Ruth Armstrong, MD, MSc
Pronouns: She/Her
Ruth grew up in a small resort town in Central Idaho (McCall) and loves to be outside - hiking, skiing, biking, fishing, or hunting- depending on the season. She studied chemistry, ran cross-country and track, and helped direct the Outdoor Program at the College of Idaho. After graduating, she managed a farm before working in Nepal, Japan, and New Zealand. Returning to the US, she built her own bicycle and rode alone from the San Juan Islands to the Statue of Liberty, interviewing farmers. This inspired her to study public health in Switzerland before attending medical school at the University of Washington. She is passionate about rural broad-spectrum family medicine and is continually humbled by her patients. In her free time Ruth gardens, practices judo, reads, and spends time with her partner, Andrew, and their mules in the mountains.
Jasmine Curry-Thomas, MD
Pronouns: She/Her
Jasmine Curry-Thomas is from Kaibeto, Arizona, a small community on the Navajo Nation. Along with her sister, she was raised by her mother on and off the reservation. They grew up with a strong connection to their traditional culture. Her interest in family medicine stemmed from her grandfather, a medicine man, who would practice traditional medicine and care for people of all ages from the community.
She attended the University of Arizona in Tucson and majored in Physiology. There she enjoyed doing community service and working with other Native students through her time with the American Indian and Indigenous Health Alliance. She also met her husband, Aaron, during this time. After graduation, Jasmine moved to Portland, Oregon, to participate in the first cohort of the Wy’east Post-Baccalaureate Pathway at OHSU. She then matriculated into medical school at OHSU. Jasmine knew she wanted to return to the Navajo Nation after training, leading her to seek rural experiences during medical school. Some of these experiences included becoming an Area Health Education Centers (AHEC) Scholar and moving to Klamath Falls during her fourth year to complete the Oregon FIRST program at Cascades East. She loved the community feel of the residency, as well as the beauty of the Klamath Basin, and is ecstatic to be staying at Cascades East Family Medicine Residency!
She lives with her husband, two brothers-in-law, and their beloved cat Dóí. Jasmine enjoys reading, hiking, kayaking, and traveling outside of medicine.
Annabel Jiran, MD
Pronouns: She/Her
Annabel grew up in Grand Forks, North Dakota, a riverside town where the brutally cold winters taught her to savor the short summer months. After high school, she stayed in ND to attend the University of Jamestown where she majored in Biology and minored in Chemistry, Psychology, and Character in Leadership. A tentative pre-med student at first, Annabel’s conviction to attend medical school only grew stronger as she spent time shadowing in a variety of settings, including a local community health center where she was first introduced to the important and transformative role of high-quality patient-centered primary care for the underserved.
Annabel returned to Grand Forks to study medicine at the University of North Dakota. The Rural Opportunities in Medical Education program allowed her to complete much of her third year of medical school back in Jamestown, learning from experienced rural family medicine physicians. Throughout her time there, she was struck by the immense breadth of care that the family medicine physicians were able to provide and the depth to which they knew and cared for each unique patient. These mentors solidified her interest in rural family medicine.
Annabel is thrilled to start a new adventure in Klamath Falls with CEFM. The intentional drive to prioritize care for rural underserved populations along with the collaborative, uplifting, and creative environment that first inspired her in North Dakota is so clearly present at CEFM. Annabel looks forward to building meaningful relationships with patients and empowering them to meet their personal health goals. She is excited to become an Oregonian and immerse herself in the Klamath Falls community. When she isn’t working with patients, you can find her enjoying a book with a nice coffee or tea, walking outside in the sunshine, doing yoga, or exploring the abundant beauty in and around Klamath Falls.
Alex Levin, MD. MPH
Pronouns: She/Her
Alex grew up in Los Angeles with a view of the Hollywood sign from her front yard. She knew from a young age that she was more country mouse than city mouse and often took refuge in the nearby Angeles National Forest. She escaped LA after high school and attended UC Berkeley where she completed a degree in anthropology with a focus on archaeology. She was fortunate to excavate in the Nevada Great Basin and near Mono Lake in eastern California. As much as she loved fieldwork, she felt a calling to medicine while working in remote areas with stark health disparities and little-to-no access to healthcare.
Alex completed her pre-med courses at night while working a variety of day jobs including light fixture delivery person, afterschool teacher, indoor air inspector, and bicycle tour guide. She also completed a master’s in public health through Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) prior to starting medical school while doing social work for a non-profit that serves adults with developmental disabilities.
Knowing that rural, full-spectrum family medicine was her ultimate goal, Alex was thrilled to be accepted to OHSU School of Medicine in 2019. Every family medicine experience that Alex sought during medical school confirmed that she had found her people and her practice in primary care. After completing a 3-month long rotation in Klamath Falls, she applied to the Oregon FIRST program which allowed her to spend her entire fourth year of school living and learning in the Klamath Basin. She could not be more thrilled to be staying on for residency where she can continue to pursue her professional interests in health equity, preventive care, and reproductive justice.
Alex adores the natural beauty and solitude of southern Oregon and enjoys exploring it by bicycle, paddleboard, snowshoe, and on foot whenever she has the time. When she has to be indoors, Alex can be found reading too many books simultaneously or preparing a themed dinner for friends. Sadly, Alex does not have any fur babies, but she is attempting to keep a menagerie of tropical diva houseplants alive in the high desert.
