It’s rather fitting that the June 17 graduation celebration for residents from the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology at KU School of Medicine-Wichita turned into a birthday celebration, with one resident celebrating her birthday and a birth being the major event for another.

The 30th birthday celebration for Sara Fiene, M.D., had particular meaning since the former North Dakotan was celebrating in Wichita, her birthplace, with her parents. Her dad, Rick Paulson, M.D., had been a general surgery resident at KU School of Medicine-Wichita at the time of Fiene’s birth.

For second-year resident Peyton Harjo, M.D., going into labor at the graduation celebration came as a bit of a surprise; she wasn’t due for another two weeks. But going into labor on a night when all the residents had the night off meant Harjo was surrounded by her fellow second-year residents in the delivery room.

“Oh my gosh, they were all excited,” said Harjo. “I don’t have sisters and they’re pretty much as close as I get to having sisters.”

A birthday celebration like no other

When Fiene was searching for a place to do her residency, it seemed natural that she would consider KU School of Medicine-Wichita because of her dad’s experience being a resident with the medical school. She had already followed in his footsteps by getting her medical degree like he did through the University of North Dakota School of Medicine in Grand Forks.

“Being born there (in Wichita) and hearing the experiences my mom and dad had there turned me on to looking at KU for my residency,” Fiene said.

Doing her four-week OB-GYN rotation in Wichita during her fourth year of medical school assured her it would be a good fit. The OB-GYN residency program at KU School of Medicine-Wichita is the busiest in the state of Kansas and is unmatched in the number of deliveries and cases, according to the program’s website.

“Dr. (David) Grainger was integral to showing me I would be welcome in the program,” Fiene said of her rotation experience. Grainger, M.D., MPH, is the OB-GYN department chair.

The residents work at Wesley Medical Center — which is where Fiene was born. Fiene’s older brother was also born at Wesley.

Fiene’s dad said he was happy, too, that his daughter ended up at KU School of Medicine-Wichita.

“It was a good program for me and she got good training,” said Paulson, who has had a plastic surgery practice in Bismarck, North Dakota, since 1998. His wife, Donna, a registered nurse, is also part of the practice. When the Paulsons lived in Wichita from 1989 through 1994, Donna worked in the intensive care unit of what was then St. Francis Hospital (now Ascension Via Christi St. Francis) and later ran a home health agency.

Fiene said initially she was “bummed” when she discovered her residency graduation would fall on her 30th birthday, “but then I realized I would have family in town. So, spending time with family and finishing my residency — you really can’t top that.”

To complete the dual celebration, the graduation party attendees sang “Happy Birthday” to Fiene.

After graduation, Fiene and her husband, Brett, a special education high school teacher and wrestling coach whom she met during her residency, moved to Salt Lake City where Fiene is doing a yearlong fellowship in cosmetic surgery.

The crowning celebration

Harjo had just finished dancing during the graduation celebration at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Wichita when her water broke while in the bathroom.

It broke after all the important parts had happened,” said Harjo, explaining the graduating residents had already been recognized. “My OB was talking to me right after I stepped off the dance floor, so I texted her when my water broke.”

Her first text, however, was to her husband, Jagger, who is a firefighter, to let him know he needed to pick her up and get her to Wesley. After texting her doctor, she then texted her classmates to let them know what was happening.

Her fellow second-year residents joined her in the operating room and “took lots of pictures,” Harjo said, to commemorate the birth of her daughter, Paisley. Since the baby was breech, Paisley was delivered by a caesarian at midnight Sunday, June 18, on Father’s Day, extending the weekend celebrations.

Above, right: Peyton Harjo, M.D., and her husband, Jagger, hold their newborn daughter who was born immediately after the OB-GYN residency graduation.

Above, left: Medical school graduation day for Sara Fiene, M.D., with her father, Rick Paulson, M.D., who also is an alumnus of the University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences. Paulson was able to hood his daughter at the ceremony in May 2019.