Chair

Matt Rustici is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Denver Health Medical Center and the Co-Director of the University of Colorado’s TTR course (along with Jason Brainard and Anna Neumeier) which is a skill-focused, 4-week, mandatory course for all students. All topics in the course have been adapted to a specialty-specific context in one of 7 specialties: Anesthesia, EM, FM, IM, OBGYN, Pediatrics, or Surgery.

Co-Chair

Lauren Heidemann is an Associate Professor of Internal Medicine at the University of Michigan Medical School where she directs a 4-week Internal Medicine Residency Preparation Course (IM RPC). Ths course was established in 2016 and is meant for students entering IM categorical residency, Medicine-Pediatrics, or an IM-preliminary year.  She also co-directs 6 specialty-specific RPCs (IM, Fam Med, Peds, EM, Procedures, and OB/GYN) along with director Helen Morgan. Her specific research area of interest is inpatient cross-cover and simulated paging.

Planning Committee

M. Kathryn Mutter is an Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine at the University of Virginia School of Medicine (UVA). She directs the Internship Readiness Course, UVA’s required 2 week TTR course for all graduating medical students. Homan Wai runs the parallel course at UVA’s Inova campus. Both courses are divided into tracks comprised of Acute Care/Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, Obstetrics/Gynecology, Surgery and Pathology, relying primarily on simulation sessions, procedural training and small group active learning sessions.

Planning Committee

Kristen E. Fletcher is an Associate Professor of Internal Medicine and Medical Education at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine where she co-directs a 4-week mandatory Transition to Residency course, that is currently tracked into Adult Medicine, Pediatrics, and Surgery. The course includes clinical skills workshops, high-fidelity simulation, and standardized patient inclusive communication workshops, all of which are delivered across four campuses.

Planning Committee

Homan Wai is an Associate Professor of Medical Education at the University of Virginia School of Medicine Inova regional campus, where he served as the Internal Medicine Clerkship Director for over a decade and more recently as the Internship Readiness Course Director of the mandatory 2-week course at the regional campus. The course parallels the curriculum at the Charlottesville main campus, guided by a common set of learning objectives. The comparable experience across the two campuses leveraged faculty expertise and resources (including simulation) on each site. Homan assumed the position of Assistant Dean for Student Affairs at the regional campus in 2025.

Planning Committee

Heather Davis, EdD, NRP is the Director of Student Assessment at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA where she is responsible for a system of assessment that ensures fair, timely, equitable, accessible, and actionable feedback for and of learning. Heather also teaches and advises educational psychology doctoral students in the Rossier School of Education at the University of Southern California. The TTR Course at UCLA is a one-week required intensive called Assessment for Internship held in March each year. This course involves both core and specialty-specific activities including interprofessional simulations, procedural skills, mock pages, cases and topics addressing diagnostic uncertainty, patient sign-out, and informed consent.

Coordinator

Mary spent multiple years working as the Coordinator for the TTR course at the University of Colorado. She was born and raised in Arvada, CO, and went to Colorado State University for psychology and Spanish. She got married in 2020 to her wonderful husband who also grew up in Arvada. She loves to swim and paddleboard in the summer and snowboard in the winter. She loves to travel anywhere and everywhere and is always on the lookout for adventures.

Planning Committee

Jaini Sutaria is an Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (UTSW). She is a hospitalist by trade but educator by passion. She co-directs the IM Track of the TTR course at UTSW which is a mandatory course and involves approx. 140 MS4's annually. The course involves simulation-based activities, morning report style talks, small group learning sessions and most recently a medical escape room. She also chairs the education committee of her hospital medicine group. She enjoys travelling and Zumba dancing.

Planning Committee

Jacob Mack is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Hospital Medicine at the University of Michigan, where he contributes to the Internal Medicine Residency Preparation Course. He designed "Thank You For This Interesting Consult," a teaching competition in which faculty and residents present common consult topics to graduating students. He leads the course's new advanced communication curriculum, teaches EMR efficiency, and runs mock code and rapid response simulation sessions. He is excited to join the national TTR Symposium Planning Committee, where he supports the coordinator award. Outside of medicine and medical education, he enjoys spending time with his family, cooking, and exercising.