Kenneth Ballou, M.D.

Medical Director, CSPC

Dr. Kenneth Ballou, M.D. is an assistant clinical professor of family medicine at the University of California, Riverside School of Medicine.

After receiving his M.D. from the Loma Linda University School of Medicine, Ballou served his internship and residency in family medicine at the Malcolm Grow U.S. Air Force Medical Center at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland. He then was assigned to the hospital at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona. Upon leaving the Air Force, he spent a year as a staff physician at the Visalia Medical Clinic before joining the staff at Beaver Medical Group/Redlands Community Hospital in Redlands, California.

Ballou began his teaching career as a volunteer clinical faculty member in the UCR/UCLA Thomas Haider Program in Biomedical Sciences, teaching the first year clinical skills course, the patient based learning course, the second year clinical skills course and the first year doctoring course. He became an assistant professor of clinical medicine when the School of Medicine opened in 2013.

Chris Miller, C.H.S.E., M.I.C.P., M.S.C.P.

Director of Operations, Center for Simulated Patient Care
Clinical Faculty

Chris Miller is the Director of Operations for the University of California, Riverside School of Medicine’s Center for Simulated Patient Care. A published author and research presenter, Miller has more than 40 years of broad experience in the delivery of patient-centric high quality pre-hospital emergency medical services. He has been an advocate of multi-vocational training and education, simulation, and scenario-based learning across his professional career that includes positions in public safety, public health, academia, and corporate management.

Prior to joining UC Riverside, Miller worked as a firefighter for a major metropolitan fire department and a small wildland urban interface fire department, plus a fire and EMS Instructor in the California Community Colleges system. Miller is a paramedic and a certified California state fire officer.

His educational background includes a California Vocational Teaching Credential, an associate degree in engineering, a bachelor's degree in business management from Azusa Pacific University, and a master degree in clinical psychology from Ryokan College in Santa Monica, Calif. He is a veteran of the United States Air Force, where he served as an explosive ordnance disposal and fire protection specialist and received a U.S.A.F. Commendation Medal.

He is a member of the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine, the Association of Standardized Patient Educators, the Society for Simulation in Healthcare, and is the founding member of the Southern California Healthcare Educators Alliance. He has served on the UCR SOM Education Committee and the Virtual School of Medicine Design Team. He has also been an invited presenter at the California Simulation Alliance.

When not working, Miller enjoys stand-up comedy, acting (theater, film, and voice-over) and amateur road racing. He has been married three decades and has three adult children and two grandsons.

Amanda Lockhart

Assistant Director of Operations, CSPC
Director, Standardized Patient Program

Amanda Lockhart has worked as the director of the UC Riverside School of Medicine Standardized Patient Program since 2013, building the SP program for the fledgling medical school from scratch.

In all, Lockhart has spent more than two decades integrating standardized patients into medical education, working at Loma Linda University School of Medicine for 14 years and the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific located at Western University of Health Sciences for 11 years.

While at UCR, Lockhart has been responsible for several program enhancements and innovations, including the creation of the Five Step Feedback program, development and utilization of Standardized Patient Instructors, and the design of the Center for Clinical Patient Care (CCPC).

A native of England who became a citizen in 2001, Lockhart has a B.S. in business management. Her hobbies include gardening, reading, and knitting blankets that she then donates to local hospices. She is an avid supporter of the Donate Life organ and tissue donor registry and is a donor herself, having given a kidney to her husband when he suffered from kidney failure.

Margaret Montalvan

Standardized Patient Educator, Doctoring Instruction

Margaret Montalvan started at the UCR School of Medicine as a standardized patient in 2014 and became a standardized patient educator in Oct. 2017.

Montalvan is a 2015 graduate of UCR with a B.S. in applied mathematics and chemistry.

She became a certified nursing assistant in 2004 and taught nursing, first aid and CPR throughout high school and college. She was a member of Cal-HOSA and competed nationally in first aid/ CPR competitions, winning gold and silver medals.

In her free time she enjoys photography, developing 35mm film, hiking, and working out at the boxing gym.

Wesley Lockhart

Simulation Specialist, Clinical Faculty

Wesley Lockhart has been a member of the UCRSOM Simulation Center staff since 2014 and has been involved in medical education simulation for the last decade.

Lockhart was first exposed to using medical simulation as a tool for instructing students and healthcare professionals in a wide array of task trainers and simulations while at Loma Linda University. He joined Western University of Health Sciences in Pomona where he helped establish their simulation program. He also worked at Loma Linda University's Emergency Room at their Murrieta campus.

Lockhart earned a B.A. in philosophy & ethics from California State University, San Bernardino and is currently working on his master's degree in adult education and healthcare simulation through Drexel University. He is a nationally registered emergency medicine technician and a certified healthcare operations specialist.

Maria Luna

Administrative Coordinator

Maria Luna joined the standardized patient program as a student worker in 2016. Now that she completed her BA in Linguistics from UCR, she is now the administrative coordinator for the Center for Simulated Patient Care.

In her free time, she likes to go to amusement parks, music festivals, and visit animal shelters. She works hard every day so she can give her future dogs the backyard they deserve.