Aspirus Wausau Residents

First Year

L to R: Jason Welles, MD; Yia Vang, MD; Elijah Szymanski, MD; Alayna Johnson, MD; Ian Jasso, DO

Ian Jasso, DO

Medical School: Kansas City University College of Osteopathic Medicine
Undergraduate: UW Madison

Medical Interests: Osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT), Rural medicine, Procedural medicine

Personal Interests/Hobbies: Cross country skiing, Fishing, deer hunting, waterfowl hunting, Time with wife and toddler son

Other Medical Experience:

  • CNA

  • Rural Wisconsin Health Cooperative Scholar

  • Public health research experience

Why did you choose the Wausau program?

  • Strong procedural experiences

  • Unopposed program

  • Wisconsin Statewide Osteopathic Collaborative

Alayna Johnson, MD

Medical School: Ross University School of Medicine
Undergraduate: UW Madison

Medical Interests: Full spectrum family medicine, Women’s health & contraceptive care, LGBTQ+ health, Outpatient procedures

Personal Interests/Hobbies: Cooking (especially Italian food), Watching football & managing a Fantasy Football Team, Traveling, Kayaking, Spending time with family & friends

Other Medical Experience:

  • Healthcare unit coordinator

  • Perioperative assistant

Why did you choose the Wausau program?

  • I grew up in a small town outside of Wausau and enjoy the area and community of people.

  • The program is unopposed and provides a lot of opportunities in learning.

  • The program is very supportive and the staff members are welcoming and ready to teach.

Elijah Szymanski, MD

Medical School: Medical College of Wisconsin, Central Wisconsin
Undergraduate: St Mary’s University – Winona, MN

Medical Interests: Emergency medicine, Sports medicine, Rural medicine, Procedural medicine

Personal Interests/Hobbies: Fishing, hunting, all things outdoors, Adult soccer leagues, Making expresso drinks, Family time

Other Medical Experience:

  • Tenant care assistant at an assisted living facility

  • Student Project Showcase: Assessing the Use of ERs for Ambulatory Sensitive Conditions by Patients Without Insurance in Weston, WI

  • Article Dec 2024: Acute Responses of Low-Load Resistance Exercise with Blood Flow Restriction

  • Article May 2024: Examining Changes in Shoulder Strength, Lower Body Power, and Body Composition among Collegiate Baseball Players after Completion of a Summer Baseball League Season

Why did you choose the Wausau program?

  • After spending the last three years in Wausau for medical school, my wife and I found ourselves not wanting to leave the area that had come to feel like home. That, combined with my first-hand witness of the kind and hard-working people in the program, made Wausau the obvious choice!

Yia Vang, MD

Medical School: Ross University School of Medicine - Barbados
Undergraduate: UW Oshkosh

Medical Interests: Outpatient medicine, Rural medicine, Sports medicine, Procedural medicine

Personal Interests/Hobbies: Camping, Hunting/fishing, Documentaries

Other Medical Experience:

  • Medical scribe

Why did you choose the Wausau program?

  • Friendly atmosphere with supportive faculty and staff

  • Diverse patient population with a large Hmong population

  • Close proximity to family

  • Unopposed residency program

Jason Welles, MD

Medical School: Albany Medical College – New York
Undergraduate: Biola University – La Mirada, CA

Medical Interests: Neurology (especially stroke), Geriatrics, Rural medicine

Personal Interests/Hobbies: Singing (classically trained vocalist), Trivia, Classic movies, Art (pencil drawings), Theatre, Enjoying restaurants with friends

Other Medical Experience:

  • Training in Emergency Medicine

  • Conference Presentation 2011: Synthesis, Characterization and Biological Screening of Apolipoprotein-E(apoE) Modulators based upon a Triaryl-substituted Pharmacophore

  • ER scribe

Why did you choose the Wausau program?

  • I felt very comfortable with the people, the area of Wausau.

  • I am looking to serve a rural community and Wausau seemed like a great place to train.

  • I really like that the program is small but serves a large area of Central Wisconsin. I hope to be an effective, valuable member of the team.

