Rural Training Track Residents
Our Rural Training Track residents are compassionate, adaptable, and deeply committed to serving rural communities. These individuals spend their first year training in Spokane, followed by two immersive years in northeast Washington towns like Colville or Chewelah. With a focus on full-spectrum family medicine, they gain diverse clinical experience and build lasting relationships within the communities they serve. Their dedication and resilience embody the mission of rural healthcare—providing high-quality, personalized care where it’s needed most.
Kaleb Merrick, DO
Rural Training Track
Kaleb grew up in Moscow, Idaho and Prosser, Washington. He completed his undergraduate studies at Brigham Young University-Idaho, taking a two-year break after his first semester to serve a church mission in northern Brazil. The experiences he had there helped shape his desire to care for the most vulnerable of society. He completed medical school at the Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine. He has a passion for rural medicine with special interests in emergency medicine, obstetrics, and pediatrics. He is an NHSC scholar. After residency, he plans to practice full spectrum family medicine in a small community in the Northwest.
Kaleb and his wife Emily are the proud parents of three (mostly) happy little boys. They love listening to audiobooks together, traveling, and spending time as a family. When he is not caring for patients or hanging out with his family, you might find him hunting, fishing, reading, or spending endless hours looking up mostly useless, but always interesting, facts online.
Trinell Newby, MD
Rural Training Track
Trinell grew up on a small farm near Lynden, Washington. She completed her undergraduate degree in public health at the University of Washington and then worked at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center for a couple years. She then attended the University of Washington School of Medicine as a TRUST (Targeted Rural Underserved Track) scholar with longitudinal training in Newport, WA.
She found family medicine filled her cup up from providing preventative medicine to the opportunity to provide longitudinal and multigenerational care. Her professional interests include population health, addiction medicine, obstetrics, and healthcare professional development. She hopes to complete an OB fellowship after residency and then settle down in a rural and underserved community within the PNW.
Outside of medicine she enjoys getting outdoors including hunting and fishing with her husband and two black labradors. When she’s not outside, she loves to paint, craft, and embroider. She is excited to continue her medical training in Spokane and Colville and learn from these amazing communities.
Danielle Dearing, MD
Rural Training Track
Jeffery Weyand, MD
Rural Training Track