PREMEDICATEDNEWSLETTER for the

DEPARTMENT OF MEDICINE MEDICAL EDUCATION

2019 CALENDAR of EVENTS

Thursday, June 6 GRADUATION

Monday, June 10 INTERN ORIENTATION BEGINS

Saturday, June 15 BCM INTERNAL MEDICINE FAMILY DAY: Save-the-date for our annual Family Day! Join us for food, softball, and great company at the University of Texas Health Science Park.

Wednesday, June 19 INTERN BOOTCAMP: Are you available on June 19th and interested in meeting our new interns? Residents, fellows, and faculty can sign up to facilitate Bootcamp here: http://tinyurl.com/BaylorIMBootcamp

Monday, June 24 FIRST DAY OF 2019–20 ACADEMIC YEAR

YOU ASKED & WE DELIVERED!You said you wanted—• More funding for conferences:

we have a new fund to send residents across the country to present, including supporting 44 residents registering and presenting at southern SGIM in Feb. 2019.

• Access to a statistician: now available during office hours to residents through the Department of Medicine.

• Food at grand rounds: lunch is now served!

• More info on applying for general med jobs: we hosted an informational session and job fair this year for hospital medicine and primary care.

• Better technology resources at the VA: we now have working Workstations On Wheels (wows) for all medicine teams.

• Fewer required meetings with ancillary staff at the VA: we now have just one team huddle per day.

• Better food at the VA: we now have improved food in the resident lounge including fresh fruit, Chobani yogurt, and PBJ sandwiches, as well as food-truck Fridays.

Dear everyone, As we come to the end of the year, we want to truly thank each and every one of you for your hard work, dedication, and care for all our patients. From our veterans to our vulnerable patient populations at Harris Health, you provide compassionate care to every patient who comes through our doors. You have impacted so many lives and made a difference in our larger Houston community. We also want to recognize all of your accomplishments in scholarship, leadership and awards. We are so incredibly lucky to have such a bright group of residents who continue to push ahead and advance the field of medicine. It has a been a true honor to serve as your chief residents. Being on the ground at each of the pavilions, we see first-hand the challenges our residents face. We have been with you through the peaks of residency as well as some of the most challenging times in your lives. Though the chief job can be tough to navigate at times, it has meant so much to us to be your advocates, your voices at the table, and your residency leaders. Though there have been challenges this past year at each of our sites, hope is on the horizon. New changes and improvements are in the pipeline thanks to your feedback and hard work. Thank you for making our chief year the experience that it was. Thank you for letting us be part of your year in training. Best, Your 2018-2019 Chief ResidentsJon, Orhue, Ryle, Shrada, & Victoria

from YOUR CHIEF RESIDENTS

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STAFF SPOTLIGHTS

FRANNY GARCIAYour job in the program: I work in the Medical Education Office as an administrative assistant and I help with moonlighting, new intern orientation, Internal Medicine interview season, and any residency related issues.

What topics/questions should residents email you about? I am still new to the Medicine Education Office, you can send me any type of questions that are related to moonlighting, and anything related to residency. If I cannot answer your question, I will try hard to find someone that can!

A fun fact: My name is Francisca Garcia but everyone calls me Franny. My favorite things to during my downtime is spending time with my family and friends, or playing with my nephews and nieces. I like to help out in the community and my church. I also love baseball and going to watch the Houston Astros play. When there is no baseball season I am patiently waiting for baseball season to start!

CHANTELL THOMPSON Your job in the program Fellowship Coordinator Cardiovascular Disease, Interventional Cardiology, Allergy & Immunology, Rheumatology

What topics/questions should residents email you about? Residents can ask about potential interest in any of the specialty programs listed above. I am involved with just about every aspect of the Fellowship. No limit on what kind of question to ask. Ask away!

A fun fact: My hobbies are boxing, Sci-Fi books, good coffee, and long walks on the golf course. I was raised in a multi-cultural environment; blessed to have known life on both sides of the US-Mexico Border (before and after the violence.) A nomad by birth, I spend most of my free time on the road (traveling) with my 6-year-old daughter and our two dogs.

