Residency Faculty

Program Director

Dr. Mills, prior to becoming Program Director, was on faculty at UCSF Natividad Family Medicine Residency as DIO/Director of Undergraduate and Graduate Medical Education and Associate Program Director, having been Program Director at several other programs in the past. He was clinical professor for UCSF, being on Clinical Faculty since 1986 and on the Advisory Board for Volunteer Clinical Faculty representing Family Medicine. As a student of leadership, he has been President & CEO of a multispecialty medical group, Medical Director, FQHC CMO, Chief of Staff and Department Chair. He was President of the California Academy of Family Physicians (2019-2020), President of the Sonoma County Medical Association (2012-2013), was selected for the CAFP Heroic Leadership Award and nominated twice as CAFP Family Physician of the Year. He received a Masters in Medical Management from USC and as a Certified Physician Executive, is a Fellow of the American College of Physician Executives. He attended University of Notre Dame, UCSD Medical School and UCLA-Santa Monica FM Residency. He is certified in Geriatrics and Integrative and Holistic Medicine, with training in Ayurveda. Dr. Mills works for the AAFP as a consultant helping develop or improve other residency programs nationally.  Dr. Mills is dedicating the remainder of his career to health equity for all. He enjoys hiking and biking with his wife, Elizabeth, adaptive surfing, meditation and spending time with his family.

Core Faculty   

Dr. Motyka directs our Integrative Medicine and Well-Being curriculum and has had an illustrious career after graduating from UC Davis School of Medicine and San Bernardino County Medical Center Family Medicine Residency. She is dedicated to community service. She is Chief of the Family Medicine Service at Dominican Hospital, has served on that hospital’s Board of Directors, was president of the Santa Cruz Medical Society, has been an instructor for Five Branches Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine and is board certified in Family Practice, Functional Medicine and Medical Acupuncture. She‘s a life-long advocate of farmworker rights and ran a weekly free clinic for campesinos until 2013. Dr. Motyka’s clinical practice is comprehensive with a direct patient care model, including hospitalist and home care. Dr. Motyka is a champion for family physicians’ well-being and resilience and Chair of our Well-Being Committee and Curriculum. Dr. Motyka’s innovation and leadership are especially noteworthy as for the past 2 decades she has addressed multiple areas of health and well-being for patients and the community producing the radio program and podcast “Ask Dr. Dawn” podcast.

Core Faculty

Dr. Zane is one of our core faculty physicians, currently practicing primary care with Dignity Health in Watsonville, a certified Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH).  Gary has East Coast roots with a West Coast demeanor, arriving in California by way of Philadelphia. He graduated medical school from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, where he completed a teaching fellowship in Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine (OMM).  He then completed Family Medicine Residency at Crozer-Keystone, training at ChesPenn FQHC, in a diverse community outside of West Philadelphia.  He is deeply committed to residency education, having served as a faculty physician for Crozer-Keystone prior to his move to Santa Cruz, where he was Director of Medical Student Education.  His clinical interests include musculoskeletal medicine, as well as the mind-body connection, taking a holistic approach to patient care.  He resides in Aptos with his family, enjoys hiking, travel and playing basketball.

Family Medicine, CMO and Site Director, Santa Cruz Community Health Centers

Dr. KirkHart trained at New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine (NYCOM) and Harbor-UCLA Family Medicine Residency, which launched his medical career in healthcare advocacy and community medicine dedicated to underserved communities. He was Medical Director at Saban Community Clinic in Los Angeles where he supervised residents and now serves as Chief Medical Officer at Santa Cruz Community Health, an FQHC in Santa Cruz County, directing a team of over 50 medical providers, nurses and quality improvement staff. Dr. KirkHart is actively engaged in teaching students and residents in ambulatory clinical care, practice management, population health and leadership in health care. His clinical interests include chronic disease management, pain management, addiction treatment and mental health. He is an alumnus of the California Health Care Foundation Healthcare Leadership Program and a former national organizer for Universal Health Care and Global AIDS for the American Medical Student Association. Dr. KirkHart seeks, and often finds, joy in his personal and professional life, whether that's by helping fellow healthcare providers design their ideal careers or enjoying the beauty of Santa Cruz as a trail runner or while surfing with his family.

Family Medicine, CMO and Site Director, Salud Para La Gente FQHC

Dr. McEntee trained at Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine and Contra Costa Regional Medical Center Family Medicine Residency. As a family physician and the CMO for Salud, she teaches clinical care, practice management and leadership, as well as coordinates residency education at Salud.

