2016 Fall Fellows Yearbook

RESIDENCY IN HEALTH POLICY FELLOWSHIP

Fall 2016 Fellows Yearbook

Fall 2016 Fellows

Alia Abdallah Unity Family Medicine

Chidiogo (Diogo) Anyigbo Children’s National Pediatrics

Sahar Barfchin Children’s National Pediatrics

Ali is currently a third year family medicine resident with The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education National Family Medicine Residency Program - Washington, D.C. site. The residency is partnered with Unity Health Care, the largest primary care agency in the area, serving the largest portion of underserved patients in the D.C. He was born and raised in Michigan to Lebanese immigrant parents, and originally pursued a career in the arts, earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Alfred University. His strong interest in community service and in connecting with people led him to transition to a career in medicine. He attended medical school at Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine, located in Harlem, NY, a school whose mission places emphasis on practicing medicine in underserved communities. During his time in Washington, D.C., Ali has pursued clinical and service experiences relating to healthcare for the homeless and he partakes in the care of homeless veterans at the VA Community Resource and Referral Center. He and his wife

Chidiogo “Diogo” Anyigbo is originally from Nigeria and spent most of her childhood in Houston, TX. She attended Emory University for undergraduate and graduate training where she obtained a Bachelor’s in Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology as well as a joint medical and public health degree focusing on health policy. She is currently a second year resident at Children’s National Health Systems in Washington DC in the Community Health Track. During medical school, Diogo served as president of Emory Pipeline Collaborative a multi-tiered mentorship initiative that exposes disadvantage high school students to health professional careers. She also founded Familias Saludables (Healthy Families), a multidisciplinary organization that helps to target modifiable obesity risk factors in a clinic serving predominantly Latino patients. Her academic interests include: adverse childhood experiences, early literacy, access to healthy foods and strengthening the health professionals pipeline for

Sahar was born in Sweden but grew up in Connecticut. She attended the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, for undergraduate education, where she studied psychology and neuroscience. She then worked in clinical research in the pediatrics department of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City for 3 years before entering medical school. She enjoyed teaching and tutoring during that time as well. She attended medical school at the University of Connecticut, where she was involved in several public health related organizations. She also spent a summer in rural India learning about the delivery of comprehensive healthcare in rural, underserved areas. She is currently a second year pediatric resident at Children’s National Medical Center, in the Community Health Track. In her career, she hopes to find creative ways to make a difference in local, national, or international public health and policy.

enjoy living in the city, and are active members of several community service and human rights organizations, including Jewish Voice for Peace and Horton's Kids.

underrepresented minorities. Following residency, she hopes to pursue a career at the intersection of medicine, public health and business.

Yodit Beru George Washington, Medical Student

Meghana Bhatta George Washington IM - Primary Care

Charlie Cardenas UCLA Family Medicine

Yodit Beru is a fourth year medical student at the George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Sciences. Before beginning medical school, she obtained her MPH in Health Management and Policy from the University of Michigan School of Public Health and worked for various medical societies to implement quality improvement and educational disparities, adult immunization and diabetes management. She has continued her commitment to public health, primary care and health policy during medical school; as an Aetna/National Medical Fellowships Primary Care Fellow, she received learned about primary care access and health information technology-related issues and worked for the American Telemedicine Association to identify medical conditions programs for healthcare providers around health

I was born and raised in Los Angeles, CA. I completed my undergraduate studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where I majored in Microbiology. Not yet having the commitment I felt necessary to enter medicine at that time, I began work as a forensic scientist after graduation, a career I spent the next 6 or so years in until I decided a change was in order. I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to earn a Master’s degree in Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. It was there that I was able to put things together and solidify my commitment to medicine. I attended medical school at UC San Francisco, where I also fell in love with the city. However, I decided to head back to LA to be near my family, where I am now completing my residency in Family Medicine at UCLA. I have strong interests in mentorship

appropriate for telemedicine- based care. As a future primary care physician, she hopes to utilize her background in health policy to advocate for health equity and access to care for all.

and social justice and hope to combine these passions into any future career.

Katrina Gipson George Washington Emergency Medicine

Alyssa Goldberg Children’s National Pediatrics

Taha Haque Ft. Belvoir Family Medicine

My name is Alyssa Goldberg, I am a second year pediatrics resident at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C. I am in the community health track with a interest in global, refugee and immigrant health, child advocacy projects and plan on pursuing a career in pediatric gastroenterology and nutrition.

Dr. Taha Haque was born and raised in New Jersey. He received his bachelor’s degree from Lehigh University and then attended the New York College of Osteopathic Medicine where he obtained his doctorate. He is currently a third year family medicine resident at Fort Belvoir Community Hospital. He attended medical school on a military scholarship and is currently a Captain in the Army. His professional interests are health care administration and the overlay of health policy as it pertains to the military healthcare system. His future interests are to engage in medical diplomacy missions through the military.