NEW FACES in the DEPARTMENT OF MEDICINE

DR. ANNISE WILSONDepartment of Medicine

in the Sleep ClinicMedical School: UT Medical

School at HoustonResidency: Northwestern McGaw Medical Center

Fellowship: Northwestern McGaw Medical Center

DR. RABIA AKHTARSection of General Internal Medicine

Medical School: Washington University in St. LouisResidency: University

of Texas – Southwestern

DR. VANI POTLURISection of General Internal Medicine

Medical School: Baylor College of Medicine Residency: Baylor

College of Medicine

DR. REENA CHOKSHISection of Gastroenterology

and HepatologyMedical School: UT Health Science

Center in San Antonio Residency: University of

PennsylvaniaFellowship: Washington University in St. Louis

DR. RU CHENSection of Gastroenterology and HepatologyPhD at University of Washington in Pathology

Post-doctoral training at University of Washington and Institute for Systems Biology

DR. MIMI TANSection of Gastroenterology and Hepatology

Medical School: UT Health Science Center in San Antonio

Residency: Baylor College of MedicineFellowship: Baylor College of Medicine

DR. HAZEM EL-OSTASection of Hematology and Oncology

Medical School: Saint-Joseph University in BeirutResidency: Hotel-Dieu de France Hospital and

Kansas University School of MedicineFellowship: LSU Health Science Center in

Shreveport, LA3

CONFERENCE SCHEDULE

Submission Deadline Conference Date Location

Allergy/Immunology

AAAAI Pending March 13-16, 2020 Philadelphia, PA

ACAAI Research: July 21 Cases: August 4 November 7-11, 2019 Houston, TX

Cardiology

ACC October 29, 2019 March 28-30, 2020 Chicago, IL

AHA June 6, 2019 November 16-18, 2019 Philadelphia, PA

Endocrine

Endocrine Society Pending March 28-31, 2020 San Francisco, CA

AACE Pending May 6-10, 2020 Washington DC

Gastroenterology

DDW - May 18-21, 2019 San Francisco, CA

ACG June 20, 2019 October 25-30, 2019 San Antonio, TX

AASLD June 3, 2019 November 8-12, 2019 Boston, MA

Geriatrics

AGS May 2-4, 2019 Portland, OR

Hematology/Oncology

ASH August 1, 2019 December 7-10, 2019 Orlando, FL

ASCO - May 31-June 4, 2019 Chicago, IL

Infectious Disease

IDSA May 1, 2019 October 2-6, 2019 Washington DC

Internal Medicine

SHM Pending April 16-18, 2020 San Diego, CA

SGIM (Southern) Pending Pending Pending

SGIM (National) - May 8-11, 2019 Washington DC

ACP (Texas) Pending October 25-27, 2019 San Antonio, TX

ACP (National) Pending April 23-25, 2020 Los Angeles, CA

Medical Education

ACGME Pending February 27-March 1, 2020 San Diego, CA

AAIM Pending April 19-22, 2020 Tampa FL

AAMC - November 8-12, 2019 Phoenix, AZ

SGEA Pending March 11-14, 2020 Atlanta, GA

Pulmonary/Critical Care

Chest - October 19-23, 2019 New Orleans, LA

ATS - May 17-22, 2019 Dallas, TX

SCCM August, 2019 February 16-19, 2020 Orlando, FL

Nephrology

ASN May 30, 2019 November 5-10, 2019 Washington DC

Palliative Care

AAHPM Research: July 11Cases: November 1 March 18-21, 2020 San Diego, CA

Rheumatology

ACR June 4, 2019 November 8-13, 2019 Atlanta, GA

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Dr. Natalia KhalafSection of Gastroenterology and HepatologyMedical School: Baylor College of Medicine Residency: Baylor College of MedicineFellowship: Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston

What did you miss most about Houston while completing fellowship in Boston? Houston “winters” …nothing beats a Houston winter, certainly not a Boston winter. I also missed my family and friends and the great Houston food scene!

