Alaska Family Medicine Residency
Alaska Family Medicine Residency

Faculty Members


Tonya Caylor
Barb Doty
Jill Gaskill
Ron Healy
Jennet Hermiston
Harold Johnston
Janel Kam-Magruder
Leslie Linden
Anne Musser
Ray Pastorino
John Schwartz
Kirk Scofield
Julie Sicilia
Dwight Smith
Shannon Wiegand
Julie Wilson
Tonya Caylor, MD
Family Medicine

Dr. Caylor graduated from the University of South Alabama College of Medicine in 1996; and, completed her residency at the University of South Alabama , Department of Family Practice and Community Medicine three years later. Dr. Caylor worked in Pensacola, FL in private practice for a few years. She also helped develop a faith-based indigent healthcare clinic and served as the medical director there for 4 years. She has an interest in cross-cultural and international medicine. She has worked in Southeast Asia doing short-term medical relief. Dr. Caylor joined AKFMR in January of 2008 and is in charge of Didactics and Orthopedics curriculum. Dr. Caylor moved to Alaska from Florida with her husband, who is also a physician, and her two daughters.
Paul Davis, MD
Family Medicine

Paul Davis came to the Residency Program from the Alaska Native Medical Center (ANMC) where he was president of medical staffing years past. He therefore brings a unique understanding of Native and rural health care delivery to the program. Before coming north to Alaska, he worked in rural North Dakota as one of 2 doctors in a small rural town. When asked about this time there, he felt that Q2 call for approximately 3 years was a loss of half the good cases. Paul has advanced training in surgery, colonoscopy, and esophagogastroduodenoscopy. Along with Dwight Smith, he leads the wilderness medicine training. He will do anything outdoors but especially enjoys kayaking in Prince William Sound and hunting in Western Alaska.
Barb Doty, MD
Family Medicine

Pilot and rural practice enthusiast, Barb Doty has practiced as a Family Physician in the Matanuska Valley for over 16 years. She trained at the University of Colorado where she was chief resident. She also co-founded the Alaska Family Medicine Residency and is the Associate Director of Rural Education. Barb has gained regional, national, and international recognition through her involvement with AAFP and WONCA, World Organization for Family Doctors. She also lives on an airplane runway that her husband and she use extensively.
Daron Dykema, MD
4th Year Chief Resident

Born and raised in western Montana, Daron took a four-year break from the mountains to attend Trinity Christian College in the Chicago area. He then took a four-year break from winter by attending Loma Linda University medical school in Southern California. He welcomed the opportunity to return to both mountains and winter while pursuing his residency training here in the amazing setting of Alaska. Daron graduated from the Alaska Family Medicine Residency program in June 2007 and is now our 4th Year Chief Resident. Outside of education (or when he can make it part of his education), he enjoys traveling the globe and finding his next adventure anywhere he’s never been. He has especially enjoyed his travels throughout Latin America, and practices his Spanish whenever he has the chance.
Jill Gaskill, MD
Family Medicine

Dr. Jill Gaskill is a 2008 graduate of AKFMR and is spending the 2008-2009 academic year with the program as the Fourth Year Chief Resident. Dr. Gaskill went to medical school at the University of Washington School of Medicine where she graduated in 2005. She enjoys cross-country skiing, hiking, mountain biking, and playing with her kids.
Ron Healy, MD
Family Medicine

Ron Healy is a Canadian by birth and has since become a U.S. citizen. He completed his undergraduate degree in science at Trinity Western University, British Columbia, Canada, his MD degree at the University of British Columbia, and then did a 1st year rotating internship at Memorial University Hospital, Newfoundland. Doctor Healy has worked as an emergency room physician, a flight surgeon for an F-18 squadron with the Canadian Armed Forces, and as a small town practitioner in both British Columbia and the state of Montana. After thirteen years of small town clinical experience, Dr. Healy completed a residency in Family Practice in Cheyenne, Wyoming, where he was subsequently hired as a faculty member. His decision to join the residency program in Anchorage was motivated by his love for living and working in northern, multicultural settings. He and his wife Mary have one teenage daughter and together they enjoy fishing, hunting, skiing, bicycling, wooden boats, and church activities.
Jennet Hermiston, MD
Family Medicine