Monika Karazaja

Betsy Kidder

Marc Mendelsohn

George Washington Psychiatry

George Washington IM - Primary Care

George Washington Emergency Medicine

Elizabeth (Betsy) Kidder, MD, PhD, MPH received her Master's in Public Health, Medical Degree, and PhD in Public Policy and Health Policy from the George Washington University. She is currently a resident in the Internal Medicine and Primary Care program at the George Washington University Hospital. Her career and research interests focus on access to quality health care by underserved communities, improving access to addiction treatment, and implementing innovative and patient-centered cancer screening options. Her dissertation research investigated self-administered HPV testing as a cervical cancer screening option for underscreened women. She has previously worked at the United Nation’s World Food Programme, the National Academy of Public Administration, the Global Health Council, the Future’s Group, and the Department of Defense HIV/AIDS Prevention Program.

Dr. Mendelsohn is in his first year as a Heath Policy Fellow in the Emergency Department at the George Washington University - Medical Faculty Associates. Prior to that he served as chief resident and resident in Emergency Medicine at NY Methodist Hospital in Brooklyn, NY. He has long been an active member of the American Medical Association and served as a county, state, and national representative in the past. He currently on sits on the AMA Council for Ethical and judicial Affairs. Prior to his medical education Dr. Mendelsohn received a degree in Philosophy and Biology from Brandeis University. His interests include Medical Education, Health Policy, Advocacy training, and Quality Improvement.

Linda Ojo

Adamma Okorafor

Kim Pham

George Washington Psychiatry

Howard Psychiatry

George Washington Critical Care

Linda Ojo is a 4th year Psychiatry Resident at George Washington University University. Dr. Ojo received her B.A. in Biology from Binghamton University, and an M.P.H. from Hunter College. She received her M.D. from George Washington University School of Medicine. Her major interest is reproductive psychiatry.

Adamma Okorafor was born and raised Houston, Texas. She graduated from University of Houston with a bachelor of science in biology. From there she went on to attend Baylor College of Medicine where she obtained her medical degree. She is currently a fourth year psychiatry resident at Howard University Hospital in Washington DC. She became interested in public health policy as a way to address health disparities in minority and underserved communities.

Kim is a DMV local. She grew up in Silver Spring, Maryland. After finishing college at the University of Maryland, she attended medical school at Howard University, and is now completing her last year of anesthesia residency at GWU. In her spare time, she likes to watch Korean dramas, listen to books on tape, and hang out with her 12 nieces and nephews.

Rayna Sobieski George Washington

John Tarim George Washington

Meredith Trubitt George Washington

Medical Student

Psychiatry

IM - Categorical

Rayna Sobieski is a fourth year medical student at the George Washington School of Medicine and Health Sciences. She is a graduate of Barnard College with a BA in Women's and Gender Studies. She is one of the founders of the Integrating Social Justice in Medicine Working Group, a group of students that seeks to advance the GW medical school curriculum to address issues related to health inequity and social determinants of health. Before starting medical school, Rayna worked as a Spanish language program assistant at Gyniuty Health Projects, a non- profit devoted to advancing women's access to lifesaving reproductive health technologies in resource-poor settings and underserved populations.

Meredith Trubitt is originally from Dallas, Texas. She attended the University of Richmond and majored in chemistry. She returned to Texas for medical school where she attended Texas Tech University Health Science Center-El Paso and concurrently completed her master’s in public health at the University of Texas. She is now starting her residency at GW in internal medicine. Her interests in health policy derive from the issues she encounters daily with her patients and mainly focus on cost-effective health care. In her free time, she enjoys exploring her new home city of Washington, DC and traveling abroad.

Jordan Warchol

Anam Whyne

George Washington Emergency Medicine

Unity Family Medicine

Dr. Warchol was born and raised in the Twin Cities of Minnesota before moving to Nebraska for college at Creighton University. After graduating in 2009, she attended medical school at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and completed her residency there in Emergency Medicine in 2016. While in medical school, Dr. Warchol took an interest in physician advocacy through the student chapter of the AMA and subsequently served as a student representative to the Nebraska Medical Association board. She continued her interest in advocacy and policy throughout her time as a house officer. Following residency, Dr. Warchol moved to Washington, DC to pursue a fellowship in Health Policy at George Washington University. Her policy interests include rural medical care and mental health as well as policy education for providers. When she isn’t focused on improving the lives of physicians and their patients, Dr. Warchol enjoys spending time with family and friends, fashion, and of course, Husker football.