The NWMC Planning Committee is composed entirely of students from UWSOM, PNWU, OHSU, COMP-NW, WSU-ESFCOM, and ICOM. Below is this year’s core student leadership with listed committee members tasked with organizing and presenting NWMC7.
Director
Trang Vo, OMS2
Trang is a 2nd year medical student at PNWU. She grew up in Tacoma, Washington and attended Western Washington University for an undergraduate degree in general biology. Prior to medical school, she was an ER scribe and later spent time as a rural medical intern in Bocas del Toro, Panama. She hopes to learn from others and gain experience in wilderness medicine to support her passion for educating and increasing access to healthcare globally. She has a strong interest in pursuing a residency in emergency medicine at this time. In her free time, you can find her stopping every few minutes to identify insects and plants on hikes, teaching cooking classes, and dabbling in pottery.
Favorite part of NWMC: “Meeting the amazing individuals that attend!”
Director
hayley glantz, MS3
Hayley is a 3rd year medical student at PNWU. She grew up in Reno, Nevada where her love for the outdoors began with swimming in Lake Tahoe. She enjoys backpacking and hiking, skiing, and any lowkey watersport (i.e. swimming, paddleboarding, and just generally floating). For three years before medical school, Hayley volunteered as a sit ski instructor for Outdoors for All which peaked her interest in wilderness medicine. During the school year, you can generally find Hayley studying outdoors in her hammock or on a long walk in the hills behind the university.
Participants & Marketing
Lead: ben reich, MS4
Ben is a 4th year medical student at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle. Prior to medical school, he was an open water lifeguard and rock climbing aficionado and spent much of his time climb around the state of Oregon. His interest in wilderness medicine started on backpacking trips with his family where is dad would read Harry Potter books to him while under the stars. He plans to pursue a career in Emergency Medicine with the USAF and has aspirations to complete a wilderness medicine fellowship at some point. In his free time, you can find him at your local climbing gym, whipping, or the brand new coffee shop that just opened.
Favorite part of NWMC: “Seeing participants come year after year to get stoked on wilderness medicine!”
Committee members: Nina Stash, MS3 at UWSOM and Katrina Dank, MS3 at UWSOM
Scenarios
Lead: ALYSE OXENFORD, OMS3
Alyse is a third year medical student at Western University of Health Sciences. Her passion for medicine began in college where she earned her wilderness EMT, but her passion for the wilderness began long before that. She grew up in the mountains of Colorado, hiking and canoeing everywhere she could. In her time before medical school she worked as a canoe instructor, photographer, veterinary technician, wilderness EMT and medical assistant. At this time, she plans to pursue residency in emergency medicine. In her free time, Alyse can be found canoeing down a river or taking her dog for a hike.
Favorite part of NWMC: “Scenarios obvi”
Committee Members: Blake Nielsen, OMS2 at PNWU; Patrick Hamann, MS2 at OHSU; Johan Velo, OMS2 at PNWU; and Henry Hays-Wehle at OHSU
Food Committee
Co-lead: Charlotte McKenzie, MS2
Charlotte fell in love with the PNW as a kid, and was stoked to be stationed here with the Air Force! After that, she took a mountaineering class and a W-EMT class that both changed her life in the best way. While figuring out her life, she worked as a wildland FF, structural FF, aircraft mechanic, and ski patroller. She still serves in the Air National Guard while completing her schooling. Charlotte aspires to one day have more time to go adventuring - or better yet - combine adventuring with work!
Favorite part of NWMC: “The location!!!”
Co-lead: NINA STASH, MS3
Nina is third year student at UW who grew up in the Seattle area. She loves to backpack, ski and windsurf. She was an EMT in upstate NY for several years before medical school and is interested in emergency medicine but also considering family medicine. Her interest in wilderness medicine started with getting stuck camping in a hurricane as a child and having to take care of her grandparents. In her free time she likes to force her cats to go camping with her.
Speakers
Jessica Lai, OMS1
Jessica is a first year medical student at Western University of Health Sciences COMP-NW. She enjoys yoga, rock climbing and contemporary dance. As a certified yoga teacher, she loves designing yoga flows for practitioners of all experience levels. Born and raised in Taiwan, she moved to San Diego for college. Before starting medical school in Oregon, Jessica gained experience in neuroscience academic research and biotech R&D, where she discovered her passion for translational medical research, bridging bench-top findings to bedside applications. In her free time, she enjoys outdoor activities with friends and is excited to explore the natural beauty of the Pacific Northwest.
Favorite part of NWMC: “Learning about wilderness medicine at the camp covered by snow!”
Committee Members: Justine Brissott, MS2 at ICOM
Sponsorships
Cory Thompson, OMS3
Cory is a third-year osteopathic medical student at Western University of Health Sciences in Lebanon, Oregon. He hopes to pursue gastroenterology, but has been also considering emergency medicine. When not actively studying, he is typically working on home improvement projects, or working on his truck. As a seventh generation Oregonian, he grew up exploring a lot of the greater Oregon forests and wildernesses, which is the inspiration of his desire to be outside. In the wilderness, Cory is passionate about exploring various peaks around the PNW that have historic fire lookouts, and camping with his wife and three dogs. Also, his favorite season is Winter, as long as there is snow!
Workshops
Mikayla Beckley, ms2
Mikayla is a 2nd year medical student at ESFCOM. She grew up in Arlington, WA and quickly fell in love with the outdoors by hiking in the woods in her backyard and finding constellations with her dad. Prior to medical school she worked in a pediatric heart clinic and spent time backpacking throughout Australia. When not in class, you can find her biking the trails around the river, snowboarding, hiking, or baking sourdough bread. She aspires to pursue a wilderness medicine fellowship while encouraging others to explore the field.
Favorite part of NWMC: “Snowball fight after an engaging and inspiring weekend!”
Committee Members: Shrida Sharma, MS2 at PNWU and Samuel Kim, MS1 at OHSU