UW News

June 24, 2010

Marriage, home and baby iPad for UW resident

Center for Sensorimotor Neural Engineering

UW medical resident Dr. Denise Chang has had a big year, one that might be described as a “good things come in threes” year. She and Dr. Mark Derleth, also a UW resident, were married in February. Then, they bought a house in April. And just a few weeks ago, Chang learned that she won an iPad for naming a new UWTV program that will debut in the fall.


She’s all smiles as she relays the award-winning year she’s having. “Besides getting married, this is the coolest thing that’s happened to me,” she said.


“We were calling around to our families and said, ‘We have exciting news,'” said Chang, with a big smile, describing how she and her husband spread the word. Relatives thought she might be pregnant, but instead, they shared the iPad news. She chuckled a bit in relaying the story, and said that it was OK to print.


Chang’s winning entry, UW360, came out on top in a field of more than 1,300 suggested names. She submitted the title from Anchorage, where she just finished up a medical rotation. “I had a little more time to read all my e-mails in Alaska,” she said. “It was still busy clinically, but more laid-back. My husband was in Seattle, and I didn’t have a house to maintain and clean.”


Originally from Iowa — which is where she went to medical school — Chang met her husband in Seattle during her intern year at Harborview Medical Center. She will serve as a chief resident this year at UW Medical Center, which means she’ll help oversee training of other residents.


Richard Veith, UW professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and department chairman, said Chang is among the “very high achievers” in his shop. The iPad win “reflects the creative and thoughtful mind of the kind of residents we have,” he said, with a smile.


Come fall, will she be watching UW360? “Yes,” she said emphatically. “It’s a great idea for a program and it’s exciting to know I named something that will be on TV.”