What has been the most surprising aspect of becoming an attending? How much fun it is to finally get to use what you learned over all those years of training to take care of people on your own. You have enough autonomy to move through your clinical responsibilities much faster but also the same support from colleagues if you need help or advice. It is also great getting to work with, mentor and teach residents and students with the added perk of writing much shorter notes.

What has been the best career advice you have received? The best career advice I ever received was from Dean Donavan at my Baylor Medical School white coat ceremony in 2007:

“Right now you’re all very excited to start this journey but turns out medicine is pretty hard. And a lot of people lose themselves along the way. When you have those days when you don’t know what you’re still doing here,

pull out your personal statement for medical school. Read it and remind yourself of a time when you wanted nothing more than to be a doctor and go back and be that person again.”

To never forget why you wanted to be a doctor in the first place-the best career advice I ever received.

How has the residency program changed since you were a chief resident at Baylor? I think Baylor has always been an amazing residency program in terms of patient exposure and didactic teaching. What I see now is more ancillary services to help expedited patient care issues as well as a renewed focus on mentorship, which has made the program even better!

What are you most looking forward to this year? Professionally, I am looking forward to establishing a study cohort of patients with pancreatic cysts from which to study risk factors for malignant transformation and pancreatic cancer patients from which to study health care disparities. Personally, I am looking forward to enjoying time, especially the holidays, with my family.

NEW FACULTY SPOTLIGHT

WHAT’S UP WITH INTERNAL MEDICINE INTEREST GROUP?Check out these recent events sponsored by the Internal Medicine Interest GroupIN MARCH •  Post-Match Mixer: We mingled with newly

matched M4s in Rice Village and heard their advice!

•  Community Health Day: We volunteered to help with medical screenings at a student led community health fair.

IN APRIL•  “Why Internal Medicine?" Panel talk introduced

pre-clinical and clinical students and answered questions about the field of internal medicine.

•  Joint IMIG-residency social event: joined residents and IMIG members alike for a happy hour with sponsored appetizers.

Keep an eye out for these events by joining our Facebook group! https://www.facebook.com/groups/803498623034043/?ref=share -IMIG Officers

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When did you decide to become a physician? During college, I did a summer research program at Baylor and lived in a dorm next to Methodist that has now been torn down. Since that point, I have been enamored with medicine and especially the Texas Medical Center. The opportunity to use advanced science and biology to help people is simply amazing. Not only that…the science continues to evolve and change.

Tell us about your experience at Baylor. This is an easy question for me. The highlight of my experiences at Baylor go back to the first few days of medical school. That’s when I first met Vandana. I feel like the world was trying to set us up. We were in the same PRN group (smaller groups led by senior medical students), anatomy lab group, and even our friends tried to set us up. Thankfully, it all worked out and we got married a few days after graduating medical school.

Why did you decide to become a hospitalist? When deciding on which career to pursue, I found that I liked everything. If I tried to subspecialize, then I felt like I would miss the opportunity to manage certain diseases. So what does someone like that do when they like everything? Hospitalist! It also allows me to work on operational aspects of a patient’s care. In my current role as Informatics, I try to

push for streamlined and intuitive workflows because in my opinion, we need more face time with patients, not computers.

What led you to become an APD? When I started as an APD, there were only 2 other APDs for the program. I knew I enjoyed education and also felt a sense of debt to the program that trained me. I think Dr. Hamill saw some potential and took a risk to bring me on. Now with a larger team of APDs, the program has really accelerated in terms of providing the best possible training. I would happy to do residency again in this program!

What do you enjoy about being involved in the residency program? Residents are the life of the training program. I love being around such a hardworking, curious, and dedicated group of individuals. I really love seeing the tremendous growth throughout the three years. (And they always know the best places to go out!)

What are your hobbies? How do you spend your time off? Vandana and I have two sons, ages 5 and 7. Between soccer, swimming, frequent trips to the park, and movie nights, my weekends are quite busy. Each summer, we go on a long family vacation. We have been to Seattle and San Diego. This year will be Washington DC and hopefully international soon.

