Christopher N. Carender, MD
Chris was born in Pittsburgh, PA to Neil and Wendy Carender. He grew up in the small town of Dexter, MI, on the outskirts of Ann Arbor. Along with his older brother, Jonathan, Chris was an avid ice hockey player.
Chris graduated from Dexter High School in 2009, where he played ice hockey and lacrosse, serving as team captain of the ice hockey team in his senior year. From there, he attended the University of Michigan, majoring in Microbiology. Chris’ interests in microbiology and immunology pushed him to consider medicine as a career choice. After graduation, Chris moved to Cleveland, OH, to attend medical school at Case Western Reserve University.
During his time at Case Western, Chris discovered his interest in orthopedic surgery as well as clinical research while working as a research assistant under Dr. Raymond Liu. In his fourth year of medical school, Chris performed a Sub-Internship at Washington University in St. Louis, where Dr. Joseph Buckwalter V was performing fellowship training. Over a few margaritas, Dr. Buckwalter told Chris that he should consider the University of Iowa for his residency training in orthopedic surgery. A few months later, Chris was fortunate to match at the University of Iowa. He graduated with Honors for Distinction in Research from Case Western in 2017. During his time at Case Western, Chris met his wife, Kayla, who was pursuing her Master’s degree in Social Work. Chris convinced Kayla to leave her hometown of Cleveland, OH and move with him to Iowa. Chris and Kayla were married in a small ceremony (thanks, COVID) in October 2020. Together, they have a rescue dog, Indy, a four-year-old great pyrenes-pointer mix.
While at Iowa, Chris’ passion for clinical research grew, pursuing projects aimed at evaluating clinical outcomes following total hip and total knee arthroplasty, the influence of antibiotics on periprosthetic joint infection following primary and revision hip and knee arthroplasty, and how opioid pain medications are prescribed to and consumed by patients. After graduation, Chris plans to continue performing clinical research while attending fellowship in Adult Reconstructive Surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN.
Chris would like to thank his wife, Kayla, for her unwavering support, love, and endless patience throughout medical school and residency. He would also like to thank his parents, Neil and Wendy, and his brother and sister-in-law, Jon and Laura, for serving as role models of dedication and work ethic and providing much-needed advice and encouragement from the very beginning. Chris would also like to thank his co-residents, and all the faculty and staff at the University for the countless hours of teaching and mentorship they have generously provided over the past four years.
Christopher Cychosz, MD
Chris was born in Iowa and has lived in Iowa for his entire life, so far. He grew up on a farm outside of Ames, Iowa and lived there until high school when his father accepted a job as the Ames Police Chief and they had to move to the city. Growing up, his mother worked as a nurse for an orthopaedic surgery practice which helped him to gain early exposure to the field of orthopaedics. He attended Iowa State University where he graduated at the top of his class in Biochemistry while also working for ISU recreation services as a lifeguard and diving instructor. During his free time he enjoys scuba diving and exploring shipwrecks in the Great Lakes as well as the caves of Missouri and Mexico.
After college he was fortunate to be accepted to Carver College of Medicine for medical school where he immediately became involved in foot and ankle research and was inspired by his mentors to ultimately pursue this as a subspecialty. Following medical school he was honored to match at University of Iowa for Orthopaedic Surgery residency. During residency he has been thankful for the guidance of his research mentors Dr. Femino, Dr. Buckwalter V, Dr. Cesar de Netto and Dr. Phisitkul who have been instrumental in completing his various research projects on topics ranging from foot and ankle surgery to virtual reality simulation and even basic science research identifying novel roles of cilia genes in hippocampal neurogenesis and long-term context fear condition in mice.
Following graduation, Chris will be moving to New York City to complete a Foot and Ankle Fellowship at the Hospital for Special Surgery.
Chris would like to thank his parents, Jean and Charles Cychosz, as well as his brother Dan, for their unconditional support over the years. He would also like to thank his co-residents and all the staff in the Department for all of the time and resources that they have invested in his training.
David E. DeMik, MD, PharmD
Dave was born and raised in Tinley Park, Illinois, a suburb southwest of Chicago. He attended Victor J. Andrew High School, where he played varsity football, and had a job installing car stereos. Early experiences in the workforce and encouragement from his parents helped to shape his humility, work ethic, and desire to pursue higher education.