Second Year

L to R: Katy Lillard, DO; Dana Warwick, MD; Noah Langteau, DO; Theodore Zamzow, DO; Gerald Weiss, MD

Noah Langteau, DO

Medical School: Liberty University College of Osteopathic Medicine – Lynchburg, VA
Undergraduate: Liberty University – Lynchburg, VA

Medical Interests: Rural medicine, Osteopathic Manipulation Treatment (OMT), Procedural medicine, Full spectrum family medicine

Personal Interests/Hobbies: Hiking, Church activities, Hunting, Reading

Other Medical Experience:

  • Currently Air Force Reserves and will be on active duty after residency

  • Previous research on teratogenicity of vaping

Why did you choose the Wausau program?

  • Close to home in the UP, amazing instructors & staff, friendly patients, and beautiful central Wisconsin location. What could be better!

Katy Lillard, DO

Medical School: University of Incarnate Word School of Osteopathic Medicine – San Antonio, TX
Undergraduate: Truman State University – Kirksville, MO

Medical Interests: Addiction Medicine, Mental and behavioral health, Outpatient medicine, Rural medicine

Personal Interests/Hobbies: Reading, Spending time with my friends, family, and significant other, Playing board games and doing jigsaw puzzles, Watching movies, Taking care of my houseplants, Spending time outside in the sun, Cooking with my partner

Other Medical Experience:

  • EMT Training

Why did you choose the Wausau program?

  • Close knit community focused program with unique learning opportunities

  • Unopposed program with support from faculty and senior residents

  • I love the small town feel of Wausau with lots of local businesses and beautiful outdoor spaces

  • Excited to be back in the Midwest!

Dana Warwick, MD

Medical School: Medical College of Wisconsin, Central Wisconsin
Undergraduate: UW Eau Claire

Medical Interests: Rural medicine, Preventative care, Full spectrum family medicine, Care for individuals with intellectual disabilities

Personal Interests/Hobbies: Running, biking, swimming, Skiing (downhill and water), Playing piano and singing, Reading fiction

Other Medical Experience:

  • EMT, CNA, Medical scribe

Why did you choose the Wausau program?

  • I’m from a small town in Northwest Wisconsin and I wanted to learn at a residency that would feel like home, I attended medical school in Wausau and love the area. The faculty and residents are also very friendly and welcoming.

Gerald Weiss, MD

Medical School: UW School of Medicine & Public Health – Madison, WI
Undergraduate: UW Madison

Medical Interests: Hospital/clinic general medicine, Pediatrics, OB, ER/Urgent Care, Sports medicine, EGD and Colonoscopy

Personal Interests/Hobbies: Faith, Family, Football, Pole vault, Rubik cubes

Other Medical Experience:

  • Translational research in pediatric hematology/oncology: Targeted Radionuclide Therapy and Immunotherapy

  • Volunteer at Wausau Free Clinic

Why did you choose the Wausau program?

  • Great people, great opportunity for learning

  • Nice area to live, good situation for family

Theodore Zamzow, DO

Medical School: Kansas City University Osteopathic College of Osteopathic Medicine
Undergraduate: UW Madison

Medical Interests: Addiction medicine, LGBTQ health, Outpatient procedures, Men’s health, Rural Medicine

Personal Interests/Hobbies: Board games and video games, Cooking, Running and hiking, Geocaching, Movies

Other Medical Experience:

  • EMT

  • Research on motion sickness

Why did you choose the Wausau program?

  • Met great people while rotating here as a medical student

  • Grew up in Wisconsin and wanted to do my residency here

  • Lots of opportunities at program to learn a variety of things that I can utilize in my future practice

Third Year

Lindsay Stevenson, MD

Eric Weaver, MD – Chief Resident

Medical School: Saba University School of Medicine – Saba, Dutch Caribbean
Undergraduate: UW Milwaukee

Medical Interests: Rural medicine, MAT/Addiction medicine, Psychiatry/behavioral/mental health, Women's health and advocacy, Procedures, Palliative care/Hospice, Full spectrum care

Personal Interests/Hobbies: Baking, Gardening, Learning to knit/crochet, Fostering animals, Kayaking/canoeing, Being with family and cats, Camping, Trying new things and new foods

Other Medical Experience:

  • Medical scribe in emergency department and pediatrics

  • Case manager in psychiatry

Why did you choose the Wausau program?

