Since 1934, Kern Medical has been training residents and
health care professionals in our community.
Academics
EM Residents
KEEP UP WITH US ON OUR INSTAGRAM ACCOUNT!
Class of 2023
Benjamin Boodaie, MD
Benjamin.Boodaie@kernmedical.com
Hometown: Los Angeles, CA
Undergraduate: University of California, Los Angeles
Medical School: Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, NYC
Hobbies: being in and around bodies of water, quoting Seinfeld and Spongebob,
tennis, basketball, travel, story telling, stand-up
Fun facts: I’ve road tripped across the US; I’m quadrilingual;
I make a mean ‘tahdig polo’ (Persian crispy rice); I’m
an expert hand-whistler
Brett Cowan, MD
Brett.Cowan@kernmedical.com
Hometown: Canyon Lake, CA
Undergraduate: UC San Diego
Medical School: Cooper Medical School
Hobbies: Ice Hockey, Beer Brewing, Wakeboarding, Water Skiing, Snowboarding,
Hiking,Backpacking
Favorite thing about Kern Medical: My colleagues and being close to family.
Matthew Cupp, MD
Matthew.Cupp@kernmedical.com
Hometown: Rohnert Park, CA
Undergraduate: Sonoma State University
Medical School: Ross University School of Medicine
Hobbies: anything EM, traveling, hiking and once upon a time surfing
Favorite thing about Kern Medical: the opportunity it provides to study
my passion and my exceedingly intelligent enthusiastic co-residents who
always hold me to a higher standard
Abdelhamid Dalia, MD
Abdelhamid.Dalia@kernmedical.com
Hometown: Bakersfield, CA
Undergraduate: California State University of Bakersfield
Medical School: St. George’s University
Hobbies: Basketball, fishing, kayaking, eating out, movies, music/concerts,
podcasts, trivia/jeopardy, travel, business
Khalid Jamal Ramahi, MD
Khalid.Ramahi@kernmedical.com
Hometown: San Jose, CA
Undergraduate: San Jose State University
Medical School: Medical College of Wisconsin
Hobbies: basketball, bowling, drawing, watching sports
Favorite thing about Kern Medical: My fellow residents
Ryan Roleson, MD
Ryan.Roleson@kernmedical.com
Hometown: Poway, CA
Undergraduate: UC Berkeley
Medical School: UC Riverside
Hobbies: Climbing is my passion outside of medicine! I love getting into
the outdoors and hiking, camping, and backpacking with friends when I
can. I enjoy delving into mountaineering and ice climbing when the winter
hits.On weekends find me studying or driving back and forth between San
Diego and Riverside to visit friends and family. Email me if you have
any questions about life in Bakersfield and at KM!
Ty Tran, MD
Ty.Tran@kernmedical.com
Hometown: Bakersfield, CA
Undergraduate: University of California, Berkeley
Medical School: Howard University College of Medicine
Hobbies: Soccer, hiking, surfing, tennis, running, travel, being Yelp Elite,
pretending to be an interior designer for my new house, Costco with Dr. Rangel
Fun Fact: Before medical school, I was a research assistant here; during
medical school, I rotated in this ER; and now I’m a resident here.
So I’ve come full circle, and the sentiment has certainly not been
lost on me.
Class of 2024
Bianca Arechiga, DO
Bianca.Arechiga@kernmedical.com
Hometown: San Antonio, Texas
Undergraduate: Baylor University
Medical School: UNTHSC-Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine
Hobbies: exploring new cities, spending time with family/friends, spoiling
my dogs, eating, going to concerts, trying new things
Fun facts: Fun facts: In another life, I would’ve loved to be a racecar driver!
Edward McCrink, DO
Hometown: Orange County, CA
Undergraduate: Concordia University, Irvine, CA
Medical School: Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine, PA
Hobbies: World Cup soccer, backpacking, fishing, mountain biking, dog training
and raising my 5 year old Vizsla – Otto!
Fun facts: I have delivered pizzas to Kobe Bryant and the inventor of Hot Pockets.
Favorite thing about Kern Medical: awesome teaching environment, very approachable
faculty and trauma staff, and having only a few other residency programs
means more for us!
Afomia Mesfin, MD
Hometown: Los Angeles, CA
Undergraduate: University of California, San Diego
Medical School: UCSF School of Medicine
Hobbies: going to the beach, going on walks with friends, traveling, dancing
(I love salsa dancing!), watching reality tv shows
Fun Facts: One of my life goals is to visit every continent (except Antarctica,
not a fan of the cold) – so far, I’ve explored four of them.
Cecilia Santos Jimenez, MD
Hometown: San Jose, CA
Undergraduate: University of California, Santa Cruz
Medical School: Meharry Medical College, Nashville, Tennessee
Hobbies: I enjoy collecting vinyl records (80’s music being my favorite).
I picked up watercolor painting while in medical school. Another hobby
of mine is bicycle restoration.
Fun facts: During medical school I was able to visit 10 new states. Everybody
in my house has a name that starts with a C, including our chihuahua Cutie
Edward Pak, MD
Hometown: La Cañada, CA
Undergraduate: La Sierra University, Riverside CA
Medical School: Loma Linda University School of Medicine
Hobbies: snowboarding, Hiking, Backpacking, Cooking, Trail Running, Basketball
Fun Facts: I was a Boy Scout in high school and as our yearly fundraising
project, we would go door-to-door and sell + deliver manure fertilizer.
