MATTER Track Class of 2025
Name: Grace Maley
Hometown: Minerva, Ohio
Undergraduate Institution: West Virginia University
What made you want to apply to WVU EM MATTER?
From growing up around sports medicine to working in an emergency department before medical school, I knew emergency medicine was the specialty for me. My time attending the Wilderness Medicine Conference, shadowing with the EMS physicians, and participating in WVU EM’s summer externship convinced me that there is no better program to complete my residency training than here at WVU. The sense of community I have felt during my time in the department as well as the time I’ve spent with the patient population have shown me what an incredibly desirable learning environment WVU EM provides. I applied to the MATTER program because I knew with absolute certainty that this is where I want to be for residency, so I wanted to take initiative early on to try and make that happen.
Hobbies: Waterskiing, snowboarding, hiking, traveling, playing volleyball, and reading
Biography
I grew up near Canton, Ohio, which is known for being home to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. After high school, I moved to Morgantown to attend college at WVU, where I majored in Biochemistry and minored in Psychology. The love I developed for the school, this beautiful state, and the people here is what drew me back to WVU for medical school. When I’m not studying, most of my time is spent with my three dogs (an 8-year-old chihuahua and two 1-year-old beagles). I also enjoy playing intramural sports with my classmates, finding new music to binge, spending time at Tygart Lake, reading, and hanging out with my family and friends. I am so excited to continue my journey at WVU!
Name: Kaia Richmond
Hometown: Pensacola Beach, Florida
Undergraduate Institution: Florida State University
What made you want to apply to WVU EM MATTER?
During my first semester of MS1 I got to spend some time in the ED and absolutely loved it from the start. Over the summer in my externship, I really got to see how EM encompasses the best of every specialty while also providing a unique perspective on community-based healthcare and patient advocacy. I looked forward to every shift and every opportunity and felt as if I got a genuine insight into WVU’s program and the patient population we get to work with. I couldn’t imagine continuing my education in any other specialty at any other institution.
Hobbies
I love to cook when I find the time, watch sports (specifically football and gymnastics), read, and have been obsessed with going to spin/cycling classes lately at Zenergy!
Biography
I was born in Oklahoma and raised by two OU graduates, so I am a die-hard Oklahoma Sooner fan (sorry!). I competed nationally in gymnastics for 14 years growing up and continued to compete for a club team at FSU until I graduated! I absolutely love pretty much all things football related and have successfully convinced my family to have a Fantasy Football League for the last two years. I also love to travel and in 2019 backpacked through 11 countries in Europe! Most importantly, over the summer I adopted an adorable tuxedo kitty named Moose and he is practically my child!
Name: Elizabeth Steele
Hometown: Mount Airy, Maryland
Undergraduate Institution: University of Maryland
Graduate Institution: Johns Hopkins University
What made you want to apply to WVU EM MATTER?
Having a background in law enforcement, I was quickly drawn to emergency medicine at the beginning of medical school. The externship left me wanting to be back in the emergency department, especially after realizing the amount of knowledge I had gained from the hands-on experience. I am excited to have the opportunity to continue to learn from the Emergency Medicine physicians here at WVU and contribute to serving the West Virginia population.
Hobbies: Snowboarding, Traveling, Gardening
Biography
Before coming to WVU for medical school, I completed my master’s in biotechnology at Johns Hopkins University. I worked in law enforcement in Washington, D.C and Baltimore, Maryland, assisting with many interesting investigations. Recognizing the impact of health disparities in rural communities through my experiences led to my interest in rural emergency medicine. In my spare time, I enjoy traveling, spending time with my family, and going on hikes with my dogs.