Jessica Worrell, MD - University of Oklahoma College of Medicine
I grew up on a rural ranch in Oklahoma where I learned to be independent and resilient. I have a strong desire to become a full spectrum family physician and serve a rural population. I want to be more than just a healer, I aspire to be educational, inclusive, humane, and dedicated to the health and safety of my patients no matter their status or background.
My non-medical interests include: jazz, piano, poetry, kickboxing, backpacking, nature, and wildlife, rock climbing, cross-country, and hanging out with my dog Opal.
Fernando Polanco, MD - St. George University School of Medicine
I was born in Guatemala then moved to Canada in 1989 at the height of the Guatemalan Civil war and was raised in a rural town in northern British Columbia Canada. Shaped by my experiences growing up, I became passionate about integrating social justice with health sciences. I have extensive experience in Indigenous health research, worked in health policy with marginalized populations, and worked in harm reduction/needle exchange prior to starting medical school. I believe that family medicine has a unique ability to foster relationships both at an individual and community level.
I enjoy coaching and playing soccer, surfing, back-country snowboarding, playing classical guitar, and speaking Spanish and French.
Paola Candia, DO - Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences College
of Osteopathic Medicine
My mom immigrated to the U.S. from Nicaragua and growing up I saw firsthand how hard she had to work to give her children a home and food, to survive. Seeing her physical ailments from laborious jobs as a child – and seeing the results today— I yearned to take care of her, and people like her. This eventually led me to family medicine. Family medicine to me is looking at the social determinants of health and tailoring your care to fit the needs of the person. It is also about advocating for quality care to all, regardless of your race, gender identity, socioeconomic class, etc. I have many interests in family medicine – rural and underserved population care, prevention, women’s health, obstetrics, community outreach, and more.
Outside of medicine some things I enjoy are playing soccer, trying new pastries and coffee, taking photos of flowers, hiking, playing Zelda, and reading.
Taylor Wrinkle, MD - University of California, San Diego School of Medicine
What I love about Family Medicine is that it incorporates and prioritizes so many of the things that I have come to value in medicine: public health, social medicine, patient advocacy and holistic care. I worked in global public health prior to medical school and am committed to providing full spectrum care to the underserved. My interests include obstetrics, women and children’s health, and global health. I speak French and some Spanish.
In my free time, I enjoy making bread, skiing, and sailing, and spending time with my husband and our 6-year-old son.
Carina Souflee, MD - Dell Medical School, University of Texas, Austin
Carina is an impressive resident who also completed graduate school at Harvard and received her Masters of Education. Before medical school she was a high school English Teacher as a Teach For America Scholar in Kirtland, NM near Navajo lands. She was born in El Paso and grew up in North Texas with her parents who are both social workers and teachers. She is a strong patient care advocate and has taught about the importance of traditional medicine for indigenous communities. She enjoys the outdoors and backpacking with her husband Mino, reading, and hanging out with her cat Osa who considers Carina her “human” rather than Carina’s cat.
Owen Willis, MD - University of Toledo, College of Medicine Ohio
Owen is wonderful resident who spent time in Hood River this past Fall as a sub-intern and was very impressed with our residency and community. He completed two masters in Cellular and Cancer Biology at Case Western and the University of Miami. He has a strong bench research history, but much prefers working with patients and getting to know new people. He desires to practice full spectrum family medicine and is fluent in Spanish. He loves to travel and has been to 48 US states and 4 continents. Owen’s wife, Kristina, is from the Pacific Northwest and is a winemaker and sommelier. They have two rabbits, Pickles and Millard and an English bulldog named Rosie Cotton who reportedly has an impressive snore
