Our faculty: leaders developing leaders.

We’ve assembled a leading-edge faculty  team who define the spirit of collaboration within our general surgery residency program. 

Our faculty champions and teaches the latest in surgical techniques and technology. Throughout all five years of your residency, faculty members will take the time to answer your questions, listen to your ideas, and interact with humankindness so that you will develop a holistic skill set, from procedures to bedside manner. 

Program Administration

Faculty Physicians

Acute Care Surgery / Trauma 

  • Charles Hu, MD - Chief of Trauma / Acute Care Surgery / Critical Care Rotation Director
  • Nicholas Thiessen, MD - Trauma / Critical Care
  • Daniel Cucher, MD - Trauma / Critical Care
  • Jessica Sloan, MD - Trauma / Critical Care
  • Vafa Ghaemmaghami, MD - Trauma / Critical Care
  • Adil Lokhandwala, MD - Trauma / Critical Care
  • John Watt, MD - Trauma / Critical Care
  • Thomas Wertin, MD - Trauma Medical Director MGMC

Breast Surgery

  • John Davis, MD - Breast Surgery Rotation Director

Burn Surgery

  • Kevin Foster, MD - Burn Surgery

Cardiac Surgery

  • Kevin Brady, MD - Cardiac Rotation Director
  • Kenneth Aston, MD - Cardiac Surgery

Colon and Rectal Surgery

  • Ronald Gagliano, MD - Department Chair, Colon and Rectal Surgery
  • Clarence E Clark, III, MD - Colon and Rectal Surgery
  • Adatee Okonkwo, MD - Colon and Rectal Surgery

Endocrinology

  • Bianca Vazquez, MD - Endocrine Surgery

Endoscopy

  • Wael Youssef, MD - Advanced Endoscopy

General Surgery

  • James Cooper, MD - General Surgery
  • Marko Laitinen, MD - General Surgery
  • James Mankin, MD - General Surgery

MIS / Bariatric

  • Shawn Stevenson, DO - MIS / Bariatric Rotation Director
  • Gregory Robertson, MD - Minimally Invasive Surgery/Bariatrics
  • Van Leavitt, MD - Minimally Invasive Surgery/Bariatrics

Pediatric Surgery

  • Jamie Harris, MD - Pediatric Surgery Rotation Director
  • Mark Molitor, MD - Pediatric Surgery

Plastic Surgery

  • Joshua Nelson, MD - Plastic Surgery Rotation Director
  • Joshua Kelley, MD

Research

  • Melissa Kovacs, PhD - Statistician

Surgery Oncology and HBP

  • Patrick Lorimer, MD - Surgical Oncology / HBP
  • Mark Runfola, MD - Surgical Oncology

Thoracic Surgery

  • Sarah Counts, DO - Thoracic Rotation Director
  • Ashwini Arjuna, MD - Pulmonary Transplant Rotation Director
  • John Tedesco, MD - General Thoracic Surgery and Lung Transplant Surgery

Vascular Surgery

  • Albert Harrison, MD - Vascular Rotation Director 
  • Brett Siegrist, MD - Vascular Surgery 

Surgical Advanced Practice Providers

  • Krista Autuori, MPA
  • Jennifer Bybee, CRNP
  • Stacy Cantwell, CRNP
  • Esther Fletcher, MPA
  • Tegan Gamblin, MPA
  • Saralyn Heddleston, CRNP
  • Andrea Juliette, DRNP
  • Jennifer McDaniel, DRNP
  • Michelle McGee, CRNP
  • James Ramsey, CRNP
  • Janice Rorabeck, DRNP
  • Rachel Salcedo, CRNP
  • Britney Thompson, MPA - Physician Assistant Lead 
  • Lori Troxxel, MPA
  • Angela Waz, CRNP
  • Stacey Webber, CRNP
general surgery faculty