Psychiatry Residency

Susan Whitley, MD, was raised in New York City, but has deep roots in Western North Carolina. She is passionate about partnering with individuals to set goals toward improving their total health—including mental health, substance use, and physical health challenges.

Dr. Whitley is a graduate of the George Washington University School of Medicine in Washington, DC, followed by a combined Residency in Family Medicine and Psychiatry at Mount Sinai Beth Israel in New York, NY. Throughout her training, she remained intrigued by the interplay between physical and mental health and the role of substance use. She decided to pursue subspecialty training in Addiction Psychiatry at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, NY, to further hone her expertise in the management of addictions.

Dr. Whitley is Board Certified in Psychiatry and Family Medicine with added subspecialty certification in Addiction Psychiatry. She has over 20 years of experience including patient care, program administration, and the teaching of students and residents. She is an expert in the treatment of opioid use disorder, including multiple publications on this topic. Dr. Whitley has spent her career focusing on access to care for underserved populations with complex healthcare needs and is excited to join the MAHEC team.

Chloe Bolon, MD, is a board-certified psychiatrist with a deep commitment to education and patient care. Originally from Northern Virginia, she earned her undergraduate degree in psychology from the University of Pittsburgh, where her interest in mental health developed. After college, she worked as a clinical research assistant on studies of geriatric depression treatment, which inspired her pursuit of a medical career.

Dr. Bolon received her medical degree from New York Medical College and completed her general psychiatry residency at MAHEC. She went on to specialize further with a fellowship in child and adolescent psychiatry at Duke University.

Currently, Dr. Bolon serves as Associate Program Director of the Psychiatry Residency at MAHEC. In this role, she supervises residents and fellows and assists with administration of the residency program. Additionally, she provides comprehensive medication management for children, adolescents, and adults. While she values working with individuals from all walks of life and with a wide range of psychiatric conditions, her clinical interests include anxiety disorders, sleep concerns, ADHD, mood disorders, eating disorders, substance use, autism, and other neurodevelopmental conditions.

Outside of her clinical and academic work, Dr. Bolon enjoys hiking, attending live music events, and traveling.

I grew up in the small town of Black Mountain, North Carolina just outside the Asheville area and am fortunate to call the Blue Ridge Mountains my home. Medicine has always been a strong influence on my life because of my mother, a nurse practitioner, who taught me at an early age the meaning of caring for others. After graduating from Appalachian State University with a degree in chemistry, I chose to follow in the footsteps laid before me, and dedicate myself to the art and science of healing.

I attended medical school at the Campbell University College of Osteopathic Medicine, and trained further in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Throughout my career, I’ve had the privilege to live and travel across this great state and to learn in depth about the variety of culture and history that define it. It is a tremendous honor to be able to return to my roots by joining the MAHEC family and to help provide for the very population that helped me become the person I am today.

Hello and thank you for exploring Mountain Area Health Education Center (MAHEC) in Asheville, NC. I am originally from Eastern North Carolina, where I received degrees in biology and chemistry at East Carolina University (ECU). I then completed my medical degree at ECU’s Brody School of Medicine.

I am honored to now be a part of the MAHEC family for my psychiatry residency. I was drawn to this program for its blend of excellence in training with the unique collegial and benevolent atmosphere that I craved. I additionally chose the city of Asheville for its natural beauty, thriving social community, and incredible diversity of culture and thought.

A medical career was always within my plan, but psychiatry captured my interest more recently as I consider it to be the most interesting, challenging, and creative branch of medicine. As Pulitzer prize-winning political pundit and psychiatrist Charles Krauthammer said, psychiatry “combines the practicality of medicine and the elegance of philosophy.” Our residency was created to address the grave need for mental health services in Western North Carolina, and I personally hope to remain in this area for my career. My further interest is the changing economic and political landscape of medicine and I am completing a Master's in Business Administration to focus on this topic.

My interests include outdoor activities such as hiking, whitewater rafting, and mountain biking, which I have found in abundance around Asheville. I love all sports, though tennis is my favorite. I play piano and enjoy reading, film, and exploring Asheville’s thriving restaurant and beer scenes with friends and family.

Originally from north-central Indiana, I attended Purdue University obtaining a BS and an MS then subsequently moved to Houston, Texas to work for a pharmaceutical/research company. There I sold laboratory equipment to major universities and research facilities throughout Houston, Tennessee, Mississippi and Louisiana while gaining experiences in the cultures of the US and reinforcing a desire to work more personally with people.

