University of Rochester Med-Peds Residency Program

It’s Friday, which means it’s time for another intern spotlight. Meet Dr. Alexandra Kaplan! 💙💛

📍Hometown: Hollidaysburg, PA

🎓 Medical School: University of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry

🎨Hobbies & Interests: Finding Little Free Libraries, reading, arts and crafts, trying new restaurants and coffee shops.

🍽️ Favorite food: Any form of dip! I grew up celebrating “Dip Nights” (a meal comprised only of dips) with my family. I’ve kept up this tradition with my friends, and I’m excited to bring it to residency.

💭 What impressed you about our program during your interviews: The emphasis on high-quality teaching and the strong Med-Peds identity and family at Rochester.

🩺 What are you most looking forward to during residency: Bonding with my co-residents, developing long-term relationships with my patients, and teaching medical students.

🥼 What are your career interests after residency: Allergy/Immunology and medical education!
 



 
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Happy Friday! We’re back with another . Meet Dr. Grace Faulkner!

📍Hometown: Victor, New York

🎓 Medical School: Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo

🩰 Hobbies & Interests: Hot yoga, buying iced lattes, hosting game nights, ballet, playing the NY Times games, and being outside!

🍽️ Favorite food: Tiramisu!

📖 What’s the last good book, article, TV show, or movie you enjoyed: I’m currently reading The Wedding People by Alison Espach! I’ve also been watching Summer House on Bravo and Shrinking on Apple TV.

🌞 If you were planning the perfect weekend off, what would you do: My perfect weekend off would consist of waking up without an alarm, going to hot yoga, getting an iced maple latte, sitting outside to read, and hosting some kind of event for my friends!

💭 What impressed you about our program during your interviews: I was most impressed by how happy and well supported the residents were here! Also, everyone I interacted with on my interview day seemed genuinely interested in getting to know me as both a person and a physician, which was the type of culture I was looking for in a program!

🩺 What are you most looking forward to during residency: I’m most looking forward to building relationships with my co-residents, faculty mentors, and patients!

🥼What are your career interests after residency: As of right now, I am hoping to pursue a career in primary care. However, in true med-peds fashion, I like almost everything, so I am keeping an open mind!



 
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Another intern spotlight coming your way! Follow along as we introduce the incredible new faces of our program. Say hello to Dr. Isadora Fan! 💙💛
 
📍Hometown: Chesterbrook, Pennsylvania
 
🎓 Medical School: West Virginia University
 
🎹 Hobbies & Interests: Relearning how to play the piano, doing puzzles, going on walks and hikes, and Philadelphia sports teams!
 
🍽️ Favorite Food: I love any kind of Thai food, but especially pad kee mao (drunken noodles).
 
📺 What’s the last good book, article, TV show or movie you enjoyed: Bridgerton! I started watching it during my 4th year of medical school, and I’ve enjoyed every season so far.
 
🌞 If you were planning the perfect weekend off, what would you do: I would sleep in, get all of my chores and errands finished quickly, and find time to recharge both alone and with friends. Ideally, I would watch TV while working on a puzzle, eat a good meal with friends, and go on a leisurely walk to end the day.
 
💭 What impressed you about the program during your interview: I was immediately impressed by the kindness of all the residents and program leadership I was able to meet on interview day. It was also clear this program prioritized both the formal and informal educational opportunities to best prepare residents for their careers.
 
🩺 What are you most looking forward to during residency: I am excited to see how my skills and capabilities grow over the next few years, but especially during intern year. I know the learning curve will be steep, but I look forward to reflecting on my personal and professional growth this time next year!
 
🥼 What are your career interests after residency: Not completely decided, but leaning towards primary care!
 



 
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Meet our B2 team! Pictured left to right: Emily Salib, Kirsten Sawtelle, Rebecca Cryek (Family Med from UMMC), and our own Grace Faulkner. They enjoyed a great afternoon together at the RGH employee picnic! ☀️

Now that our interns have had a chance to settle into residency, we’re excited to start introducing the class. First up, meet Danielle Abdallah! 👏

📍Hometown: Strongsville, Ohio

🎓 Medical School: The Ohio State University College of Medicine

🥾Hobbies & Interests: All things outdoor! Hiking, biking, sand volleyball, etc. I also grew up doing hip-hop dance and I still love going to classes/sessions.

🍽️ Favorite Food: Too hard to decide - but I love a good, deep-fried sushi roll.

📺 What’s the last good book, article, TV show or movie you enjoyed: The Great British Bake Off is always my go-to comfort show :)

🩺 What are you most looking forward to during residency: Becoming a well-trained Med-Peds doc!

🥼 What are your career interests after residency: I’m mostly interested in primary care but I still want to explore other specialties and see what I like best!





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Summer means Sailing - our fantastic culver attending Rob took a few purple team folks sailing this weekend and they had lots of fun in the sun ☀️

From interns to graduates, your journey has been extraordinary! We are incredibly proud of our recent graduating Med-Peds residents and all the hard work, dedication, and accomplishments that brought you to this special moment. Congratulations to the Class of 2026 on completing residency and stepping into the next stage of your careers. We wish you continued success in all your future endeavors, and we hope you always remember that you have family here at the University of Rochester! 💙💛

MedPeds Intern Class at Culver Clinic Orientation 2026! 🩺💙

We will miss our lovely PGY-4’s dearly, we said our med peds farewell to them today, and said welcome to our new incoming intern class!! Another successful fare-welcome in the books