The Scripps Family Medicine residents are a diverse and committed group of physicians who have a strong desire to improve healthcare access, education, and delivery to communities in need. We have filled 100% of our open PGY1 spots with US graduates in every match since our inception in 1998. 32% of residents grew up in the San Diego area, and 50% are members of underrepresented minority groups. Several of the residents are also National Health Service Corps scholars.

3rd Year Residents

Myrna Coronado, MD

Albany Medical College, New York

A native Spanish-speaker and originally from San Diego, Myrna is a first generation college graduate of her family. She completed her undergraduate studies at USD before attending graduate school and medical school in New York. During that time, she volunteered at a community health center serving the uninsured and solidifying her desire to pursue the specialty of family medicine. Her hobbies include dancing and photography.

Esther Dalugdugan, MD

University of California, Irvine School of Medicine

Esther was born in Illinois and lived for a few years in Maryland before finally making her way to San Diego. Alongside her parents and younger sister, Esther moved to Chula Vista and eventually to Bonita, both times which she considers home. She attended Bonita Vista High School, where she met her husband, who is currently a resident at Scripps Mercy. She then went to UCLA, earning a degree in Psychobiology. While at UCLA, Esther was named a Howard Hughes Undergraduate Research Fellow for her research in BRCA1 and also started an organization entitled Cancer Education and Awareness. She earned her medical degree at UC Irvine School of Medicine where she was extremely active in Clinica Carino (UC Irvine's student-run clinic), and the Smoking Prevention Program. In her free time, she loves spending timd with her husband, family, and friends, as well as playing the piano, shopping, and traveling. Aside from having visited most states, Esther's travels also include Costa Rica, Mexico, and Antigua. She is fluent in Spanish and Tagalog. She is excited about her training and future career in Family Medicine!

Mayra Dillon, MD

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS, CHICAGO SCHOOL OF MEDICINE

Originally from Santa Ana, Mayra moved to the midwest to complete undergrad at Notre Dame with a degree in anthropology. She finished medical school in Chicago with her husband, Ben, who is now a medicine-pediatrics resident at UCSD. While in medical school, Mayra devoted herself to underserved communities and assumed leadership roles in national organizations committed to improving health in the Hispanic community. Her hobbies include music, volleyball, running, dancing, and traveling.

Brendan Kidder, MD

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO SCHOOL OF MEDICINE

Brendan and his wife, Marie, were both born and raised in San Diego. Brendan completed undergrad at Grossmont College and UCSD before going to UCSD for medical school. Brendan has had extensive Involvement in international healthgroups, such as the Flying Samaritans, and GHEC; He has spent significant time in Northern Baja, volunteering in clinics and participating in public health trips. He loves music, and will play/listen to anything he can get his hands on. He also loves to surf and spearfish, spending most of his free time in the water. He plans on continuing a career working with the underserved of San Diego County, as well as the international health community.

Ted Su, MD

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO SCHOOL OF MEDICINE

Ted was born in Tokyo and is fluent in Japanese. He completed undergrad at Stanford University with a degree in economics, and then attended medical school at UCSD. Since medical school, he has been committed to underserved communities, being active at the UCSD Student-Run Free Clinic as well as spending 6 months in Sierra Leone working in schools, medical outreaches, andorphanages. His hobbies include traveling, swing dancing, and playing guitar. He is also an active member of his church and helped to establish his church's homeless outreach ministry.

Courtney Summers, MD

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO SCHOOL OF MEDICINE

Originally from California, Courtney moved to the east coast to attend undergrad at Princeton University, graduating with honors in molecular biology. During medical school at UCSD, Courtney was the co-Manager of the women's clinic at the UCSD Student-Run Free Clinic as well as a mentor to first and second year medical students. Her hobbies include cooking, mystery novels, fitness, and thrift store shopping.

Sergio Villegas, MD

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, KECK SCHOOL OF MEDICINE

Sergio grew up in Chula Vista and attended undergrad at UCSD with a degree in Psychology. While in med school at USC,Sergio volunteered at Healing Hearts Across Borders in Mexico, as well as the Reach Out and Read Program promoting literacy in pediatric clinics and hospitals. He has also spent much time mentoring students at local Chula Vista schools. His hobbies include guitar, running, movies, and attending rock concerts.

