University of California, Davis

An itinerant adventurer with 48 of the 50 states under her belt, Aimee had never made it to Oregon until she arrived for her interview at Cascades East. As many of her friends and family had predicted, she loved the Oregon way of life, the natural environment, and the people and in particular thought the residency program seemed like an excellent place to get training in rural family medicine. Prior to moving to Klamath Falls, she attended medical school at University of California, Davis and obtained a Master of Science in Public Health at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (Tar Heels!!). While an undergraduate majoring in Religious Studies at Kenyon College in Ohio, she would have hardly guessed that she would one day be a physician. However, her post-college experiences working on tall ships, teaching environmental education, apprenticing on organic farms, and traveling down the Ohio and Lower Mississippi rivers on a raft, along with a love of people and science, led her to conclude that the medical field would be a great fit. 

In addition to ruminating on public health policy (when she gets particularly animated, the native southern Californian accent will appear), she enjoys yoga, bikes, being outside, spending time with friends and family, cappuccinos, purchasing books and only reading the first two chapters, and kitchen dance parties while cooking.

Medical College of Georgia at Georgia Regents University

Brett has ventured far from his Southern roots in Georgia to take in the richness of the Pacific Northwest and the City of Sunshine. He is excited about the full spectrum family medicine training offered by Cascades East and the skills he will come away with after completion of residency. Brett enjoys all things relating to bicycles, film/photography, music, and travel. Brett is thrilled to be in Oregon and can’t wait to pack into his converted Toyota Space Cruiser to explore the surroundings with his significant other, Alex, and their two dogs, Otto and Sunny D.

University of Colorado School of Medicine

Erin grew up in the southeast, spending time in Virginia and North Carolina before beginning her eventual migration west. After four years of watching amazing NCAA basketball and studying environmental engineering at Duke University, she spent time chasing pirates on the high seas as an officer in the navy, then braved the front lines of the public school system as an eighth-grade math teacher. Erin and her husband settled in Denver, Colorado, where Erin attended medical school while her husband quite literally kept the lights on and a meal on the table, first as a solar electrician and then as a pastry chef. In Colorado, Erin developed a love of mountains, microbrews, and family medicine, and she was thrilled to be able to pursue all of those interests and more in beautiful Klamath Falls. In her spare time, Erin is an avid gardener and an aspiring yogi. She loves being the beneficiary of her husband’s amazing cooking, does a lot of dishes, and takes her two dogs on long walks in the woods. She and her husband welcomed their son Gabriel in October 2014 and are excited to be living, working, and raising a family in scenic southern Oregon.

Oregon Health & Science University

Much like the Chinook salmon native to the region, Joe spawned forth from the frozen tundra of Alaska's interior. After a detour through Seattle, Joe spent his formative years in the small town of Prineville, Oregon. The world called to him from outside the juniper laden high desert and he joined the Navy to bask in its wonders. He sailed the world for 6 years as a nuclear engineer onboard the USS Enterprise (CCVN-65, not the starship). Operating nuclear reactors didn't have as much excitement as Joe wanted out of life, however, so he turned to a life of medicine. Returning to the most beautiful place he had seen in all of his travels, he left the Navy and enrolled at the prestigious University of Oregon to earn a degree in Human Physiology. He remained in Oregon to attend OHSU. Migrating back to the sunny side of the Great Cascades, Joe is able to pursue his passions of ultra-marathoning, cycling, hiking, and eating salsa all with his wonderful wife Jen, his rambunctious border collie Quinn, and lazy housecat Cliff.

Penn State Hershey

Jon grew up Mennonite in the farmlands of Lancaster County, PA, but always felt the need to explore, to “see what else was out there”. One of his first journeys was to the Shenandoah Valley for college at Eastern Mennonite University. Then it was across the United States on a bike trip, and south to Paraguay by bike for a Mennonite church conference and public health study along the way. Continuing in the spirit of exploration the year after college, Jon briefly tried his hand at farming with some friends, raising pigs, chickens, goats, ducks, geese, and a Guernsey milk cow. Although farming was fun, it was back to the classroom at Penn State Hershey, where he explored less about cheesemaking and more about medicine. He found he liked it all and embarked down the Family Medicine path. 

Jon’s journey of exploration continues here at Cascades East, where he looks forward to learning about the healthcare and community of Klamath Falls, as well as the local bike trails and how to garden in the high desert.

University of Alabama School Of Medicine

Masayo spent her formative years in the small town of Ito, Japan. Her dream of studying abroad eventually led her to the green fields of America – the Midwest. After graduating from Grinnell College with a major in biological chemistry, she left Iowa and its winters to pursue her interest in public health and tropical diseases, eventually traveling to remote Fijian islands, rural Bangladeshi villages, and indigenous Bolivian communities. Along the way, she volunteered for JOCV (the Japanese Peace Corps), picked up a Master’s degree in epidemiology, and worked for international public health agencies. Living and working in communities with difficult access to healthcare drew her to family medicine, and she is very excited to be part of Cascades East.

Masayo loves to spend time with her husband, Jimmy (a fiddler who is also a professional botanist), and their one year-old son, Martin (an energetic alpha male). She is also a two-time winner of the Fiji half marathon and an old-time fiddle player with a special interest in Appalachian tunes.

Oregon Health & Science University

Stephanie landed here in Klamath Falls after spending much of her life moving. Though she was born and mostly raised in various cities across California, she spent some years in Michigan where most of her extended family resides. She completed her Bachelor’s degree in Human Biology at Michigan State University, but quickly realized she was not destined to settle down in the Midwest and relocated to the beautiful Pacific Northwest, specifically Shelton, WA. She decided to take a few years off before going to medical school, during which time she worked in a sleep medicine clinic, developed a non-profit sleep apnea support group for the community, met the love of her life, crossed a few things off of her bucket list (sky diving, climbing mountains, foreign travel) and raised her first German Shepherd puppy. In 2011, she and her husband moved to Portland, OR, where she attended medical school at OHSU.

Stephanie fell in love with family medicine when she realized that no other medical specialty focused on the whole person quite as well. It did not take long for her to miss the rural life she had in Washington and Michigan, so she decided to pursue a career in rural family medicine so that she could do what she loves and live where she feels most at home. Stephanie is one of the first of two medical students to be given the opportunity to complete her 4th year of medical school in Klamath Falls in what is known as the Oregon FIRST program. In just a short time she grew fond of the area and could think of no better place to complete her training and start a family. Her husband and 2 German shepherd dogs joined her, and they welcomed their first baby here in Klamath Falls in November of 2014. After completing residency, she hopes to stay and continue working here in the community.