Board of Trustees
DOCARE International is proud to announce the 2025–2026 Board of Trustees and Executive Committee, as confirmed during our recent Annual Membership Meeting. This incoming leadership team brings together a diverse and dedicated group of professionals united by their shared commitment to advancing DOCARE’s mission of delivering sustainable global health outreach and medical education opportunities around the world.
We are grateful to our continuing Board Members whose expertise and leadership provide stability and vision as DOCARE continues to grow. We also extend a warm welcome to our newly elected Trustees, whose enthusiasm and fresh perspectives will strengthen our organization and expand our global impact.
At the same time, we wish to recognize and thank our outgoing Board Members for their outstanding service and contributions. Their time, insight, and dedication have played a vital role in shaping DOCARE’s success and sustaining our mission.
Together, our Board, Members, and volunteers embody the spirit of DOCARE’s enduring vision — The World Is Our Clinic.
Executive Committee
Jodi Flanders
DO, FACOFP
President (2025-2026)
Dr. Flanders is a graduate of Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine. Her post-graduate training was completed at Detroit Osteopathic Hospital. She is Board Certified in Family Medicine, working in Global Health and Education internationally, as well as those experiencing homelessness in the state of Michigan. Passionate about human trafficking and addiction, she serves as Medical Director in a residential facility, as well as political advocate for victims and survivors. Dr. Flanders holds a faculty appointment at MSUCOM and West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine. Her international service trips include Vietnam, Dominican Republic, Belize, Haiti, Nicaragua, Mexico, Peru, China, Ukraine, and Uganda.
Caytlin Deering
DO, FACP
Vice President (2025-2026)
Caytlin Deering is an Infectious Diseases physician. She graduated from the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine and pursued her residency in Internal Medicine at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Illinois. She then completed her fellowship in Infectious Diseases and HIV Medicine at Drexel University College of Medicine in Pennsylvania. Dr. Deering has a passion for global health and has volunteered in Peru and the Dominican Republic. She currently practices in Royal Oak, Michigan, where she has a special interest in travel medicine.
Kyle Hedquist
PharmD, BCEMP
Treasurer (2025-2026)
Kyle Hedquist is a graduate of the University of New England College of Pharmacy. His first year of post-graduate training was completed at AdventHealth Orlando. His second year of post-graduate training was completed in Emergency Medicine at NovantHealth. He is a Board Certified Emergency Medicine Pharmacist and works as a Clinical Pharmacist in the Emergency Department at AdventHealth Orlando. Kyle has been part of DOCARE International since 2022 and has since attended the global health outreach trip to the Amazon region of Peru as an attending preceptor to medical students.
Shar Smith
PhD, DNP, APRN, CPNP-AC/PC
Secretary (2025-2026)
Sharlene Smith is an acute and primary care certified pediatric nurse practitioner. She earned her Ph.D. in nursing at the University of Central Florida and a Doctorate in Nursing Practice from the University of South Florida. She is currently an associate professor at Florida Southern College where she is also the education coordinator for the Carol Jenkins Barnett Center for Early Childhood Learning and Health and the Ann MacGregor Jenkins Endowed Chair in Pediatric Nursing. Dr. Smith continues to practice clinically in a pediatric urgent care. She has participated in global health trips to Honduras, Peru, Dominican Republic, and St. Croix, VI.
Catherine Pinkston
DO, MS
Immediate Past President (2025-2026)
Dr. Pinkston earned her Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree from Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine. She completed her post-doctoral training at the University of Cincinnati and now practices family medicine in Reno, Nevada. She also has a special interest in nutrition, which she holds a Master’s degree in. Dr. Pinkston became involved with DOCARE during her fourth year of medical school while doing a rotation in Guatemala. She has extensive experience in global health, with most of her work focused in Guatemala.
Trustees
Catherine Asbury
MSN, AGACNP-BC | Trustee (2025-2028)
Ruben Kenny Briceno
MD | Trustee (2025-2028)
Dr. Briceno is a graduate of Universidad Cesar Vallejo College of Human Medicine, earning degrees in MD and Master’s in Health Services Management, he completed his post-doctoral training at the Hospital de Alta Complejidad Virgen de la Puerta and Universidad Privada Antenor Orrego, he is a practicing Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine attending physician and associate director of the Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine residency program at Hospital Victor Lazarte Echegaray. He Joined the MSUCOM Peru Outreach Program since 2008 and attended every year, first as a medical student then as an attending physician and research coordinator and now as program co-leader. He is currently an assistant professor in Infectious and tropical disease at the Institute for Global Health, College of Osteopathic Medicine Michigan State University. He oversees Research and Preceptorship Study abroad Programs in Peru where he resides.
Travis Gordon
DO, FAAO | Trustee (2023-2026)
Travis Gordon Graduated from Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine and completed residency at Florida Hospital East Orlando with specialties in Family Medicine and Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine. He has been a member of DOCARE for 9 years, having volunteered on many of the Peru trips, as well as directed similar outreach trips with the Peruvian Navy along the Amazon river. Previous to medical school he served in the Peace Corps in Nicaragua for two years.
He is currently an assistant professor of OMM and assistant DME for MSUCOM in their international studies program in Yucatan, Mexico, where he lives with his beautiful wife and two children.
Lauri Ann Maitland
DO | Trustee (2023-2026)
Arpon Shahed
DO | Trustee (2025-2026)
Taran Silva
DO | Trustee (2024-2027)
Dr. Silva is a graduate of Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine (MSUCOM) where he attended medical school after receiving a Bachelor of Science degree in physiology with a minor in Spanish. He completed his residency training in full-scope family medicine at the Scott Air Force Base/St. Louis University SW Illinois Family Medicine Residency Program. He has worked with the MSUCOM Peru Outreach program and the MSUCOM Guatemala medical mission since 2016. Dr. Silva is an Assistant Professor of Family Medicine at Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, working with second through 4th year medical students on their core family medicine rotations. He also holds Clinical Faculty appointments at the University of California Davis School of Medicine and at MSUCOM. As an Active Duty Air Force physician, Dr. Silva works at Travis Air Force Base in Northern California. He is also a core faculty member at the Family Medicine Residency Program there, and helps the Transitional Year Internship Program as an Assistant Program Director. When he is not working, Dr. Silva enjoys spending time traveling, camping, fishing, and baking.
Jenni Strand
PharmD | Trustee (2025-2028)
Jenni Strand, Pharm.D., has worked in community and hospital settings in rural and underserved communities in Arizona and Oregon. She has worked with DOCare as a student pharmacist on mission trips to Guatemala. Since beginning work during a pandemic, she has worked with local providers and students to provide care through vaccination outreach as well as patient education. She looks forward to working with DOCare and participating in mission trips for many years to come.
Dodson Thompson
DO | Trustee (2024-2027)
Dr. Thompson earned his DO degree from Pikeville College School of Osteopathic Medicine in 2004 and completed a Family Medicine Residency at the University of South Dakota in Sioux Falls, SD in 2007. He has been practicing at Northlakes Community Clinic, a rural FQHC in Minong and Hayward, WI for seventeen years. Dr. Thompson has always had an interest in travel and community service. He served as a Peace Corps community development advisor in Costa Rica from 1992-95. He also led several summer service projects for high school students to Costa Rica, Thailand and Vietnam in the late 1990’s when he was a high school teacher. Dr. Thompson has been a member of two DOCARE trips to Guatemala and Peru. When not working, he enjoys gardening-especially growing heirloom tomatoes, fishing and rock climbing.
Student & Resident Trustees
Kalee Hovetter
OMSIV | Student Trustee (2025-2026)