Dave attended college at the University of Iowa, where he completed a Doctor of Pharmacy degree in 2012 and was recognized with the Distinguished Student Award. He elected to forgo an opportunity to complete a research fellowship, instead deciding to pursue a newfound passion to attend medical school. Dave spent a year working two pharmacist jobs before enrolling at University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine in 2013. While in medical school, Dave co-founded the Healthcare Delivery Science and Management Distinction Tract, was inducted into Alpha Omega Alpha during his junior year and participated in many intramural sports with his “School of Doc” classmates. Dave was sold on a career in orthopedic surgery after a sub-internship with the trauma team and experiencing the gratification that comes with restoring function and quality of life. Most importantly, he met his future wife, Colette, during the first year of medical school. Dave and Colette were very fortunate to match at the University of Iowa for residency. They were married in the Fall of 2018 and Colette has since become the unofficial resident obstetrician of the orthopedic department.
Under the guidance of Drs. Callaghan and Bedard, Dave developed a strong interest in large database research and competed many projects related to postoperative outcomes, obesity, opioid usage, quality of care, and epidemiology. He also worked closely with Dr. Elkins in exploring novel methods of preoperative risk stratification through assessment of body composition. In addition to his research pursuits, Dave served as co-editor of Iowa Orthopaedic Journal and on the editorial board for Journal of Arthroplasty.
Dave will be completing a fellowship in Adult Reconstruction at the Rothman Orthopaedic Institute in Philadelphia, while Colette completes her fellowship in Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery at Indiana University. He credits experiences with all the arthroplasty division faculty for inspiring his career choice. Dave and Colette are actively exploring options for their future practices.
Dave has several people to thank, as his achievements would not have been possible without the support of his family and friends. In particular, he would like to thank his parents Dave and Debby, sister Jillian, brother in-law Travis, and in-laws Dave and Julie for their encouragement and understanding of the demands of residency training. He is also thankful for the teaching and mentorship from all the faculty, especially Drs. Callaghan, Bedard, Brown, Elkins, Noiseux, and Weinstein. He is also extremely grateful for the friendship of his exceptional group of co-residents – Chris, Chris, Chris, Alan, and Kyle. His wife, Colette, is deserving of the most thanks for her unconditional love, sacrifice, and support.
Kyle Kesler, MD
Kyle has a reputation for being organized and a perfectionist, but nothing compares to his passion for BLT’s and by logical extension, tomatoes. He has perfected the BLT taste and is currently the president of UIHC’s “Tomato Time” club. He is proud to report he has expanded the groups’ participation each year of residency.
Kyle is from Utah attending undergrad at Utah State University, and during this time spent two years serving abroad in Korea before ultimately deciding to attend medical school at Vanderbilt University. He is the oldest child of three and has always enjoyed working with his hands with prior jobs and interests including founding a concrete bench company, farm work, building classic cars, and instructing bread making courses. His odd jobs over the years showed him he has always had a gift for connecting and relating to people. Combined with the opportunity to see instant improvement in patient’s quality of life through hands-on surgery made orthopedic surgery a natural choice.
Kyle’s main research interest involves how best to maximize efficiency within the orthopedic surgery specialty. He has served as an Epic Superuser for the past three years during which time he has implemented several efficiency driven initiatives within the UIHC electronic health record. His research has reflected this as he took a deeper dive into where most time is spent by orthopedic providers within the electronic health record during a given day. This data led to the identification of quality improvement areas within a provider’s day that can be individualized to a particular provider.
Kyle is planning to pursue a fellowship in spine surgery after graduation. He recently has matched into Spine Fellowship at the Norton Leatherman Spine Institute in Louisville, KY. He is excited to train with highly respected leaders in the field of spine surgery after graduation. He is most interested novel approaches and techniques for future spine practice. He will plan to practice wherever his tomatoes can grow the best.
Kyle would like to acknowledge the support of his mentors, Dr. Weinstein and Dr. Pugely, his family, and co-residents who collaborated on projects with him throughout residency, and supported his decision to pursue a career in spine surgery. A special mention should be made to Dr. Pugely’s graceful acceptance of the biweekly practical jokes (photoshopped pictures, hidden cameras, concealed chickens, tainted food…etc) provided by yours truly.