  • Program location and rural setting

  • Program size

  • Encourages me to pursue medical interests

  • Unopposed

  • Supportive residents, faculty, and staff

Medical School: Medical College of Wisconsin – Central Wisconsin
Undergraduate: UW Stevens Point

Medical Interests: Mental health, Sports medicine, Lifestyle medicine

Personal Interests/Hobbies: Disc golf, Playing piano, Spending time with family

Other Medical Experience:

  • Aspirus Wausau volunteer and CNA

Why did you choose the Wausau program?

  • I was born and raised in Wausau, WI and have a passion for community engagement. I chose this program because it allows me to serve my community as I continue my medical career.

L to R: Sara Johnson, MD; Riley Scanlan, MD; Lindsay Stevenson, MD; Samuel Staehling, MD; Eric Weaver, MD

Sara Johnson, MD

Medical School: Medical College of Wisconsin – Central Wisconsin
Undergraduate: UW Platteville

Medical Interests: Rural medicine, Community medicine, Outpatient procedures

Personal Interests/Hobbies: Time with family, especially her husband & two children, Family farm with cattle & horses, Hunting in the woods with the family hounds, Time at the lake around a bonfire with good music

Other Medical Experience:

  • CNA

  • Medical Scribe

  • Diet/Metabolism research

Why did you choose the Wausau program?

  • I am from a small, rural town in Northern Wisconsin. Much like the small community in Wisconsin, this program provides a familiar, friendly, and supportive environment.

  • I enjoy being able to connect with patients & provide care to those in the communities that have supported me throughout my life.

Morgan Kresl, MD

Medical School: University of MN Medical School – Duluth
Undergraduate: University of MN – Crookston

Medical Interests: Women’s health and contraception, Infant care, Adolescent health – especially related to self-advocacy, Autonomic disorders

Personal Interests/Hobbies: Family time at the lake, competing with her grandpa for fastest jigsaw competition, word games, playing piano

Other Medical Experience:

  • CNA, EMT, and Phlebotomist

  • Minnesota Rural Medical Scholars Program and Rural Physician Associated Program

Why did you choose the Wausau program?

  • Kind people, supportive community, and well-run clinic

Riley Scanlan, MD

Medical School: Western Michigan University Homer Stryker MD School of Medicine – Kalamazoo, Ml
Undergraduate: St Norbert – DePere, WI

Medical Interests: Rural medicine, Sports medicine, Full-spectrum family medicine

Personal Interests/Hobbies: Triathlons, Whitewater rafting, Movies, European history, Numismatics (coins, paper currency, and medals)

Other Medical Experience:

  • Member of medical honor society Alpha Omega Alpha

  • Scoliosis research

  • Phlebotomy

Why did you choose the Wausau program?

  • It is a small, community-based, close-knit program with dedicated faculty members and highly motivated residents.

  • The program also offers abundant opportunities for training in rural environments with full spectrum care. Plus Wausau is a great place to live and work!

Samuel Staehling, MD

Medical School: Medical College of Wisconsin – Green Bay
Undergraduate: St Norbert – DePere, WI

Medical Interests: Rural Family Medicine, Outpatient medicine, Sports medicine

Personal Interests/Hobbies: Fishing for bass and musky, All things football - Go Pack Go!, Baseball, especially the Milwaukee Brewers, Spending time with family and his dog

Other Medical Experience:

  • Behavioral Treatment Technician at Wisconsin Early Autism Project

  • Medical Scribe

Why did you choose the Wausau program?

  • The program offers extensive opportunity for rural medicine.

  • The people here are very welcoming and supportive.

  • Wausau is a great place for people who love the outdoors.