During medical school in Fort Worth, Texas, I took a year to do research in Baltimore, MD working for the NIH’s Laboratory of Neuroscience and Experimental Gerontology. While there I was able to work on multiple projects mainly focusing on calorie restriction’s protection against oxidative stress on neural structures and how this may relate to being protective against neurological illnesses such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

Prior to finishing up medical school, I spent roughly 3 weeks on a medical mission trip to western Kenya, Africa; an extremely humbling experience that reinforced my resolve that I had made the right decision of going into medicine, and fueling a desire to work in the medical community.

After completing residency at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, I was very fortunate to move to western North Carolina which offered the mountain aesthetics, albeit greener, and the opportunity to work with an underserved medical/psychiatric population. I have the pleasure of seeing clients in multiple facets; in the office and in their homes, working with an Assertive Community Treatment team, as well as clients dealing mainly with opiate addiction through a Suboxone program. I look forward to the opportunity to work with residents and help mentor and guide them into budding psychiatrists.

Dr. Fender completed his general psychiatry residency at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2013. He was selected as a chief resident for his final year of training. Since 2013, he has been practicing hospital-based psychiatry at Mission Hospital in Asheville, NC. His clinical work at this time is predominantly consultation-liaison psychiatry and electroconvulsive therapy.

Dr. Fender works with residents throughout their time at MAHEC in the evidence-informed decision-making course. He supervises and provides didactic instruction for PGY3 residents during their time on the consultation-liaison service and electroconvulsive therapy rotation. He also coordinates the consultation-liaison case conference series.

Scott Fisher, MD, is a psychiatrist at MAHEC, where he sees patients in the psychiatry clinic and oversees the center’s clinical research trials program.

Dr. Fisher earned his medical degree at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and completed his general psychiatry residency at Northwestern’s McGaw Medical Center, followed by a fellowship in child and adolescent psychiatry at the University of Miami. He holds a BA in economics from the University of Chicago.

He spent eight years in private practice treating mood and anxiety disorders, ADHD, substance use disorders, and psychosis before moving into clinical research. At the Center for Psychedelics and Cannabis Research at Segal Trials, he served as sub-investigator, lead facilitator, study physician, and clinical program manager on Phase I-III psychotropic clinical trials.

Dr. Freeman is a graduate of Eastern Tennessee State University Quillen School of Medicine and completed his general psychiatry residency at Virginia Commonwealth University (formerly Medical College of Virginia) in Richmond, VA. He was a PGY4 chief resident and then completed a consultation and liaison psychiatry fellowship at VCU.

Since 2015, he has lived in Asheville, NC, with his wife and three children. His primary role is that of clinician, managing one of the adult Copestone units, and providing emergency room and consultations as needed. He is an adjunct assistant professor at UNC Chapel Hill and provides instruction for medical students and MAHEC psychiatry residents. He enjoys working with learners at all levels. When not at the hospital, he is home with family or eating popcorn in one of our local independent theaters.

Dr. Ladd is a native of Western North Carolina who completed his education throughout this region. He majored in Environmental Studies and Philosophy at the University of North Carolina at Asheville. Then, he attended medical school at the Virginia College of Osteopathic Medicine because of its focus on serving rural Appalachia. In wishing to stay close to the community he wanted to serve, he completed his general psychiatry residency and child and adolescent fellowship at Wake Forest Baptist Health where he served as a Chief Fellow.

Since 2018, he has worked at MAHEC helping to grow the residency class size, starting satellite clinics, initiating an international psychiatry experience for residents/fellows, developing pediatric Collaborative Care, and helping to start the CAP fellowship. Clinically, he works as an outpatient psychiatrist providing direct patient care at MAHEC and a regional pediatric office. He also provides Collaborative Care consultation for regional pediatric offices.

Dr. Ladd is excited about helping to meet the needs of underserved children and families across Western North Carolina by training the next generation of compassionate psychiatric providers who will be equipped to serve community members throughout their life span.

My name is Ron and I am overjoyed to be a part of the MAHEC family and participate in the tremendous work they are doing here in vibrant Asheville and western North Carolina in general.

I was born in Providence, RI, but my family moved around to Massachusetts, Minnesota, Colorado, and Ohio. I went to college at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia, where I fell in love with the vast beauty that is the Blue Ridge Mountains. During college, I tutored children at local elementary schools and delivered food to families in need in the surrounding community. I also spent a summer volunteering in the Dominican Republic and putting my Spanish major to good use. After completing my medical school education at Brown University, I am elated to live in the mountains once again and serve the people that live there.

