Residents
Class of 2012
Jeffrey Courville, MD
Undergraduate: Lamar University
Medical School: University of Texas - Houston
Personal Interests: Golf and shooting
Kyle Fehlis, MD
Undergraduate: Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX
Medical School: Texas A&M University Health Science Center College of Medicine
Medical Interests: Traditional family practice and international medicine
Personal Interests: Playing music, working out, and church
I love this residency because:: Texas A&M Family Medicine is the place to be for residency. The residents are hard workers and eager to learn and do what is best for the patient, and the faculty are strong, well-versed, and eager to drive the residents to improve. Your colleagues are always there to help and support you. Being an unopposed residency, there is plenty of clinical and procedural exposure, several opportunities for rural and international medicine, and OB abounds. You can train well for what you want to be as a doctor here, and know that you will be prepared to enter the professional arena when you are done. The town is not the congested metroplex of many other sites for residency, and the community is safe, friendly, and spirited. Texas A&M Physicians should definitely be near or at the top of anyone's residency ranking list.
Future Plans: Primary care clinic with some international work; possible hospital work and academic medicine.
Tomas Garza, MD
Undergraduate: University of Texas at San Antonio
Medical School: University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
Medical Interests: Sports Medicine, OB, and all the procedures I can get
Personal Interests: I like working on cars, welding, hunting, fishing, cooking large quantities of meat, and anything that involves a gun or any projectile-firing apparatus.
Family: He is married to his wife, Elida, and they have a daughter, Angel Mia,
and a son, Tomas Jr.
Future Plans: The reason I love this residency program is because of our people. Our attendings are second to none, and can do anything. Our residents are equals and willing to stand together and work together. Our interns are the best of the best and getting better every year. I feel challenged and I learn something new every time I step into the clinic or the hospital. In short, we have the best training available of any residency in the country, and the staff and residents to prove it.
Jeffrey Kozak, DO
Undergraduate: Texas Christian University
Medical School: University of North Texas Health Science Center Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine
Medical Interests: Sports medicine
Personal Interests: Motorcycles, cars, computers, cooking, and baby toys
Family: He is married to his wife, Nicole, and they have a daughter, Grace.
Future Plans: Rural practice for five to ten years, then return to academics.
Mandy Pockrus, MD
Undergraduate: Texas A&M University
Medical School: University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston
Personal Interests: Travel, reading, spending time with family, Aggie football
Medical Interests: International medicine, rural, obstetrics, procedures
I love this residency because: The Texas A&M Family Medicine program has provided me with amazing experiences over the past 2 years including a vigorous surgery rotation in Ghana, performing c-sections and laproscopic tubal ligations here even as an intern, learning numerous forms of contraception including Essure and Implanon, learning endocscopy at our clinic and in a rural setting, and having autonomy with clinic and hospital patients. Most of all I have learned how to be a good doctor and how to best care for my patients.
Future Plans: Wants to be a small town family medicine doctor and spend a few months every year working at a hospital/clinic in a developing country, most likely somewhere in Africa.
Lonnie E. Perryman Jr., MD
Undergraduate: University of Texas at Arlington
Medical School: Ross University
Medical Interests: Endocrine disorders and preventative medicine
Personal Interests: Tennis, scuba diving, travel, and music
Future Plans: To practice in an underserved area focusing on the prevention of maladies before they manifest themselves in his patients.
Natasa Popovic, MD
Undergraduate: University of Novi Sad, Serbia
Medical School: Faculty of Medicine, University of Novi Sad, Serbia
Medical Interests: Geriatrics,physiology of aging, vascular physiology, work in primary care clinic and urgent care in the United States and in my home country
Personal Interests: Spending time with family, music, traveling, learning new languages, learning about cultures from around the world
I love this residency because: Residents enjoy all the advantages of an unopposed family medicine program that exposes us to very diverse and often complex clinical situations. Program is associated with Texas A&M University that offers state of the art learning resources and has one of the best university libraries in the United States. The warmth and hospitality of people in this southern town is just amazing and make it the best place to live and work.
