Letter from our Chief Residents

Brandon Shun, MD

Welcome to the Rush Copley Family Medicine Residency Program! I am delighted you have decided to learn more about our residency program and want to thank you for your interest.

At Rush Copley, we are a well-rounded, unopposed program comprised of 4 residents per year with a total of 12 residents. In a relatively small program, you become an integral part of our team. You will have the opportunity to make a positive contribution to patient care each day. Our specialists are among our program’s greatest assets as they work with us directly and, since we are the only residents, we often communicate on a first-name basis! 

Accompanying our robust clinical exposure, our residency fosters a friendly, compassionate, and intellectually curious environment composed of residents, faculty, and other learners in which we take pride. Our supervising physicians are a group of diverse, well-rounded clinicians who are deeply invested in our learning and professional development. 
One of the many strengths of our program is the camaraderie and close-knit relationships we develop with the residency and community faculty. We spend time together a baseball games, book club events, and holiday parties including Secret Santa events. Additionally, we strongly promote wellness within our program through the incorporation of mentorship, monthly resident wellness events, annual residency retreats, and the addition of a wellness chief this year. 

Another of our program’s greatest strengths lies in the training site itself. Even though we are a community program, we are strongly affiliated with Rush University, which creates a “best of both worlds” environment. As residents, we have the opportunity to do electives at the university campus and have access to the Rush University Medical Center online library. Rush University System for Health was recently named a Top 15 Health System on the 2022 Fortune/Merative list and Rush Copley Medical Center received the American Heart Association’s Gold Plus Get With The Guidelines-Stroke quality achievement award for the 10th consecutive year in 2022.

Our hospital is located on the east side of Aurora, IL, which is the second most populous city in Illinois, and borders Naperville, commonly ranked as one of the safest cities in the country. We also have easy access to Chicago which is about 40-minute drive (traffic dependent). 

We are extremely passionate about the Department of Family Medicine and cannot wait to meet you to share more about the program. Remember, even though we are a community hospital, we have the resources of a university program. I look forward to answering any additional questions you may have about Rush Copley or our application process. Please feel free to reach out to me at Brandon_Shun@rush.edu.

Warm wishes,
Brandon Shun, MD
Chief Resident, 2022-2023

Alex Wang, MD

Hello! I am delighted to be serving as the Wellness Chief Resident for the academic year 2022-2023. My role is to promote resident wellness activities throughout the year. Whether planning for dinner events, potlucks, laser tags, hiking, exploring Chicago, it is always rewarding to see residents enjoying some well-deserved time off to relax and recharge.

Our residency program is invested in the wellness of the residents and we are grateful to have Dr. Hays, a licensed clinical psychologist, as faculty. She provides mentorship and guidance as we navigate through residency training. Dr. Hays facilitate Balint group, a purposeful regular session to improve physicians’ ability to actively process emotionally challenging encounters to improve the delivery of patient-centered care, and organizes dedicated monthly support groups for each class.

At a hospital system level, residents have access to counseling, coaching and many wellness-oriented services. Our benefits include access to Rush Copley Healthplex Fitness Center, where our residents participate in friendly volleyball matches against our attendings. Rush University System of Health received the 2022 LGBTQ+ Healthcare Leader designation. I strongly believe that acknowledging and addressing the importance of equity, inclusivity and diversity is a crucial component to delivering the optimal care of our patients as well as having a healthy and vibrant residency culture. I look forward to promoting wellness activities for my colleagues and am glad to answer any questions you may have about our program.

Alex Wang, MD
Wellness Chief Resident
alex_wang@rush.edu