Spring 2016 Fellows Yearbook

RESIDENCY IN HEALTH POLICY FELLOWSHIP

Spring 2016 Fellows Yearbook

Spring 2016 Fellows

Gathi Abraham Psychiatry, GW

Reshem Agarwal Pediatrics, Children’s National

Mohammed Azam Psychiatry, Howard

My name is Gathi Abraham, I am from Chicago and attended Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine. I am a PGY-3 in Psychiatry. I am interested in learning about health policy because during medical school, I took a gap year to study public health. Toward the end of the year, I took a required policy class and was shocked how some of the "big-level" policy decisions are made. The decision process seemed leagues apart from the science- driven way we were used to thinking in medicine. While this was disheartening, I realized that if I hoped to stand any chance of making a larger impact, I would have to learn more about the way health policy works and thinks.

I am a second year resident in Pediatrics at Children's National Medical Center. I am originally from Southern California where I completed my undergraduate and medical degrees at USC. I came to DC to be apart of my residency's community health track in hopes of developing skills in utilizing community resources to better serve my patients, recognizing that environment and socioeconomics are powerful determinants of health. I am interested in health policy because I believe that it lays out a silent framework that dictates how patients interact with the healthcare system. As a clinician I think it is important to learn about how these policies impact our patients, especially those who have limited resources. I hope that by learning about how health policies are crafted and the different variables at play, I can learn to better advocate for my patients on a legislative level as well as by encouraging them to maximally utilize what the system has to offer them.

Dr. Azam was born and raised in Beaumont, Texas. He graduated from St. George’s University School of Medicine in 2012. Currently, he is a 4 th year psychiatry resident in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Howard University Hospital. Dr. Azam's interest in health policy grew from his undergraduate studies in political science at Emory University. He has particular interests in health disparities and mental health parity.

Caitlin Biedron Primary Care, GW

Chris Cahill Pediatrics, Children’s National

Tina Chee Internal Medicine, GW

Caitlin Biedron is originally from Chelsea, MI and earned her medical degree from Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit, MI, where she was involved in research focused on antimicrobial resistance and antibiotic stewardship at the Detroit Medical Center. Prior to medical school, she received a Master of Science degree in Population & International Health with a concentration in infectious disease epidemiology from Harvard School of Public Health. She then worked in Kigali, Rwanda with the CDC-Rwanda Global AIDS Program as a Monitoring & Evaluation Fellow. Caitlin is currently an internal medicine resident (PGY-2) in the Primary Care program at George Washington University. She is interested in health care reform as it relates to primary care, preventive medicine, and health disparities. Additionally, she is interested in health policy efforts related to antimicrobial resistance, antibiotic stewardship, and emerging infectious diseases.

I'm originally from Stockton, California. I'm the son of two doctors who went through their training before duty hours and started their post-residency careers shortly after the 'malpractice crisis'. I went to medical school in Vermont where we listened to Bernie Sanders discuss single payer healthcare and saw debates surrounding the 'philosophical exemption' to vaccines. I'm currently a third year pediatrics resident at Children's National Medical Center with an interest in hospitalist medicine. Health policy shaped the careers of my parents and certainly is already changing my future practice environment. I'm hoping to take away skills that will allow me to advocate for my coworkers and for my patients more effectively, and knowledge of our current healthcare setting.

Tina Chee is currently a second year GW internal medicine resident originally from NYC. Prior to GW, she attended Sophie Davis/ NYU medical school with a dual degree Masters of Public Administration in Health Policy & Management from NYU Wagner. During medical school, she worked with the NYC HHC Accountable Care Organization as a health policy and data analyst intern as well as with community organizations in developing health assessments and action plans. Tina is interested in working in primary care and being more involved in health care delivery and payment innovations, population health, and health disparities.

Stephanie Cho Psychiatry, GW

Katie Cramer Internal Medicine, GW

Sally He Psychiatry, GW

Stephanie grew up in Los Angeles, CA. After obtaining her undergraduate degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, she returned to southern California and earned her masters and medical degrees from Loma Linda University School of Medicine. She is currently a PGY-3 and incoming Chief Resident in the GW Psychiatry department. She is excited to learn about how current health policies affects mental health care and how she can more effectively advocate for her patients.

Katie Cramer is a third-year internal medicine resident. She has always been interested in health policy and health disparities research as the intersection of medicine and society. She attended Stanford Medical School where she completed a concentration in Health Services and Policy Research, and took several classes at the business and law schools. She loves politics and history!

Shuo (Sally) He is a PGY-3 resident in GW's Department of Psychiatry. She received her B.S. in Biological Sciences and Psychology from Carnegie Mellon University in 2006. She pursued her Master of Public Health from Yale University School of Public Health from 2006 to 2008, during which time she work on various community- based projects locally and abroad. She graduated with her M.D. from SUNY Downstate in 2012, and pursued residency training at Temple University in Internal Medicine until deciding to switch to Psychiatry. She appreciates the integration of medicine and mental health in clinical care, and recognize the importance of system-level changes and health policy advocacy. She has special interests in the areas of health disparities, minority health, cultural psychiatry, community psychiatry, and global mental health.

