The year was unique…but success is the same with or without a mask!
Graduating Resident PURLS
Dustin Brown, DO
Thank you to everyone involved in my training here a CWFM over the last three years. It has been some very long days but now feels like the 3 years went fast. I would like to thank the attendings who have dedicated their time to the advancement of my career. I specifically want to thank my Red Team who accepted me, supported me, were patient with me, and did everything they could to make my job easier.
I would like to thank my wife most of all for all the support throughout our journey. There have been many days and nights where she had to bear the weight of our family by herself due to the requirements of my job. There is no other person I would ever want to spend my life with, you are truly my secret weapon is all of this.
I will be staying within the CHCW community. I am joining the Naches clinic, SR Care, and will be assisting the residency with the hospital service.
Andrew DeGiorgio, MD, MS
Not available for comment.
Dolly Do, DO
I am incredibly grateful to have had the opportunity to work with so many amazing individuals at CWFM. Thank you to all the faculty, staff, my co-residents, and my beloved red ream. I have learned so much from you all, and your dedication to the community will always inspire me.
I also want to thank my family for always supporting me and being my biggest cheer leaders during this long journey. I am excited to be able to move back to my hometown of Portland, Oregon and begin my outpatient career with all my family close by! I have so many great memories of the years I’ve spent in Yakima and I will cherish them forever.
Samah Hussain, MD
Thank you to all the faculty and community attendings that have taught me so much in the last three years. I will miss all of you and especially my patients. I’ll be working in the Seattle area.
Ben Keggi, DO
Ben is a graduating resident. He will practice in Montana.
Tiffany Mark, MD
I am grateful for the teaching and lessons learned while at Central Washington Family Medicine. The attendings, staff, and especially purple team have always been open for questions and guidance. I am also very grateful to the community members who have aided in my education during my three years of residency. I am from the Pacific Northwest and was thrilled to complete my training in the PNW, and I am happy to continue to serve the people of Yakima Valley at Pacific Crest. Thank you for being such an integral part of my journey.
Rachel Pontemayor, DO
I have grown and learned so much over the last 3 years at CWFM—it has not been an easy journey, but I will be forever grateful for all the rewarding experiences. Thank you to the CWFM family and community attendings for investing in me. I will truly treasure the memories I have shared with everyone. CWFM will always be my second family. I will continue to practice in Washington and will be working in the north Seattle community.
Joel Roberts, MD
THANK YOU to everyone who has played a part in my training these past 3 years; both attendings in the residency and community, as well as nurses, MAs, BHCs, social workers and even patients have helped me grow not only as a doctor but as a human being! It is a debt I can only repay by paying it forward, to patients and future doctors.
I wish I could say my formal training is complete, but I head to Grand Forks, North Dakota for a year long, Obstetrics Fellowship! It is in no small part due to program faculty and fellow residents that I move towards family practice with obstetrics.
Lastly, I want to thank my family for all their love and sacrifices during these eleven years of education and training. Most of all I thank my wife Aimee, who has put up with long hours and changes in schedules while taking care of me, our subsequent twins and their two siblings. My hope is to spoil her for all the ways she has spoiled me!
Puzant Topaljekian, MD, MBA
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to be a part of the CWFM family. I have built wonderful relationships that will last for a lifetime. Thank you to the amazing faculty for all the teaching and guidance. As I move on to start my Palliative Care Fellowship at Kaiser LAMC in Los Angeles, I will certainly use the skills I’ve acquired throughout the last three years to become the best physician I can be.
Zach Valadez, MD
The past three years at CWFM have been a wonderful experience, and I will always remember them fondly. I would like to thank all the faculty and front office staff for the patience and care they have shown me. To my advisor, Dr. Jones, thank you for the help and guidance these past three years; I apologize in advance for the fact that I will always use you, not only as a source of knowledge, but as a reference in the future! To my Purple team, your pod is going to become a lot less grumpy, and I apologize for nothing. We all know you’re going to miss me.
To my wife, parents, and sister, thank you for your continued support and love. I am one of the luckiest people ever and feel like I have won the lottery every day I wake up and have you in my life. I would not be half the man I am, nor made it near as far as I have, without your constant support. As much as I regret leaving the Yakima Valley, as it has been a beautiful surrogate, I can’t wait to come home.
To Yakima, you’ve been a wonderful place, the community has been nothing but welcoming and friendly, and you have claimed a place in my soul forever! I am going to miss you immensely, and leaving you is like suffering the loss of a loved one. I appreciate you accepting me into your beautiful part in the world, it has been a dream.
To my fellow residents, you are some of the most beautiful people I have ever known, and leaving you is like leaving family. You all better stay in touch and come visit me in my part of SoCal, you’ll always have a place, even if it is at my in-laws for the first few months… I’m going to miss you all terribly.
Thank you for the opportunity, I will cherish it forever.