Pediatrics at Oakland

Our Residents

The pediatric residents at Kaiser Permanente Oakland are a diverse group who come from a variety of medical schools. We have six residents in each year and a fourth-year chief resident.

Because of our size, the residents get to know each other well. There are frequent outings and events including nights out at restaurants and pubs, sporting events, and twice-yearly retreats in Marin County (just north of San Francisco).


Pediatric Residents 2007-2008
PGY Year Resident Medical School
PGY-1 Tia Curry, MD
 Washington University
PGY-1 Carla Francisco, MD University of Southern California
PGY-1 Olga Lemberg, MD Brown Medical School
PGY-1 Chung Lee, MD University of Illinois at Chicago
PGY-1 Thao Nguyen, MD The Chicago Medical School
PGY-1 Kevin Quinn, MD University of Minnesota
PGY-2 Susan Adham, MD University of Illinois at Chicago
PGY-2 Martha Hernandez, MD University of California, San Francisco
PGY-2 Krishna Munshi, MD University of Louisville
PGY-2 Sruti Nadimpalli, MD University of Illinois at Chicago
PGY-2 Nadine Sauer, MD University of Colorado, Denver
PGY-2 Jennifer Waller, MD SUNY Downstate
PGY-3 Christine Chan, MD University of California, Irvine
PGY-3 Jonathan Cheng, MD New York Medical College
PGY-3 Heather Finney, MD University of Nevada, Reno
PGY-3 Ada Ho, MD University of California, San Diego
PGY-3 Elizabeth Ortega-Lau, MD University of California, San Francisco
PGY-3 Mary Spiller, MD University of Colorado, Denver
Chief Resident Marc Blumberg, MD Albany Medical College

What our residents are saying:

I discovered Kaiser Oakland as a third year medical student. My experience made me realize two things: that I wanted to do pediatrics, and I wanted to train at Kaiser. There are many advantages to training in a small program: residents work one-on-one with attendings and specialists, teaching occurs all the time, and feedback is meaningful and productive.
Elizabeth Ortega-Lau (PGY2)
I chose Kaiser because it is a very supportive environment to train in pediatrics. Kaiser Oakland is a great place because we have a lot of “bread and butter” pediatrics. However, because we are a referral center, we also see a lot of patients with rare diseases
Molly Spiller (PGY2)
Oakland Kaiser's pediatric residency program provides a good balance of basic and subspecialty education. The attendings, nurses, and ancillary staff all give me plenty of opportunities to learn from watching, doing, and teaching. There is no better place to work or grow.
Kimmy Jong (PGY3)
I chose Kaiser after spending a month of 4th year doing a subinternship. Getting a firsthand look at the program allowed me to appreciate just how diverse the cases are and how well people got along with one another. The small program size allows for more personal attention and teaching from attendings – this is most definitely one of the program’s greatest strengths.
Jonathan Cheng (PGY2)
I chose to come to Kaiser-Oakland because I was (and am!) excited to work with a small, close, friendly, supportive group. I am learning how to take care of patients with both common and rare conditions, and this breadth of experience is exactly what I wanted from residency.
A.J. Nadelson (PGY3)
I chose Kaiser Oakland for residency because of the small program size. During my outpatient subinternship here, I found that the residents were able to get to know each other and the attendings, and that they could have an influence on changes within the program.
Ping Chouw(Chief Resident)