Carol Tang, MD
Hometown: Chino Hills, CA
Undergraduate: University of Southern California
Medical School: Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine
Hobbies: Doing anything with my dogs (Kiyo pictured above), hiking, traveling,
watching Marvel movies, playing board games
Fun Fact: Watched all 23 Marvel movies in order within 2 weeks right before
taking Step 2 CK and CS
Angela Tseng, DO
Hometown: San Diego, CA
Undergraduate: University of California, Santa Barbara
Medical School: Liberty University College of Osteopathic Medicine, Lynchburg VA.
Hobbies: Basketball (Go Lakers), crossfit, spikeball, spending time near
any body of water, hiking, reading, cooking, and board games.
Fun Fact: When I was a kid, I wanted to be a fire engine (verbatim) or
a Power Ranger. Later, I became more realistic and aimed for getting into
the WNBA. Then I got really realistic and became a doctor
Class of 2025
Charles Anderson, DO, FAWM, DiMM
Charles.Anderson@kernmedical.com
Hometown: Buffalo, NY
Undergraduate: Daemen College
Medical School: LUCOM
Professional Interests: Aeromedical EMS, prolonged field care, disaster medicine
Hobbies: Hanging out with my wife and our dog. Flying. Climbing. Floating
in the pool. Traveling whenever we get the chance.
Fun Facts: I could fly an airplane by myself before I could drive a car
by myself. Go Bills!
Geocel-Grace Castanares, DO, MPH
Geocel-Grace.Castanares@kernmedical.com
Hometown: Bakersfield, CA
Undergraduate: University of California-Davis
Graduate School: University of South Florida
Medical School: Liberty University College of Osteopathic Medicine
Hobbies: yoga, scuba diving, hiking, salsa and bachata dancing, cooking,
traveling, listening to country music, horseback riding, early AM workouts
Fun fact: I won “Most Outgoing” in high school and if I wasn’t
in medicine, I would have loved a career in public relations or media.
Jairo Garcia
Jairo.Garcia@kernmedical.com
Hometown: Hawthorne, CA
Undergraduate: UC Irvine
Medical school: Charles R. Drew University/ DGSOM at UCLA
Hobbies: Playing guitar, running, I would want to go back to picking up
boxing, love The Simpsons pre-season 13ish (and other cartoons), watching
music analysis videos (blows my mind every time), I like driving such
as road trips (calming no lie)
Fun/odd fact: Chances are I have not seen your favorite classic movie,
and if I did, I probably would have a tough time recalling scenes, characters
or time of events... I can't remember movies well.
Kelsey Schrage
Kelsey.Schrage@kernmedical.com
Mike Chin, DO
Mike.Chin@kernmedical.com
Hometown: Los Angeles, CA
Undergraduate: UCLA
Medical School: Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine
Hobbies: I'm obsessed with climbing, I love bouldering and lead climbing.
I have a little youtube channel about my climbing adventures. I spend
my free time traveling, camping, and hiking with my significant other.
and some EDM!
Fun Fact: My puppy named "shong shong" is turning 19.
Seth Larson
Seth.Larsen@kernmedical.com
Hometown: San Diego, CA
Undergraduate: San Diego State University
Medical School: Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences, College
of Osteopathic Medicine
Hobbies: playing and recording music, rock climbing, scuba diving, tennis,
spikeball, ping pong, movies and TV, traveling, hiking, spending time
with family
Fun facts: If I wasn't doing medicine I would probably be pursuing music
professionally! One of my favorite things in the world is playing shows
and jamming out with a solid group of musicians. My first band, Catharsis
of a Mute, released two albums while we were still in high school and
to this day they are something I am most proud of!
https://soundcloud.com/jevon-huang
https://youtu.be/vYXT7oYCr5A
https://youtu.be/UvYUViP6ojc
Brittney Banfer, DO
brittney.banfer@kernmedical.com
Hometown: San Diego, CA
Undergraduate: California State University, San Marcos
Medical School: Western University of Health Sciences of the Pacific Northwest
Hobbies: hiking, camping, anything involving water, long naps, coffee,
spending time outside with the pups
Fun Fact: I just adopted a new puppy - Oakley
Kiley Clark, MD
kiley.clark@kernmedical.com
Hometown: Granite Bay, CA
Undergraduate: Texas State University
Medical School: American University of the Caribbean
Hobbies: Running, dirtbiking and camping!
Fun Fact: I just bought my first house and spending all my free time remodeling!
Ruben Geeraert, MD
ruben.geeraert@kernmedical.com
Hometown: Kortrijk, Belgium
Undergraduate: Butler University
Medical School: Indiana University
Hobbies: Diving, hiking, mountain biking, tennis, skiing, watching soccer
Fun Fact: I am terrified of flying but have been skydiving and paragliding.
Jordan Karroll, DO
jordan.karroll@kernmedical.com
Kenneth Lam, MD
kenneth.lam@kernmedical.com
Lawrence Liu, MD
lawrence.liu@kernmedical.com
Hometown: Walnut, California
Undergraduate: UC San Diego
Medical school: Medical College of Wisconsin
Hobbies: I used to play badminton competitively and attended many tournaments,
now I just play for fun and help coach kids. I also enjoy working out,
swimming, and rock climbing!
Fun fact: I was born with natural white hair
Matthias Park, MD
matthias.park@kernmedical.com
Hometown: Olympia, WA
Undergrad: UC San Diego
Medical School: Washington State University
Hobbies: Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, baking bread
Fun fact: I was a combat medic before medical school.