Residents
First Year
Second Year
Third Year Read what Smiley’s graduates have said about their training.
Carrie Eckstam, DO |  | Medical School: A. T. Still University – School of Osteopathic Medicine, Arizona
Why Smiley’s? I thought it would be a great opportunity to work with fun and approachable faculty and residents in an underserved area of the Twin Cities.
Career Goals and Professional Interests: I am interested in practicing full spectrum family medicine including obstetrics.
What I Like About the Twin Cities: I enjoy spending time outdoors at any of the public parks, especially at Lake Calhoun. | Jibril Elabe, MD |  | Medical School: Faculty of Medicine at Somali National University
Why Smiley’s? I chose Smiley’s and UMMC because they are located in the heart of a diverse community and are committed to educate and serve in addressing community health concerns.
Career Goals and Professional Interests: OB is the part of residency that I am looking forward to the most. My future career goals include becoming a pioneer family physician, dedicated to educating and addressing community health concerns.
What I Like About the Twin Cities: The Twin Cities are becoming rich in diverse cultures and customs that cannot be found anywhere else in the U. S. | Liban Farah, MD |  | Medical School: Somali National University
Why Smiley’s? My desire to work with an underserved immigrant population
Career Goals and Professional Interests: Full spectrum family medicine, immigrant health
What I Like About the Twin Cities: It is a great place to live and work. | Amanda Mayer, MD |  | Medical School: University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health
Why Smiley’s? I wanted a program with a supportive learning environment, an emphasis on community health and experienced faculty committed to both exceptional patient care and resident education. I found Smiley’s to be the clinic with the most culturally diverse residents, staff, faculty and patient population in the Twin Cities.
Career Goals and Professional Interests: Primary care, preventive medicine, community health, the social determinants of health and health care policy.
What I Like About the Twin Cities: The huge variety of cultural activities such as film festivals, music venues, art museums, and unique restaurants means there’s always something fun to do. | Rashmi Narayana, MBBS | 
| Medical School: Chengalpatlu Medical College, Tamil Nadu De Moir Medical University
Why Smiley's? I very much liked Smiley's when I came to interview. The faculty are not only knowledgeable but also friendly and approachable. The residents and support staff are great to work with.
Career Goals/Professional Interests: Full spectrum family medicine with special interest in obstetrics
What I Like About the Twin Cities: It is one of the best places to live and work in the U.S.! It offers a large variety of cultural and outdoor activities. | Gaurav Nigam, MBBS |  | Medical School: Government Medical College, Jabalpur, India.
Why Smiley’s? Approachable faculty committed to resident’s education, collegiality between residents, flexibility of curriculum and the resources available at UMN were the prime reasons. After interviewing in thirteen different programs from North Dakota to Texas, I was convinced that Smiley’s would be the best program for me.
Career Goals and Professional Interests: Procedures, preventative medicine, urgent care and emergency medicine.
What I Like About the Twin Cities: The Midwestern hospitality, which is reflected in the warmth of the people in the Twin Cities. I also love the biking spirit, green trails, lakes, restaurants and the “Hot Dish”. | Sandhita Saha, MBBS |  | Medical School: Nilratan Sircar Medical College, Kolkata, India
Why Smiley’s? Smiley’s offers everything that I was looking for in a residency program—a renowned family medicine program with inpatient training at a big university hospital and outpatient training at a very unique clinic, outstanding faculty, friendly residents, and admin staff who are always available to help.
Career Goals and Professional Interests: Practice full spectrum family medicine with special interests in women’s and children’s health
What I Like About the Twin Cities: Very green with numerous parks and lakes, the Mississippi River, the Mall of America | Top
 | Medical School: Fatima Jinnah Medical College for Women, Pakistan
Why Smiley’s: I was looking for a program that would provide a good work environment in addition to great learning opportunities. Smiley’s offered an ideal setting. The team is very friendly, and I felt like I would fit in well with the other residents. The faculty are approachable and genuinely concerned about the welfare of every resident. The opportunity to rotate at a university hospital provides a solid foundation for practicing as a competent family physician.
Career Goals and Professional Interests: Pediatrics, adolescent medicine, sports medicine | Dana Kusnir, MD |  | Medical School: University of Nevada School of Medicine
Why Smiley's: I chose Smiley’s because of the outstanding and caring faculty and because of my desire to work with an underserved immigrant population. Another major reason I chose Smiley’s is because of the program’s commitment to reproductive health care and opt out curriculum.
Career Goals and Professional Interests: Comprehensive reproductive health care, international health, heath care policy and reform, multicultural and underserved populations.
What I Like About the Twin Cites: I like the diversity of the population and the fantastic access to art, music, theater, green space, and restaurants.
| Mike Pipestone, MD |  | Medical School: University of Minnesota Medical School
Why Smiley’s: Truly exceptional clinical educators. Innovative and energetic work environment. A well-established family medicine residency with all the resources of the University close at hand.
Career Goals and Professional Interests: Full-spectrum family medicine, medical education, and health disparities including Native American health and women’s health and reproductive choice. | Ghazal Sinha, MD |  | Medical School: Manipal College of Medical Sciences, Nepal
Why Smiley’s: Excellent faculty, staff, and work environment. When I came here to interview, I knew it had to be one of the top work places in the Twin Cities. I’m extremely happy to be here.