SPOTLIGHT ON DR. CHIRAYU SHAH

Assistant Professor of Medicine, General MedicineMedical School: Baylor College of MedicineResidency: Baylor College of MedicineMEd: University of Houston

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VIGNETTES from MEMORABLE MORNING REPORTS

BEN TAUB HOSPITAL:•  Tony M. presented a case of Miliary TB in which respiratory AFB samples were negative. This

case highlighted the importance tissue diagnosis as biopsy has significantly higher yield (90%) vs. traditional sputum sample or bronchoscopy (40-50%).

•  Hal Z. presented a case of Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) caused by disseminated histoplasmosis in a patient on TNF-alpha inhibitor. This case highlighted the importance of considering disseminated infections as a possible etiology of non-specific symptoms in immunocompromised patients.

MICHAEL E. DEBAKEY VA MEDICAL CENTER:•  Sam H. presented a case of malignant pleural

effusion. This case highlighted the variable sensitivity of cytology depending on the type of malignancy (78% for adenocarcinoma, 53% for small cell carcinoma, 25% for squamous cell carcinoma, and only 10% for mesothelioma).

•  David S. presented a case of legionella pneumonia after home water supply renovations. This case highlighted the importance of legionella urinary antigen testing in patients with severe pneumonia (sensitivity 80%, specificity 100%).

ST. LUKE’S:•  Ashley P. presented a case of hypertrophic

obstructive cardiomyopathy when multiple previous TTEs were unrevealing. This case highlighted the importance of stress echocardiography for HOCM diagnosis in symptomatic patients without LV outflow tract obstruction at rest.

•  Brett S. presented a case of “dementia” caused by severe B12 deficiency. This case highlighted the importance of ruling out reversible causes of cognitive decline (thyroid illness, B12 deficiency, HIV, and syphilis) prior to diagnosing elderly patients with dementia.

MD ANDERSON CANCER CENTER•  Christopher C. presented a case of light chain

(AL) amyloidosis. This case highlighted the increased bleeding risk in AL amyloid due to fragility of blood vessels and consumption of coagulation factor X by amyloid fibrils.

•  Rachna G. presented a case of malignant otitis externa. This case highlighted the common causes of otorrhea: otitis externa, otitis media with perforation, cholesteatoma, and CSF otorrhea.

FELLOWSHIP MATCH November 2018CARDIOLOGYMing Jia (2018 graduate – Atherosclerosis fellow) Baylor College of Medicine

Andrew Brown University of VirginiaAmir Kazerounia (2018 graduate) University of HawaiiJoseph Allencherril Texas Heart InstituteJune Kampangkaew (CQRS) Baylor College of MedicineJustin Arunthamakun Baylor University Med Center - DallasKevin Ting UC San DiegoKhurram Khan Baylor College of MedicineRyle Pryzbylowicz (CMR) Oregon Health & Sciences UniversitySaif Ali Loma Linda UniversityINFECTIOUS DISEASESPaul Nicholls Baylor College of Medicine GASTROENTEROLOGY/HEPATOLOGYEmily Mao Baylor College of MedicineKati Choi Baylor College of MedicineKrishna Sajja Ochsner Clinic FoundationSamuel Akinyeye Ohio State UniversityBrett Styskel University of Florida COM - ShandsTalha Quershi Baylor College of MedicineNEPHROLOGYAustin Hu (2018 graduate) Stanford UniversityDerian Lai University of Colorado HEMATOLOGY/ONCOLOGYCeCe Sun Baylor College of MedicineJade Zhou UC San DiegoPatrick Reville (MeRIT) UT MD Anderson Cancer CenterRobert Hester UT MD Anderson Cancer CenterVictoria Serpas (CMR) UT MD Anderson Cancer CenterSunil Rohatgi New York UniversityZach Yeung Baylor College of MedicinePULMONARY & CRITICAL CARE Dana Gross Jackson Memorial Hospital Cameron McBride Baylor College of MedicineKatherine Richards Baylor College of MedicineSami Bashour Baylor College of MedicineSarah Tuthill Oregon Health & Science UniversityWilliam Brasher (2018 graduate – BIPAI) University of Texas - Houston

