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Faculty

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Welcome to the Family Medicine Residency Program at Saint Mary of Nazareth Hospital – Chicago!

Thank you for your interest in our program. Established in 2008, our residency has strong roots in the community, formed through the merger of two long-standing programs with over 60 years of combined experience in training family physicians. Located in the heart of Chicago’s West Side, we are proud to serve diverse and vibrant neighborhoods including Wicker Park, Ukrainian Village, West Town, and Humboldt Park.

Saint Mary of Nazareth Hospital – Chicago has been a vital part of the community since 1894. Founded to provide care for underserved populations, that mission continues today—and it shapes the core of our training. During their hospital training, our residents are immersed in a wide range of clinical experiences, including inpatient adult medicine, maternal-child health, and subspecialty care through both hospital-based and community rotations. The hospital also hosts a Podiatry Residency, and our residents often collaborate with visiting internal medicine and family medicine residents, encouraging interdisciplinary learning.

Family Medicine

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Dorothy Dschida, MD

Dorothy Dschida, MD

Program Director, Director of GME

One of the most distinctive aspects of our program is our strong partnership with PrimeCare Community Health, a local Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC). Here, residents train in a high-functioning outpatient environment with a focus on continuity of care, population health, and quality improvement. From the beginning of residency, each resident is assigned a personal patient panel, fostering deep patient relationships and a strong sense of ownership. This continuity builds the clinical confidence and competence needed for full-spectrum family medicine practice—whether in urban, rural, or underserved settings.

Our program offers the best of both worlds: a rigorous academic training environment and a tight-knit, supportive community. You’ll be mentored by faculty who are passionate about teaching and dedicated to your personal and professional growth. Residents at Saint Mary of Nazareth – Chicago don’t just train here—they become an integral part of the community we serve.

We’re excited to meet the next generation of family physicians and would be thrilled to share more about what makes our program unique.

Faculty

Dorothy Dschida, MD

Dorothy Dschida, MD

Program Director, Director of GME

Hannah Polus, MD, FAAFP

Hannah Polus, MD, FAAFP

Associate Program Director
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Core Faculty

Juliet Bradley, MD, FAAFP

Juliet Bradley, MD, FAAFP

Kate Gunnell, MD

Kate Gunnell, MD

Danique Lippens, MD

Danique Lippens, MD

Stephanie Place, MD

Stephanie Place, MD

PrimeCare Faculty

Blanca Baldoceda, MD

Blanca Baldoceda, MD

Academic Site Medical Director

Marisa Carter, MD

Marisa Carter, MD

Family Physician

Jim Christoforidis, MD

Jim Christoforidis, MD

Chief Medical Officer, PrimeCare

Dagni Chuki, MD

Dagni Chuki, MD

Family Physician

Christine Knight, MD

Christine Knight, MD

James Lang, MD

James Lang, MD

Christina Marmol, MD

Christina Marmol, MD

Elias Murciano, MD

Elias Murciano, MD

Claudia Sanchez, MD

Claudia Sanchez, MD

Abigail Smith, MD

Abigail Smith, MD

Stephen Stabile, MD

Stephen Stabile, MD

Paula Zafra, MD

Paula Zafra, MD

Clemen Gonzalez, MD

Clemen Gonzalez, MD

To learn more about our program, get in touch with our Residency Coordinator:

Dorothy Dschida, MD
Program Director, Director of GME

Dr. Dorothy Dschida is the program director with the family medicine residency program at Prime Healthcare Saint Mary of Nazareth- Chicago. She earned her medical degree at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine and her master’s in bioethics and health policy at Loyola University Chicago. She completed a family medicine residency at the Northwestern McGaw Family Medicine Residency Program at Humboldt Park. Over the past years as a faculty member, Dr. Dschida has worked on several projects focused on improving inpatient clinical skills for residents through simulation, as well as outpatient quality improvement training. Her clinical work encompasses full-spectrum outpatient medicine in our partner Federally Qualified Health Center, PrimeCare Health. She also works with the residents on the inpatient adult medicine resident service.

During her free time, she enjoys spending time with her two young children and gardening.

