View faculty biographies below or read about current resident students by year:
Faculty
David M. West, MD, Director
David West, MD, became the director of our residency program in September 2000. Previously, he was in a very successful private practice in Grand Junction. Dr. West has always supported family physicians as an activist in the CAFP, AAFP, and in several leadership positions. He was active in the AAFP at the national level, including running for the presidency in 1999. He is married with a son at UC Santa Cruz and a daughter at the University of Colorado.
Sherman Straw, MD, Associate Director
Dr. Straw was born in Salt Lake City. After living in Utah, Ohio, Florida and California, he went to Northern Arizona University for his undergraduate education. He attended the University of Arizona for medical school and is a former St. Mary's resident. He worked in rural private practice in a town of 1,200 prior to joining the Residency. His special interests are patient education and organizing the residency curriculum. He is married and has five children (4 XX, 1 XY) and four horses. Dance classes and sports keep his schedule full.
Keith Dickerson, M.D. Faculty
Dr. Dickerson was born and raised in Reading, PA. He received his bachelor's in electrical engineering and master's in biomedical engineering from Drexel University in Philadelphia, PA. He graduated cum laude from medical school at MCP in Philadelphia and completed his residency in Family Medicine in 2000 at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. He then completed a four year Air Force commitment prior to joining St. Mary's. His current areas of professional focus are hospitalist medicine, evidence based medicine and outpatient gynecologic procedures. He, his wife Teresa, and their daughter Sophia, enjoy bicycling, hiking, cross country skiing, peace and justice activism and gardening in their spare time.
John Flanagan, M.D., Faculty
Dr. John Flanagan was born and raised in Connecticut. A graduate of Fairfield University, he conducted research a Yale before attending the University of Connecticut School of Medicine. Dr. Flanagan completed his family medicine residency at St. Joseph Hospital in Denver, and was recruited to join the faculty. He was awarded "Teacher of the Year" in 1998. John moved to private practice in Fort Collins in 1999. He served on the CAFP board and was a member of the AFM executive committee. Dr. Flanagan’s focus of care includes sports medicine, and pediatrics. He speaks fluent Spanish and enjoys reading, traveling, biking, and his twin girls, Emma and Kate.
Wade Laudenschlager, MD, Faculty
Dr. Laudenschlager was locally grown, then completed high school in Annandale, Virginia. He returned to Colorado for Medical School finishing with graduate training in Internal Medicine at George Washington University in Washington, DC. He, his internist wife, and young daughter enjoy hiking, biking, jogging, and swimming.
Betsy Longenecker, MD, Faculty
Dr. Longenecker was born, raised, and attended undergraduate at KU in Lawrence and medical school at Kansas City. She completed a residency in family practice at the Good Samaritan Center in Phoenix, AZ. She has worked with the Residency for the past 10 years and previously worked in Frankfurt, Kentucky and at the University of Kentucky Family Practice Center. Her special interests include preventive medicine, gynecology, and adolescent medicine. She is married and has two boys. She enjoys skiing, hiking, mountain biking, and rafting with her family. Dr. Longenecker also serves as a part-time preceptor in the Family Medicine Center.
Caroline Reilly, MD, Faculty
Dr. Reilly comes to the faculty after practicing nine years in Craig, Colorado. She will bring a rural perspective to the care of patients. She has extensive experience in emergency care and obstetrics, covering this small rural hospital for nine years. Dr. Reilly grew up in Oregon and attended medical school at the University of Oregan and graduated from our residency program in 1999. She is married and has three children. Dr. Reilly has been an activist in our state serving on the Copic Board and as the legislative chair of the Colorado AFP.
Randall Reitz, PhD, Faculty
Dr. Reitz joins the residency program this fall as the new Behavioral Science Faculty replacing a 20 year retired employee. Dr. Reitz received a PhD in Marriage and Family Therapy from Brigham Young University in 2001. His doctoral emphasis was on Integrated Healthcare Systems. Dr. Reitz speaks four languages (Spanish, French, Portuguese and English). He is married and has three children. He assists in our Collaborative Care Clinic. He is excited to be joining the faculty and returning to Grand Junction.
Lance Reynoso, MD, Faculty FAAFP
Dr. Reynoso was born and raised in Tecumseh, KS, attended Kansas State for undergrad and the University of Kansas for medical school. He completed his residency at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Before joining the Residency, he worked for eight years in rural Kansas where he performed the full spectrum of family practice. His special interests are to share his procedural skills and teaching residents the art of medicine. He is married and has four children. In his free time, he enjoys cycling, hiking, fishing, golfing, music, and other diverse activities.
Jennifer Roller, MD, Faculty
Dr. Roller is a Denver native. After graduating from Claremont Colleges in California, she completed her medical degree at the University of Colorado and her residency at St. Joseph Hospital in Denver. She joined a private practice in Fort Collins in 1999. She has been actively involved in quality improvement and malpractice issues through her work as a board member for COPIC. Dr. Roller has a particular interest in obstetrics, women's care, and pediatrics. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, hiking, skiing, snowshoeing, travel and her twin girls, Emma and Kate.
Dean Thomas Scow, MD, Faculty
Dr. Scow is from Libby, Montana. He went to Carroll College in Helena, Montana and then the University of Chicago Pritzker. Family Medicine training was with the Navel Hospital in Bremerton, Washington. He has been stationed in Rhode Island, Florida, Japan and Cuba. He was with a Marine Infantry division during Operation Desert Storm. He was a faculty member in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He has two children. His hobbies include fishing, running, history and reading.
Elvera Whiteford, MD, Faculty 
Dr. Elvi Whiteford is a “local” who graduated from Montrose High School and Fort Lewis College. She pursued her medical degree in California at Loma Linda University and stayed to finish her training in the Kaiser system. She completed an Obstetrical Fellowship at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center (the largest county program in California) and is proud to say she was primary in over 200 c-sections during her intense training. She then joined the Faculty in Fontana until June 2006. She has eagerly made the return journey home to further pursue academic medicine and her special interest in obstetric and women’s health. Her newest and greatest “hobby” has been chasing her two year old son, Jamison. She also enjoys crazy adventures with her high school sweetheart and husband of twelve years, Justin. In between, she manages to squeeze in scrapbooking, cooking and gardening.
Annette Johnson, CNP
Mrs. Johnson was born and raised in California. After getting her RN, she worked in the medical-surgical unit of a large trauma/teaching hospital in southern California for five years. She attended UCLA for her masters in nursing with a specialty in family nurse practitioner. She did an internship with Kaiser outpatient clinics. Prior to joining the Residency program, she worked for six years in a pediatric clinic in Glenwood Springs. She is married and has two young sons. Her husband is an executive chef and homemaker. They enjoy water and snow skiing as well as riding bikes.
Edward E. Kollasch, MS, PA-C
Mr. Kollasch is a native of Colorado, born and raised in the San Luis Valley. He received his undergraduate degree from Fort Lewis College, Durango, and his physician assistant license from the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver. He has extensive experience in asthma, allergy, immunology, pulmonology, and head and neck diseases. He has lived in Palisade for the past 14 years. His personal interests include family time and fly-fishing.