Favorite Quote: "Slow down and enjoy life. It's not only the scenery you miss by going too fast- you also miss the sense of where you're going and why." Eddie Cantor
Family: She is married and has three children.
Class of 2013
Undergraduate: Texas A&M University
Medical School: Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine
Medical Interests: Rural Medicine
Personal Interests: Tennis, mountain biking, reading, running, and spending time with family
Family: She is married to her husband, Blaine.
I love this residency because: The faculty not only care about making us into great doctors, but also about making us great people. They take a personal interest in each resident to help mold each and every graduate. The environment is very friendly and non-malignant. The goal is to help one learn and not break one down.
Future Plans: To practice rural medicine in an undetermined location.
Angela Hafernick, MD
Undergraduate: University of Texas at Austin
Medical School: Texas A&M University
Medical Interests: Community health, Preventative medicine, Rural Medicine, Endoscopy
Personal Interests: Water sports, crafts, reading, running, spending time with family
Family: She is married to her husband, Brian.
Future Plans: Practice in a small east Texas town working primarily to increase health awareness in the community.
I love this residency because: I love this program because I know I'm getting high quality training in true full spectrum family medicine. I will leave this program with the confidence to practice anything asked of me in rural Texas. Also, this program attracts good people, the kind of people you want to be working with side by side during these demanding years.
Tiffany Harms, MD
Undergraduate: Chadron State College, Chadron, NE
Medical School: University of Nebraska Medical Center
Medical Interests: I plan on working in a practice that prides itself in full spectrum medicine including obstetrics. I also have a passion for international medical mission trips, and hope to continue that in my practice in the future.
Personal Interests: I am a small town girl from Nebraska and a true Husker at heart. My hobbies include cooking interesting/unique dishes, playing sports, and international travel. Most importantly, I pride myself in my friends, family, and faith.
Future Plans: She plans to pursue a career in international medicine, being a full spectrum family doctor including obstetrics.
I love this residency because: I love this residency because of the vast opportunity it provides in full spectrum training, the faculty, the support system, and knowing that I am in a truly unique program. The size of the residency allows for personal one on one training. The procedural opportunity not only provides exposure, but the opportunity to do enough to be competent in all situations. We are doing things no other family medicine residency is doing or even offering. And coming from out of state, I can honestly say I have gained lifelong friends in both the residents and the faculty.
Kuy Houser, MD
Undergraduate: Texas A&M University, College Station
Medical School: University of Texas at Houston
Medical Interests: Procedures, scopes, sports medicine, preventative medicine, practice management
Personal Interests: God, my wife and son, sports, family and friends.
Family: He is married to his wife, Jamie.
Future Plans: Work in a rural community to practice full-scope medicine. He is considering doing a fellowship in sports medicine so he can integrate that into his practice and serve as a team doc someday. God has given him a strong desire to serve in medical missions internationally with his wife who is an optometrist.
I love this residency because: Ample opportunity to grow and become a great rural physician with an awesome bunch of fellow physicians
Casey McCullough, MD
Undergraduate: Southern Utah University, Cedar City, UT
Medical School: Washington University, St. Louis, MO
Medical Interests: Rural Medicine, Obstetrics, International Medicine, Wilderness Medicine
Personal Interests: Spending time with my 3 kids, anything outdoors (biking, hiking, camping, etc)
Family: He and his wife, Lacie, have three children, Ryan, Evelyn (Evie), and Keegan.
I love this residency because: This residency provides exceptional training to prepare me for rural medicine. There are plenty of procedures to give me experience in operative obstetrics, endoscopy, and surgery. There is a perfect balance of autonomy and oversight that has fostered my judgment and confidence as a physician. The international rotations are phenomenal with experiences you could only dream of. The attendings are knowledgeable, helpful, and always invested in our education. All this in an area without traffic. What is not to like?
