PGY-2 Residents
Arsalan Ali
Undergrad: The University of Texas at Austin
Med School: Anne Burnett Marion School of Medicine at Texas Christian University
Hometown: Austin, Texas
Interests: pickleball, fantasy football, PC gaming, coffee shops, spending time with my friends and family
Jay Chopra
Undergrad: Indiana University--Bloomington
Med School: Indiana University School of Medicine
Hometown: Schererville, IN
Interests: Reality TV (any housewives), cooking, Nintendo Switch, volleyball and other rec sports!
Caroline Desler
Undergrad: UCLA
Med School: Oakland University William Beaumont (OUWB) School of Medicine
Hometown: Oakland, CA
Interests: anything on Lake Michigan, trying new restaurants, reality TV, recruiting my co-residents to pick up Facebook Marketplace furniture
Noah Heilenbach
Undergrad: Washington University in St. Louis
Med School: NYU Grossman School of Medicine
Hometown: River Forest, IL
Interests: Running, piano, and travel
PGY-3 Residents
Patrick Buoniconti
Undergraduate: University of Virginia
Medical School: Western Michigan University
Hometown: Wheaton, IL
Interests: biking, hiking, pretending to be athletic
Kasey Johnson
Undergraduate: Pacific Lutheran University
Medical School: Washington State University
Hometown: Colfax, WA
Interests: Sports (basketball, volleyball, golf), spending time with family, exploring the city, hiking/backpacking
Brian Simon
Undergraduate: University of Notre Dame
Medical School: Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine
Hometown: LaGrange, IL
Interests: The great outdoors, travel, walking my brother’s dog, White Sox baseball
Lauren Nakhleh
Undergraduate: Texas Christian University
Medical School: Baylor College of Medicine
Hometown: McKinney, Texas
Interests: Traveling, tennis/pickle ball, ballet, and trying new restaurants in Chicago!
PGY-4 Residents
Amber Randolph, MD
Undergraduate: St. Edward's University
Medical School: Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
Hometown: Austin, TX
Interests: Reading, video games, exploring Chicago
Alexis Stefaniak, MD
Undergraduate: University of Notre Dame
Medical School: Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine
Hometown: Channahon, IL
Interests: Distance running, baking, hiking/backpacking, college football, exploring the city with my husband
Meriam Ben Hadj Tahar, MD
Undergraduate: Loyola University Chicago
Medical School: Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine
Hometown:
Interests: Photography, drawing, painting, playing violin, poetry, baking and traveling
Max Whitmeyer, MD
Undergraduate: Stanford University
Medical School: The Ohio State University College of Medicine
Hometown: Columbus, OH
Interests: Running, cycling, hiking, music analysis, triva, sports statistics and reading
Joint Transitional Year
Our department partners with the MacNeal Hospital Transitional Year Residency training program for a joint intern year. The joint program allows PGY1 residents to acclimate early into their Ophthalmology Residency. Three months of the year are dedicated to Ophthalmology at Loyola and Edward Hines, Jr. VA Hospitals. The goals and objectives for these rotations follow the ACGME guidelines. During these months, transition year Ophthalmology residents will:
- Rotate through the different subspecialty services
- Care for ophthalmology patients
- Join the ophthalmology operating teams
- Experience inpatient consult services and interact with the consult/consulting team
- Have dedicated time for research and simulation training
Where Do Residents Live in Chicago?
Our residents live throughout the Chicago and Chicago suburb area. Most choose to live in the city with a 20 min (40 minute in heavy traffic) commute to the main Loyola University Medical Center campus in Maywood, IL. (Credit to Neel Vaidya for the following diagram.)
Chicago is an culturally rich and historic city that offers every possible distraction during residency, including what some might consider to be the best dining. Some of our resident's favorite picks for food and fun are below!
Alumni
See a full, detailed directory list of all the Ophthalmology Residency program alumni here.
Class of 2022
- Natalie Chung – Private Practice, Monterey, CA
- Sheena Khanna – Medical Retina Fellowship, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA
- Clayton Kirk – Surgical Retina Fellowship, Associated Retina Consultants, Phoenix, AZ
- Erica Smith – Pediatric Ophthalmology Fellowship, Baylor, Houston, TX
Class of 2021
- Michael Beyer – Private Practice, Palos Heights, IL
- Jose Jogin – Private Practice, Arlington Heights, IL
- Eric Kim – Private Practice, Anaheim, CA
- Sinthu Ranjan – Cornea Fellowship, New York, NY
Class of 2020
- Gregory Fu – Private Practice, Rockville, MD
- Michael Henry – Glaucoma Fellowship, UIC, Chicago, IL
- Jonathan Noguchi – Oculoplastics Fellowship, Calgary, Canada
- Neel Vaidya – Cornea and Refractive Fellowship, Chicago, IL
Class of 2019
- Kimberly Estes – Private Practice, Chicagoland Area
- Christopher Johnson – Private Practice, Sydney, OH
- Neil Shah – Surgical Retina Fellowship, UMKC, Kansas City, MO
- Madeline Ripa – Cornea Fellowship, Moran Eye Center, Salt Lake City, UT
Class of 2018
- Shannon Hunt – Private Pracitice, Chicagoland Area
- Paul Park – Private Practice, Chicagoland Area
- Naryan Sabherwal – Surgical Retina Fellowship, Illinois Retina Associates, Chicago, IL
- David Terrell – Inherited Retinal Degenerations Fellowship, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, MA
Class of 2017
- Stephen Holland – Private Practice, Springfield, IL
- Rima Patel – Medical Retina Fellowship, USC Roski Eye Institute, Los Angeles, CA
- Mackenzie Sward – Private Practice, Milwaukee, WI
- Jordan Thompson – Private Practice, La Crosse, WI
Class of 2016
- Laura Burke – Private Practice, McMinnville, OR
- Matthew Flood – Medical Retina Fellowship, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL
- Ruchi Shah – Glaucoma Fellowship, UIC, Chicago, IL
- Marie Somogyi – Oculoplastics Fellowship, TOC Eye and Face, Austin, TX
Class of 2015
- Lindsay Grotting – Uveitis Fellowship, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, MA
- Srinivas Kondapalli – Medical Retina and Oncology Fellowship, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH
- Michael Nolan – Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus Fellowship, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
- Diana Tamboli – Oculoplastics Fellowship, UTSW, Dallas, TX