2nd Year Residents

Toni Jo Canton, MD

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO SCHOOL OF MEDICINE

Toni Jo loves talking about the fact that she grew up in Lodi, California and is known for her boundless, sometimes disturbing, level of energy. She attended undergrad at UC Davis and medical school at UCSD, finding the ocean to be the most incredible place imaginable to de-stress. During med school she enjoyed being involved with the student-run free clinic, started an elective in OB for pre-clinical med students, and was a peer mentor. Her absolute favorite things are traveling, listening to live music, and seeing her family and friends whenever she can. She loves everything involving food: eating it, cooking it, talking about it, thinking about it, and will never say no to ice cream. Toni Jo is passionate about adolescent medicine and women's health and eager to get involved in the great opportunities at Chula Vista and participate in the care of a very underserved community.

Stephanie Chu, MD

BOSTON UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE

After growing up in Alburquerue, New Mexico and acquiring a taste for anything with green chile, Stephanie headed east to Boston (more specifically Boston University) for college, work, and medical school. Although she never picked up a cool Boston accent, she did get to study ecology in Ecuador, work as an EMT, do some cancer research, experience the fantastic craziness that goes on in a place like Boston Medical Center and, last but not least, become a Red Sox fan. Drawn by an interest in border health issues, a desire to improve her Spanish, a belief in health care as a right, and the importance of community involvement in medicine, she found a perfect little niche for herself in this family medicine program. In her free time she enjoys soaking up the wonderful weather, exploring her new Southern California home, and talking about food while hanging out with her incredibly awesome classmates.

Angel Ochoa, DO

TOURO UNIVERSITY

Angel is a native Californian from San Bernardino, who received his bachelor's degree in Biological Sciences from UC Irvine. Before completing medical school, he worked for several years in primarily underserved communities, both as an EMT and as a substitute teacher. Having also grown up in an underserved community, Angel is motivated by the rewarding experiences of giving back to similar communities. At Scripps, he feels he has found the perfect program to prepare for his future practice. San Diego is the ideal place to use his first language, Spanish, while serving the medically underserved of all ages. With a love for surfing, along with many other sports, and as a dedicated family man, he will be spending much of his free time with his newly born son, Sebastian, and wife of six years, Natalie.

Mary Palamino, MD

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO SCHOOL OF MEDICINE

Mary is a second generation native San Diegan who completed her undergraduate degree at San Diego State University and University of California, San Diego. She completed her medical school education at UCSD where she received Honors for her Underserved Medicine Clerkship and is a Lifetime Member of the Gold Humanism Honor Society. Mary managed Baker Clinic, UCSD's Student-Run Free Clinic Project, for two years. Before medical school, Mary spent ten years teaching kids with severe disabilities for the San Diego Unified School District. Mary has been a distance runner for 17 years, and has also participated in triathlons, enjoys scuba diving, camping, rock climbing, traveling, and film. Ultimately, Mary hopes to stay in San Diego and work with the underserved populations in the South Bay.

Brian Snook, DO

WESTERN UNIVERSITY OF HEALTH SCIENCES

Brian grew up in Riverside County and graduated from San Jacinto High School. He moved to San Diego where he received his Bachelors degree in General Biology from UC San Diego. After graduation he committed to a year of volunteer services with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps. Brian worked at an Emergency Assistance agency in Hartfort, CT where he was an advocate for those in need. He later attended medical school at Western University where he was involved with Homeless Outreach Programs and GLBT Health Education. Brian's interest include running, dancing, hanging with friends, and spending time at the beach.

Ryan Yoon, MD

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO SCHOOL OF MEDICINE

After graduating from UCSD, Ryan decided to stay in San Diego for medical school. He spent most of his extracurricular time at the UCSD Student-Run Free Clinic, which serves the homeless and insurance-less population in SD. It operates under the belief that health and healthcare is a right. Ryan has studied stingless bees, cellular mechanotransduction, and medical student attitudes. He enjoys surfing slow, clear days with Dr. Ochoa, writing bios in the third person, and keeping his blood pressure down.