Future Plans: Small town medicine, a few medical missions, and some pilot lessons.
Vivian Olsen, MD
Undergraduate: Texas A&M University
Medical School: Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine
Medical Interests: Broad-spectrum Family Medicine with obstetrics
Personal Interests: Running, hiking, traveling, spending time with family & friends
Family: She is married to her wonderful and devoted husband, Grant, whom she met in undergrad. They have been married since August 17, 2007, and he currently works in Dallas, TX as a petroleum engineer. She has two loving parents, Pierre and Ada Lichaa, who currently reside in Pflugerville, TX, as well as an adventurous older brother who works as a mechanical engineer in Saudi Arabia. The rest of her family is dispersed throughout the world, including Venezuela, where she was born.
I love this residency because: We have outstanding resident and faculty physicians that are highly motivated to learn and to teach. You will be trained in a manner that seems almost surreal because we do it all. It is a one of a kind place to develop exceptional medical skills as well as foster life-long friendships.
Future Plans: Depending on her husband's professions, she envisions fulfilling some of her own practice goals in a less urbanized, more rural setting, and eventually raising a family.
Laura Marsh, MD
Undergraduate: Texas A&M University, College Station
Medical School: Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine
Medical Interests: Sports medicine and women's health
Personal Interests: Spending time with husband, family, friends. cooking, photography, ranching, Aggie sports
I love this residency because: I love this residency because of the people and the awesome opportunities for training. It feels like a big family, and it is a great environment to work and learn in. The opportunities in sports medicine and procedural training will help me achieve my goals and be the best physician that I can be.
Future Plans: Private practice group with sports medicine in Texas
Laci Waner, MD
Undergraduate: Texas A&M University, College Station
Medical School: University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio School of Medicine
Medical Interests: Rural medicine, women and children's health, medical missions, racial/ethnic/cultural health disparities, integrated medicine
Personal Interests: God's grace, family, cooking and gardening
Family: She and her husband, Chris, have a son, Kylen, and a daughter, Addyx.
I love this residency because: I LOVE that I can start the day as the primary surgeon for a high risk c-section, place an umbilical artery catheter in a neonate, intubate and start a subclavian line on a cardiothoracic surgery patient, examine/diagnose/treat/educate my patients in clinic, and then go home and spend time with my husband and kids all in one day. I love that a byproduct of the residency’s passion for broad, quality, and compassionate patient care is that it feeds my addiction to procedures as well as my commitment to providing complete primary care to my patients. I love that it provides a supportive, caring environment and maintains a culture of excellence.
Future Plans: She hopes to have a full-scope rural family medicine practice in a small Texas town, coach her kids' soccer teams, participate in health missions, and advocate wellness and healthy living in men, women, children, families, and the community.
Class of 2014
Amy Bissada, DO
Undergraduate: Rice University, Houston
Medical School: AT Still University School of Osteopathic SOMA Mesa AZ
Medical Interests: Sports Medicine, International Medicine
Personal Interests: Traveling, watching movies, the great outdoors
I love this residency because: I love this residency because we have the opportunity for procedures
Katie Blalock, MD
Undergraduate: Texas A&M University, College Station
Medical School: Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine
Medical Interests: Women's health, sports medicine, preventive medicine
Personal Interests: I enjoy spending time with friends and family, playing the piano, traveling and aggie sports
I love this residency because: This residency offers a truly unique experience. We have a close knit family environment that offers support and friendship. We are trained in full spectrum family practice with a wide variety of procedures that ensures that we can successfully practice anywhere from small towns to large cities. Our faculty are committed to teaching and the residents are outstanding. Ultimately, I knew I had found a home when I came to this residency.