Hannah Polus, MD, FAAFP
Associate Program Director

Dr. Hannah Polus joined the residency faculty in 2021. She received her medical degree from Saint Louis University and completed her residency training at the West Suburban Family Medicine Residency in Chicago. She has trained and worked primarily in urban Federally Qualified Health Centers, and her passion lies in caring for underserved patient populations. She is honored to work alongside the incredible faculty and leadership at this program. She is passionate about resident education and supervises residents on the maternal child health and inpatient medicine services. A Chicago native, she enjoys exploring the many restaurants the city has to offer, traveling, and spending time with friends and family.

Juliet Bradley, MD, FAAFP

Dr. Juliet Bradley is a Chicago native who joined the faculty of the Saint Mary of Nazareth- Chicago Family Medicine Residency Program in July 2019. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Notre Dame and her medical degree from Southern Illinois University. She completed her residency training at Cook County Hospital, where she stayed on as residency faculty until 2018.

She served as the medical director for Cook County’s Dr. Jorge Prieto Family Health Center in Chicago’s Little Village from 2013–2018. She completed a part-time fellowship in Faculty Development at Cook County Hospital in 2001 and completed a Leading Change fellowship through STFM in 2017. She holds a faculty appointment at Loyola University’s Stritch School of Medicine.

Dr. Bradley has received a number of teaching awards, including Teacher of the Year, Outstanding Performance and Exceptional Commitment and Outstanding Teacher. She has presented at STFM and AAFP Assembly. She co-facilitated a support group for survivors of intimate partner violence from 1999–2014. She has performed forensic exams on torture survivors to help them obtain political asylum. She has participated in medical mission trips to Mexico, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic; in 2018, she was the volunteer medical director at the Centro de Salud Santa Clotilde in the Peruvian Amazon.

Dr. Bradley’s interests include underserved medicine, family medicine obstetrics, intimate partner violence, medical humanities, and physician resilience. She has taught the Healer’s Art course and published some personal medical reflections. She lives in Wicker Park with her teenage son; she enjoys vegetarian cooking, travel and a wide variety of music. She is very excited to be part of the faculty group of Saint Mary of Nazareth- Chicago; it feels like home!

Kate Gunnell, MD

Dr. Kathy Gunnell, more commonly known as Kate, was raised on the south side of Chicago, attended Fenger HS, and University of Illinois at Chicago. She attended Rush Medical College, and completed residency at University Hospitals/Case Western Reserve Family Medicine in Cleveland, went to Rhode Island for a Maternal Health Fellowship at Brown University/Pawtucket Memorial Hospital ‘running the board’ in L&D, and completed her educational journey at Harvard School of Public Health, graduating with an MPH in Maternal/Child Health. Returning to Chicago, Dr Gunnell worked at Illinois Masonic Family Medicine Residency as Faculty Physician and later Director of Family Medicine Maternity Care. From there she transitioned to Hinsdale Family Medicine Residency, where she was Assistant Program Director, Director of Education, and had an active practice including hospital and OB care. During her tenure, she established the internal ALSO course for the Adventist Family Medicine Residency programs.

At St Mary Family Medicine Residency, she has found a welcoming and activist home, continuing to educate the next generation of Family Physicians in a manner sensitive to the social determinants of health. She is a member of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) which shapes her practice and teaching. Dr. Gunnell has two daughters, one a landscape architect in Seattle and the other at Oxford University’s Center for African Economics. She lives in Oak Park with her husband, an architect who does not allow journals with surgical photos on the front (but graciously traveled with her to several cities for her training), two silly boxer dogs, several giant goldfish, and chickens. Her garden, though weedy, is her refuge.

Danique Lippens, MD

Dr. Danique Lippens joined the residency faculty in 2022 after completing her residency at Prime Healthcare Saint Mary of Nazareth- Chicago. She received her medical degree from Caribbean Medical University in Willemstad, Curacao, where she is from. Growing up on a small island that is medically underserved, she always knew she wanted to provide care for underserved patient populations. She is so grateful to be working with the incredible faculty and leadership that trained her. Her passions include preventive care, resident education, and women’s health. She works with the residents in the outpatient as well as the inpatient medicine services.

Outside of work, she loves spending time with family and traveling back home to the Caribbean.

