Doing something new can be a fun experience; being the first to do that thing can make it even more exhilarating. As the fall 2021 semester begins, PNWU graduate Katheryn Hudon, DO, will return to her alma mater to do both.
Dr. Hudon, a member of PNWU College of Osteopathic Medicine’s Class of 2014, will join the ranks of the faculty that once taught her, becoming the university’s first alumnus with a campus faculty appointment. She will serve as Chief of the Division of Pediatrics: a position that became available following the retirement of one of those professors — long-time PNWU faculty member Melissa Lemp, DO.
“Dr. Lemp said she wouldn’t retire until she found a great replacement, and that’s when she reached out to me,” laughed Dr. Hudon. “It was a huge honor for one of my mentors to reach out and say, ‘I think you’d be good for this.’”
Although new to the role, the opportunity to impact the educations of PNWU students is not a new one for Dr. Hudon, who has served as a clinical faculty member in Spokane for years, teaching medical students from various schools, including PNWU. As a preceptor for the university, she has remained in close contact with her alma mater’s clinical education department.
“Dr. Hudon has been an outstanding clinical faculty member for us for years, to the point she’s been voted Preceptor of the Year three times!” exclaimed Dr. Anita Showalter, PNWU’s Associate Dean for Clinical Education. “We’re so excited to welcome her back to campus.”
In addition to serving as pediatrics chief, Dr. Hudon will also serve as an assistant professor at PNWU. Having delivered specialized lectures to second-year students for a few years, she is eager to play a larger role in the educations of a group of medical students striving to revolutionize community health. “I will be doing all of the pediatrics lectures within each of the systems for the first and second years, as well as some of our clinical skills training,” explained Dr. Hudon.
Dr. Hudon will continue to work at Providence Grand Pediatrics Clinic on the south side of Spokane, Washington, where she has been for four years. “I’ve drawn a lot of my clinical students over to the dark side of pediatrics and away from those silly things like surgery or internal medicine,” Hudon said before breaking into laughter. “I’ve converted — I’m an evangelical pediatrician for sure!”
During her time as a member of the clinical faculty in Spokane, Dr. Hudon discovered how much she enjoys teaching. “I love having students in my clinic because they think of things in such interesting new ways that I haven’t thought of before,” she explained. “They help me become a better person, and I learn something new from them every single day.”
Similarly, her mentor Dr. Lemp is excited to return to her pediatrics practice and teach students on rotations. She plans to work as a mentor for students seeking pediatric residency programs. Dr. Lemp was pivotal in the development of PNWU’s pediatric curriculum and has been a staunch supporter of PNWU since its inception, and Dr. Hudon is enthusiastic about building on her trailblazing legacy.
“I have such a joy for teaching and for medicine that I hope it is palpable and embraceable by the students,” said Dr. Hudon. Born and raised minutes from campus, in Selah, Washington, Dr. Hudon is proud to see how her medical school has grown and developed in a short time. Today, she is grateful to have developed meaningful relationships with faculty members who are now her colleagues.
“When I was a student, I rotated in Dr. (Albert) Brady’s clinic,” explained Dr. Hudon. “When I was in residency, and he was thinking about applying to become a PNWU faculty member, he asked me if I would write him a letter of recommendation, which I thought was really cool.”
When Dr. Hudon heard about the pediatrics department opening, she called Dr. Brady. “I said, ‘Hey, I think you owe me a favor. Do you want to write me a letter of recommendation?’
“I’m involved in teaching because it’s something that I really love and I’ve had such great examples in that,” she continued. “Dr. Brady has been such a valuable mentor to me.”
In just over seven years since graduation, Dr. Hudon has established a solid practice, fine-tuned her skills as a preceptor, and now becomes the first of more than 1,000 PNWU alumni to return to campus for a faculty appointment in Yakima. But, this is not unusual for Dr. Hudon. In fact, she has been a part of several “firsts” at PNWU.
She and her husband, Travis Hudon, DO, were married before applying to PNWU. They were both accepted and became members of the class of 2014 together as the first married couple to matriculate at the school. They also went through what Katheryn called “the agonizing torment of the couples match together, and went to residency in the same city.” They now both work for the same employer in Spokane. As a bonus first, she also believes the twins in her and Travis’ class are the first twins to attend PNWU in the same class.
Besides being “nauseatingly infatuated” with her husband and two children, Dr. Hudon has stayed connected, or reconnected with some of her PNWU classmates, vacationing with some and experiencing the joy of watching her own kids become bosom buds with classmates’ children. “They’re my lifeline in good times and bad,” she explained of her classmates.
“This is a big honor, and I really appreciate seeing things come full circle,” said Dr. Hudon.“I’m so grateful to my mentors who continue to guide me, counsel me, and challenge me to be better; to be more. I’m humbled to now be in the position at PNWU to coach and support our future doctors through their own paths of medical education.”
Dr. Hudon’s appointment as a faculty member has already started, and you can look for her to be on campus in the coming days and weeks. You may need to offer her directions when you see her, as campus was only one building when she graduated and left town in 2014.