Meet The Faculty
Our faculty are deeply committed to our residents and to the longstanding traditions of family medicine education. We take pride in a diverse team that brings a wide range of perspectives, experiences, and clinical expertise, including geriatrics, sports medicine, and women’s health.
Among our seven family physician faculty members, we offer a wealth of combined teaching experience and a shared dedication to mentorship. Notably, four of our faculty are graduates of this very program who chose to stay or return to teach—an enduring testament to the strength, support, and collaborative spirit of our learning environment.
Dr. Merfeld earned his medical degree from the Medical College of Wisconsin and completed his Family Medicine Residency at Mayo Clinic in La Crosse in 1998. Following residency, he practiced in a rural private setting in Reedsburg, Wisconsin, where he developed a strong foundation in community-based care.
He joined the residency faculty in 2004 and has served as Program Director since January 2017. Dr. Merfeld is deeply committed to resident education and mentoring the next generation of family physicians.
Dr. Merfeld and his wife, Heather, have three children: Morgan, Brandon, and Molly. Outside of medicine, he enjoys spending time with family and friends, theater, attending athletic events and playing basketball.
John Merfeld, M.D.
Program Director
Faculty leadership
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Parivash Badar, M.B.B.S., M.D.
Assistant Program Director
Dr. Badar was born and raised in Pakistan where she earned her medical school degree at Ziauddin University. Shortly after, she moved to the U.S. to pursue her medical training in family medicine at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, Texas. She has a deep interest in serving the underserved and diverse populations. Her other interests in medicine include but are not limited to hospital medicine, women’s health, academic medicine, research, teaching, and working alongside medical students and residents. When she is not at work, she enjoys spending time with her family, cooking Pakistani meals for her friends and family, traveling, hiking, biking, and skiing. |
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Carmen Dargel, M.D.
Assistant Program Director
Dr. Dargel, a Wisconsin native, received her medical degree from the Medical College of Wisconsin. She is a 2006 graduate of Mayo Clinic’s Family Medicine Residency in La Crosse and practiced at Mayo Clinic Health System in Onalaska for 16 years. She joined the residency in 2022. She enjoys teaching residents as well as hospital and outpatient medicine. In her time outside of work, Dr. Dargel enjoys time with her husband, daughter, and dogs, running, reading, and time outdoors-especially finding beautiful places to go hiking. |
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Carol Goulet, Ph.D.
Director of Behavioral Science
Dr. Goulet received her doctoral degree in clinical psychology from West Virginia University in Morgantown, West Virginia. She completed her Advanced Postdoctoral Fellowship in Women’s Health through the Clement J. Zablocki VA Medical Center, Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Her special interests include spending time with her family, traveling, cooking new recipes, and walking her dog. Dr. Goulet joined the residency in 2017. |
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Edward Malone III, M.D.
Associate Program Director
Dr. Malone earned his medical degree from Rush Medical College in Chicago, Illinois. He is a 1995 graduate of Mayo Clinic’s Family Medicine Residency in La Crosse and has made La Crosse his home since arriving in 1992. He has group and private practice experience and served as the former program director for the UWL Mayo Gundersen Physician Assistant Program. Dr. Malone joined the faculty in 2012. His professional interests include hospital medicine, clinical reasoning, and physician wellness. Dr. Malone and his wife, Sheri, enjoy spending time with their five adult children and eight grandchildren. |
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Erin Morcomb, M.D.
Associate Program Director
Dr. Morcomb earned her medical degree from the University of Minnesota Medical School in the Twin Cities. She grew up locally in a small town near the La Crosse, Wisconsin area. She is a 2016 graduate of Mayo Clinic's Family Medicine Residency in La Crosse. She has a broad range of interests across primary care and especially enjoys practicing full spectrum family medicine including obstetrics, newborn care/pediatrics, women’s health, outpatient, and inpatient medicine providing continuity to patients across the lifespan. She also enjoys teaching residents and advocating for the specialty of family medicine through involvement in the Wisconsin Academy of Family Physicians (WAFP). In her spare time outside of medicine, she enjoys spending time with her family including her husband, daughter, son, pets, and other extended family, reading, and playing musical instruments. |
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Kristina Schlecht, M.D.
