Rhiana Saunders, MD

Biography

Dr. Rhiana Saunders commissioned in the Army through ROTC at the University of Notre Dame. Awarded an HPSP scholarship, she earned her medical doctorate from Georgetown University School of Medicine (2004) and completed her Gynecologic Surgery and Obstetrics (GS&O) residency at Madigan Army Medical Center (2008). She completed fellowship training in Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility (REI) at the University of Louisville in Louisville, Kentucky (2009-2012). She returned to Madigan Army Medical Center in 2012 as a core faculty physician and director of the resident research curriculum. In 2014, she assumed the role as the director of the REI Division at the Brooke Army Medical Center (2014-2018). During this time, she deployed to Kuwait in support of the 31st Combat Support Hospital. As the REI Division Director, she spearheaded equal fertility care access to single soldiers and same sex couples at Brooke Army Medical Center.

In 2018, Dr. Saunders transferred to the National Capital Consortium where she assumed the GS&O Residency Program Director position. A skilled educator, she received both the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) Mentor of the Year Award (2021) and the National Capital Consortium Vice Admiral James A. Zimble Award (2023) in recognition of her role as the top Program Director (out of 63 healthcare specialties) whose contributions, dedication and interest in teaching best supported Walter Reed’s Graduate Medical Education.

In 2021, Dr. Saunders earned an Associate Professor in Gynecologic Surgery and Obstetrics position at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences and transferred back to San Antonio where she served on multiple Graduate Medical Education Sub-committees with a special focus on REI education, faculty development, and Quality Improvement / Patient Safety. She served and continues to serve in the Society for Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility (SREI) and its’ SREI Resident/Medical Student Sub-committee, the REI Milestones Work Group for the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, and ACOG’s Cefalo Leadership Institute. She engages with multiple local, regional, and national societal committees. In 2023, she was nominated and recognized by ACOG as the Armed Forces District Professor of the Year.

After twenty years of service, Dr. Saunders retired from the United States Army Medical Corps in June 2024 in the final rank of Colonel. She has joined Aspire HFI to begin a new career dedicated to providing individualized, successful, compassionate reproductive care for all patients seeking to build their families.
On a personal level, Dr. Saunders is a wife to her husband, Bo Plummer, and mother to three children, Evelynn, Amelia and Kellan Plummer. She and her husband are avid sports enthusiasts and loyal Notre Dame Alumni. All three of her children are actively engaged in competitive sports.