I chose psychiatry because of the wonderful and unique communication that psychiatry encourages between caregiver and patient. I also seek to play a large role in increasing access to mental health resources so that patients from all walks of life may receive the care they need. With its emphasis on reaching the underserved, evident warmth, and scenic location, MAHEC was definitely the right choice for me. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me!

My name is Joseph, and I am originally from Jackson, Mississippi. I grew up vacationing in Western North Carolina every July for as long as I can remember, and it is hard to believe that I will now be living here 365 days a year! I am relocating with my wonderful wife of three years, Regan, who has also matched at MAHEC in family medicine. We are a sappy pair of high school sweethearts and cannot wait to begin our new exciting life together in beautiful Asheville. We are also accompanied by our two sister kitties, Ygritte and Sansa.

I first developed a conscious fascination with the human mind as an undergraduate at the University of Mississippi while pursuing degrees in biology and psychology. At the same time, I began to realize how much I love communicating with people, friends and strangers, listening to their stories and learning about their lives and what makes them who they are. As I prepared for the transition back down to Jackson for medical school at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, I had a strong feeling that I would ultimately end up in the field of psychiatry. Five years later, it turns out I was right! Additionally, Regan and I have both developed a passion for rural practice, and I know that MAHEC is the perfect place for us to develop the knowledge and skills required to thrive as rural providers.

I look forward to soaking up everything Asheville and the surrounding area has to offer from craft beer to whitewater kayaking to bluegrass music and everything in between! When I’m not occupied with my clinical duties, you may find me laboring in our garden, reading a good book, or out hiking one of the many peaks in the nearby Blue Ridge Mountains.

Danielle is originally from Tucson, AZ, and completed her undergraduate degree in neuroscience at the University of Florida. She continued her graduate studies at the University of Florida College of Medicine with a focus on psychoneuroimmunology, specifically researching the role of inflammatory cytokines and neurotrophic factors on the septohippocampal system.

During that time, she discovered her love of teaching through her work as a neuroanatomy teaching assistant and later developed a behavioral neuroscience course for the precollegiate science training program. After earning a doctoral degree in biomedical sciences, she volunteered at a free clinic for indigent and underserved populations, which inspired her interest in community medicine.

During medical school, Danielle continued to teach neuroanatomy, her work at the community clinic, and was elected by her peers to serve as president of their psychiatry interest group. In her free time, she enjoys spending time in nature camping, hiking, and kayaking. She also enjoys travel, attending festivals, and the arts.

I am originally from Western North Carolina and grew up gaining a deep of love of the mountains here and its people. I then spent 10 years doing a tour of the Triangle area of North Carolina with stops at the North Carolina School of Science and Math in Durham to finish high school, at North Carolina State University in Raleigh for college with bachelors' degrees in Biochemistry and Religious Studies, and at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for medical school.

Although I had pictured myself eventually becoming a family physician for several years, I couldn't shake the love of doing psychiatry that was present in both psychiatry specific and primary care clinical rotations. However, it took me some time to figure that out and took a gap year after my third year of medical school before settling on my specialty. In the meantime, I obtained a Masters of Public Health degree at UNC-Chapel Hill, and gained an additional interest in population and public health that I find more and more applicable for psychiatry's place in the health care system.

During that year, I met and married my wife, and after finishing medical school, we headed to the Southwest as I did my psychiatry residency at the University of New Mexico. The faculty there had a strong focus on clinical education and I gained incredible wisdom from their mentorship. I was also able to participate in a rural psychiatry track while there that gave me exposure to how psychiatry is practiced within many different localities and cultures.

As it came time to start a family, my wife and I decided, in addition to having mountains to live and play in, that grandparents were an important factor. This led to me returning to my home region to start my career and I have been enjoying life here too much to consider moving anywhere else. We love all the people we've come to know, the scenery and outdoor activities, the climate, and when we can get out sometimes (particularly thanks to the grandparents), the tremendous variety of culture, food, and libations available in the area.

With the advent of this new psychiatry residency program, I believe we can better meet the needs for improved mental health and overall quality of life for residents of this region. I am also hopeful we can provide meaningful opportunities for psychiatry residents to learn an amazing profession in a variety of incredible locations. We are looking forward to meeting those of you interested in joining us for such an endeavor.