Family Medicine and Obstetrics

Dr. Suárez-Abraham attended Mayo Medical School, trained at Ventura Family Medicine Residency and completed a fellowship in Maternal Child Health. After fellowship, she spent two and a half years in Santiago Atitlán, Guatemala, where as a medical volunteer, she assisted in the re-opening of the Hospitalito Atitlán and later served as its Chief of Staff. Subsequently, she moved to Chicago where she served as faculty for the West Suburban Medical Center Family Medicine Residency Program and became Co-Director of the PCC Community Wellness Center Maternal Child Health Fellowship. In 2019, she returned to California and joined the FQHC Salud Para La Gente to do Family Medicine and Obstetrics at Watsonville Community Hospital, where she coordinates resident OB-Peds rotations. She spends most of her non-work time transporting and cheering on her athletic teenage triplets and when she gets a free moment, she can be found playing (much less athletically) on her own sports teams, singing in her church choir, playing card or board games with her family or stealing a quiet moment with her husband Anthony.

Director Orthopedics and Sports Medicine 

Dr. Abidi is an orthopedic surgeon and has been academic faculty at several hospitals, published in orthopedics and is an enthusiastic teacher who coordinates the orthopedics and sports medicine curriculum.

Director Surgery Leadership and Health Systems Management

Dr. Chankai s a General Surgeon and Santa Cruz native.  After attending UC Santa Cruz, he went to Drexel University College of Medicine and trained in General Surgery Residency at Exempla Saint Joseph Hospital in Denver.  He was fortunate enough to return to Santa Cruz and practiced with both the Palo Alto Medical Foundation and the Surgical Associates of Monterey Bay.  A natural leader, after being Chief of Staff for Dominican Hospital, he is now Dominican’s Physician Advisor for Utilization Management and Medical Director. In addition to coordinating the surgery rotations, he directs the leadership curriculum as part of ‘health systems management’.  Dr. Chankai is a car racing enthusiast who brings the same energy to his teaching and leadership, a definite benefit to the residents’ experience.

Obstetrics and Gynecology

Dr. Gamboa is the Director of Ambulatory Women's Health, Obstetrics & Gynecology at Salud Para La Gente, having trained at University of Illinois Medical School and completing her residency at Kaiser San Francisco OB/Gyn Residency. Dr. Gamboa grew up in the California Central Valley, raised by parents who were farmworkers, making her work for social justice at Salud impactful as a role model for students and residents, having published and presented widely on health equity.

Dermatology

Dr. Magid trained at Vanderbilt University and Northwestern Dermatology Residency. He has been a UCSF Clinical Instructor in Dermatology for three decades and the Medical Director for the Dominican Gang Tattoo Removal Program.

Director Inpatient Adult Medicine

Dr. Mohan trained at the Warren Alpert School of Medicine at Brown University and the University of Pennsylvania Internal Medicine Residency. At the Palo Alto Medical Foundation, he is the Chair of the Division of Hospitalist Medicine in Santa Cruz.  For the Family Medicine Program at Dominican Hospital, he acts as the Director for the PAMF Hospitalist Service, co-directing the inpatient teaching services as well as engaging in quality improvement. In his free time, he likes to wrestle with his toddler, cook for his wife, hike with his dog and surf every chance he gets. He practices mindfulness meditation, a habit he picked up in medical school. 

Emergency Medicine

Dr. Wessleman trained at University of Kansas and George Washington Medical Center Emergency Medicine Residency. As Chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine, he teaches and coordinates the emergency medicine curriculum. 

Dominican CMO, Emergency Medicine, Sports Medicine, Leadership

Dr. Whitley is the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) at Dominican Hospital and is a practicing teaching emergency physician in Dominican’s Emergency Department (ED).  Prior to becoming CMO, he was the Medical Director of the ED for 10 years and served as the Chief of Medical Staff for 2 years. During his time in leadership, Dr. Whitley has focused on improving patient safety, quality, efficiency and patient experience through collaboration, mindful leadership and continuous process improvement. Dr. Whitley attended medical school at the University of California, Los Angeles, and completed his residency in Emergency Medicine there as well.  He did a fellowship in Sports Medicine at San Jose Medical Center and subsequently had his own primary care sports medicine practice for 10 years, in addition to serving as team physician for the San Jose Sharks, San Jose Sabercats, Menlo College and San Lorenzo Valley High School.  Currently, Dr. Whitley spends his free time with his family, dogs and cat and enjoys cycling, kayaking, small boat sailing and skiing.

Program Coordinator

With an educational background in Integrative Biology from the University of California, Berkeley, Layla Franks has built a successful career in medical research and leadership. As Executive Director of the Society for Fetal Urology, she focused on managing the day-to-day operations of a medical organization of fetal urologists with 360 national and international members. As a Research Associate for the Department of Urology at the University of California, San Francisco, she used her highly effective organizational and time-management skills to maintain a database on renal trauma and urethral reconstruction. Since the 1980s, this database has been used to write more than 250 peer-reviewed journal articles.

In June 2022, Layla joined the Board of Directors of Pacific Collegiate School, an independent public charter school in Santa Cruz committed to provide a diverse student body with college preparatory education, supported by educational equity legislation that looks to remove barriers that have traditionally excluded marginalized communities throughout Santa Cruz County.