Family Medicine Residency Seneca - Faculty

Dr. Beben always knew she wanted to be a rural family doctor growing up in the “quiet corner” of Connecticut.  She majored in Biology and Spanish at Tulane University in New Orleans, LA where she met her husband Philip, a high school math teacher.  After doing a gap year as a clinical research coordinator for a urology office she moved back home to start medical school at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine.  While there she coordinated a Migrant Farmworker Clinic, volunteered at clinics at homeless shelters and YWCA housing developments and spent an afternoon a week at a rural family medicine office honing her skills.  She received a HRSA National Health Service Corps scholarship while in medical school which cemented her commitment to rural primary care.  She moved to South Carolina to complete her residency training at AnMed Health and after graduation she and her growing family moved to El Dorado Springs, Missouri so she could work at a Rural Health Clinic.  While there she practiced full-spectrum family medicine including obstetrics, nursing home and hospice care, inpatient medicine and home visits.  Due to financial issues with the hospital, she was left without a place to deliver babies so came back to Anderson, SC where she worked in a hospital-owned practice and became a community preceptor for the AnMed Health program.  That’s where she found her love for teaching.  She joined the Seneca Family Medicine Residency Program in its infancy as the Associate Program Director and has been focused on developing the Women’s Health/OB curriculum as well as the longitudinal curriculum overall.  In her spare time, she can be found at gymnastics meets cheering on her oldest son, soccer games with her middle two kids or just being silly with her preschooler as well as on family trips to the beach or mountains. 

Megan Hanna, MD was born and raised just down the road in Greenville, South Carolina. She spent time in Holland, Michigan before moving back down south to continue her education.

She earned her Bachelor of Science in Biology and Spanish from Furman University and went onto attend medical school at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine- Greenville. She stayed local to complete her residency at the Prisma Health Upstate Family Medicine Residency in Greenville prior to practicing outpatient community medicine for two years in Greer.

She is excited to be back in an academic setting and her interests include preventative care, women’s health, lifestyle medicine, global health and LGBTQ+ affirming care.

Outside of medicine she enjoys spending time with her husband and their pets. She loves to travel and experience different cultures (especially the food)! Her hobbies include art, puzzles, getting outside and reading.

Carol Nessmith Pryby, MD, was born in New Jersey and received her university education at the  University of Georgia and Minot State College, majoring in speech-language pathology and receiving both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees.

She attended Mercer University School of Medicine in Macon, Georgia, graduating with honors in 1997.

She married a military man after her sophomore year at the University of Georgia, moving with him throughout the country, from Montana to Washington to California to North Dakota. The family also spent time in Alabama and Georgia.

Dr. Pryby opened a private practice in Macon after completing her residency in family medicine, while also moonlighting as an ER physician at local hospitals in rural areas. In 2008, she was asked to start a hospitalist program in Warner Robins, Georgia. She worked as a hospitalist for the next five-and-a-half years.

Following the passing of her sister from complications of multiple sclerosis in 2013, Dr. Pryby moved to Tybee Island. She took a position on the faculty of the Family Medicine Residency Program at Memorial Hospital in Savannah, Georgia, serving as the Director of Curriculum for the residency program. She also served as the family medicine liaison to the Memorial Hospital Ethics Committee.

When Dr. Todd Pryby retired in 2016, the couple moved to north Georgia. Dr. Carol Pryby worked as a hospitalist for the next six years, first at Emory Decatur in Atlanta, then closer to home at St. Mary’s Sacred Heart in Lavonia, Georgia.

Dr. Pryby joined Prisma Health’s Oconee Family Medicine Residency Program in November 2023, while continuing to live in Georgia with her husband. They have celebrated 43 years of marriage and partnership. She keeps in close touch with her son and daughter-in-law in Alexandria, Virginia, and brags almost daily about her handsome grandson.

Mostly, though, she feels honored to be a part of this group of quality faculty and awesome residents

Katrina Quick, MD, grew up living overseas and it was while living in Kenya that she first developed an interest in medicine and commitment to serving others. Her sense of adventure prompted her to attend medical school in St. Maarten at the American University of the Caribbean, and her love for the outdoors took her to Casper, WY, for Family Medicine Residency. While completing her full spectrum rural family medicine residency she discovered her passion for women’s health and obstetrics. It was that same passion that motivated her to pursue a fellowship in surgical and high-risk obstetrics through the University of Washington in Spokane, WA. Katrina is grounded in the philosophy that health is a basic human right and aims to practice evidence-based medicine with equal care for all patients. She believes in a direct, hands on approach to teaching practical skills; allows autonomy that facilitates physician growth while providing a safe and receptive learning environment. She is married and together they have a pet black Labrador. The family are all outdoor enthusiasts and love to explore new places and cultures. When not traveling the world, they can be found hiking, biking, playing frisbee with the dog or just enjoying the lake on their paddle boards. Some of Katrina’s other hobbies include discovering new restaurants, coffee and ice-cream shops, as well as curling up with a good fiction novel and working on new craft projects.

Weldon Deas is originally from Fort Mill, SC. She went to Presbyterian College for her undergraduate education, and then to the Medical University of South Carolina for medical school. She has a passion for sports, and even continued to coach volleyball throughout medical school. Her hobbies include playing volleyball, swimming, spending time on the lake, and watching the Carolina Panthers football games.

