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Current Residents & Graduates

PGY1 group

PGY-1 Residents

Daniel Hecht, MD

Daniel Hecht, MD

Undergrad: Vanderbilt
Med school: Frank H. Netter School of Medicine at Quinnipaiac University

Where are you from?
Connecticut

Where will you live during residency?
Wicker Park

What are your current career plans?
At the moment, I envision fellowship in my future. I would like to work in a longitudinal, chronic care clinic but I need to figure out exactly what I would want that to be in. 

What are your personal interests?
Skiing, running, reading, hiking, watching movies, and exploring different restaurants 

What are you most looking forward to about residency?
I can't wait to get started in building the foundation of the doctor that I'm going to become. I'm excited to learn alongside my peers and get to care for patients every day. 

Why did you choose Loyola?

I was very impressed with both the residents and the Med/Peds department during my interview day. Dr. Derhammer, especially, was one of the program directors I was most excited to work with. He showed a genuine passion for the program and for each of the residents. 

Madeline Keane, MD

Madeline Keane, MD

Undergrad: University of Mississippi

Med school: Anne Burnett Marion School of Medicine at TCU

Where are you from?

St. Charles, IL

Where will you live during residency?

West Town

What are your current career plans?

Currently, I love the idea of being a jack-of-all-trades as a med/peds hospitalist, but I’m also interested in heme/onc and critical care!

What are your personal interests?

I love to read, travel, try new restaurants (especially in Chicago!), host theme nights with friends, running and long coffee walks, and recently got back into cross-stitching!

What are you most looking forward to about residency?

I can’t wait to have boundless learning opportunities every day, serving patients of the Chicago area, and to get to know my co-residents, med/peds faculty, and the rest of the team! I’m excited to grow into who I will be as a physician at Loyola.

Why did you choose Loyola?

I immediately could sense a culture of caring about the patient as a whole person, placing humanism at the forefront of their medical care, from everyone I spoke with at Loyola on interview day. I wanted to learn how to practice medicine like that and knew I would have great clinical and research opportunities here in a friendly environment, all while getting to return to the amazing city that is Chicago!

Morgan Lyttle, MD

Morgan Lyttle, MD

Undergrad: Vanderbilt

Med school: University of Tennessee Health Science Center College of Medicine

Where are you from?
Nashville, TN

Where will you live during residency?
Oak Park

What are your current career plans?

Right now, I’m thinking either combined endocrinology or adolescent and young adult oncology (but still open to anything!)

What are your personal interests?
I love hiking and riding my bike and just generally being outside—especially with my dog Olive! I grew up in a very artistic family, so I love singing, playing instruments, and making music with the people I care about. My most recent hobby is pottery, which is now my favorite way to relax.  I also love to read, cook, and host elaborate dinner parties!

What are you most looking forward to about residency?

I’m really looking forward to putting all these years of school to use! I can’t wait to keep learning, care for patients, and be a part of an amazing team of residents and healthcare providers!

Abigail Pont, MD

Abigail Pont, MD

Undergrad: Brandeis University

Med school: Chicago Medical School at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine & Science

Where are you from?
Oak Park, IL

Where will you live during residency?
Forest Park, IL

What are your current career plans?
Currently outpatient primary care, but we will see at the end of this 4-year journey.

What are your personal interests?
I am an avid reader (mostly fiction) and D&D player (when I am not trapped in the hospital). Also always in the mood for a good board game night or some relaxation time with my parents' dog!

What are you most looking forward to about residency?
I am most looking forward to the patient interactions. I cannot wait to get the responsibility and privilege to take care of these patients and give them the best care.

Why did you choose Loyola?

I choose Loyola for so many reasons, one of which is that this is where my Dad did his pediatrics residency way back when, but also because of the welcoming community that I saw during my interview. I could tell both during the social and the interview that the residents liked being around each other and liked the attendings that they were working with. And it doesn't hurt to get to stay close to home and Chicago.

PGY-2 Residents

Gulnihal Akbulut, MD

Gulnihal Akbulut, DO

Med School: Midwestern University Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine

Where are you from? 
Chicago, IL

Where will you live during residency? 
Forest Park, IL

What are your current career plans? 
Mostly undecided and excited to see everything (in true Med-Peds fashion), but currently interested in Combined ID.

