News Housestaff Recognition Awards/Fellowships/Honors/Accolades

May 2024 Kudos and Awards

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Kudos and Awards graphic

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

Alex Zdonczyk

May 2024 Inpatient Intern of the Month
Dr. Alex Zdonczyk

“We can confidently say that she is to be one of the best if not THE best ophthalmology intern to have rotated through the MICU here.

She is so dedicated – comes in early and stays as many hours as she needs to finish the job, often well beyond her required time here, and pretty much refuses to leave unless her work is done. Her notes are thorough and meticulously thought out; they clearly reflect a deep understanding of ICU concepts. She is always attentive, curious, asks insightful questions. She is such a delight to be around and she has developed close rapport with patients’ families who she calls daily with updates. We have had some patients recently who have required extensive care coordination and she has been so diligent in communicating with all parties to make sure patients have a safe transition home.  

She will definitely be missed here.”

Harrison McMinn

May 2024 Inpatient Resident of the Month
Dr. Harrison McMinn

Nomination from Med 1 Nursing leadership: “We had admitted a new patient for a transplant work up.  Late that afternoon, after the day team had already signed out for the day, we received news that the patient had gotten an organ in a hospital out of state and we needed to figure out how to get him there. This was challenging, as it was also late enough that the floor case managers and social worker were gone for the day.​
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But not to be deterred, our charge nurse proceeded to try to make this happen.  One of her first calls was to Dr. Harrison McMinn who was 4th Night Float.  As you might imagine, as 4th Night Float, he would be very busy with all the patients he was covering, plus all the admissions he might have to do.  But Dr. McMinn was so receptive to our request that he began working at it from his position and keeping us updated with any progress through secure chat.  Meanwhile, Dr. McMinn was in contact with the outside hospital, he put in everything needed for discharge, and the patient was ultimately scheduled for an air medivac ride in the middle of the night.​
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Hopefully, this patient received his new liver that day and it could not have happened without Dr. McMinn, and we thought you should know how great he is. ​
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We already thought highly of him while he was senior resident for a primary team rotation, but this certainly shows how very dedicated and compassionate he is toward all patients. We appreciate him very much!

Daniel Arroyo Ariza

May 2024 Outpatient Intern of the Month
Dr. Daniel Arroyo Ariza

Kudos from PCMC social workers: “I just wanted to give a shoutout to Daniel Arroyo Ariza. He is a wonderful advocate for all of his patients. This week, he assisted me with completing a BJC financial assistance application for a non-English speaking patient and their family. We were able to get the application approved same day so that this patient can get 100% financial assistance through BJC, all because of his assistance. I appreciate his ongoing collaboration with the SW team!”

Kudos

Dr. Kylie Cleavinger
I just wanted to pass along that I was really impressed by Kylie Cleavenger. She was covering for another resident yesterday and went above and beyond in my opinion. We had two patients who ended up having some discharge issues/complexities. Given she was only covering, she could have easily punted and let the patients stay until today for us to solve. But she stayed late and got them safely discharged and even did the discharge summaries (from Chris Rigell, VA attending)
Dr. Ali Hixon
Dr. Ali Hixon
High praise for Dr. Hixon from one of her clinic patients: “Patient stated that she is going to miss her when she moves on from the residency program. She thinks highly of the doctor. Patient spoke of a recent situation in which she came in with her eye glued shut due to using glue instead of eye drops. She said the doctor flew in the room, once she know what was going on, and helped to address the situation as best as she could prior to sending her to the ER. Patient also spoke about Dr. Hixon being an advocate for her when she needed assistance with Amren and submitted documentation to the company on her behalf.”
Dr. Dipika Mohan
Dipika Mohan
“Dipika was an absolutely stellar intern to have on our inpatient team. First an foremost her bedside communication skills are impeccable, with the ability to autonomously carry complex goals of care discussions with empathy and patience. She is able to deliver medical education and management plans to patients across the health literacy spectrum. Secondly she has a great depth of medical knowledge, and more importantly medical curiosity, that lends to broad and appropriate differentials, which translate into excellent care plans. The gears of her mind are always turning with regards to her differentials, and she is not afraid of what she’ll find when turning over the metaphorical diagnostic stones. She was the first on the team to suspect Zieve’s Syndrome for a complex patient with decompensated cirrhosis and superimposed alcohol hepatitis that developed hemolysis requiring serial transfusions. Next, her bedside acumen is reliable with acute attention to detail. Our team had a challenging patient situation where serial capacity assessment was vital to ongoing care and management, and she accurately determined that the patient had regained capacity in the interim, which directly impacted their care. In the end, Dipika’s motivation and excitement on rounds are contagious. She is a fantastic teammate, a dedicated educator, and compassionate provider. If I had a loved one in the hospital as a patient, Dipika is on my list of those I would select to oversee their care. Given these attributes (and more!) she will, without a doubt, shine as a senior.”
Dr. Josh Nordman
Josh was a great senior on firm. He gave a lot of autonomy in decision-making, but he was always there to provide guidance when needed. This balance is probably one of the hardest things to achieve as a senior, and he did an amazing job! He never hesitated to help us with tasks or step in on difficult situations when things got busy. He also created a great environment for learning for our medical students, and they were always comfortable asking questions and discussing plans.
Dr. Marcela Santana
Marcela does a great job in the clinic. She was pulled last minute to cover a colleague, and despite a full panel of patients with several complex presentations, she was thoroughly prepared and ready to coordinate multidisciplinary care while also taking into account the patients’ social situations.
Dr. Rebecca Cunningham
Rebecca Cunningham
Rebecca goes the extra mile for her clinic patients, including taking a deep dive into a patient’s chart for some unexplained neuropathy and uncovering loose ends that would have otherwise been lost to follow-up, and catching and treating a very unusual presentation of syphilis. Kudos for your curiosity and dedication, your patients are lucky to have you!

Kudos

The chiefs would also like to say a huge thank you to all the residents who covered one of their colleagues the last month, either via the pull list or arranged coverage. There were a ton of recent conferences, and we know our residents appreciate the opportunity to attend conferences and present their research. On top of that, illness and life things happen in residency, and we appreciate y’all being willing to cover on short notice when needed to ensure our patients still get excellent care! 

Congratulations to all our amazing residents, and thank you for the work that you do! 

View Past Winners and Kudos