Jim Howard Internal Medicine, GW

Nishant Magar Internal Medicine, GW

Paula Magee Pediatrics, Children’s National

James Howard is a PGY-3 resident in the Department of Medicine at George Washington University Hospital (GWUH). A Michigan native, he received his B.S. with honor in Human Biology from Michigan State University in 2005 and his M.D. from Wayne State University in 2013, achieving Alpha Omega Alpha recognition. He has a strong professional interest in healthcare administration and policy, particularly patient experience and clinical quality improvement. To that end, he earned his M.P.H.and M.H.S.A. from the University of Michigan in 2007 and 2013, respectively. He has been a resident member of multiple residency, GME, and GWUH committees during his time at GW, and next year he will serve as Chief Medical Resident at the Inova Fairfax Hospital clinical campus.

I was born in the UK moved here during high school, went to UVA for my bachelors, and then VCU for medical school. I am a PGY- 3 in internal medicine. I am taking this course to become more versed on the issues and political processes that surround the delivery of healthcare in this country, and how it relates to similarly industrial nations, including the UK, of course.

Paula Magee is from Jacksonville, NC. She attended Winston-Salem State University for her undergraduate training where she received a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry with a pre-medical concentration and a minor in biology. She matriculated at Morehouse School of Medicine for medical school. She currently attends Children’s National Health System for residency and is in her post-graduate year 2 (PGY- 2). I am interested in the health policy course because one of my interests is in childhood obesity and advocacy. Understanding the role of policy, how to create policies, and how to employ them will be key in my career moving forward. My hope is that this course will give me the foundation I need to build upon in order to implement changes in schools to aid in decreasing the percentage of obese children in the nation.

Colleen Meehan Internal Medicine, GW

Darlinda Minor Psychiatry, GW

Kirstin Orloff Pediatrics, Children’s National

Dr. Colleen Meehan is currently a second-year pediatric Community Health Track resident at Children’s National Health System. She is originally from Atlanta, GA. She obtained a Bachelor of Science in Biology from The University of Virginia in 2006. Following a short stint working as a swim instructor in Melbourne, Australia, she then went on to obtain a Master of University of California, Berkeley in 2009. Prior to medical school, Dr. Meehan worked as a ASPH/CDC fellow at the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, Immunization Services Division where she helped to develop a school- located vaccination guidance document for use during the H1N1 influenza pandemic and researched factors affecting tetanus-containing vaccine coverage among teens. She then received her medical degree from Weill Cornell Medical School in 2014. Her current research focuses on expanding access to healthcare via home-based telemedicine. Public Health Degree in Infectious Diseases from

My name is Darlinda Minor. I'm originally from New Orleans, La. I attended medical school at SUNY Stony Brook in Long Island, NY.I am currently chief resident in the psychiatry residency program at GW.

I grew up in Connecticut and New Jersey, but feel most at home in Maine where most of my extended family lives. I moved up to New Hampshire to attend college and medical school at Dartmouth, where I nurtured my love for the outdoors. I am currently a second year pediatric resident at CNMC, in the Community Health Track. My community work and research in both medical school and residency has focused on nutrition, obesity and more recently on its connection with

food insecurity. I am very interested in public health policies governing food

quality/distribution particularly in areas of poverty (both urban and rural), and how I can make this a part of my career.

Sara Pike Primary Care, GW

Denton Shanks Family Medicine, Unity

Mary Shelton Pediatrics, Children’s National

My name is Sara Pike, and I am from Chicago, IL. I went to undergrad at Vanderbilt in Nashville, TN and then medical school at Rush medical College in Chicago. I am a current PGY2 in the internal medicine program at George Washington University Hospital. Health care policy is interesting to me because it helps form guidelines in which desired outcomes can be achieved. My experience in this area is limited so I am excited to expand by knowledge base on health care policy, especially in our nation’s capital!

Denton Shanks grew up in Liberty, Missouri. He completed his Master's of Public Health at Drexel University in Philadelphia and medical school at Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine. He is currently completing his residency in Family Medicine in Washington DC with Unity Health Care. I enjoy utilizing disruptive healthcare innovations & technologies and global public health & development to help discover sustainable solutions for individuals and communities. I am devoted to working in the community, leading through service, and reaching out to the larger world in an effort to promote health for all. I'm interested in learning more about policy related to the transformation of population health, personalized individual care, telemedicine, and mobile health.

I am a 3rd year Pediatric resident at Children's National Medical Center in Washington, DC. Originally from Richmond, VA, I attended medical school at Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, VA. I am interested in a career in general pediatrics and throughout residency have become interested in advocacy, through various opportunities afforded by attending residency in our capital. Through the health policy fellowship, I hope to further my education and gain experience that I will continue to use as I begin my career.

Rachel Skalina Pediatrics, Children’s National

Dr. Rachel Skalina is a second- year pediatric resident in the Community Health track at Children’s National Health System. In addition to clinical practice, she is involved in a research project that aims to better define how pediatricians currently screen for and address adverse childhood experiences, as well as to identify and categorize current organizations and resources in Washington, DC that address components of toxic stress in children. Rachel is a mentor in the Minority Senior Scholarship Program, and she is also a representative for CIR, the residents’ union. Rachel was born in the Philadelphia area, and received her Bachelor of Arts in Biology from the University of Pennsylvania. She then went to medical school at the University of Colorado, where she was a member of the LEADS track, the university’s leadership and advocacy-focused track. Outside of medicine, Rachel’s favorite activities include skiing, cooking, and hiking, as well as any adventure that includes her black lab, Betty.