June 2024 Kudos and Awards - John T. Milliken Department of Medicine

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 2024 Inpatient Intern of the Month
Dr. Noah Romero-Nakajima

I’d like to nominate Noah for intern of the month. From day one of intern year, he displayed a remarkable ability to systematically work through a patient’s history, exam, and lab findings to build a differential and logical plan that helped him arrive at the optimal diagnosis and management every time. He peppered consultants with excellent questions to understand their decision making. He even arrived at the correct diagnosis oftentimes before consultants chimed in. He would often listen in to other teams’ rounds just to learn about their patients and cases, to the point that he could easily cross cover on the entire firm. And it’s not just booksmarts–Noah loves medicine for the people, too. Every time there was a new patient, before he would give any thoughts, he would say, “I have to see and talk to the patient first.” All of his patients were extremely fond of “Dr. Noah,” and he comfortably led often difficult conversations at the bedside with ease and expertise. His passion for learning and growth was inspiring and infectious; he deserves to be recognized for it.

From the attending on service: “Noah is the perfect type of curious. He loves medicine and people and is passionate about figuring out why something is the way it is. His curiosity creates great energy and enthusiasm for learning on the team that makes both our patient care and our teaching better.

One specific clinical skill that I have found to be exceptional in Noah is his ability to recognize sick and impending illness in our patients. His clinical judgment is outstanding. This coupled with his curiosity makes working with him a pleasure.”

June 2024 Inpatient Intern of the Month
Dr. Krishna Mallem

I am honored to nominate Krishna for Intern of the Month on Firm. Krishna has been stellar, consistently demonstrating exceptional dedication, skill, and compassion. He has faced numerous challenging patients and complex cases, yet he has taken on each challenge with unwavering confidence and competence. Krishna excels in organization, efficiency, and patient advocacy. His meticulous approach to patient care ensures that nothing is overlooked and that each patient receives the highest standard of care. He is always prepared, whether it’s for morning rounds, or ACTs.

One incident stands out as a testament to Krishna’s initiative. After a long and demanding day, we were informed that radiology was unable to take one of our patients for a paracentesis. The patient was in significant discomfort and without hesitation, Krishna took it upon himself to ensure that the patient received the necessary care. He personally escorted the patient downstairs to radiology and advocated for the procedure to be performed. His determination and advocacy ensured that the patient received timely and appropriate care.

Krishna effectively communicates with patients, families, and the healthcare team, ensuring that everyone is informed and involved in the care process. Furthermore, Krishna’s proactive approach to learning and seeking feedback has been impressive. He is always eager to expand his knowledge and skills, asking insightful questions and applying new information to improve patient care. His positive attitude and willingness to help others make him a pleasure to work with.

June 2024 Inpatient Resident of the Month
Dr. Sarah Coats

Sarah deserves recognition for her relentless commitment to patient care and helping her colleagues. On swing admitter, she has consistently gone above and beyond in admitting multiple complex patients and staying far past the usual work hours of the swing admitter. She never hesitated to dive into hard work – it was routine to show up for our shift to find that Sarah had admitted 5 or 6 patients, far beyond what we had come to expect. On nights when the call team was overwhelmed, she voluntarily stayed until midnight or later to ensure safe patient care when multiple patients were hitting the floor at once, even despite knowing her shift had ended. As swing admitter, her commitment to her patients was incomparable. She never signed out incomplete work to the night team, always following up on any concerning labs or findings to completion. She was also always available to weigh in on complex medical decision making – given her impressive clinical skills, this was greatly appreciated!

Aside from her outstanding clinical skills and work ethic, Sarah should also be recognized for her unfailingly positive attitude. Even on the busiest and most stressful of nights, Sarah was never heard to complain once. She was an absolute rock of positivity and calm that helped the night team through many stressful nights. For all these reasons we were beyond grateful to have Sarah Coats as swing admitter!

June 2024 Inpatient Resident of the Month
Dr. Jonathan Tang

EM Chiefs: We just wanted to send you a note of our appreciation for Dr. Jonathan Tang. The July 4th overnight shift in particular was one of the highest volume/acuity mixes we have seen in a while. During the time that our department was under a deluge critically ill patients, Dr. Tang did an incredible job of picking up volume and seeing some higher-acuity patients. Additionally, he’s overall been a pleasure to have in the ED for his rotation. He is extremely professional, thorough, and shows great clinical ability with our undifferentiated patients.

From Med 1 Nursing staff: Jonathan Tang was available, empathetic, and went above and beyond coordinating care. He came to bedside multiple times throughout shift after med team rounds, was punctual, and very informative with the patient regarding his condition. The patient has required additional moral/emotional support today and he has been very empathetic towards him. He provided additional information and handouts for the patient regarding his disease process and treatment options. Wonderful Job.