Carina Souflee, MD (she/her) - Dell Medical School, University of Texas, Austin
Growing up in Texas, the Pacific Northwest was a far-flung place with which I had no experience, but after a visit to the region during medical school for an acting internship (sub-internship), I was captivated! I studied anthropology and Latin American studies as an undergrad, lived in several different places around the world, and had a career teaching high school and college English in New Mexico before starting medical school. After all of that, I am so pleased to have landed in Oregon for residency.
I chose family medicine because it felt like my professional home in medical school. Social determinants of health, behavioral health, and chronic illness prevention and management intersected in the primary care clinic and reflected the most important aspects of medicine for me. Furthermore, family medicine allowed me to care for people throughout the entirety of life’s arc—from birth to death—in both acute and non-acute settings. I also appreciated the opportunity to address patients’ concerns of both body and mind holistically and in a culturally responsive manner. Family medicine is a specialty at the roots of a community's healthcare ecology, built by integral relationships between providers and patients.
My professional interests include healthcare transformation and equity, quality improvement through innovative care delivery models, chronic illness prevention, integrated behavioral health in primary care, care for Native American and immigrant populations, substance use disorder, plant medicines and traditional medicine ways, and the mysterious and inexorable aspects of human existence.
Owen Willis, MD (he/him) - University of Toledo, College of Medicine Ohio
Owen is a wonderful resident who has enjoyed moving to Oregon with his wife, Kristina, who is a native Pacific Northwesterner. He desires to practice full spectrum family medicine and is fluent in Spanish. His interests in medicine include obstetrics, transgender and gender-affirming care, and population health. He and Kristina have a French Bulldog named Maggie, and they love to travel, read, and watch comedies.
I have always been inspired by the way family medicine physicians can shape
their communities and act as agents for change and social justice. Growing
up in a town of 90 people in West Texas, along with my passion for working
with the underserved and underrepresented, has naturally drawn me towards
rural family medicine. I speak Spanish, and my interests include LGBTQIA+
health, women and children’s health, osteopathic manipulative medicine,
and in-office procedures.
When I'm not immersed in medicine, you can find me riding my bike, playing
guitar, or spending time with my wife and our pets. We have a black cat
named Boo Radley, a 'chugaweenie' named Eloise, and a pug named Wilson.
Rachel Monroe, MD (she/her) - Washington State University Elson S. Floyd
College of Medicine
I was born and raised in eastern Oregon, in a small town on the Snake River. After graduating from the College of Idaho, I lived and worked in Seattle in clinical research. My focus was first on autoimmune diseases, and later on breast cancer treatments. While I loved learning about the research process, I missed working directly with patients. Medial school had long been a dream of mine, and I finally made the jump and attended Washington State University’s College of Medicine in Spokane and the Tri-Cities. I am so glad to have found my place in the medical community. I love developing my knowledge and skills and using them to serve patients. Relationships bring meaning to the work I do every day and I’m grateful for everything I’m learning from patients. Training in Portland, Milwaukie, and Hood River is an excellent opportunity to learn in varied settings, and I am enjoying building connections in all of these communities.
When I’m not in clinic or the hospital, I spend my time social dancing, exploring the outdoor areas in and around Portland, and connecting with friends, family, and my cat, Henry.
Amanda Ciechanowski, MD (she/her) - Escuela Latinoamericana de Medicina (ELAM)
Having spent the greater part of my life in Illinois, I’ve always had a special place in my heart for the enduring spirit of the Chicago Cubs, big thunderstorms, Great Lakes, and cornfields as far as the eye can see. But, as life would have it, the journey to becoming a doctor ended up taking me far beyond the Land of Lincoln! After completing my undergraduate and graduate degrees at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, I went on to find my calling studying medicine at la Escuela Latinoamericana de Medicina (Latin American School of Medicine) in Havana, Cuba. I’m forever grateful to have trained as a doctora de ciencia y conciencia, for all the amazing Cuban professors who taught me the importance of appreciating your patient as a bio-psycho-social and spiritual whole and, even more grateful still, for the opportunity to have learned the art of medicine in a country that values health as a human right. That same commitment to health equity, underserved communities and comprehensive patient care is a huge part of what drew me to the Hood River Family Medicine program (not to mention the incredible people and the beautiful Pacific NW!), so I’m beyond excited to continue this next part of my journey learning from all the amazing faculty and residents here at Providence Milwaukie and Hood River and I'm especially looking forward to all the personal and professional growth to come. My biggest passion outside of medicine is spending time outdoors with my family and friends, especially my husband and 1-year-old daughter, who both fill my days (and soul) with an abundance of love, wonder and joy. If I'm not out hiking or camping with the friends and fam, you can usually find me gardening or cozied up with a nice mug of tea and a good book.
I grew up in a small town in North Carolina, surrounded by people who always made it their priority to look after others and tend to the underserved. In time, this influenced me to pursue medical school. From the beginning, I wanted to be a rural family physician—a doctor that anyone could come to for anything, with the knowledge and connections to change my community for the better. It was in Arkansas that I found a school that would help me reach that goal, and I was fortunate to get to spend my time there connecting with its rural communities and engaging in advocacy at the local, state, and national levels. I knew I wanted to train at a program with a similar focus on community engagement and full-spectrum care, and that's how I found myself alongside the incredible people at Providence Hood River and Providence Milwaukie!
I am so excited and feel so grateful to have the chance to train in Oregon over the next few years. It’s hard to imagine a more beautiful place, and I look forward to hiking and running through as much of it as I can. On rainier days, you can find me inside reading or trying (slowly but surely) to learn the guitar.
