January 2024 Kudos and Awards

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.

Help us highlight the kindness, clinical judgement, resourcefulness, and work ethic.

Nominate a resident/intern for Housestaff of the month or just share something good.

January 2024 Inpatient Intern of the Month
Dr. Antara Dattagupta

I would like to nominate Antara for intern of the month! I had the absolute pleasure of working with Antara on VA firm. Antara was an absolute champ of an intern on an incredibly challenging few weeks at the VA! Despite not having worked at the VA before, Antara hit the road running from day one! From the moment she joined our team, Antara was ready to tackle the VA with her positivity and desire to learn. Not only does Antara have a wealth of medical knowledge, she delivers patient care with a grace, charm, and genuine kindness that cannot be captured by words. As an example – as her senior, I went out of my way to introduce myself to her patients as Dr. Dattagupta’s colleague on her days off as I knew that was a sure way to establish immediate rapport with her patients (especially the ones who were notably difficult to warm up to providers). It goes without saying, all of Antara’s patients adored her as their primary inpatient doctor, even the ones with waxing and waning delirium! I learned a great deal from Antara’s immaculate bedside manner. Not only did Antara know the names of her patients’ emergency contacts, she could rattle off the names of her patients’ parents, spouses, children, etc. without fail! For a peri-ICU patient with metastatic cancer, Antara led multiple nuanced goals of care discussions, ultimately guiding the patient and his family to the graceful decision of hospice care. As well, there were multiple patients we had to transfer out of the VA, including one in particular with an active brain bleed we had to urgently transfer to Barnes. Antara handled those high-stakes situations with levelheaded ease, methodically getting her tasks done to ensure strong continuity of care at the outside hospital. From sorting out bureaucratic delays in transportation to ensuring the Chief of Staff at the VA was made aware, Antara handled these situations like a seasoned senior resident. Antara will rock whatever medical field she chooses to go into in the future!

I had the pleasure of working with Antara during VA firm. She acted as an advanced senior resident and knew both sides of the list very well. She was extremely advanced in medical knowledge and had fantastic bedside manner. All of the staff (nursing AND cleaning) loved having her around. She made my job easy as the senior resident.

January 2024 Inpatient Intern of the Month
Dr. Arwa Mohamad

I would like to enthusiastically nominate Arwa Mohamad for Intern of the Month. I had her as my intern on the medicine firm service at Barnes. Put quite simply, she is the best intern I’ve worked with this year and embodies all the qualities of an amazing physician in training.

In terms of her medical knowledge and clinical reasoning, I found her to be beyond the level I would expect for an intern at her stage in training. For each new admission, she would challenge herself to provide a broad differential diagnosis and management plan on her own before presenting it to me. When reviewing patients with her, I found myself only making logistical changes. She is also extremely comfortable with analyzing new and unexpected data and adjusting her plans accordingly. She never committed herself to a strict plan which I believe demonstrates her nuanced understanding of medicine and how patients may be dynamic in the hospital. This was a difficult concept for me to learn personally – something I figured out closer to the end of my intern year.

Beyond her outstanding medical knowledge, her interpersonal skills and teamwork are truly commendable. She was an ideal teammate, fostering a positive and collaborative work environment every day. Her likability is evident in the way she interacts with the other residents in the room, our medical students, and our attendings. She believed that learning should be a fun, enjoyable experience, which she undoubtedly practiced every day.

Beyond her knowledge and teamwork, I think her most remarkable quality is her unwavering compassion and commitment to her patients. This is an intern that goes above and beyond for the people under her care. Arwa loves talking to her patients and making sure they are updated on what is happening while they are in the hospital. She advocates for her patients by making compelling arguments to subspecialty services, appropriately pushing for further diagnostics and management recommendations. She even coordinated – on her own – an entire inpatient sleep study for one of her patients who was nearing discharge. This required shifting bed placements and coordinating with subspecialists, long after sign-out hours. Our attending was shocked that she was able to accomplish this. Arwa can pull off things thought to be impossible, all for the benefit of her patients.

In conclusion, Dr. Arwa Mohamad embodies the qualities that make an outstanding intern. Her exceptional medical knowledge, teamwork, compassion, and dependability make her a deserving candidate for the Intern of the Month award.

January 2024 Inpatient Resident of the Month
Dr. Clayton Davis

Clayton has been an outstanding leader for our Cards Firm team this month. He is able to take care of extremely complex cardiac patients with multiple medical issues, as well as address their often difficult social issues, while never failing to be a compassionate, caring physician. His calm, thoughtful approach is always apparent — no matter how many patients are on the service or how many cross-coverage issues arise. Moreover, he always takes the time to teach, instruct, and guide the team in an extremely supportive and respectful way. Clayton models the best attributes of what I think a physician should be and it has been a real pleasure to work with him this past month.

January 2024 Outpatient Intern of the Month
Dr. Jake Lattin

I wanted to recognize Jake resident for exceptional care of a very complex patient in the clinic. This patient was a recent immigrant presenting for an IOV/PHV after a presentation with chest pain, and had a complex and somewhat unclear past medical history and psych history, with a slew of medications from her physicians in her home country. Jake immediately established the trust of the patient and her family, and conducted the entire interview and counseling in Spanish (which really built trust). He worked methodically through the various complaints and her complex med list, addressing the things that needed addressing/refills today and recognizing what could be tabled to next visit, and never seemed flustered or rushed. By the the time I came in to staff, the patient and was laughing and telling stories. It seemed like this patient was at very high risk of being lost to the medical system, but with the great relationship that Jake established, it seems like she is going to follow up and get the care that she needs.

January 2024 Outpatient Intern of the Month
Dr. Paige Coughlin

Went above and beyond to coordinate care for a new patient to our clinic who presented as a PHV after a cardiac surgery, didn’t have insurance, and had a language barrier. Paige took the extra time to coordinate with social work to get the patient the financial assistance application, to obtain a medication voucher and counsel the patient on the most efficient way to use it, and found information about mental health services available in the patient’s language. Finally, as I was walking out of clinic I saw Paige in the Link with this patient and her family, ensuring they and the interpreter found their way to the CAM to pick up her prescriptions. Fantastic work coordinating all aspects in this patient’s care.

January 2024 Outpatient Resident of the Month
Dr. Mohamad Dbouk

Mohamad went above and beyond with his clinic patients over the past month. Despite having a challenging schedule with a high show rate and dealing with numerous patients with complex medical and psychosocial issues, he continued to provide excellent care in the COH (even if this came at the expense of him having to stay late on busy days). He never compromised the care of his patients or his presentations in the bubble despite the heavy workload that was put on him. Regardless of how tedious the task was, from setting up appointments with multiple subspecialists to explaining complex medication regimens, Mohamad stepped up and ensured that his patients received great care.