Associate Program Director
Dr. Schlecht earned her medical degree from the University of North Dakota School of Medicine in Grand Forks, North Dakota. She completed her family practice residency through the University of North Dakota in Minot, North Dakota. Prior to joining the residency, Dr. Schlecht served with the U.S. Navy. She has experience with inpatient, outpatient, urgent care, and rural medicine. She taught at the University of North Dakota Center for Family Medicine in Minot. Dr. Schlecht is certified by the American Board of Family Practice. She is board-certified in hospice care in palliative medicine and is an instructor for advanced life support in obstetrics. Dr. Schlecht enjoys traveling the world, trying new recipes from every corner of the planet, and making quilts. |
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Stephen Stacey, D.O.
Associate Program Director
Dr. Stephen Kimball Stacey, DO, FAAFP, is an Associate Professor of Family Medicine and Director of Osteopathic Education. He leads osteopathic training to ensure residents get plenty of mentored OMM training. He also oversees research within the residency, helping residents have meaningful, successful scholarly experiences that translate to practice. He graduated from Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine and completed residency in osteopathic family medicine at the Peak Vista Residency Program in Colorado Springs. He was a physician in the U.S. Army as an airborne paratrooper and flight surgeon. His academic interests include research capacity development, osteopathic manipulation, and positivity in medicine. Outside of medicine he enjoys board games, LEGO, hot sauce, and outdoor adventures. |
Adjunct faculty
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Lauren Baker, M.D.
Board-certified General and Child & Adolescent Psychiatry and works in our clinic once a week
Dr. Baker is a child and adolescent psychiatrist with Mayo Clinic Health System in La Crosse who spends a half day per week precepting in the resident clinic for mental health-related cases. She is originally from the Twin Cities. She completed medical school at the University of Minnesota and then lived in Richmond, Virginia, for five years while completing her general psychiatry residency and child and adolescent psychiatry fellowship. She has been in La Crosse since 2021. She enjoys teaching the residents and working alongside the Family Health Clinic faculty. When not working she is usually with her family spending time outside, checking out new restaurants, and traveling. |
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Craig Bennett, M.D.
Dr. Bennett was born and raised in northern Minnesota (Duluth). He completed his 1st 2 years of Med school at University of Minnesota-Duluth and graduated from University of Minnesota school of Medicine in 1999. He completed his residency at La Crosse Mayo Family Medicine from 1999-2002. He spent his first 12 years of practice with Mayo in Northern Wisconsin doing full scope family medicine including outpatient, hospital, ED, and OB. He then transferred to a work site clinic for 5 years but returned to Mayo Clinic in Southwest Wisconsin. He currently practices out of our Holmen clinic and precepts with our residency in La Crosse. He is happily married and a father of 4 children. He also enjoys movies, reading science fiction, and sports including football, baseball, hockey, basketball, and volleyball as well coaching baseball. |
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Jodie Diemer, M.D.
Dr. Diemer grew up in Holland, Michigan, on the banks of Lake Michigan. She met her husband while in medical school and moved to La Crosse, Wisconsin, for residency. When not working, Dr. Diemer enjoys spending time outside, cross-stitching and spending time with her family. Dr. Diemer loves caring for individuals from birth onward. “It is a joy to join patients where they are on their journey through life and help them reach their greatest potential. I hope to work with my patients to meet them where they are and work as a team to improve their health. My goal is to have every patient feel heard and feel that their concerns are a high priority. I enjoy teaching and helping patients understand their health and the reasons behind their care plan. My focus is on broad-spectrum care including prenatal, obstetrical, clinic and hospital medicine.” |
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Nancy Erickson, M.D.
Board-certified in family medicine who works in our clinic once a month
Dr. Erickson grew up a short distance from La Crosse. She received her undergraduate and medical degree from the University of Wisconsin – Madison. She completed her residency at Mayo Clinic Family Medicine Residency in La Crosse in 2002. After residency, she started her practice at Mayo Clinic Health System in Onalaska and has been there ever since. She currently also serves as the Medical Director for the Student Health Center at the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse. |
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Alecia Gende, D.O.
