Thank you, residents and interns, for all you do for one another and for your patients. Though often under-appreciated, your work does not go unnoticed.
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Residents of the Month
Hersh Patel
Hersh is an exceptional physician and colleague. His medical knowledge is remarkable, and he has an impressive ability to apply that knowledge thoughtfully to real clinical situations. We have even spent time going through ACP trivia questions together, and I am continually impressed by the breadth and depth of what he knows. More importantly, he is someone I genuinely trust. I love running cases by him because I know I will get honest, thoughtful feedback about management without judgment. Beyond his clinical abilities, Hersh is the kind of person who makes a team better. He is kind, approachable, and genuinely funny, and he brings a sense of camaraderie to even the busiest days. He consistently looks for ways to help others and, importantly, extends that same kindness to our patients. One moment that particularly captures who Hersh is happened when a patient was being transported on a stretcher with EMS. Hersh went out of his way to buy the patient a bottle of water from Starbucks. It was a small gesture, but it spoke volumes about the kind of physician he is. He notices what people need, even when no one is asking, and he takes the extra step to make someone’s experience a little better. Hersh exemplifies what I hope for in a colleague: clinically excellent, intellectually curious, dependable, kind, and someone who makes the people around him better.
Vasu Balraj
I was her attending for two weeks on Medicine Firm. This was the beginning of her 2nd year and first time as a senior resident. Her medical students and interns had NO idea this was her first time as a senior, given how poised and competent she was on her first call day. Her first day on service was a call day, on her 2nd call day they had 14 new patients, we staffed 9 new ones that day. She was able to stay calm, organized, help the interns and medical students, and most importantly keep all the patients stable, she had a solid plan for all of them. Despite being busy, she was reliable and followed through on consults and admission orders. She was an absolute pleasure to work with, her team saw her as the leader and was professional. I hope to work with her again in the future.
Interns of the Month
Thomas Pointer
Thomas has been a phenomenal intern and colleague on multiple rotations and is deserving of this award in any month, but his recent work has been truly exemplary of professionalism, collegiality, and putting the patient first. Most notably we’ve had high volumes of admits/discharges and Thomas has worked on multiple fronts to ensure these patients are discharged safely and have strong plans; even following up with some of them in his own COH clinic. Further, we have had several complex social situations and Thomas has worked carefully with our interdisciplinary colleagues in social work and nursing to ensure these patients receive excellent care outside the hospital. On the way he has shown leadership in conflict resolution when things don’t go as expected. This is most clearly defined by his complex capacity assessment on multiple elderly patients, his efforts to coordinate skilled care on discharge, and developing close relationships with friends/family to ensure strong support is there for our patients. This is on top of his base efforts to improve COH access to opioid used disorder treatments and epic usability. To top it all off, he is caring and kind to ALL team members and his patients.
Min Kim
Min has been an exemplary intern in the medical ICU. In his first rotation in the ICU he has quickly acclimated to the fast pace environment of the ICU while maintaining a patient-centered approach to his daily responsibilities. He spends a great amount of time visiting with patients and assessing their needs while tailoring excellent presentations to his seniors and attendings. He is performing far beyond his level of training and we would all be lucky if he was in charge of our health care. Nurses appreciate his communication and I respect the full fledged plans he has for all his patients. He shows up everyday offering his all to patients and he is always ready to learn more so that he can better serve the next patient. He readily identifies his own areas for improvement, which is the mark of a great intern and a great doctor in general. Anybody would be lucky to have him as their doctor.
Kudos
- Christopher Bach – I noticed on multiple occasions throughout the rotation that Dr Bach shows remarkable attention and patience towards his patients. I highlighted this quality to him as something to preserve (even, develop) at all cost. For example, he spent a significant amount of time talking with several patients who needed the extra attention. One of our patients was both very hard of hearing and did not have that many active medicine needs (we were waiting for biopsy results); it would thus be easy to give her the minimal amount of attention, but Dr Bach gave her time and attention. In fact, as Dr Bach and I rounded together, this patient exclaimed (about Dr Bach) that “most doctors are not so polite.” In addition, Dr Bach pays attention to details, both in placing orders, and in thinking through various pathophysiological mechanisms highly relevant to patient care, but too often only discussed vaguely in general medicine, such as hyponatremia, mechanisms of cirrhosis, titration of insulin with attention to timing and length of action.
- Claire Maher – She has done an amazing job on Cards firm. Despite it being relatively early in the year, she has already stood out not only for the excellent care she provides to her patients, but also for how actively she engages with and teaches medical students. On a personal note, she is incredibly friendly, kind, and approachable, which makes working with her such a pleasure. I also happened to receive almost half of my fellowship interviews while I was literally sitting and rounding next to her, even after the firm rotation was over. So at this point, I’m convinced she is my good-luck charm! To my fellow applicants: if you get the chance, definitely spend some time with her before the season is over. You won’t regret it!
- Jenny Chen – Dr. Chen came on to the CCU during an extremely hectic patient load, and she went above and beyond in caring not only for her patients but also for her interns. She always prioritized our well being in the midst of extremely complicated (and somewhat traumatizing) shifts, and even though she was exhausted herself, took extra time to support us and do regular check-ins. I’ve worked with many seniors, but Dr. Chen set herself apart in her ability to lift us up while simultaneously challenging us and furthering our growth. She is a fierce advocate for her patients and her team members, and was exceptionally skilled at leading our team in caring for some of the sickest patients in the hospital. Thanks for everything (and I hope you’re getting some much deserved sleep now)!
- Ghandi Hassan – Ghandi was an amazing advocate and leader during an exceptionally difficult Cardiology Firm block. Through a number of complex patient interactions, interprofessional team dynamics, and taxing days, he was a steady presence who helped keep the team on track and working well together. I admire the ways in which his leadership facilitated growth in both me and my co-intern, and he also made room for teaching the medical students on the team. I hope I can conduct myself in much the same way when I am leading a team, and I know he is off to do great things!
- Bhargav Vemulapali – Kudos to Bhargav for appropriately identifying that a patient in the ED was in hypertensive emergency and was not yet appropriate for the floor. He convinced the ED team to take back the patient and worked with identify milestones for this patient to be able to come to the floor.
- Felicia Guo – Felicia added a fifth patient onto her clinic schedule so that she could have close follow up with a patient with anxiety. All five patients showed up and she saw all of them efficiently and on time. She demonstrated both her commitment to her patients and her clinical skill.