Jeremiah Dawson, MD
Jeremiah was born in Willits, California (“Gateway to the Redwoods”, about 3 hours north of San Francisco) the youngest of six children. His father was and still is the local general surgeon serving Frank R. Howard Memorial Hospital in Wil- lits. In order to provide character building exercises, they kept a hobby ranch with horses, 15-20 head of cattle, as many as 60 sheep and plenty of poultry. Jeremiah was active in 4-H since the age of 5 and thanks them for his lack of fear of public speaking and large animals. He was active in sports, wrestling since the 6th grade. He also ran cross country, swam and played football to stay in shape for wrestling and would like to thank Bob Colvig, his wrestling coach, for putting him through trials that make the rest of life tolerable. He graduated valedictorian and wrestling league champion, a big fish in a small pond.
He then left small town life and went to the University of California, Santa Barbara to major in biological sciences. During this time he developed many close lasting friendships; including his future wife, Kristin Moreno, whom he met on a blind date in Los Angeles while visiting his eldest brother. This came just four months after his best and closest friend Randy Clark was murdered in an altercation in Chico, California. Kristin helped Jeremiah to grieve and stay on track. After graduating summa cum laude, he moved to Ocean Beach, San Diego to work on boogie boarding and some sunny soul searching. It was here with Kristin's urging he decided to pursue a long underlying drive to study biology and medicine.
Medical school took him to East LA, where he studied at Keck School of Medicine, USC. Kristin and Jeremiah firmed up their relationship and were married between second and third year of medical school. He enjoyed his experience working at the old general hospital with a lot of untreated disease and thankful patients. He honed his Spanish and developed a love for orthopaedics. It was this love that brought him to Iowa.
Impossible to summarize their experience in Iowa in a few short sentences, they are changed for the better by exposure to MidWest culture. It was here that they brought their two children Violet and Clark into the world. The orthopaedic surgery that he learned here will now benefit Northern Californians as he returns full circle to practice general orthopaedics in Willits, California at the new Frank R. Howard Memorial Hospital that is under construction.
Jennier Kho, MD
He would further like to thank his Mom and Dad, Carol and Tedd Dawson, his five brothers and sisters, and his wife and two kids who have been his readily available support system throughout.
Jenniefer was born and raised in Glendale, California. Her mother and father emigrated from South Korea in their 20s with little in their pockets, but worked hard to support Jenniefer and her older brother. When Jenniefer was in grade school, her father accepted a job offer in Korea, where he worked until she graduated from college. Fortunately, she had a very caring grandmother who helped make sure Jenniefer stayed on track while her mother was at work. She was accepted to UC Berkeley where she majored in biochemistry. Upon graduation, she worked at a research lab at UC San Francisco for one year. On one fateful weekend when she was back at home in Los Angeles, she met a charismatic man named John Phung. This spiraled into a long-distance relationship from SF to LA, and then from San Diego to LA when she was accepted to UC San Diego for medical school.
Medical school was conducive to not only developing a great tan, but being exposed to the world of orthopaedics for the first time. Whether by chance or fate, she applied to University of Iowa for orthopaedic residency and was offered an interview. Although she nearly missed her interview due to a blistery Iowa snowstorm (“What?! A snowstorm?!”), she was so thankful she made it as she met wonderful people who would soon become her mentors.
Miraculously, this Cali girl survived five Iowa winters, and has so much to be thankful for. Not only has she received unparalleled training, but she has met great people, found the second love of her life (Penny the dog), and has gotten a taste of Hawkeye tailgating, cauliflower ears, Iowa corn, and fried Oreos. She will greatly miss her co-residents and will never forget the memories she shares with the 29 other amazing men and women, in particularly with Bullfrog, Dr. YumYum, Brooks Jr., Scheek, and Big Willey (in no particular order).
Philadelphia awaits Jenniefer, John, Penny, and George the cat, where she will further her training in hand surgery at Thomas Jefferson University.
She thanks her mother, father, brother, and grandmother for supporting her unexpected journey. Hopefully a warmer forecast is on the horizon.
Cameron Schick, MD
Cameron was born and raised in Houston, Texas where he grew up with his younger sister, Katie, and parents, Robert and Shelley Schick. He studied Biology at the University of Iowa where he was a scholarship gymnast for the Hawkeyes from 19992003. During his recruiting trip in 1999, he experienced his first orthopaedic procedure. Dr. Albright, who was active in the recruiting process of student athletes interested in medicine, invited Cameron to scrub in for a case. It was this experience that piqued Cameron's interest in orthopaedics.
After college, he attended medical school at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas. He loved medical school, especially the intramural sports and fishing. He met his wife, Nicole, in anatomy lab during their first class of medical school. They were married in their last year, just five days before the Match. They were thrilled to both match at the University of Iowa after doing rotations here during medical school. During his last year of residency and while chief of the trauma service, Cameron and Nicole welcomed the arrival of their twin boys, Elliot and Brennan.
Cameron has loved his time in Iowa City. He appreciates the superior teaching and experiences provided within the department, as well as the camaraderie among the residents, and is grateful for the opportunity to be a resident here.
Upon graduation, Cameron will complete a Hand/Upper Extremity fellowship at the Indiana Hand to Shoulder Center in Indianapolis. After fellowship, he will join Bellevue Bone and Joint Physicians near Seattle, Washington.
