Residents

Chief Residents

William Choi

William Choi, MD

Hometown: Cohasset, MA
Undergraduate School: Rice University
Medical School: Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine
Career Interests: MIS, colorectal, plastic surgery
Hobbies: Tennis, exercising, sleeping
Fun Fact: I was born in Jakarta, Indonesia
Why Ascension Saint Joseph - Chicago? I was looking for a hands-on program with a collegial atmosphere located in a major city.
Diana Tang

Diana Tang, MD

Hometown: Streamwood, IL
Undergraduate School: Capital University
Medical School: University of Illinois College of Medicine - Rockford
Career Interests: Minimally Invasive and Bariatric Surgery (University of Iowa)
Hobbies: Orangetheory Fitness, baking, trying new foods
Fun Fact: I'm a huge fan of the professional tennis tour
Why Ascension Saint Joseph - Chicago? Our intern year is housed solely at Ascension Saint Joseph - Chicago, allowing us to truly acclimate to being surgical residents while subsequent years facilitate great growth as we train in a variety of practice settings across the Chicago area. Plus, interns never work 24-hour shifts!

PGY-4

Johnathan Beldin

Johnathan Beldin, MD

Hometown: Marengo, IL
Undergraduate School: University of Notre Dame
Medical School: University of Illinois College of Medicine - Rockford
Career Interests: Trauma critical care, surgical oncology, general surgery
Hobbies: Alpine skiing and coaching
Fun Fact: I’m on the board of directors for a community radio station
Why Ascension Saint Joseph - Chicago? Ascension Saint Joseph - Chicago provides us the best that Chicago has to offer — a community program in a great part of the city and great exposure to academic and trauma rotations at outside institutions.
Maxwell Cocco, MD

Maxwell Cocco, MD

Hometown: Ann Arbor, MI
Undergraduate School: University of Michigan
Medical School: Central Michigan University
Career Interests: General surgery, HPB, trauma critical care
Hobbies: Exercise and fitness
Fun Fact: I rode a small motorcycle over 1,000 miles across Vietnam during medical school
Why Ascension Saint Joseph - Chicago? We are able to train in a good community hospital with robust outside academic rotations, all in a great location.

PGY-3

Jordyn Grewal, MD 

Hometown: Berthoud, CO
Undergraduate School: University of Colorado Boulder
Medical School: Creighton University
Career Interests: Trauma/Critical Care, Global Surgery 
Hobbies: Long distance running, baking, accumulating an unnecessarily large number of house plants, hanging out with my very large dog, and paddling the lake! 
Fun Fact: I have cacti that I have been growing from seeds for over a year. The tallest one is an inch and a half tall!
Why Ascension Saint Joseph - Chicago? I was drawn to the SJH program because of the faculty’s commitment to early operative experience and high levels of autonomy in the senior years. Additionally, I was seeking a program that would afford robust experiences operating in both community and academic settings. St. Joes was particularly interesting to me because of the opportunity to learn in a high-volume, high-acuity, yet lower-resource trauma center at Sinai, which will provide invaluable experiences that will translate well to my interest in practicing global surgery in low-resource regions

Akshita Patel, DO 

Hometown: Nashville, TN
Undergraduate School: University of Tennessee-Knoxville
Medical School: Lincoln Memorial University-DeBusk College of Osteopathic Medicine
Career Interests: Plastic/Cosmetic surgery, MIS
Hobbies: traveling, dancing, painting, exercising, fashion
Fun Fact: I’ve solo travelled to Australia and New Zealand. My name means ambition
Why Ascension Saint Joseph - Chicago? I am able to pursue surgical training in my favorite city and in close proximity to home. I wanted a program with early operative experience and a collegial environment amongst residents and attendings

PGY-2

Daniel Henley, MD

Daniel Henley, MD

Hometown: Winfield, IL/Cleveland, TN/Arlington, MA
Undergraduate School: Grove City College, Grove City, PA
Medical School: University of Illinois College of Medicine - Peoria
Career Interests: Rural General Surgery, Surgical Critical Care, HPB, Surgical Oncology
Hobbies: Movies, board games, sports
Fun Fact: I was born in Berlin, Germany
Why Ascension Saint Joseph - Chicago?  1. A strong resident run community surgery program with lots of early hands-on opportunities to develop surgical skills 2. Being in a great part of Chicago getting to experience everything the Second City has to offer. 3. Tight-knit group of residents who enjoy getting to work and hang out
Erikl Knecht, MD