Jennet is originally from Australia, growing up on a sheep property in rural Victoria. After completing undergraduate studies at the Australian National University she came to the United States as a Rotary Foundation Ambassadorial Scholar in 1991. It was at that time she met her future husband while visiting Alaska. Jennet completed Medical School at Saba University School of Medicine followed by residency at the Alaska Family Medicine Residency. Jennet graduated from residency as chief resident in 2002. After graduation she worked for four years in Seward, a small rural Alaskan fishing community. During this time she provided comprehensive health care and was the medical director for Providence Seward Medical Center. Recently Jennet returned to Anchorage to join the faculty to pursue a passion to teach and prepare residents for rural practice. Jennet enjoys exploring Alaska and spending time with her family.
Harold Johnston, MD
Program Director
Family Medicine

Harold Johnston, MD, is a lifelong Alaska. He received his medical training through the Alaska WWAMI Program and Swedish Hospital Family Practice Residency in Seattle. Dr. Johnston worked as a staff physician and Medical Director at the Anchorage Neighborhood Health Center, while participating in the development of the Alaska Family Medicine Residency. He was the founding director of the only residency program in Alaska, which accepted its first class of residents in July 1997. The Parker J Palmer "Courage to Teach Award" from the National Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education was presented to Dr. Johnston in 2003. He is active in statewide physician training and recruitment.
Janel Kam-Magruder, MD
Family Medicine
Clinical Faculty

Never without a smile, Janel Kam-Magruder helps the residents and faculty maintain the spirit of aloha. Before medicine she planned on becoming a wildlife ecologist in Puerto Rico but through a public health trip to the Philippines she found her calling. Janel can usually be found picking berries on her summer days off and skate skiing during the winter. Her husband (and fellow graduate of the residency program) dragged her here initially. However, her skiing addiction and desire to raise her children amidst such beauty keeps her in Alaska. She regularly returns to her home state of Hawaii for rest with her family.
Leslie Linden, MD
Family Medicine

Dr. Linden graduated from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and completed her residency at West Penn Hospital Family Practice Residency Program. Her interests include women’s health, Tae Kwon Do, gardening, quilting and watercolor. She recently took over the procedures curriculum for AKFMR.
Anne Musser, DO
Family Medicine

Anne Musser was drawn to Alaska by the spectacular country and many opportunities for outdoor activities, as well as the challenge to obtain dual accreditation (MD/DO) for the Alaska Family Medicine Residency Program. She grew up in Solana Beach, California, attended medical school in Kansas City, Missouri, and did her osteopathic internship and family medicine residency in Phoenix, Arizona. Her practice experiences include solo private practice and academic medicine. She is an osteopathic family physician and incorporates the use of osteopathic manipulation in her clinical practice. She has a special interest in caring for adults with disabilities. In addition to clinical care, Dr. Musser’s main professional interests include medical education, grant writing, and curriculum development. She enjoys hiking, biking, backpacking, and spending time with her dogs.
Ray Pastorino, JD, PhD
Behavioral Science

Ray Pastorino, clinical psychologist, oversees the behavioral science curriculum. He spent 12 years in Juneau, Alaska, working with the University of Alaska and the State as an attorney, administrative hearing officer and professor. He returns to Alaska from Pocatello, Idaho, where he was faculty and vice chair with the Idaho State University’s Family Practice Residency. Ray’s background in law and behavioral psychology and his strong rural Alaskan ties make him an invaluable asset to our staff. His passions include conflict resolution, cultural competency, integrated medicine, traditional healing, and patient-centered care.
John Schwartz, MD
Family Medicine/Internal Medicine

