicine. They have been hired for competitive clinical positions throughout California and nationally as well as matched into a broad array of competitive fellowships nationwide, including all subspecialities and hospitalist medicine. Many of our alumni enjoy careers in quality improvement, clinical research and medical education.

Alumni Spotlights

Katie Stephenson, MD

Dr. Stephenson is one of our program graduates, class of 2021, and now serves as a pediatric gastroenterologist here at Kaiser Oakland. After residency, she completed fellowships in Pediatric Gastroenterology and Pediatric Bioethics at Seattle Children’s Hospital. Katie is passionate about how food impacts health, how it can be used to treat GI disease, and thereby, how food insecurity may affect pediatric outcomes. Reflecting on her training as someone who always hoped to pursue subspecialty training, Katie values her training at Kaiser for its exceptional research opportunities. As a resident, she collaborated with research mentors, statisticians, and librarians (all with time protected by Graduate Medical Education) to study the real-world outcomes of a novel IBD medication that was rarely used outside of Kaiser due to insurance barriers. Having grown up in the Bay Area, Katie also loves Kaiser for its location and the balance that it brought to her training–hiking in Marin and the East Bay with her beagle, the pappardelle on Piedmont Ave, the short drives between the snow and the beach. She cherishes the friendships she formed with her fellow residents and is grateful to now work alongside many of her former mentors. The values of quality medical education, integrated healthcare, and enjoyment of your day-to-day workday, that she developed as a Kaiser trainee continue to guide her work.

Christina Sullivan, MD

Dr. Sullivan is one of our program graduates, class of 2017. Christina grew up just a few blocks from the Kaiser Oakland Medical Center and is passionate about serving the Bay Area’s diverse community. She was a National Health Service Corps Scholar and previously practiced general outpatient pediatrics in Sonoma County. She decided to return home and now works as an outpatient pediatrician at Kaiser Berkeley and in the resident outpatient clinic. Kaiser is a great place to train and work. I had a wonderful experience as a resident at Kaiser Oakland. The curriculum is thoughtfully designed and balanced. It prepared me well for a job after graduation. I felt supported by preceptors and mentors. I’m also grateful for the lifelong friendships I made with my fellow residents. I chose to return to Kaiser and hopefully will retire from Kaiser. As a place of employment, Kaiser is organized and well run. I love working as a team with pediatric subspecialists and ancillary staff to best serve our patients and community.

Deepika Parmar, MD, MPH

Dr. Parmar is one of our MD/MPH graduates and completed Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine fellowship at UCSF. Deepika is passionate about advocating for adolescents to build autonomy and a healthy foundation for a bright future. She returned to Kaiser to help adolescents navigate choices around reproductive health options and uses a multidisciplinary approach to mental health care especially eating disorders and substance use and providing gender-affirming care. With her public health lens, she is working to help improve adolescent health at all levels of care including early screening and prevention to evidence-based management during inpatient hospitalizations. She enjoys teaching residents at the program that gave her a strong mentorship for her career.

Dr. Mengyou Wu, MD

Dr. Wu is one of our program graduates, class of 2021. When reflecting back, she feels like Kaiser Oakland Pediatric Residency program had the two things she cared most about – exposure needed to be a well trained outpatient pediatrician and a program that was kind and compassionate. She felt supported by faculty that were invested in teaching and helped her feel validated. She works as a general pediatrician at Kaiser Martinez and spends her days giggling with her families, sharing funny stories with all her wonderful MAs and colleagues, and experiencing much joy/fulfillment in her practice.

Where do our graduates go?

