Senior Editors Tao T. Le, MD, MHS Editor-in-Chief Assistant Clinical Professor of Pediatrics Division of Allergy and Clinical Immunology University of Louisville Seth K. Bechis, MS University of California, San Francisco Class of 2010 Kristen Vierregger, MD Resident Department of Pathology University of California, Irvine Medical Center Flora Waples-Trefil, MD Resident Department of Pathology University of California, Irvine Medical Center

Step 1 Editors
Karen A. Adler, MD Resident Department of Psychiatry Massachusetts General Hospital		Jacob S. Appelbaum Yale School of Medicine Class of 2012
Carina H. G. Baird, MD Resident Department of Pediatrics University of California, San Francisco		Xuemei Cai Harvard Medical School Class of 2009
Phillip J. Gray, Jr. Johns Hopkins School of Medicine Class of 2009 back to top		Gabriel J. Martinez-Diaz Stanford University School of Medicine Class of 2010 back to top
Step 2 CK Editors
Herman Singh Bagga, MD Resident Department of Urology University of California, San Francisco Medical Center		Connie Chang, MD Resident Department of Radiology Massachusetts General Hospital
Oscar A. Estrada, MD Resident Department of Internal Medicine University of Chicago Medical Center		Pourya M. Ghazi,* MD Intern Department of Internal Medicine San Joaquin General Hospital French Camp, Calif.
Thomas L.H. Hocker, MD Intern Department of Medicine Santa Clara Valley Medical Center San Jose, Calif.		Jessica Merlin,* MD, MBA Resident Department of Internal Medicine Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
Matthew O'Rourke, MD Resident Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital of New York-Presbyterian Hospital		Alison Rager, MD Resident Department of Internal Medicine Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
John Rhyner, MD Resident Department of Internal Medicine University of Michigan Medical Center		Russell J. H. Ryan,* MD Resident Department of Anatomy and Clinical Pathology Massachusetts General Hospital
Esteban Schabelman,* MD, MBA Resident Department of Emergency Medicine University of Maryland Medical System		Sade Clarke Udoetuk, MD Resident Department of Psychiatry Baylor College of Medicine
Omeed Zardkoohi,* MD Residency Department of Internal Medicine Massachusetts General Hospital back to top		back to top
Flash Facts Editors
Monica Kumar, MD Resident Department of Emergency Medicine Los Angeles County/University of Southern California Medical Center back to top		Silvia Hartmann, MD Resident Boston Combined Residency Program Children's Hospital Boston and Boston Medical Center back to top
Connie Chang, MD Resident Department of Radiology Massachusetts General Hospital back to top
Web Editors
Ravish A. Amin  School of Osteopathic Medicine University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey Class of 2010 back to top		Darko Stefanovski, MA PhD Candidate Department of Physiology and Biophysics Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California back to top

Senior Editor Profiles

Tao Le, MD, MHS Tao has been having fun with medical education for the past 15 years. As senior editor, he led the expansion of First Aid into a global educational series. In addition, he is the founder and editor-in-chief of the USMLERx online test bank series as well as a co-founder of the Underground Clinical Vignettes series. As a medical student, he was editor-in-chief of the University of California, San Francisco Synapse, a university newspaper with a weekly circulation of 9000. Tao earned his medical degree from the University of California, San Francisco in 1996 and completed his residency training in internal medicine at Yale University and fellowship training at Johns Hopkins University in allergy and immunology. In addition, he completed an MHS at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. At Yale, he was a regular guest lecturer on the USMLE review courses and an adviser to the Yale University School of Medicine curriculum committee. He is currently chief of allergy and immunology in the Department of Medicine at the University of Louisville. back to top Seth K. Bechis, MS Seth grew up in Concord, Mass. and attended Harvard University, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in chemistry and chemical biology. He took two years during medical school to complete a Masters of Science degree in biomedical science, studying cancer biology, and is now in his third year of medical school at the University of California, San Francisco. Seth wants to become a practicing clinician-scientist in cardiology or potentially a surgical subspecialty. He also has interests in medical education and biotechnology development and hopes to combine these in his future practice. When not in school, Seth spends his time outdoors skiing, hiking, golfing, and traveling to faraway places. back to top Kristen Vierregger, MD Kristen is a first-year resident in pathology at the University of California, Irvine. She graduated medical school from the University of Pennsylvania and started working for First Aid as an author during her second year of medical school. She became an editor for USMLERx Step 2 CK the following year and has now enjoyed the position of senior editor for the project. If she wasn’t a doctor, she would be a professional poker player. back to top Flora Waples-Trefil, MD Flora is a resident in the University of Chicago emergency medicine program. She began working on First Aid and USMLERx projects while she was a second-year medical student at Weill Medical College of Cornell University. Over the past few years she has had the opportunity to be a part of several different projects for USMLERx Steps 1, 2, and 3 as an author, editor, and senior editor. During the generous amount of free time that emergency medicine residents enjoy, Flora runs a small construction/rehab business for distressed real estate, exposes herself to unnecessary danger by rock climbing and alpine mountaineering, works on the family ranch in Montana, and generally attempts to live up to the ER physician ideal of being a shiftless dilettante. back to top

Step 1 Editors