Future Plans: Private practice group with sports medicine in Texas
Katie Fuller, DO
Undergraduate: Dallas Baptist University
Medical School: Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine, Fort Worth
Medical Interests: Global/international medicine, OB, procedures and surgery, health systems development in third-world countries
Personal Interests: Traveling, piano and guitar, soccer, ending world hunger
I love this residency because: I have the privilege of learning to practice medicine with excellence, including OB, rural medicine, inpatient medicine, and international medicine. As an unopposed residency in rural Texas, we learn to manage a wide variety of disease processes and have the ability to make a real change for the better in the community. We work hard, but we have a friendly, family-like atmosphere among the residents that is wonderful both for learning and for living.
Katy Greiner, MD
Undergraduate: Texas Tech University, Lubbock
Medical School: Texas A&M, College Station
Medical Interests: Women’s health, rural medicine
Personal Interests: I love spending my spare time with my husband, daughter, and dogs. I also enjoy reading, baking, and home improvement projects.
I love this residency because: I love this residency because I can get all the training that I need to go to a small town in Texas and open up a cash pay clinic (my ultimate goal). This residency provides more training opportunities in three years than one could possibly imagine. Not only do you learn how to do things, but you learn how to do them well.
Ebrenne Igbokwe, DO
Undergraduate: Xavier University, New Orleans, LA
Medical School: UNT-HSC TCOM Fort Worth, TX
Medical Interests: Procedures, OB
Personal Interests: Gardening, traveling, reading
I love this residency because: I enjoy this residency because it is a place that encourages and pushes you to reach your personal best. I strive to do better; not to compete with anyone but because I want to give my patients the best care possible. The sky is the limit here if you are willing to try and work hard.
James King, MD
Undergraduate: University of Texas Pan American, Edinburg
Medical School: University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston
Medical Interests: Sports Medicine, Dermatology
Personal Interests: Family, Technology, Disc Golf, Tennis, Golf, Bowling, Movies
I love this residency because: The people in this residency are special. There is no other place I know where everyone, faculty and residents, genuinely gets along and enjoy working with and learning from one another. After a residency here, I will be thoroughly prepared for any kind of practice I can imagine.
Jennifer Liedtke, MD
Undergraduate: Texas A&M University, College Station
Medical School: Texas A&M Health Science Center, College Station
Medical Interests: Rural medicine, women's and children's health, outpatient clinic & international missions
Personal Interests: My family, which includes my husband, Ty, and my 3 dogs
I love this residency because: The hands-on management of everything and all of the OB procedures you want to pursue. I'm sure you can understand why being hands on in all aspects is important for rural medicine. We are an unopposed residency and work very well with all of the other community doctors. This makes for great training program with every opportunity to make it what you want it to be. Probably the best part of residency is the people I get to see every day. This included my fellow interns, upper levels, attendings, and the clinic staff. They are awesome and super friendly.
LaNeece Marley, MD
Undergraduate: Texas A&M University Corpus Christi, Corpus Christi, Texas
Medical School: Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine
Medical Interests: Sports Medicine, Family Medicine
Personal Interests: Aggie football and women's basketball, family/friends, playing the piano, surfing, poetry
I love this residency because: This residency is the best by far. We have the opportunity to practice full spectrum Family Medicine in an unopposed program with the support of amazing faculty and fellow residents. The faculty provide the perfect blend of guidance while also allowing residents autonomy in decision making and patient care. I also feel that the specialists that we work with are likewise supportive and easy to work with. I believe that there is no other program that will provide one with the number of procedures and the level of competence with those procedures that we get here. I also really love our class. We have amazing residents who also make even more amazing friends.
Future Plans: Private practice group with sports medicine in Texas
Conrado Ordonez, MD
Undergraduate: Texas State University, San Marcos
Medical School: UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas
Medical Interests: Sports medicine, International medicine
Personal Interests: Family, Soccer, Traveling, Triathlons
I love this residency because: I love this residency program of the enthusiastic environment the residents work together to create. It's also a special place because of all the procedures we get to perform on a daily basis. Ever since I arrived, there has been nothing but growth in the right direction and there is such a bright future ahead. I can't imagine being anywhere else.
