Staff

Our well-established private practice was originally founded by Dr. Don Van Schenck in 1981. Dr. Jonathan Thygeson joined the practice in 2011 and took ownership in 2012 when Dr. Van Schenck retired from his administrative duties. Dr. Thygeson is a proud member of the Sutter Independent Physicians Medical Group. He provides pediatric and adolescent medicine care for newborns to college age. We also have had the pleasure of Dr. Marketa Leisure joining the practice in November 2018. She has been practicing medicine for over 30 years. She received her medical degree from University of Chicago. Our most recent addition to our team is Dr. Philip Traquair. 

DOCTORS:

DR. JONATHAN THYGESON

Dr. Thygeson graduated from Loma Linda University Medical School and went on to work as a pediatrician in various healthcare systems over the years before finding his way to ARP. He is one of the highest recognized physicians in Sacramento over the last seven years and named top pediatrician for Sacramento magazine from 2017-2022. He is currently Chairman of Pediatrics for Sutter Medical Center Sacramento since 2020 until 2024. 

On his free time, Dr. Thygeson spends his weekends going snow skiing and doing other outdoor activities. He enjoys spending time with his family, friends, and twin teenage daughters. He also attends the Carmichael Seventh Day Adventist Church on most Saturdays. 

DR. MARKETA LEISURE

Dr. Leisure graduated with her Bachelors degree in Human Biology from Stanford University and attended University of Chicago's Pritzker School of Medicine. Before moving to Sacramento, she was residing in Eugene, Oregon where she practiced at Eugene Pediatric Associates. She is also our in-office lactation consultant. Aside from being part of Sutter Independent Physicians since 2019, she also teaches pediatrics as a professor at California North State University College of Medicine. 

In her free time, she enjoys spending her time being active and going hiking and camping. She also likes to spend her time doing photography and dance. Dr. Leisure is fluent in Czech, German, and French in addition to English.

DR. PHILIP TRAQUAIR

Dr. Traquair graduated from Indiana University School of Medicine. Previous to this, during his time in Illinois, he completed his Masters degree in Medical Sociology and his B.S.N. in Nursing. He previously resided in Arizona where he worked as a general pediatrician and also owned his own practice for some time. He has been part of American River Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine since 2020 and is currently the main attending physician at our Carmichael location.

Dr. Traquair enjoys spending his time with his spouse and children. He loves working with children of all ages and interacting with parents about their children. He also likes to join his wife in attending church every Sunday. 

OFFICE STAFF:

JASMIN J.

As an office manager in a pediatrics office, Jasmin finds great satisfaction in supporting the team in providing exceptional care to young patients and their families. She takes pride in ensuring that the office runs smoothly and efficiently, from managing patient records and scheduling appointments, to overseeing administrative staff and working closely with healthcare providers to provide the best possible care.

In her free time, Jasmin enjoys being around her friends and family. She is currently finishing her Bachelors in Healthcare Administration at National University, in hopes of providing a strong foundation for her work in healthcare management. She is dedicated to continuing her work as an office manager here at American River Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, and looks forward to many more years of supporting the health and wellbeing of young patients and their families. 

She is a proud Afghan-American, born and raised in the Bay Area. She speaks Dari and is always able to help fellow Afghans who come in to establish care with our office. 

ASHLEY G.  

Ashley is the assistant office manager at ARP. She has worked for ARP as a medical assistant for 3 years now. She graduated from UC Davis in 2020. She loves working with children and families. Her favorite part about working at ARP is the many connections she has made with the families and seeing the children grow up.

Her dream job is to be a pediatrician and is currently applying to medical school. In her spare time she loves to spend time with her husband and infant son. 

AVISHNA S. 

Avishna is a medical biller here at ARP. She was born and raised in Sacramento. She completed her prerequisites course for registered nursing and is pursuing her career as a nurse in the near future. She attended Sacramento City College and graduated in the year of 2022 receiving her associates degree. Her passion right now is to receive her license in coding. Her favorite part of the job is helping patients understand their bills and insurance, helping however she can. 

She enjoys being around infants and children. She has a little one of her own, so she relates to every parent here at ARP. In her free time she loves going on trips to Lake Tahoe with her husband. Avishna is fluent in Hindi and is very comfortable expressing her language with anyone who speaks Hindi. 

FRONT OFFICE:

ANNA T. 