Christine Pagano, MD, M.B.A

Originally from Seattle, and living life in multiple countries and continents, "Chrissy" joins our R2 class this year. Her past exploits include completing her M.B.A., and playing proffesional bascketball in Australia. She began her medicine career as an ER resident, and finally saw the light, changing her career path to focus on family medicine, and the continuity of care it brings.

Katherine White, MD

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO SCHOOL OF MEDICINE

Katie grew up in Irvine before going to UC Berkeley where she studied Cell Biology and Peace Studies. After graduating, she returned to SoCal for medical school at UC San Diego, where she was active in the UCSD Student-Run Free Clinic, peer  mentoring, and community outreach. At the end of medical school, she spent a month studying Integrative Medicine in the woods and a month studying Spanish in Guatemala. During her free time she loves being outdoors, esp running or hiking, spending time with family and friends, and listening to music; she is hoping to run a few half marathons, learn to cook, and learn to play guitar during residency. Katie is super excited to practice Family Medicine with the South San Diego community and awesome Scripps Chula Vista team!

Karla Garcia, MD

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, IRVINE SCHOOL OF MEDICINE

Karla is a native of the San Diego-Mexico border region. Her experiences growing up as an immigrant in medically underserved communities as well as her desire to help those around her inspired her to become a physician. She obtained her M.D. at UCI School of Medicine, where she was a part of PRIME-LC, a program designed to train physicians to better care for Latinos in California. She was also an active member of the Latino Medical Student Association. Her belief that health is a product of our environment and culture also led her to obtain an MPH from the Harvard School of Public Health. Her interests are varied and include women's health, maternal and child health, family planning, chronic disease prevention, nutrition, and early childhood development. In her spare time she enjoys running, dancing, hiking, rooting for the Chargers and Padres, and spending time with loved ones and pets.

Sean Rodriguez, MD

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, IRVINE SCHOOL OF MEDICINE

I grew up in the South Bay, attending Chula Vista Junior High and Chula Vista High School. For this reason I am very happy about the opportunity to come home and serve in the community that raised me. I love surfing Imperial Beach and Baja Malibu, savoring a carne asada torta with coffee at Los Compadres, and heckling Dodger fans that come to Petco park. In this program, I want to expand my vision of issues that patients struggle with locally, understand how patients are affected by the national polices of both Mexico and the United States, and find solutions to some of our most daunting healthcare problems.

Ruth Morgan, MD

ALBANY MEDICAL COLLEGE, NEW YORK

Ruth Morgan is a graduate of Albany Medical College. She grew up in an underserved community in Memphis, TN. She earned her A.B. from Dartmouth College in Sociology and her Master of Science from Central Connecticut State University in Education. Prior to pursing medicine, she taught educational leadership and served as program advisor at various colleges and universities for 10 years. During medical school, Ruth participated in a multidisciplinary childhood obesity intervention research program. She was awarded a SNMA David E. Satcher, M. D. Research Fellowship– one of five medical students nationally to receive this honor and an Ohyesia Fellowship to support her research. She is passionate about community medicine, working with the underinsured, and global health. She participated in medical rotations in Uganda and China during medical school. Ruth was elected to the Gold Humanism Honor Society and received the Frank Maxon, Jr., MD Medical Student Alumni Award presented to the senior student of outstanding personal, academic and professional qualities. Her hobbies include dancing, traveling, cooking, and kayaking.

 

Sarah Dolhoum, MD

...Bio available shortly

 

Nick Whitley, MD

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, KECK SCHOOL OF MEDICINE

Emma White, MD

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, KECK SCHOOL OF MEDICINE

Emma grew up in the small coastal town of Marblehead, Massachusetts. She stayed in the Boston area for her undergraduate education, studying biology at Harvard University, and then moved west to Los Angeles for medical school at the University of Southern California. While at USC, Emma worked with victims and witnesses of domestic violence at the Violence Intervention Program and was a leader of the Patient Education Group that promoted (what else) patient education on campus and in the hospital. She met Nick at USC, and they journeyed together to El Salvador to help start a diabetes screening and education project in El Salvador. LA County Hospital proved to be everything that Emma imagined in terms of working with underserved and diverse patients which reinforced her decision to continue working with these populations at Chula Vista. Outside of medicine, Emma enjoys reading, traveling, anything beach related, and supporting Boston sports teams.