Dr. Alecia Gende served as a nurse corps officer in the U.S. Navy prior to entering medical school. She is board certified in emergency medicine and sports medicine and practices sports medicine at Mayo Clinic Health System in La Crosse. Dr. Gende completed her emergency medicine and sports medicine training at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. There she served as a team physician for football, women's basketball, field hockey, and wrestling squads at the NCAA Division I level. She currently serves as a team physician for U.S. Ski and Snowboarding Sports Medicine. She enjoys weightlifting, CrossFit, running, hunting, working on her farm, and spending time with her husband and kids. |
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Theresa Jordan, P.A.-C.
Terry completed her certification program of Physician Assistant Training at the University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences-Grand Forks in 2004. She began her career in internal medicine, specializing in nephrology/dialysis care, in rural northern Wisconsin. She then provided both acute inpatient hospital and home-based primary care for Veterans at the Tomah VA Medical Center before joining Mayo Clinic in 2012. In her current practice, Terry provides routine/regulatory and special/urgent issues care in skilled nursing facilities across western Wisconsin and southeastern Minnesota. Terry is a passionate patient advocate and strives to combine Mayo Clinic excellence and the ultimate essence of humanity with compassion and a sense of humor. |
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Mark McEleney, M.D.
Board-certified in family medicine and sports medicine
Dr. McEleney is Board Certified in Family Medicine and Sports Medicine and graduated from the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine. He completed his residency in Family Medicine at St. Joseph Regional Medicine Center in Mishawaka, Indiana. His professional interests include medical care of the athletic population, medical education and curriculum development. He was born and raised in Clinton, Iowa, is happily married, and has two wonderful sons. In his free time, he enjoys spending time with his family, running, cycling, and traveling. |
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Jenna Sebranek, M.D.
Board-certified in family medicine who works in our clinic once a month
Dr. Jenna Sebranek received her medical degree from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health and completed her family medicine residency training at the Mayo Clinic Family Medicine Residency in 2016. She currently practices full-spectrum family medicine, including obstetrics, at Mile Bluff Medical Center in Wisconsin. Here, Dr. Sebranek serves as Secretary of the hospital board and previously completed a term as Chief of Staff. She is also actively involved in medical education, serving on the admissions committee for the Wisconsin Academy for Rural Medicine at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health and coordinating medical student rotations at Mile Bluff Medical Center.
After residency, Dr. Sebranek returned to her hometown of Richland Center with her husband, where they are raising their twin children. She values the close-knit nature of small-town living and enjoys coaching her children’s soccer teams, biking, running, and staying involved in her children’s many activities. |
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Derrick Woodward, M.D.
Board-certified in family medicine who works in our clinic once a month
Derrick L. Woodward, M.D. is a 2012 graduate of the Mayo Clinic Family Medicine Residency in La Crosse, Wisconsin. A native of La Crosse, he now practices at Mayo Clinic Health System in Sparta, where he provides comprehensive inpatient and outpatient care including shared prenatal care in collaboration with residents. Dr. Woodward is actively involved in medical education. In addition to precepting in the residency clinic once per month, he hosts residents and medical students in Sparta for rural training experiences alongside his colleagues. Outside of medicine, Dr. Woodward enjoys spending time with his family. His hobbies include camping, traveling, listening to music, and all things Disney. |
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Erica Zell, D.O.
Board-certified in family medicine who recently started her practice at Mayo Clinic Health System in Onalaska
Dr. Zell is originally from Northfield, Minnesota. She received her undergraduate degree at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, medical school at Des Moines University, and completed her residency training in family medicine at Mayo Clinic in Rochester. In her practice, she enjoys women’s health, pediatrics, office-based procedures, and forming relationships with her patients. In her spare time, she enjoys cooking, hiking, yoga, spending time with her husband and corgi, and letting the MN Vikings get her hopes up on a yearly basis. She is passionate about teaching and happy to be involved in the residency program. |