Karen A. Adler, MD Karen grew up in the small town of Bel Air, Md., until she was 18 years old, when she moved to Providence, R.I., to attend Brown University. It was at Brown that Karen was first exposed to the world of academic publishing when she spent many months assisting a professor in preparing a textbook on complex cognition for publication. Karen majored in neuroscience and then pursued graduate work in clinical psychology in San Diego, focusing on the neurobiology of stress and disease. She earned her medical degree at Weill Medical College of Cornell University and is beginning a residency in psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital. back to top		Jacob S. Appelbaum Jacob grew up in Seattle, Wash., working in laboratories at the University of Washington and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center before moving to Amherst College, where he majored in biology and chemistry. Following graduation he moved to Washington, D.C., where he was a predoctoral fellow at the National Cancer Institute. In 2004 he began the MD/PhD program at Yale School of Medicine in the department of cell biology. He has no idea what he will specialize in. back to top
Carina H.G. Baird, MD Carina is from Riverside, Calif. She attended the University of California, Los Angeles for her undergraduate education, where she majored in psychobiology and minored in music history. As a student she worked as an emergency medical technician for UCLA Emergency Medical Services. She graduated from the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine, where she was a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha honor society. She is pursuing her residency training in pediatrics at UCSF as well, and will be an intern in the critical care track. Carina will likely specialize in neonatology. back to top		Xuemei Cai Xuemei grew up in Tucson, Ariz. She received the Flinn Scholarship in 2001, which led to her decision to stay instate at the University of Arizona, where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in biochemistry and molecular biophysics as well as a Bachelor of Arts degree in East Asian studies. She is currently in her fourth year at Harvard Medical School and is considering a career in a surgical subspecialty or interventional radiology. back to top
Phillip J. Gray, Jr. Phil graduated summa cum laude from the University of Arizona and is pursuing his medical degree at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. He recently completed a Howard Hughes Medical Research Training Fellowship with the department of radiation oncology at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School. Phil plans to pursue a career in academics in the field of radiation oncology. back to top		Gabriel J. Martinez-Diaz Gabriel was born and raised in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico. He attended the College of Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he earned his Bachelor of Science degree with honors in research in biomedical engineering. Upon graduation, and after a short teaching experience through the PEOPLE program at the University of Wisconsin, Gabriel moved to Bethesda, Md., to work at the National Institutes of Health in the Academy Fellowship Program. During 2007-08 he completed a Doris Duke Clinical Research Fellowship at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine. He is entering his clinical rotations in the summer of 2008, hoping to find a specialty field where he can work toward improving the quality of health care received by medically underserved communities. back to top
Step 2 CK Editors
Herman Singh Bagga, MD Herman is a resident in urology at the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center. He hails from New York City (which is where he gets his rough and tough exterior); however, he was raised mostly in the small city of Erie, Pa. (where he gained his soft, sensitive side). He began working with the First Aid and USMLERx teams during his third year at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and wishes all students great success as they utilize these materials to advance in their medical careers. back to top		Connie Chang, MD Connie graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2001 and earned her medical degree from Cornell University Medical School in 2006. Currently she is a resident in the radiology department of Massachusetts General Hospital. In her spare time Connie can usually be found outdoors somewhere reading, walking, jogging, biking, rollerblading, swimming, or diving. back to top
Oscar A. Estrada, MD Oscar is an intern at the University of Chicago Medical Center. He completed his undergraduate education at the University of Chicago, earning Bachelor of Arts degrees in biological sciences and Spanish literature. He took a year off between college and medical school and spent it traveling and working in a research lab at the University of Chicago. back to top		Pourya M. Ghazi,* MD Xuemei grew up in Tucson, Ariz. She received the Flinn Scholarship in 2001, which led to her decision to stay instate at the University of Arizona, where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in biochemistry and molecular biophysics as well as a Bachelor of Arts degree in East Asian studies. She is currently in her fourth year at Harvard Medical School and is considering a career in a surgical subspecialty or interventional radiology. back to top
Thomas L.H. Hocker, MD Thomas recently graduated with honors from Harvard Medical School, and is loving his transitional internship year at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center in the beautiful California Bay Area. Upon completion of his transitional internship, Thomas looks forward to starting his dermatology residency at the Mayo Clinic. He has had the honor of contributing as both an author and editor to the USMLERx Step 2 CK website. Thomas' hobbies include martial arts, running, and socializing with people from all walks of life. He intends to pursue a research career in dermatology and hopes to continue working on medical educational tools. back to top		Jessica Merlin,* MD, MBA Jessica is a resident in internal medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. She is originally from Pittsburgh, Pa. She is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Carnegie Mellon University, where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in biological sciences with an additional major in history and policy. While in medical school at the University of Pennsylvania, she developed an interest in academic medical administration, and as a result earned a Masters in Business Administration at the Wharton School. While at Wharton she cofounded www.md-mba.org, a website for students interested in the intersection of business and medicine. She also traveled to Botswana, where she cared for patients and helped design a tuberculosis isolation facility at the country's tertiary care hospital. As a resident Jessica has served as Vice-President of the hospital's Housestaff Committee. She plans to pursue a career in infectious disease and residency administration. Her research interests include end-of-life care in patients with HIV and the financing of hospice programs. back to top
