Meet Dr. Daniel Pastan, chief resident
Q&A with the 2026-27 chief residents
Daniel Pastan, MD
Primary Care Chief Resident
Medical school: Emory University School of Medicine
What does being a chief resident mean to you?
My wife Colleen and I couples matched here from Atlanta to rebuild our life at UW. We have loved our three years in Madison so far. Our son Alexander was born here in September 2025, and it is a wonderful place to raise a kid.
The UW IM primary care track is one of the premiere programs in the country for anyone interested in a balanced, outpatient-focused residency experience, and I could not have been happier here as a resident.
UW has given me and my family so much; I was originally motivated to pursue this experience in an effort to give back.
To me, being a chief means everything: it's an opportunity to take a step back before becoming an attending, to develop my skills as a clinician/teacher/administrator, and to join the amazing team of educators whose job it is to make our residency the best possible place for residents to train in IM.
What are you most looking forward to as chief?
In particular, I look forward to working with our residents, both primary care track and categorical, on developing bespoke outpatient curricular and clinical experiences that support their ever-changing goals and interests.
I am also looking forward to identifying and mentoring medical students and residents who are interested in a career in adult primary care.
What’s your favorite part of the UW internal medicine residency?
I said this many times throughout residency, but I genuinely believe that our program has one of the best schedules and work-life balances of any in the country.
The combination of rigorous outpatient/inpatient clinical experiences and sufficient time off for personal/family endeavors makes this a truly unique, special place to train.