Luke Warth, MD
Lucian (Luke) Warth was born and raised in Iowa City, and still considers himself a ‘townie’. He was the first of two children born to Ed and Melodie Warth. Melodie was an OR nurse at the University and later moved on to the Orthopaedic Spine Clinic. Early in life Luke thought he wanted to be an orthopaedic spine surgeon, but by the age of ten he thankfully realized that he was more interested in Dr. Found's Magic tricks than the spine. Luke's childhood was filled with summer baseball and fall Iowa football. His roots remain in Iowa and he will always be a Hawkeye. Luke grew up on the good side of the tracks, graduating from West High School, before moving on to college at Stanford University for his undergraduate education. Four years and several Rugby injuries later, he graduated with a major in Biological Sciences and a minor in Philosophy.
After college graduation Luke returned home to Iowa City, where he worked as a research assistant for Dr. John Callaghan for a year prior to attending medical school at Northwestern University. A future in orthopaedics was never really in question, but it was during this time that Luke first came to enjoy research and love arthroplasty. He has been riding Dr. Callaghan's coattails ever since. Luke attributes much of his success during this year to the friendship of Steve Liu, who taught him ‘the research shuffle,’ and has buffered him from several of Dr. Callaghan's infamous ‘grasshopper enemas’.
On the first day of medical school orientation Luke had the good fortune to meet his future wife, Melissa. It was likely the pink shirt and aviators that sealed the deal. Melissa feigned indifference for nearly two years, but Luke's charm eventually proved overwhelming. After a great 4 years in Chicago, Luke was thankful to match into orthopaedic residency at the University of Iowa and return home. He was even more thankful that he was able to convince Melissa to accompany him to Iowa City. Luke and Melissa were married during his 3rd year, and welcomed their son, James T. Warth, to the family during his 4th year of residency (both fruitful research rotations). Ed, Luke's father, still lives in Iowa City and during residency has provided constant support, friendship, love and excessive amounts of food. He has nicknamed his grandson ‘Toad’. Melodie, Luke's Mother, passed away tragically in 1999. She is loved and remembered every day, and would be very proud of ‘Toad’.
After graduation Luke, Melissa, and James are moving to the Big Apple for a fellowship in joint arthroplasty at the Hospital for Special Surgery. Luke would like to thank his sister, Ali, who lives in Manhattan and has volunteered to babysit free of charge every Saturday for a year so that Luke and Melissa can get the most out of NYC.
Michael Willey, MD
Michael Willey grew up in Onawa, IA. He attended West Monona High School with his future wife Lindsey Towne. They moved to Iowa City to attend the University of Iowa in 2001 and have not left since. After finishing his degree in Biomedical Engineering, he attended medical school at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine. He was fortunate to get the opportunity to be an orthopaedic resident at the University of Iowa. After residency he will complete a trauma fellowship at Iowa with Drs. Marsh and Karam.
Michael has many friends and family that he needs to thank for their support. His wife, Lindsey, has always provided endless love and support throughout their time together. She is a loving mother to his three children Audrey, Norah, and Owen. On top of all this, Lindsey is also a Physician Assistant in Tipton, IA. His parents, Greg and Rhonda, have always been dedicated to making sure that their children achieved their goals and knew the importance of hard work and honesty. His younger siblings Alisha, Steven, and Jacob were always entertaining growing up and kept him grounded throughout his training. As for the residents at the University of Iowa, he could not think of a more enjoyable and talented group of individuals to spend five years with in training.
Tameem Yehyawi, MD
Tameem was born and raised in the small town of Keokuk, Iowa. The love and support of his parents served to instill many values in their five children, including a strong work ethic and compassion for others. Growing up, Tameem enjoyed rough housing with his two older brothers who would occasionally beat up on him. They shared everything, including a love for sports and they remain his closest friends today. Having excelled in both wrestling and football throughout high school, Tameem earned a scholarship to play football at Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri where he majored in biology. College football taught him many lessons about discipline and teamwork, but most importantly, it exposed him to the field of Orthopaedics.
After earning his bachelor's degree, Tameem was accepted to the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine. It was during medical school that he became active in Orthopaedic research and confirmed his desire to become an Orthopaedic surgeon. A few years later, he was honored to match at the University of Iowa's Orthopaedic Residency program. As fate would have it, he developed a close friendship with another resident that became even more. Shannon has been the greatest blessing of his life and the couple is engaged to be married next May.
In August, Tameem will be entering the Sports Medicine Fellowship Program at Kaiser Permanente in San Diego, California. He is looking forward to advancing his surgical training, but will remain eager to return to the Midwest to start his practice and be reunited with Shannon and his family.
Tameem would like to thank the Iowa Orthopaedic faculty who have provided him tremendous mentorship and guidance throughout his residency. As for his fellow residents, they will be greatly missed and he is extremely grateful to have been surrounded by such intelligent, skilled, and compassionate individuals. Lastly, and most of all, Tameem would like to thank his brothers, Eyad and Nabeel, his sisters, Jackie and Gloria, his wonderful fiance, Shannon, and his parents, Tahseen and Nancy, for their patience, unwavering support, and belief in him over the course of the past five years.