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.
June 2023 Inpatient Resident of the Month
Bjorn Anderson
I was the Cardiology consults fellow this past month at the VA. Because of several unexpected events, we were without a cath lab and all patients in need of PCI had to be transferred elsewhere. For most, this was from the ED. However, Bjorn’s team had 3 such patients and he did his utmost to get these veterans to hospitals where they could get safe and good care in a timely manner. As anyone who has worked at the VA can attest, this is not a simple process. Bjorn took it upon himself to go above and beyond and call 7 hospitals for each patient and get them on each waitlist. While this was very appreciated, what stood out most to me was his “can-do” attitude through it all, especially when this was not his fault or problem. Ultimately, because of Bjorn, these patients got the care they needed when they needed it, and without his leadership that would not have happened.
June 2023 Inpatient Intern of the Month
Greta Tamkus
“Greta is an outstanding intern. She is thorough, sharp, hard-working, and patient-centered. I was so impressed by her ability to manage the ‘unteachable’ parts of residency – she deftly navigated relationships and communication with patients, families, nursing, and other staff in order to move forward care for her patients. I felt like I never had to step in and ‘take over’ while we were rounding with patients because her plans were excellent (and self-formed) and she knew how to communicate them to patients and families in a way that was understandable. I was also so impressed by her desire to plan for contingencies, close loops, anticipate barriers, etc. – she’s already thinking at the level of a senior in regards to discharge planning, social/economic barriers, contexts of care, and optimizing safe follow-up. It’s clear that she sees her role as a physician as extending beyond the hospital encounter and I think her patients are so much better off for it. No notes for Greta, just an incredible job at the beginning of intern year and I am so excited to see how she develops in future months.”
“I’d like to recognize Dr. Tamkus for her incredible compassion, thoughtfulness, and enthusiasm. Greta — an anagram to Great — was my intern on medicine firm at the start of her intern year. I was immediately struck by her knowledge and well-crafted plans, that she was “ready on day one” to be an intern. Greta would often come up with plans as well as contingency plans – if a study returned with particular results, how she would interpret them, and if they returned inconclusive, what she would do next. It is clear she would read up on patients and would apply her readings to her patient care.
These very mature plans were complemented by her compassionate bedside manner. Greta knew how to talk to patients well, preparing them that their problems would take time to fix but giving them hope (when appropriate) that things would get better eventually. One example of her bedside manner was a patient who was admitted on his birthday. Greta got this patient a birthday card and had all the team and their nursing and ancillary staff all sign it.
Unsaid in all this is how she was excellent and able to go above-and-beyond even on day one, when many residents would be struggling to navigate the hospital let alone a complex plan. For these reasons, I am proud to nominate Greta Tamkus as intern of the month.”
June 2023 Outpatient Resident of the Month
Beth Bryant
“Beth found someone having a crisis while she was walking her dog on a very hot day and stayed with the person for 2 hours to provide them with support until EMS showed up. She showed such kindness throughout this incident, and her selflessness is admirable! She is a great doctor and co-resident!”
June 2023 Outpatient Intern of the Month
Kathlyn Zhuang
“I worked with this intern on her first day in the clinic, and she really exceeded expectations. It was clear she had read about her patients beforehand as well as done background reading their medical problems, because she came in with very thoughtful plans. She even had an IOV patient with an interpreter and a long list of complex symptoms, and she adeptly triaged things to what needed to be addressed today and what could wait for follow up (which we all know can be a big challenge in the COH!). She is starting off intern year strong, and I look forward to working with her for the rest of the year!”
Kudos
Brian Kocak
Shelly D’Alessandro
Nathan Neilson
Gavin Hall
David Zhang
Qianli Wang
Michael Conroy
Lekha Pandya
Sajal Tiwary
Amanda Golden
Rachana Raghupathy
Ashton Naumann
Alexa Loncharich
LeJIT Teaching Award from the Medicine Clerkship
In recognition of completing just-in-time assessments (aka “JITs”), providing meaningful, timely feedback to students, and creating a positive learning environment that fosters feedback and growth.
Congratulations,
Elisa De Togni &
Neha Akkad!