John Schwartz graduated from the University of Kansas Medical School and completed training in Panama and the University of New Mexico. He has broad experience in Emergency Medicine, International Medicine and Poverty Medicine. He worked with the Anchorage Neighborhood Health Center for 14 years, and was its Medical Director for 5 years. Dr. Schwartz was named 2003 Family Physician of the year by the Alaska Academy of Family Physicians. He is boarded in Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, and Geriatrics. He oversees our Geriatrics curriculum and reads our echocardiograms. He is fluent in Spanish and speaks French and Tagalog.
Kirk Scofield, MD
Family Medicine/Internal Medicine

Dr. Kirk Scofield joined the Alaska Family Medicine Residency in December 2007 after spending several years in Nome, Alaska working at the Norton Sound Regional Hospital. His professional interests include diabetes, nutrition, prevention medicine, as well as healthcare policy and financing. He is in charge of the ICU and Evidence Based Medicine curriculum. Dr. Scofield is married and has two children.
Julie Sicilia, MD
Family Medicine

Julie Sicilia came to us from New York where she attended SUNY-Buffalo School of Medicine. She continued her medical education at Guthrie Family Medicine Residency. After residency, her clinical experience was further enhanced by her diverse practice locations – including urban New York, rural New York, rural Minnesota, and Military Locum Tenens. Julie is thriving in Alaska. She moved to Anchorage with her husband (Jeff May) and her dogs. What Julie loves about this residency program is that it “houses a great group of people who are dedicated to training rural MDs to serve underserved populations”. Julie’s professional interests include public health systems, community education, adolescent medicine, pediatrics, and OB/women’s health.
Dwight Smith, MD
Family Medicine

Dwight Smith graduated from Loma Linda University and completed his residency at Riverside General Hospital in California. He practiced for 10 years in various rural sites, including Alaska as a locum tenens. He served on the faculty at Tacoma, Washington and then was the Associate Director for the San Joaquin General Hospital program in California, before joining the Alaska Family Medicine Residency program in 1996. When not teaching or advocating legislatively he enjoys sea kayaking, backpacking, outdoor photography and rock hounding. He particularly enjoys teaching principles of survival and wilderness medicine during our annual Winter Survival and Wilderness Medicine course, using skills learned during many of his crazy adventures.
Shannon Wiegand, MD
Family Medicine

Although originally from Montana, Shannon considers Alaska to be her home state. Her parents moved north when she was about 2 years old. They were teachers and taught in several small rural Alaskan villages until finally moving to Fairbanks when Shannon was in third grade. After completing her undergraduate work at Washington State University, Shannon attended the University of Washington School of Medicine. She stayed in Seattle to complete her residency at the Seattle Indian Health Board / Providence Hospital Residency Program before returning to Alaska to work at the Alaska Native Medical Center in Anchorage. She moved back to Seattle for about five years where she worked as the Site Director for the residency program at the Seattle Indian Health Board. During that time she completed the University of Washington Faculty Development Fellowship. In 2003 she made the move back to her favorite state. Shannon has been with the residency program since that time. Shannon is very interested in cross cultural medicine and Native American/Alaska Native health care. She really enjoys the time during the Transcultural Medicine month to talk to residents about these issues. She has been a member of the Association of Indian Physicians since 1997 and is very committed to increasing diversity in the health care system.
Julie Wilson, MD
Family Medicine

Julie Wilson is originally from Indiana where she attended Indiana University School of Medicine. A love of the mountains and outdoors drew her to Alaska to do her residency at Alaska Family Medicine Residency. After graduation in 2001, she and her husband traveled to Nepal where she volunteered to work at a high altitude clinic in Pheriche run by the Himalayan Rescue Association. Upon return to Anchorage she worked at the Anchorage Neighborhood Health Center and the Alaska Native Primary Care Center before returning to the residency as a faculty member. She has special interests in wilderness medicine as well as pediatrics. She and her husband love skiing, rafting, kayaking, backpacking, hiking, mountain running, and hope to instill the love of the outdoors in their children, as well.