Education division news

Leadership updates: Dr. Jonah Gunalda is the residency program’s newest associate program director. Dr. Gunalda joins our other leaders, Drs. Sarah Sterling, Neal Glover, and John Pettey Sandifer. Our new chief residents are Drs. Andrew Garza, Unsa Shafi, Max Keeling, and Taylor Webb. 

Farewell class of 2022! Our recent graduates will be spread across six eastern states; if you find yourself in the same hospital or region, please connect and say hi!

• Babatunde Adeyemi, DO - Wellstar West Georgia Medical Center, Lagrange, GA
• Taylor Allen, MD - North Oaks Medical Center, Hammond, LA
• Anton Bartkiv, DO - Fort Walton Beach Medical Center, Fort Walton Beach, FL
• Laura Lee Beneke, MD - UMMC, Jackson, MS
• Veronica Case, MD - UMMC - EMS Fellowship, Jackson, MS
• Bridget Cheng, MD - Heritage Valley Health Systems, Pittsburgh, PA
• Nate Davis - Singing River Health System, Ocean Springs, MS
• Michael Magee, MD - North Mississippi Baptist Hospital, Oxford, MS
• Laura Martin, DO - CHI Memorial Hospital, Chattanooga, TN
• Ben Parva, MD - Canonsburg Hospital and Forbes Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA
• Victoria Ross, DO - Merit River Oaks and UMMC, Jackson, MS
• Lee Shelton, MD - St. Francis Hospital, Monroe, LA
• Brent Treadway, MD - Baptist Hospital - Leake, Yazoo, Calhoun, and UMMC, Jackson, MS
• Taylor Wachs, DO - UMMC, Jackson, MS
• John White, MD - Florida Fort Walton-Destin Hospital, Sacred Heart Pensacola, Pensacola Children's Hospital, Pensacola, FL

Welcome class of 2025! Our class of new interns includes the following individuals:

• Lydia Chase, Ross University, Madison, MS
• Heather DeVille, University of North Texas Health Science Center at Forth Worth, DeRidder, LA
• Morgan Finn, University of Pikeville – Kentucky College of Osteopathic Medicine, Pocatello, ID
• Dylan Fleming, UMMC, Brandon, MS
• Dustin Freeman, University of Pikeville – Kentucky College of Osteopathic Medicine, Webb City, MO
• Amanda Huffman, Arkansas College of Osteopathic Medicine, Hunter, OK
• Rachel Jones, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX
• Katelyn Murray, William Carey College of Osteopathic Medicine, Corinth MS
• Joseph Pongetti, UMMC, Jackson, MS
• Nathan Rhodes, UMMC, Corinth, MS
• Jake Rice, Quinnipiac University Netter School of Medicine, Meridian, ID
• Gabrielle Snyder, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN
• Jasmine Tetley, William Carey College of Osteopathic Medicine, San Antonio, TX
• Matthew Trahan, American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine, Lafayette, LA
• Mary Glenn Waldrop, University of Alabama-Birmingham, Birmingham, AL

Meet our EMS fellow: Dr. Veronica Case has a deep dedication to prehospital care and improving communication with underserved communities.  Growing up in Oxford, MS, she became involved in prehospital care early on.  While at Ole Miss, she completed training to become a nationally registered EMT and then a certified firefighter.  She served her community as a volunteer firefighter and EMT in DeSoto and Lafayette Counties.  During medical school she put her fluent Spanish skills to good use, travelling on medical missions to Peru and Nicaragua and teaching medical Spanish.  Having completed Emergency Medicine residency at UMMC, she now begins her Emergency Medical Services Fellowship.  Veronica will spend the year working hands-on with local EMS services and AirCare, learning to direct the systems bringing prehospital care to Mississippi.  In her free time, Dr. Case enjoys spending time with her daughter, writing and recording music, and can often be found backpacking a high-country trail in Colorado.