Dr. Pohl is a licensed clinical psychologist who has been working with a variety of populations for the past 30 years. She specializes in psychodynamic psychotherapy working with client populations experiencing trauma, eating disorders, dissociative disorders, emotional dysregulation and mood disorders.

She is keenly focused on the physician/patient relationship and works with the residents to establish appropriate therapeutic rapport with an emphasis on understanding transference, countertransference, establishing boundaries, and how to deepen the therapeutic relationship and therapeutic interventions to achieve psychological healing. Her motto is "Every interaction with a patient is a psychotherapeutic intervention." She works with the residents to understand their impact and opportunity in every patient interaction.

Katie Rowe is a licensed psychologist who joined the MAHEC team as a therapist for the clinic-based therapy team as well as faculty member for the psychiatry residency program. She received her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from East Tennessee State University in 2017. She went on to complete her predoctoral internship at the University of Kansas Medical Center and her postdoctoral fellowship through the Colorado Health Foundation in Denver, both of which focused on providing integrated behavioral health services for underserved and underrepresented populations within primary care and health psychology. Dr. Rowe previously worked at Denver Health in which she served in the role of postdoctoral supervisor and clinician within internal and family medicine clinics.

In her current role, Katie offers individual therapy, ongoing supervision and training to psychiatry residents and psychology practicum students, and engagement in program development and evaluation for the department. Katie works primarily with adults who are experiencing concerns with mood (e.g., major depression, adjustment issues, anxiety-related disorders); individuals with medically complex needs; issues associated with age-related changes, and individuals facing difficult interpersonal challenges. Katie practices primarily from an Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy lens and actively utilizes other modalities such as DBT-informed and Trauma-informed care.

I began working at Mission Hospital’s Psychiatry department when I moved with my family to Asheville in 2009, having just completed my medical training in New York City. I attended SUNY at Brooklyn for medical school, completed my residency in psychiatry at Beth Israel in Manhattan and a fellowship in Psychiatry and the Law at NYU/Bellevue. I am currently double boarded in General Psychiatry and Psychiatry and the Law.

Medicine was a second career for me, as I graduated from college with a degree in Classical Literature and Philosophy and began working in publishing when I first moved to New York. I was later drawn to medicine for it's unique potential to directly and positively influence the health and well-being of people, and to behavioral health for the unique combination of science and humanism it offers in treating those populations.

Mission Hospital is a supportive place to explore my many clinical interests. Mission Hospital offers an exceptionally diverse experience to train in behavioral health. The inpatient units offer geriatric, child, and adolescent services in addition to general adult care. The hospital offered a robust consult service, a dedicated emergency room and behavioral health unit, ECT treatment and tele-psychiatry services. In addition, I served as the medical director for the Department of Psychiatry from 2012-14 and worked treating inmates at the Buncombe County Detention Center from 2010-2015. I now proudly serve on the board of directors for the Buncombe County Department of Health and Human Services and on the Peer Review Committee for the Mission Hospital.

Asheville is surrounded by natural beauty, has a progressive mindset, and embodies tremendous cultural, artistic, and culinary diversity. Asheville is a wonderful place to live and I’ve been able to raise my young family in a friendly, environmentally conscious, and active community. I am excited to be involved with MAHEC. The region is an ideal place to learn integrative care through the numerous rural and urban outpatient clinics. I believe that this residency program in psychiatry offers its trainees a unique opportunity to live and learn in a special environment - one that will grant a wonderful educational experience.

Sarah Wells, MD, received her undergraduate degree in psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where she was a Morehead Scholar. She participated in medical volunteer work abroad immediately after college and then completed an AmeriCorps service program before beginning medical school at the UNC School of Medicine. Dr. Wells completed her general psychiatry residency and a child and adolescent psychiatry fellowship at UNC Hospitals. While there, she developed a love for teaching and was awarded the Kaiser Permanente Excellence in Teaching Award for Residents.

Dr. Wells is currently an adjunct assistant professor of psychiatry at the UNC School of Medicine as well as the course director for the longitudinal curriculum of the psychiatry third-year clerkship at the Asheville campus. She is a full member of the UNC School of Medicine’s Academy of Educators and is a distinguished fellow of the American Psychiatric Association.

Dr. Wells enjoys providing medication management and psychotherapy for children, adolescents, and adults in a variety of settings. She has a special interest in college/university mental health. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling, hiking, dancing, and spending time with family.