What are your personal interests? 
I enjoy traveling, trying new foods, painting, cuddling my 2 cats, ice skating, and being bad at paddleboarding. Oh! And learning guidelines for the clinical practice of medicine of course!

What are you most looking forward to about residency? 
I am looking forward to learning from faculty, peers, and patients at Loyola while figuring out how to be a doctor and serving those in the Chicagoland area.

Why did you choose Loyola? 
I knew that I liked Loyola when the residents struggled to come up with something they would change about the program during the meet and greet. But I ended up choosing Loyola because it was my favorite interview! I loved the family feel faculty and residents gave, the opportunities for outreach, the location, the huge med-peds presence, etc etc, I could go on and on, but I already matched!

Emily Dobrzynski, MD

Emily Dobrzynski, DO

Med School: Des Moines University College of Osteopathic Medicine

Where are you from? 
I grew up in a small part of the southwest suburbs, in a village called Justice!

Where will you live during residency? 
I will be living in the lovely Forest Park, close to work and family.

What are your current career plans? 
The world is my oyster! I can see myself in various settings and am open to knowing my desires may change. I hope to use residency as a jumping-off point for any brewing sub-specialty interest. As it stands, I would love to become a combined hospitalist!

What are your personal interests? 
Fresh air, greenery, sunshine! Anything that gets me outside, especially with a good book or good company. I am getting back to my first love (the piano), and I'm always down to find live music.

What are you most looking forward to about residency? 
Believe it or not, after all the chaos of the last 2 years of medical school, I am actually looking forward to a bit of routine. Without the title of "student," I'll be learning, building new habits, and stepping into more meaningful roles. I am looking forward to using all this to better define my styles and identity as a physician. I look forward to seeing who I will be when I come out of training!

Why did you choose Loyola? 
When a close friend and I were trying to carve out our rank lists, we practiced an exercise where we each wrote our programs on tiny pieces of paper. I would choose one for them, and they would choose one for me. In a very serious manner, we handed each other the tiny paper and said, "Congratulations, you've matched!" We did this a handful of times, at different times. Still, when I saw Loyola, the feeling I had was overwhelming relief. I actually teared up a little (in a good way). My mind was flooded with all the good things about what my life would be like here. And so that is how I knew!

Katelyn Ferguson, MD

Katelyn Ferguson, MD

Med School: University of Kentucky College of Medicinee

Where are you from? 
Cincinnati, OH

Where will you live during residency? 
Oak Park, IL

What are your current career plans? 
Primary Care or Med-Peds combined hospitalist.

What are your personal interests? 
Cooking and baking. Enjoying time outdoors, checking out new restaurants and coffee shops, and enjoying time with friends and family!

What are you most looking forward to about residency? 
I am so excited to be a part of the Loyola Med-Peds family and can’t wait to continue to learn how to be the best physician I can be for my patients. I look forward to learning more about how I can better serve my new community and, of course, exploring the Chicagoland area!

Why did you choose Loyola? 
From interview day, I could tell that Loyola embodied exactly what I was searching for in a residency program - a family atmosphere, a welcoming environment, a place I knew I could comfortably learn and grow while being pushed and inspired by my colleagues to become a more compassionate physician focused on comprehensive, patient-centered care.

Samuel Lubor, MD

Samuel Lubor, MD

Med School: Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine

Where are you from? 
Mundelein, IL

Where will you live during residency? 
Oak Park, IL

What are your current career plans? 
I’m a classic Med-Peds person in that I like a little bit of everything, so I plan on staying general and doing either primary care or dual hospitalist. I would love to precept medical students as well!

What are your personal interests? 
Exploring Chicago’s food and drink scene, cooking Italian food, board game nights with friends, playing the violin, volleyball, travel, dog walking, live music, the Auburn Tigers, and the Chicago White Sox/Blackhawks.

What are you most looking forward to about residency? 
I’m most looking forward to learning how to actually be a doctor and all that entails; from teaching sessions on the wards, to meeting patients in clinic, to bonding with my co-residents on night float over delivered food, coffee, and ER admits.

Why did you choose Loyola? 
As a Stritch grad, I have been lucky to work with our outstanding clinical faculty for four years already, and I have seen how they prioritize resident and medical student education on the wards. That faculty support, as well as the opportunity to work with a diverse and underserved patient population in my favorite city, made Loyola a great choice.