Erik Knecht, MD

Hometown: Hinsdale, IL
Undergraduate School: Auburn University
Medical School: Chicago Medical School at RFU
Career Interests: Undecided
Hobbies: Snowboarding, cooking
Fun Fact: I have two beagles, Steve and Katherine
Why Ascension Saint Joseph - Chicago?  Great experience, great people, and great city

PGY-1

Head shot of Isabella Cano

Isabella Cano, MD (Categorical)

Hometown: Dallas, TX
Undergraduate School: University of Texas at Austin
Medical School: University of Illinois College of Medicine - Chicago
Career Interests: Minimally invasive surgery, general surgery
Hobbies: Crocheting and any arts and crafts
Fun Fact: I have 27 plants in my apartment (and 9 of them traveled with me from Texas to Chicago when I moved in 2022!)
Why Ascension Saint Joseph - Chicago?  I loved the tight knit program and knew that training at SJH meant I would graduate as a skilled and compassionate surgeon. It also doesn’t hurt that St. Joe’s is in a beautiful location in the best city ever.
head shot of Tahirah Nimi

Tahirah Nimi, MD (Categorical)

Hometown: Springfield, Georgia
Undergraduate School: Georgia Southern University
Medical School: Mercer University School of Medicine
Career Interests: Community General Surgery, Cardiothoracic Surgery, or Vascular Surgery
Hobbies: Reading, working out, baking, music
Fun Fact: I had to learn the preamble to the constitution in the 4th grade and I still have it memorized
Why Ascension Saint Joseph - Chicago?   I knew I wanted a community program and loved the city of Chicago, so once I attended SJH’s 2nd look I knew it would be a good fit.
Mohammad Abou El-Ezz

Mohammad Abou El-Ezz, MD (Preliminary)

Hometown: Lexington, KY
Undergraduate School: University of Kentucky
Medical School: University of Louisville
Career Interests: Interventional Radiology (UTSW) - Embolization, Portal Intervention and Oncology
Hobbies: I like to play soccer, travel the world and try all sorts of new foods
Fun Fact: I’ve explored the tunnels inside the Great Pyramids of Egypt
Why Ascension Saint Joseph - Chicago?  SJH offers the perfect balance of individual autonomy and experienced advice. The team here wants to see you develop your skillset and clinical abilities as efficiently as possible, and that’s done by trusting your decision making and offering directed feedback every step of the way. And more importantly, you genuinely feel part of the team from day 1!
Rebecca Furstenau

Rebecca Furstenau, DO (Preliminary)

Hometown: Downers Grove, IL
Undergraduate School: University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana
Medical School: Midwestern University
Career Interests: OBGYN
Hobbies: Sailing, knitting, gardening, backpacking
Fun Fact: I have raced in the longest freshwater sailboat race in the world, Chicago to Mackinac.
Why Ascension Saint Joseph - Chicago?  It's beautiful location on the lake and great people.

Residency Alumni

2026
  • Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Fellowship - University of Texas - Southwestern; Dallas, TX
  • General Surgery; Chicago, IL
2025
  • Trauma/Surgical Critical Care Fellowship - Cook County Health; Chicago, IL
  • Colon and Rectal Surgery Fellowship - Medical College of Wisconsin; Milwaukee, WI
2024
  • Minimally Invasive/Bariatric Surgery Fellowship - Menorah Medical Center; Kansas City, KS
  • Trauma/Surgical Critical Care Fellowship - University of California Riverside; Riverside, CA
2023
  • Global Surgery - World Medical Mission; Papua New Guinea
  • Vascular Surgery Fellowship - Eastern Virginia Medical School; Norfolk, VA
2022
  • Breast Surgery Fellowship - Cleveland Clinic; Cleveland, OH
  • Endocrine Surgery Fellowship - University of Calgary; Alberta, Canada
2021
  • General Surgery; Chicago, IL
  • Minimally Invasive Surgery Fellowship - Saint Luke's Health System; Kansas City, MO
2020
  • Surgical Critical Care Fellowship - Brigham and Women's Hospital; Boston, MA
  • Plastic Surgery Fellowship - University of Pittsburgh Medical Center; Pittsburgh, PA
2019
  • General Surgery; Pasadena, CA
  • General Surgery - US Navy; Great Lakes, IL
2018
  • Minimally Invasive Surgery Fellowship - University of Texas; Austin, TX
  • Houston Vascular Surgery Fellowship - Beaumont Hospital; Royal Oak, MI
2017
  • Breast Surgery Fellowship - University of Pittsburgh Medical Center; Pittsburgh, PA
  • Rural General Surgery; Edenton, NC