Mackenzie Walhof, MD

I am an Iowa native, born and raised in Northwest Iowa in a small farming community, but I have been captive to the Iowa City area since I moved here for medical school. I quickly fell in love with the hospital, the city, and the people. When my husband and I first moved to Iowa City as newlyweds, we lived in a small apartment not far from the hospital and I enjoyed the short walk or bike ride to the med school. I continue to be surprised and impressed by the amount of green and nature in the city and throughout the campus.

I became interested in internal medicine during my third- and fourth-year rotations through medical school as I enjoyed the complex discussions that were had about patients. The attendings and residents were experts of medicine and the IM program at Iowa always made medical students feel welcome. When I matched here for residency, I knew that Iowa would always feel like home. This culture has continued through residency. Our education has always been prioritized, and the staff are engaging and committed to teaching. Dr. Manish Suneja has always emphasized that wellness is something that should not be sacrificed and makes a commitment to developing the camaraderie as well as academic excellence of the program. When I had to tell him (twice!) that I was pregnant during residency, he only ever showed support and never expressed doubt in my ability to balance medicine and motherhood.

Outside of medicine, my husband and I are raising our 4 children (currently ages 6, 5, 2, and 10 months), which makes home life more like a circus. We enjoy traveling, cheering on our favorite sports teams (sorry Hawkeyes, my husband is an Iowa State grad – go Cyclones!), and trying new things (as a decidedly terrible runner and biker, I signed up for my first triathlon this year)!

I’m looking forward to using this next year as Recruitment Chief to continue to develop educational and leadership skills while conveying to incoming potential residents exactly why Iowa is such a fantastic and supportive place to train. I plan to pursue a hematology & oncology fellowship following this year and hope to refine the heme-onc education in our residency program!