Career Goals and Professional Interests: To practice family medicine in an academic setting
| Marco Valencia, MD |  | Medical School: University of Santo Tomas, Philippines
Why Smiley’s: Smiley’s recently received an award as one of the Top 10 most outstanding places to work. That pretty much summarizes everything for this program. It has excellent state-of-the-art facilities, and you get to work with the warmest people. The program is always open to suggestions in an effort to maintain excellence.
Career Goals and Professional Interests: I plan on going for a sports medicine fellowship. Ultimately, I want to practice primary care with a lot of procedures and sports medicine patients as well.
| Victor Yam, MD |  | Medical School: Ross University School of Medicine, Dominica
Why Smiley’s: I chose Smiley’s because of my interest in serving a culturally diverse population in an urban community setting. This program has everything to offer its residents—from a state-of-the-art clinic to friendly staff and knowledgeable faculty members—all of these are valuable assets in molding new physicians to become the faces of medicine in this country. Smiley’s offers a very flexible curriculum that tailors to each individual’s needs and a pool of excellent administrative staff that can provide us with the support we need.
Career Goals and Professional Interests: Urgent care, emergency medicine, sports medicine | Top
Ingrid Kaijage, MD, MPH |  | Medical School: Muhimbili University College of Health Sciences, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
MPH: ULB Erasme School of Public Health in Brussels, Belgium
Why Smileys: The quality of faculty, residents, location, a state-of-the-art clinic and the program affiliation with the University of Minnesota make Smiley’s a great place to learn. Smiley’s family medicine program has a reputation for serving a diverse patient population and offers a lot of learning opportunities.
Career Goals and Professional Interests: To become a competent family medicine physician in a community or academic setting. I’m interested in women’s health, maternity care including surgical obstetrics, procedures, and pediatrics.
What I Like About the Twin Cities: Apart from a long cold winter in Minnesota, I found the Twin Cities among the best places to live, work, and raise a family in the U.S. The lakes, parks, theaters, and sport activities keep people active and happy.
| Charlton Lacerna, MD |  | Medical School: University of Santo Tomas, Philippines
Why Smiley’s: I chose Smiley’s because of its active participation in serving the underserved, the faculty's dedication to excellence, state-of-the-art facilities, and the very friendly and multicultural environment that provides the opportunity to learn from different cultures.
Excited by: I like that in family medicine, in order to be on top of the game, you have to keep yourself up-to-date with the latest protocols, and keep up with the trends. It keeps your mind in top shape and keeps you abreast of the basic principles of medicine. Smiley’s will prepare me to become a well-trained family physician who is well-versed in evidence-based medicine.
What I Like About the Twin Cities: The Twin Cities have a lot of things to offer. The people are very warm and hospitable. There is a commitment here to keep Minneapolis a thriving and diverse place for different cultures and people. | Tasaduq Mir, MD |  | Medical School: Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran
Why Smiley’s: When I visited Smiley’s for my interview it was like love at first sight. Smiley’s provides a complete package: state-of-the-art clinic, one of the best universities in the United States, excellent faculty, multi-ethnic and diverse patient population.
Career Goals and Professional Interests: To work as a family medicine doctor with special emphasis on chronic diseases and mental disorders.
What I Like About the Twin Cities: Great community, beautiful parks and lakes, and SNOW | Sabeen Munib, MD |  | Medical School: King Edward Medical College, Lahore, Pakistan.
Why Smiley’s: University-affiliated program with lots of learning opportunities with an experienced faculty. Diverse patient population in urban setting where residents are prepared for whomever and whatever walks through the door.
Excited About: I enjoyed the obstetrics rotation in med school but did not get a chance to practice much. I am looking forward to that part of training in particular; being part of a good team is another thing I am looking forward to.
What I Like About the Twin Cities: Amazing theaters and museums, and, most of all, friendly people | Sapna Patel, MD | 
| Medical School: Jawahar Lal Nehru Medical College, Ajmer, India
Why Smiley’s: I like the different patient population and patient centered care. I loved the Twin Cties.
Career Goals and Professional Interests: Practice family medicine in teaching environment.
What I Like About the Twin Cities: Friendly people and very good education
| Savita Thorat, MD |  | Medical School: Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences, Karad, India
Why Smiley’s: Smiley’s is a great program. When I interviewed here I was impressed with the dedication and enthusiasm of the program director, faculty members, program co-coordinator and administrative staff, pleasant work environment, and diverse patient population. To be specific, I liked the Smileyota way, chronic care model, and medical home model. The most distinguishing feature of Smiley’s is the people here who essentially made up my mind to choose this program as my residency program.
Excited About: Emergency medicine, women’s health, pediatrics
What I Like About the Twin Cities: Great cities, multi-cultural community. Beautiful lakes. Lots of museums and tourist attractions. | Anjali Vaidya, MD |  | Medical School: NDMVP Samaj’s Medical College, Nasik, India
Why Smiley’s: I believe Smiley’s diversity of patient population, various learning opportunities for residents and excellent faculty will help me to become a confident, competent family physician. I am very much impressed by Smiley’s state-of-the-art clinic. The residents and staff are very friendly, and I’ve always felt comfortable with them.
Career Goals and Professional Interests: Women’s health and ambulatory family medicine. After completion of residency, I want to practice full-spectrum family medicine in a mid-size U.S. city with a group of family physicians. I would like to actively participate in community service.
What I Like About the Twin Cities: Beautiful lakes and trails, spectacular fall colors, the Minnesota Zoo, and the Mall of America. There are also excellent schools and many job opportunities. This is a safe place to live. | Top
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