Meet Our Chiefs for 2022-2023

 

Hi! My name is Jennifer Collins. I am a fourth-year neurology resident at the Medical College of Wisconsin. I grew up in a small city close to Madison and attended undergraduate school at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, majoring in genetics. After graduating, I spent three years managing a research lab at UW Madison, then went back to school for a degree in teaching high school biology. My husband and I moved around the state for his career and I taught high school biology for eight years before deciding to stay home to raise our two children. We moved back to Madison, and I began to think about what I wanted to do with my career- continue teaching or something completely different. I decided to apply to Medical School and was accepted at the University of WI- Madison. I was part of the WI Academy of Rural Medicine (WARM) program and spent some time in rural communities. I discovered my love of Neurology while working with the Neurologists in Green Bay, WI and was very excited to match at Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee for residency. My family has been extremely supportive of this journey and I could not have done this without them. My husband works full time as a lawyer and takes care of the household, including taking our children to activities. Our son is 13 years old, an eighth grader, competes in short track and long track speed skating, and loves inline skating and running. Our daughter is 11 years old, a sixth grader, is on a competitive soccer team, and loves gymnastics.

I really can’t say enough positive things about the Medical College of Wisconsin Neurology residency program and frankly this whole institution in general. I interviewed at programs in the Midwest and felt the most connection to a program after my MCW interview and resident dinner. From day one as a brand new PGY-1 resident, I felt like I belonged to both the Neurology program and to the Medicine program. I felt supported and at home. The connections that I have formed with residents from other specialties continue as I see my colleagues’ become fellows and attendings at MCW- they stay because they also feel at home. The Neurology attendings are truly wonderful people! They want us to fall in love with their specialty and are always willing to work with us, mentor us, help us grow as a resident, I feel comfortable approaching any faculty member with a question or concern. The teaching and learning they provide is phenomenal and I have grown as a resident because of them. Dr. Carlson is a very supportive program director. He is constantly looking for ways to improve the program. He cares about the residents and welcomes suggestions. Ashlie Schaffner is the best program coordinator we could ask for. She helps us with problems as they arise, answers questions, and makes sure that we are not feeling too overwhelmed. The diversity of our program is something we are very proud of. We cover just about every sub-specialty of neurology which makes for some excellent learning opportunities! The residents in this program are not only my colleagues, they are my friends and family. We work together to solve problems, support each other, help each other out. Residency is a difficult and busy time and it has been so nice to know that I have a solid support network with my family, my co-residents, and my attendings. When finished with residency, I plan to pursue a fellowship in Headache Medicine, hopefully here at the Medical College of Wisconsin (match date August 3)!

Welcome everyone!
Jennifer Collins
Chief Resident 2022-23

Hello!

My name is Mike Dryden, and I am a fourth-year neurology resident at the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW). I was born and raised in Saint Louis, Missouri, where I attended undergraduate at Saint Louis University. I attended medical school nearby, at University of Missouri-Columbia. After graduating medical school I matched into neurology residency at my #1 pick: the Medical College of Wisconsin. My wife and I found a wonderful house, moved to Wauwatosa with our dogs, and have recently started growing our family with a new baby. We love exploring the state, cheering on local teams, and getting outdoors in the unbeatable Milwaukee summers.
Having no personal or professional ties to Wisconsin, I’m frequently asked how I ended up at MCW. I interviewed broadly for neurology residencies from Washington DC to Phoenix, AZ but found that no program had the same feeling of family as MCW.
The tone of a residency program is set by the program director, and there is none better than Dr. Carlson. Dr. Carlson has fostered a community of support and learning here at MCW, one which garnered him the AAN’s “Residency-Fellowship Program Director Recognition” award in 2021. While Dr. Carlson sets the standard, it has been apparent since the moment I interviewed on campus in 2018 that this standard of excellence permeates all corners of the department.

While interviewing, I tried my best to find a program where co-residents were more than just coworkers; I wanted a program where they were friends. Friends who supported each other at work, friends who grabbed dinner together after shifts, friends who watched pets and watered plants for each other when someone was out of town. I found that program, and those life-long friends, here at MCW.

However you envision your future as a neurologist – intensivist, neuro-hospitalist, outpatient subspecialist, research-oriented, community-oriented, etc. – this program will teach you, support you, and guide you to becoming the best version of that vision. When I started as an intern in 2019, my only direction in neurology was that I preferred outpatient over inpatient neurology. The diverse training that I have received has instilled confidence and competency in both inpatient and outpatient clinical settings and allowed me to refine that initial feeling of how I wanted to practice neurology. I am thrilled to have accepted a clinical neurophysiology fellowship here at MCW, to continue my training after my anticipated graduation in 2023.

Of course, it’s impossible to talk about a residency program without talking about the city in which it resides. As a resident, part of being a successful at the hospital is feeling fulfilled and happy when you are outside of it. Milwaukee is an amazing city. MCW sits about a 15 minute drive from the beaches on the shores of Lake Michigan and thriving downtown Milwaukee, and about a 15 minute drive from the suburbs west of Milwaukee. This central location, in addition to the low cost of living, allows residents to live where they want, to participate in any hobbies they enjoy (or pick up some new Wisconsin specific hobbies), and shape their personal life to fit them. For sports fans, we have the NBA, MLB, AHL…and of course the Green Bay Packers a short 2-hour drive north. We have a fantastic food, brewery, and festival scene, both downtown and in the suburbs. We even have a surfing community!

Thank you for your interest in our amazing neurology program here at MCW. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us!

Sincerely,
Mike Dryden