Christopher P. Lindsay, MD
Chris Lindsay grew up in Asheville, NC in the shadows of the Appalachian Mountains. He spent his youth hiking, biking, and spending as much times as possible outdoors, earning the rank of Eagle Scout in high school. In college, he became interested in a career in medicine while completing his Health Scholars Diploma in the Honors College at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, VA.
His education continued at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine in Chapel Hill, NC. There, he completed a year of focused research as part of the prestigious Howard Holderness Research Scholars Program, investigating surface modifications in titanium implants and the effects on dermal integration for transcutaneous applications, among other projects. He also gained an appreciation for the impact that orthopedic surgeons can have on their patients and the breadth and diversity of the field of orthopedics itself.
After matching at the University of Iowa for orthopedic residency, his research interests have been varied, and include cadaveric biomechanical work, opioid use and risk factors, spine outcomes research, and patient education, most recently being awarded Third Best Resident/Fellow Paper at the Cervical Spine Research Society Annual Meeting in December for his abstract entitled: “Publicly Available Online Resources for ACDF are not Easily Read or Understood by the Average Patient.” He plans to continue pursuing patient-centered outcomes and education research within spine surgery.
Chris will be completing an Adult Spine Surgery Fellowship at the University of Wisconsin in Madison to train under the supervision of Dr. Thomas Zdeblick. He looks forward his post-residency training and to a rewarding career in spine surgery.
He would like to thank everyone who has supported him along the way; first and foremost, his wife Taylor, and children Boyd (3 ), Nora (2) and Wren (6 mos.). He would also like to thank his mother Paula, in-laws Barbie and Bill, and countless other family and friends. Lastly, he would like to thank his fellow chief residents for their camaraderie and support, as well as all his mentors at Iowa, but especially Dr. Weinstein, Dr. Pugely, Dr. Igram, and Dr. Fowler for their guidance and wisdom along the way.
Alan G. Shamrock, MD
Alan was born and raised in Eustis, Florida, a small town about an hour north of Disney. He attended high school in neighboring Mount Dora and participated in varsity basketball, soccer, cross country and golf, eventually graduating as valedictorian of his class. He credits his parents, Greg and Donna, who are both veterinarians, for instilling a desire for him to help others at an early age (regardless of the number of legs they walked on). Ever since he can remember, he has been on the water. It was the combination of his love of the water and that of science instilled in him by his parents that led him to the University of Miami on academic scholarship to double major in Marine Biology and Chemistry. He obtained dual degrees with a 4.0 GPA, fulfilling a lifelong dream of becoming a marine biologist.
Following his decision to go to medical school, he was accepted by the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine as an undergraduate sophomore into the prestigious Medical Scholars Program, allowing him to obtain both a B.S. and M.D. degree in 7-years’ time. While in medical school, Alan spent time with numerous faculty mentors including Drs. Frank Eismont, Tabs Aiyer, and Seth Dodds, inspiring him to pursue a career in orthopedic surgery.
Alan considers himself unbelievably fortunate to have matched at the University of Iowa, the best orthopedic residency program in the country. Here, he has had the distinct pleasure to learn from some of the most influential thought leaders in the field. He will forever be grateful for the training he has received during his residency, for the guidance and support of his mentors, and for the lifelong friendships that were made in Iowa City. During his time in Iowa, Alan pursued a litany of research interests, including infection prevention following ACL reconstruction, the dangers of postoperative narcotic pain medication, and the role of antioxidants in the reduction of articular cartilage injury during arthroscopy. He has authored 58 peer-reviewed publications, given more than 100 research presentations, and was awarded more than $20,000 in grant funding.
Following completion of his residency, Alan will pursue a Sports Medicine fellowship at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City, with the ultimate goal of an academic Sports Medicine practice focusing on athletic injuries of the knee, shoulder, and ankle.
Alan would like to thank his parents for their love and support during his training (and the many years leading up to residency too), his younger brother, Keith, for always providing an example of excellence, his grandparents, Keith and Pat Shamrock and Ed and Rayma Smith, for teaching him the importance of hard work and instilling a drive for perfection, and his coresidents, Chris, Chris, Chris, Dave, and Kyle, for all the fun that has caused 5 years to go by in a flash. And Molly. The positive impact you have had on my residency experience, career aspirations, and life is not easily put into words. I cannot wait to see what happens next.