Stephanie Place, MD

Dr. Stephanie Place joined the residency program in 2014 as a member of the core faculty. She obtained her medical degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, then completed her residency training and a Faculty Development fellowship at the Northwestern McGaw Family Medicine Residency. Dr. Place grew up in a rural area of Wisconsin, served on month-long medical outreach trips in Guatemala and Zambia during training, and completed her residency at an FQHCbased program in Humboldt Park. These experiences cemented her dedication to providing culturally sensitive healthcare to underserved populations.

Her clinical interests include behavioral health, addiction, and provider wellness. In her free time, Dr. Place enjoys camping, hiking and volunteering with ecological restoration projects.

Blanca Baldoceda, MD
Academic Site Medical Director

Dr. Blanca Baldoceda’s passion for working with the underserved and improving the health of populations developed during her undergraduate years at Vanderbilt University. During a year of service work with AmeriCorps after college, she worked on environmental justice and lead poisoning prevention in Chicago’s Little Village community. Her mentors during that year were family physicians who were caring for their patients and community. Dr. Baldoceda went to medical school at the University of Illinois at Chicago, committed to becoming a primary care physician.

Her family medicine training was done at the Cook County Family Practice Residency & the California Hospital Medical Center/USC Family Medicine Residency. After residency, she returned home to Chicago to work at a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) serving a predominantly Latino population. Three years into her professional career, Dr. Baldoceda decided to pursue a degree in public health at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health with a focus on global health and community health. After getting her MPH, she returned to her FQHC and helped develop a global health program that involved both residents and attending physicians. She also became the director of the community medicine and leadership fellowship.

One of the things Dr. Baldoceda loves the most about family medicine is the opportunity to be able to pursue many different interests. She has had the opportunity to be part of the first freestanding birth center in Illinois, work in a value-based care model at Iora Health and teach residents at the MacNeal Family Practice Residency. Dr. Baldoceda has always enjoyed teaching, and she is excited to merge her passions for underserved care and resident learning at PrimeCare as the academic health center’s medical director. Outside of work, Dr. Baldoceda spends her free time with her daughter and husband. They are big fans of the Brookfield Zoo, local parks and ice cream.

Marisa Carter, MD

Dr. Marisa Carter is a family physician, practicing at PrimeCare Wicker Park. Dr Carter graduated from American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine in Sint Maarten and completed her residency training at Ascension Saint Mary Family Medicine Residency in Chicago. She currently works with residents in the outpatient setting, precepting in clinic. She enjoys all aspects of medicine, but especially Women’s Health. Outside of work, she enjoys reading, traveling, and spending time with her 2 cats!

Jim Christoforidis, MD
Chief Medical Officer, PrimeCare

Raised in the Midwest but with a passion for international travel, Dr. Jim Christoforidis attended medical school at Northeastern Ohio Universities’ College of Medicine before moving to Chicago to continue his training. As a resident at Rush-Presbyterian St. Luke’s Medical Center, he spent a month in Zimbabwe working in a rural hospital. He is board-certified in Family Medicine, speaks Spanish and Greek in addition to English and has a strong interest in cross-cultural medicine. In addition to a busy clinical practice in one of the community health center’s satellite clinics, Dr. Christoforidis supervises residents in both in- and outpatient settings.

Dagni Chuki, MD

Dr. Dagni Chuki is a family physician, practicing at PrimeCare Belmont Cragin. Dr Chuki graduated from Universidad Central de Venezuela, and completed her residency training at Saint Mary Family Medicine Residency in Chicago. She currently works with residents on the obstetrics service, and precepting in clinic. Her clinical area of interest is Women’s Health. Outside of work, she enjoys playing tennis and dancing!

Christine Knight, MD

Dr, Christine Knight is a Chicago native whose work in community-based activism led them on a journey to Havana, Cuba, to study medicine at the Latin American School of Medicine, then back home for residency at the Family Medicine Residency Program at Saint Mary of Nazareth – Chicago. Currently, they are proud to be working with the federally qualified health center PrimeCare Health and serve as affiliated faculty for their program. They are grateful to continue to grow among their former faculty members whose passion for community medicine they find so inspiring. Christine firmly believes that family medicine can add so much positive change to this world, and they love their work in primary care with special interests in gender-affirming care, care for substance use disorders and residency education. They live in Humboldt Park and are so grateful for their family and chosen family. They love to read mystery novels, bake birthday cakes and walk through Humboldt Park with their partner and two pups.

