BOARD MEMBERS
Kate was born and raised in Las Vegas, Nevada, though now definitely considers herself an Oregonian. Kate has been involved in the policy and legislative sides of medicine, serving as one of Oregon's delegates to the American Society of Anesthesiologists and as Secretary and President of the Oregon Society of Anesthesiologists (OSA). She chairs the OSA's State Affairs and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committees. Her passion is the practice of medicine, however, caring for the community's most vulnerable populations at a busy Level 1 trauma center with a high risk OB population and a Level 1 children's hospital. She founded MedStaircase in order to encourage students who might otherwise not pursue a career in medicine to consider it, knowing that a diverse healthcare workforce improves the delivery of healthcare to its patients. Kate has two school-aged sons who keep her busy, a husband who keeps them all afloat, and a Labrador puppy who's along for the ride.
Shane was born in Orange County, California but raised in Portland, Oregon. During his time in medical school at OHSU, Shane dedicated himself to supporting underrepresented minority students pursuing careers in medicine as a fervent advocate within the OHSU Center for Diversity and Inclusion. In addition, he served in numerous capacities for the Student National Medical Association, has contributed to advocacy and action around gun violence, climate change in healthcare and participated in research surrounding adolescent suicide. Within Oregon, Shane served on the Oregon Health Policy Board Health Care Workforce Committee and was an active supporter of community engagement and institutional collaboration for North by North East, a primary care home for Portland’s Black population. Now a family and community medicine resident at UCSF, Shane is helping treat some of San Francisco’s most underserved patients and plans to continue his efforts in assuring providers look more like the patients they serve. Shane is a die-hard Seattle Seahawks (hardest part about moving to SF) and Oregon Duck fan, a hybrid Trailblazers-Lakers fan and a ‘pawther’ to a Rottweiler named Rosa Barks.
Katie grew up in Lake Jackson, Texas before moving to Austin to attend the University of Texas. Her next move was to the west coast, to attend medical school at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). There, she discovered a passion for the care of underserved populations, which led to a leadership role in the UCSF student-run homeless clinic as well as participation in the Model SFGH program, in which core medical school clinical rotations were concentrated in safety net settings. After medical school, Katie trained in the combined anesthesiology and critical care medicine residency and fellowship program at Oregon Health & Science University. Upon graduating in 2015, she was fortunate to have the unique opportunity to return to the care of underserved groups at the VA Portland Healthcare system, where she currently works as a critical care anesthesiologist and the Director of the surgical intensive care unit. Through MedStaircase, Katie hopes to expand the diversity of the healthcare workforce, with the goal of best serving patients from all backgrounds and cultures.
Julia was born and raised in Tigard, OR. In addition, she spent four years during middle school and high school living abroad in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico where her family is originally from. She has graduated from Oregon State University, spring of 2021, with an Honors Bachelor of Science in Biology and a minor in Psychology as a first-generation college student. At OSU, she was president of the Minority Association of Pre–Medical Students and Co–Chair of Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán. Currently, she is serving her third year on the regional board of the Student National Medical Association Region 1 as a Pre–Medical Representative. Julia is a founding board member of MedStaircase. She plans on applying to medical school in the next year to hopefully be admitted and continue her journey to become a physician.