Christine Maisano, MD
Pronouns: She/Her
Christine has traveled a circuitous path to medicine and to Oregon. She grew up on the Gulf beaches of Florida, where she loved being outside, playing the piano, and singing. During her undergraduate years at Wheaton College in Illinois, she studied English and anthropology, which combined some of her favorite pastimes of reading and writing and thinking about the human condition. After earning her degree in 2002, she pondered her next steps while living briefly in New York City and a farming community Germany. Her life took on new focus when she moved to the Washington, DC, suburbs, where she met her now-husband and started a family. She also began working as an editor, a job that soon morphed into her first career as a science writer supporting biomedical research at government and nonprofit organizations. In 2007 she formed her own science writing business and in her spare time took basic science classes to further her career, became a certified yoga teacher, played in a band, and took up biking.
In 2013 Christine and her family answered the call of the West, relocating to a rural cohousing community near Durango, Colorado. Christine fell in love with mountain life and found joy in outdoor adventures by foot, bike, and watercraft. She also did personal growth work and trained as a group process facilitator, which helped her reconnect with her value of direct service to others. As she considered how to align her daily work with her values, she was drawn to medicine as a service profession that engages her natural curiosity and leverages her first career in biomedical science. To gain clinical experience, Christine took on a part-time job as a medical assistant while completing pre-medical studies at Fort Lewis College and maintaining her science writing business. She found patient care immensely rewarding and was inspired by family doctors who had deep relationships with generations of families and were skilled in all domains of primary care. When she started her medical education at Stryker School of Medicine in Michigan, she was already committed to a career in rural family medicine. Joining the Cascades East program has been a natural next step because it provides the broad-scope family medicine training Christine seeks in a high desert setting that is so familiar. She and her husband are thrilled to be joining the Klamath Falls community to live, learn, work, and play on this beautiful land. Christine looks forward to supporting her patients in their well-being goals and serving people across the lifespan.
Mikaela Siegel, MD
Pronouns: She/Her
Mikaela Siegel, PGY1, grew up in the small town of Florence, OR. From the Oregon Coast, she headed to Corvallis, OR to study biology at Oregon State University. Following her Oregon trajectory, she headed to Portland, OR to attend Medical school at Oregon Health and Science University. She fell in love with Family Medicine for the opportunity to practice a little bit of everything within medicine, while also having a long term, meaningful impact on patient’s lives and health. Cascades East Family Medicine was the perfect fit for her to develop broad, full spectrum skills within Family Medicine, while simultaneously being part of an incredibly supportive community (that continues to feel like home). Mikaela hopes to practice in Oregon after completion of her residency program. In her spare time you’ll find her backpacking, hiking, cross-country skiing, or simply hanging out with her adorable cat, Hobbs!
Bailey Simon, MD
Pronouns: She/Her
Bailey grew up in an agricultural town in eastern Washington State called Walla Walla. Her fondness for primary care originally came from seeing how her grade school teachers glowed as they remembered her grandfather who was one of the town’s few pediatricians in the 1960s. She earned her bachelor’s degree in biochemistry at Reed College where she found her knack for science, research, and healthcare communication. Prior to medical school, she did research on the placenta as well worked in healthcare outreach and quality improvement. At WSU School of Medicine, she learned the most from working in rural settings, free clinics, and shelters, where she connected with people who shared experiences of having difficulty getting the healthcare they needed. She chose family medicine because she enjoys caring for people from all walks of life and supporting them through any health concerns that may come their way. Bailey is an animal lover, especially of horses, dogs, and cats. Her favorite outdoor activity is hiking with her partner Mundo and picking wild blackberries in the summer so she can make delicious pies for her friends and family. She is also a competitive powerlifter and loves strength training in her spare time.
Josh Vargas, MD
Pronouns: He/him
Josh was born and raised in Reno, Nevada, a place with amazing proximity to all things outdoors including the beautiful Sierra Nevada Mountains. He previously had a career in warehousing and at 30 years old he was ready for a change. In-line with his love of the outdoors, he wanted to serve the rural communities that support the places that people often only visit. He felt the best way for him to do this was to pursue his dream of becoming a physician. With the support of his wife, Heather, he became the first person in his family to go to college. He graduated from the University of Nevada, Reno (go Pack!) where he studied Public Health. He then graduated medical school at Western University COMP-NW in Lebanon, Oregon. Throughout this process, his desire of entering rural primary care ultimately guided his path towards Cascades East.
Josh and his wife have been happily married for nearly two decades, and together they have a senior cat and shih-tzu that complete their family. He enjoys rock climbing, camping, hiking, trail running, beginner mountain biking, and anything to do with alpine lakes including kayaking, paddle boarding, and fishing. He and Heather are looking forward to the adventure of exploring Klamath Falls and the surrounding region that they now call home.
Sophia Ver Steeg, MD
Pronouns: She/Her
Sophie grew up in a small town along the Columbia River Gorge. It was through watching her Mom as a nurse at the local hospital that she first started to develop an interest in medicine. While she was able to gain a better understanding of biology through her major at Gonzaga University, it was experiences beyond this that further shaped and better prepared her for a career in medicine. At Gonzaga, she minored in psychology, working with the chair of the department on research about gratitude. Following her undergraduate education, it was working in a hematology and oncology clinic in her hometown where she came to love the opportunities small town medicine provided to truly know your patients and the environment they live in. Following in her grandfather's footsteps, she attended Oregon Health and Science University in Portland OR. In exploring the different specialties through the first few years of medical school, family medicine became the easy first choice. As a lover of listening to stories, the ability to care for patients in all stages of life greatly appealed to Sophie. Sophie was also drawn to the specialty due to the opportunity to tailor one's practice based on interests and based on the needs of the community. Outside of medicine, Sophie enjoys board games, hiking and spending time with her partner and small, but growing quickly, kiddo.