Elizabeth “Liz” Harpster, MD describes her path to medicine as a winding road with many forks instead of the straight highway many doctors take.

Dr. Harpster spent her formative years split between the Midwest and the Southwest. She initially grew up in the Chicago, IL area, moving to El Paso, TX at 13 years old. Dr. Harpster graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a degree in Economics and a minor in International Business.

After working in the insurance business, Dr. Harpster received her high school teaching certification, teaching both high school math and social studies and coaching cheerleading. Although Dr. Harpster enjoyed teaching, she continued to circle back to her dream of being a physician.

She completed her post-bachelors’ courses at The Ohio State University while working as a tutor and the Chemistry and Biology lab coordinator. In 2012, as her youngest child started kindergarten, Dr. Harpster started Case Western Reserve School of Medicine in Cleveland, Ohio accepting the Health Provider Service Program scholarship and entered the US Army. She graduated with Honors with Distinction in Research for her participation in research projects with the Cleveland Veterans Administration Hospital spinal cord injury patients.

After medical school, Dr. Harpster completed Family Medicine Residency at Womack Army Medical Center in Fort Bragg, NC while also serving as an officer in the US Army. During residency, Dr. Harpster continually incorporated her teaching experience into her work and was awarded the Resident Teacher of the Year.

Since residency, Dr. Harpster has been stationed in Fort Bliss, El Paso and has worked as a staff physician, faculty for nursing students, medical students and resident physicians, served as Medical Director for the Exceptional Family Member Program and most recently has been the Officer in Charge of Mendoza Family Care Clinic running a medical clinic that cares for nearly 10,000 military dependents.

Recently, Dr. Harpster received her honorable discharge from the US Army and was able to pursue her “dream job” as a Family Medicine Residency Faculty member. The melding of both her experience as a teacher and her love of full-spectrum family medicine makes Seneca Family Medicine Residency Program the perfect fit! She is very excited to be a member of this team.

Along with medicine, Dr. Harpster enjoys any and all water activities, hiking, board games (especially Catan), traveling, tending to her plants and time with her husband, 3 teenagers and 2 dogs.

Jennifer Hanke, DO grew up in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Oklahoma and earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology and Biology from Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais, Illinois. She went on to earn her medical degree from the Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine at Midwestern University. She then transitioned to residency at Seneca Lakes Family Medicine Residency in Seneca, South Carolina which was a 1+2 rural track program associated with AnMed Health. The reason she chose to pursue residency in Seneca was due to her passion for providing full-spectrum family medicine services to a rural population including the ability to provide obstetrical services. Upon residency completion, Dr. Hanke remained in Seneca as a residency core faculty member and later became the Associate Program Director. Discovering her ongoing enthusiasm for resident and medical school education, she decided to pursue a Program Director position at Johnston Memorial Hospital in Abingdon, Virginia where she also served as the Director of Medical School Education for Edward via College of Osteopathic Medicine (VCOM) third- and fourth-year medical students. She thought she was leaving South Carolina permanently, but her former co-workers and patients in Seneca drew her back to the area in September of 2021 where she became core faculty for the new Seneca Family Medicine Residency as well as the Family Medicine Clerkship Director for the University of South Carolina School of Medicine – Greenville. Her special interests include preventative/lifestyle medicine, office procedures, obstetrics, and caring for a wide spectrum of patients from newborn to the elderly. Outside of work, Dr. Hanke enjoys spending time with her husband and four children which often includes a number of outdoor activities, sports and traveling the world.

Kasey McDonald is from Jefferson, GA. She attended the University of Georgia, where she obtained a Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences with a minor in Religion. She earned her Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree from Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine in Spartanburg, SC. Kasey is a 2021 recipient of the Lily M. and G.D. Jackson Award. She is interested in rural broad-spectrum family medicine with an emphasis on sports and prevention medicine. Her hobbies include kayaking, puzzles, golfing, and playing slow-pitch softball.

Melicia Tanner, Ed.D. LPC, grew up in Powdersville, a small suburb of Greenville, South Carolina. She earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Clemson University (go Tigers!) in Clemson, South Carolina, and a master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling from Lipscomb University in Nashville. She is currently pursuing a doctorate of education in Community Care and Counseling with an emphasis in Traumatology. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor.

Prior to her current role, she provided counseling for clients with serious and persistent mental illness during her time working for the South Carolina Department of Mental Health. In her practice, she is guided by the theories of cognitive-behavioral therapy and person-centered therapy. She believes strongly that her role as a therapist is to partner with her clients, advocate for them, and equip them with the tools and techniques to be independent and empowered. She is so excited about the opportunity to provide integrated care in a teaching clinic and believes very strongly in this model.  

In her role as behavioral health curriculum director of the Seneca Family Medicine Residency Program, she is responsible for the development and implementation of the behavioral health curriculum, faculty and resident wellness programming, and providing integrated mental health care to the patients of the Center for Family Medicine – Oconee.  

Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with her family (her husband Joe, their daughter Mia, and their mini labradoodle Ollie), reading, serving with her church, baking, and board game nights with friends (her favorites are Codenames and Ticket to Ride!).