Fellowship

Hospitalist Medicine – Colorado Children’s, UCSF, Stanford, UCLA, Kaiser Permanente, Seattle Children’s
Neonatology – UCLA, UC Davis, OHSU,
Endocrinology – UC Davis, OHSU
Adolescent Medicine – UCSF, University of Pittsburg
Cardiology – OHSU
Critical Care – Harbor UCLA, UCSF
Gastroenterology – Seattle Children’s, Vanderbilt
Hematology/Oncology – CHLA
Nephrology – Stanford, UCSF
Rheumatology – Stanford
Pediatric Emergency Medicine – Columbia, UNC-Chapel Hill
Patient Safety Fellowship – Kaiser Oakland
Infectious Disease – UCSF

General Pediatrics

Asian Health Services
Palo Alto Medical Foundation – Urgent Care
Sutter Health
Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Complex Care Clinic
Community Health Connection FQHC, Oklahoma
KP Northern California, Southern California and Hawai’i
Mount Sinai Doctors Brooklyn Heights
Stanford Pediatric Associates – Camden Avenue, San Jose
Calabasas Pediatrics
East Bay Pediatrics
CHLA
Rady Children’s
Keanuenue Pediatrics

I graduated from the program in 2020 and completed Pediatric Rheumatology fellowship at Stanford Medicine Children’s Health. During residency. My favorite memories from residency were sitting in the resident work room having multidisciplinary discussions about complex patients with multiple specialists, and spending time with her close-knit residency class. I recently returned to TPMG after fellowship and am currently practicing at the Kaiser Roseville Medical Center. I am passionate about early diagnosis and treatment to prevent the long-term sequelae of pediatric autoimmune diseases as well as pediatric chronic pain syndromes.

Sara Patrizi, MD, Pediatric Rheumatologist, TPMG

Kaiser Oakland’s Pediatric Residency program equipped me well clinically and academically, offering me exposure to medical education, quality improvement, and clinical research – with wonderful mentorship and peer mentorship – that allowed me to launch my career as a physician scientist. My research interest focuses on high-value pediatric care, which she hopes to improve through building evidence for common, understudied practices, such as temperature measurement and temperature-driven practices. I am grateful for all the lessons, opportunities, and networks gained through my pediatric residency at Kaiser Oakland.

Rebecca Dang, MD, Pediatric Hospitalist, Stanford

Kaiser Oakland Pediatrics Residency was a pivotal chapter in my development as a physician. The program provided me with a robust foundation in pediatric care while also being a supportive and fun environment. I felt truly known and valued, which allowed me to grow both personally and professionally. I formed lifelong friendships with my fellow residents. Residency at Kaiser shaped my approach to patient care and teamwork in ways I will carry throughout my career.

Martha Elster, MD, Pediatric Hospitalist, UCSF

Kaiser Oakland provides trainees with a community feel along with the academic benefits that you might find at a larger university-affiliated institution. The residency program also provides trainees with the opportunity to explore different practice settings both within the Kaiser network and at different institutions.

Krisha Nayak, Class of 2022

Kaiser Oakland Pediatric Residency was the highlight of my medical training where I not only built my skills and knowledge, but also more importantly developed strong and lasting relationships. I miss walking onto the pediatric floor and knowing all the physicians, nurses, and therapists. I’ve learned most from the direct discussions I had with subspecialty attendings – a truly unique opportunity in training at Kaiser.

Lucia An, Class of 2020

I had a fantastic time learning and connecting with my fellow residents and attendings during my time as a resident at Kaiser Oakland. I felt well supported not only during my rotations in the ICUs and wards but also in my endeavors to be an outpatient pediatrician!

Mengyou (NuNu) Wu, General Pediatrician Kaiser Martinez

Now being at a different institution, I am thoroughly impressed and proud of my training – it is evident that I am well prepared for all the various service areas that a community pediatric hospitalist works in! (Peds, ER, newborn and NICU!). Fave memory: Watching Disney movies and having dance parties on night shift in the resident work room.

Shawnice Kraeber, Class of 2021

I loved having access to the highly sought-after Kaiser research database and multidisciplinary research support team, allowing me to participate in and start my own scholarly projects with very little background experience, present at local and national conferences, and network with leaders in the field of pediatrics. 

Lydia Maleknia, Class of 2020

Pediatrics Oakland - Residents

Pediatrics Oakland