James Lang, MD

Dr. James Lang practices family medicine at the PrimeCare Northwest site. He graduated from medical school at the University of Illinois in Chicago, where he fell in love with the city. He completed his residency at Cook County Hospital. Since completing residency in 1990 he has had the privilege of working with residents at Saints Mary and Elizabeth Medical Center. A longtime Humboldt Park resident, Dr. Lang enjoys biking the 606 to work.

Christina Marmol, MD

Dr. Christina Marmol is a family physician at PrimeCare Fullerton. Prior to settling in the Midwest, she completed her medical school training at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee and her family medicine residency at Boston Medical Center. It was during residency that she curated her passions for caring for and advocating for the urban underserved. In addition to her clinical practice at Fullerton, she works with the residents in inpatient, outpatient and OB settings. Her interests include women’s health, maternal/child medicine, and resident education.

Elias Murciano, MD

Dr. Elias Murciano has a primarily clinical appointment in the program. He attended medical school in Venezuela, did research at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and then completed his residency at the – Saint Elizabeth Chicago program in June of 2002. Board-certified in Family Medicine, Dr. Murciano is the Medical Director of PrimeCare Fullerton and supervises residents at both the West Town site as well as on the inpatient Medicine and Maternal-Child teaching services. He enjoys outdoor activities and lives in the Ravenswood neighborhood with his wife and son.

Claudia Sanchez, MD

Dr. Claudia Sanchez was born in Chicago and raised in Guadalajara, Mexico. Received her undergraduate degree from University of Illinois at Chicago and her medical degree from Universidad Autonomy de Guadalajara. Completed her residency training at Cook County hospital. Dr. Sanchez is Commented Board Certified in Family Medicine. During her training had the honor to care for the underserved community at Cook County hospital and at Jorge Prieto clinic. Currently, she continues to serve the community in Chicago as Medical Director of PrimeCare Belmont Cragin and affiliated faculty. She completed her certification in leadership institute in June 2024. Dr. Sanchez has participated in medical mission trips in Mexico and Peru. Her interests in medicine include prevention, caring for the underserved, teaching and women’s health. Dr. Sanchez lives in Morton Grove and enjoys family time, bike riding and salsa dancing

Abigail Smith, MD

Dr. Abigail Smith completed medical school at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, where her rotations with family physicians in rural small towns introduced her to the beauty of full-spectrum community medicine. Her love of culture and diversity brought her to Chicago where she completed her family medicine residency at Prime Healthcare Saint Mary of Nazareth- Chicago. With an interest in global health and underserved medicine, Dr. Smith completed rotations in Guatemala and Rwanda during her medical training. She now enjoys practicing full-spectrum family medicine at PrimeCare Northwest Health Center while teaching residents in the outpatient and inpatient setting.

Stephen Stabile, MD

Dr. Stephen Stabile is a family physician, practicing at PrimeCare Wicker Park. Dr. Stabile graduated from Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas and completed his family medicine residency at Cook County Hospital. His clinical interests include caring for underserved/immigrant patients, patients with behavioral health problems and global health.

Paula Zafra, MD

Dr. Paula Zafra is a family physician, practicing at PrimeCare Northwest. Dr Zafra graduated from Universidad Central de Venezuela and completed her residency training at Ascension St Mary Family Medicine Residency in Chicago. She currently works with residents on the obstetrics service, and precepting in clinic. Her clinical interests include Obesity Medicine and Women’s Health. Outside of work, she enjoys bouldering, photography, and music!

Clemen Gonzalez, MD

Dr. Clemen Gonzalez is a family physician, practicing at PrimeCare Northwest. Dr Gonzalez graduated from Universidad Dr Jose Matias Delgado Escuela de Medicina and completed his residency training at Ascension Saint Mary Family Medicine Residency in Chicago. He currently works with residents in the outpatient setting, precepting in clinic. Dr Gonzalez holds an additional leadership role within PrimeCare as the Clinical Quality Lead. Outside of work, he enjoys sports, outdoor activities like kayaking, running, and cycling, and trying new foods from around the world.