Anna is one of the receptionists at American River Pediatrics and occasionally works in the back office as a medial assistant when needed. She attended and graduated from Carrington College. Anna is a Hmong-American born. Although there are very limited medical terms in Hmong, when given the chance, she strives to interpret to the very little group of Hmong whom speaks and understands very limited English. 

One of Anna's greatest opportunities while working at American River Pediatrics is getting the chance to work both as a receptionist and a medical assistant. Although she mostly works as a receptionist, it's always a great chance to get involved physically with patients and actually get the chance to see them grow. 

SALINA J.

Salina is one our front office receptionists here at American River Pediatrics who is also being trained as a medical assistant. She enjoys working with children and babies, while gaining new experiences at our office. Her favorite part about working here is the learning opportunities and friendly environment. Salina is looking forward to taking all the experiences she has here at ARP with her into her future career as a doctor.

Salina is a Sacramento State graduate who is currently working on applying to Medical school to become an Ob-Gyn. She is also a proud Afghan-American, born and raised in California. She speaks Dari and is always ready to help fellow Afghans who come in to establish care with our office.

VALERIIA P.

Valeriia is a front office receptionist in our office. She grew up in Ukraine and moved to the United States in 2022. She received her Bachelors degree in Translation Studies and Literature. Valeriia has always been passionate about languages and is fluent in both Ukrainian and Russian. Her main goal working here at American River Pediatrics is to provide accurate and high quality translations that improve healthcare outcomes for parents and their children.

Valeriia enjoys using her expertise in cultural sensitivity and improving her knowledge in medical terminology to facilitate communication between patients and healthcare professionals. In her free time she enjoys traveling, photography, reading, and spending time with her loved ones. 

CELINA C. 

Celina is a front office receptionist at ARP. She enjoys being first of contact to parents and patients. Her favorite part of working here at ARP is providing exceptional service to the patients and their parents. She finds enjoyment in assisting patients in accessing the help they need. Her goal is to make patients feel welcome when they first arrive. 

Celina is a proud Hmong-American. She has previously attended college and is planning on returning to college to further her education and receive an Associates degree. In her free time she enjoys going to the gym and spending time with friends and family. 

 ANGELIN J. 

Angelin is the newest member here at ARP. She is a front office receptionist. She is currently enjoying all the new skills and experiences that she is gaining here. She enjoys working with infants and children alike. She loves being surrounded by the amazing staff at ARP. She is currently attending Sacramento State University in hopes of getting her Bachelors degree in Psychology. 

In her free time, Angelin is usually hanging out with her loved ones or playing basketball. She is also a proud Afghan-American, born and raised in California. She speaks Dari and is always ready to help fellow Afghans who come in to establish care with our office.

MEDICAL ASSISTANTS:

LILY S.

Lily is a medical assistant here at ARP. She is a UC Davis graduate who joined our practice in August of 2022. She has had experience working in a variety of clinical environments from the athletic training rooms at UC Davis, to the mass vaccination clinics organized with Yolo County. Lily loves being able to work with such diverse patient populations and is dedicated to providing compassionate care to patients. In joining ARP, Lily has enjoyed being a part of your child's healthcare journey and strives to ensure that you and your child feel welcomed and cared for during your time in the office. Working with and learning from the patients here continues to inspire her to pursue her goal of becoming a physician. 

JEWELRY S. 

Jewelry is a medical assistant here at ARP. She mainly works at our Carmichael office. She has worked with children almost her whole life. She also volunteers at her church's day care program. She is currently working towards accomplishing her goals of becoming a pediatric nurse one day. She continues to pursue her passion of caring for children.

Jewelry is of Thai and Laos descent and can speak in both her native languages. Her favorite part is making sure that children are happy and well cared for. 

JAIMIE S. 

Jaimie is medical assistant here at ARP. She graduated from Notre Dame de Namur University with a Bachelors of Science in Biology. She moved to Sacramento in late 2020 and previously lived in Hawaii. She has been thinking of either going to PA school or Medical school. However, her experience so far here at ARP has solidified her passion of wanting to work with children and hopefully become a pediatrician. 

Her favorite part about working here is getting to talk to the kids and hearing the funny stories they have. She also likes that she gets the opportunity to help them feel comfortable here at the doctors.

In her free time, she likes to watch movies, hangout with friends and family, and build Legos.