Matthew O'Rourke, MD Matthew is a first-year resident in pediatrics at the Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital of New York-Presbyterian Hospital. When not working for First Aid and USMLERx, Matt enjoys running and reading National Geographic. . back to top		Alison Rager, MD Alison is a graduate of Duke University School of Medicine. She is currently a resident at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in the field of internal medicine. Eventually she would like to pursue a career in hematology-oncology. back to top
John Rhyner, MD John is a first-year internal medicine resident at the University of Michigan Medical Center. He graduated from Duke University School of Medicine in 2008, where he was a Eugene A. Stead Scholar and received honors awards for his research in the genomics of cardiothoracic anesthesia and cardiac electrophysiology. As a medical student he worked as both an author and an editor on USMLERx Step 2 CK. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree with honors in genetics and molecular biology from Northwestern University. John enjoys reading, cooking, and the visual arts. He plans to pursue a cardiology fellowship and academic practice. back to top		Russell J. H. Ryan,* MD Russell is a resident in anatomic and clinical pathology at the Massachusetts General Hospital, and a graduate of the Yale University School of Medicine. He also contributed to the 2005 edition of First Aid for the USMLE Step 1.  Russell grew up in Marblehead, Mass., and studied neuroscience as an undergraduate at Amherst College, where he also competed interscholastically in cross-country and track. Following his third year of medical studies at Yale, Russell pursued a one-year research fellowship in the laboratory of Dr. Bhuvanesh Singh at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, where he studied the role of the novel oncoprotein SCCRO in the activation of ubiquitin ligase complexes. He ran his first New York City Marathon in a time he now describes only as “two minutes faster than Lance Armstrong.” He is thankful for the support of his family and especially his lovely and talented wife Honor. back to top
Esteban Schabelman,* MD, MBA Esti is an emergency medicine resident at the University of Maryland. In addition to attending medical school at the University of Pennsylvania, he earned a Masters of Business Administration degree with dual concentrations in public policy and healthcare management from the Wharton School of Business. During medical school Esti served as the coordinator of Language Link, a program that provides free interpreting services to patients; he was also the founder of a political advocacy class that taught medical students and other health professionals how to identify and campaign for a political goal. He was editor of the first edition of First Aid Cases for the USMLERX Step 2 CK. In his free time he enjoys traveling, soccer, and brewing beer. He hopes to pursue a career that allows him to juggle his interests in emergency medicine and health policy. back to top		Sade Clarke Udoetuk, MD Sade is a resident in the Baylor College of Medicine psychiatry program. She has worked with USMLERx Step 1 and Step 2 CK as an author and an editor. Sade is very interested in academic medicine and hopes to pursue a fellowship in psycho-oncology. Her husband, Joshua, is also an author for USMLERx Step 2 CK, and she strongly suspects their daughter, Jaclyn, may contribute to the project at a future date as well. back to top
Omeed Zardkoohi,* MD Omeed is a resident in internal medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital with an interest in cardiac electrophysiology. In his spare time he enjoys cooking, weight training, and playing classical guitar. back to top
Flash Facts Editors
Monica Kumar, MD Monica is an emergency medicine resident at the Los Angeles County/University of Southern California Medical Center in Los Angeles. She completed both her undergraduate and medical education at Brown University. Her interests include learning to play the ukulele, traveling, and running (slowly). As always, she appreciates her family's endless support. back to top		Silvia Hartmann, MD Silvia is a first-year pediatric resident in the Boston Combined Residency Program, where she spends much of her time at Children's Hospital Boston and Boston Medical Center. She earned an undergraduate degree in neuroscience from Brown University, and graduated from the Warren Alpert School of Medicine at Brown University in 2008. She is planning a career in pediatric hematology/oncology. back to top
Connie Chang, MD Connie is a 2001 graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She earned her medical degree from Weill Medical College of Cornell University in 2006. Connie is a radiology resident at Massachusetts General Hospital. When not on duty, she can usually found outdoors somewhere reading, walking, jogging, biking, rollerblading, swimming, or diving. . back to top
Web Editors
Ravish Amin Ravish is a second-year medical student at the School of Osteopathic Medicine of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in Stratford, N.J. He is an alumnus of the Rutgers Business School, where he graduated with highest honors and received a degree in finance. Aside from his interest in medicine, he has a passion for the field of finance and has extensive work experience with top Wall Street firms. As a hobby he enjoys web development and computer programming. Ravish can be reached at aminra@umdnj.edu. back to top		Darko Stefanovski, MA Darko has a Masters Degree in bioengineering from the University of Pennsylvania. Currently he is pursuing a Doctorate of Philosophy degree in physiology and biophysics at the University of Southern California. The focus of his research is diabetes mellitus type 2. back to top