RHEUMATOLOGYSebastian Bruera (2016 graduate) Baylor College of MedicineKarla Criner University of California Los AngelesNida Momin Baylor College of MedicineENDOCRINOLOGYMariam Ali (2017 graduate) Northwestern UniversityNupur Kikani Baylor College of MedicineParas Mehta (2018 graduate – hospitalist) University of California – San Francisco

Yoojin Sohn Emory University

Christie Turin More Hospitals of the University of Pennsylvania

PALLIATIVE CAREPaige Farinholt UT MD Anderson Cancer CenterALLERGY/IMMUNOLOGY Nicole Canon University of ColoradoTina Motazedi Massachusetts General Hospital Matthew Perez Northwestern UniversityHOSPITALIST MEDICINEShradha Kulkarni (CMR) University of California – San Francisco

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CONGRATULATIONS to our NEW INTERNS!We are very excited to welcome our new interns to the Baylor Internal Medicine family!

Categorical InternsJocelyn Abraham McGovern Medical School at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston

Daniela Abrams University of Miami Leonard M Miller School of Medicine

Nyssa Adams Baylor College of Medicine

Mahdi Agha Baylor College of Medicine

Parth Agrawal Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University

Suchi Agrawal Baylor College of Medicine

Syed Ali Baylor College of Medicine

Firas Bahdi University of Aleppo

Neel Bhan University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas Southwestern Medical School

Brandon Blau Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California

Michelle Byers University of Texas School of Medicine at San Antonio

Daniela Carrasco University of Texas School of Medicine at San Antonio

Daniel Catt University of Texas Medical Branch School of Medicine

Shantan Cheemerla University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas Southwestern Medical School

Aaron Chin University of California San Francisco School of Medicine

Joseph Dzierzawiec Rutgers New Jersey Medical School

Ali El-Halwagi Baylor College of Medicine

William Gladney Louisiana State University School of Medicine in New Orleans

Shreya Goyal Baylor College of Medicine

Joshua Hahn Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Paul L Foster School of Medicine

Brandon Hood University of Texas Medical Branch School of Medicine

Jake Jacob Baylor College of Medicine

Taher Jamali University of Texas Medical Branch School of Medicine

Sarah Jaroudi Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine

Nitin Kamath University of Oklahoma College of Medicine at Oklahoma City

Jennifer Kaplan Baylor College of Medicine

Yasmine Khairandish University of Texas Medical Branch School of Medicine

Muzamil Khawaja University of Mississippi School of Medicine

Jitae Kim Baylor College of Medicine

Disha Kumar Baylor College of Medicine

Brian La Starza Charles E Schmidt College of Medicine at Florida Atlantic University

Jonathan Lockhart University of Alabama School of Medicine

Taylor Nguyen Baylor College of Medicine

Jenny Nguyen Louisiana State University School of Medicine in New Orleans

Daniel O’Brien University of Texas Medical Branch School of Medicine

Nawazish Palejwala Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Paul L Foster School of Medicine

Kavea Panneerselvam

McGovern Medical School at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston

Sarah Premji Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University

Taaj Raasikh Chicago Medical School at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science

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James Ramey Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine

Angela Rao Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine

Kristen Schultz Baylor College of Medicine

Charles Shannon Baylor College of Medicine

Nathaniel Spezia-Linder Baylor College of Medicine

Thiennga Vo University of Texas Medical Branch School of Medicine

David Wharton Vanderbilt University School of Medicine

Ann Xu Baylor College of Medicine

Chelsea Zhang University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas Southwestern Medical School

Nathan Ziman Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine

MD Anderson Track InternsMuhammed Ashar Afaq Baylor College of Medicine

Julia Parrish University of Washington School of Medicine

Mihir Shukla Baylor College of Medicine

Kristen Simmons Baylor College of Medicine

Shaleen Vasavada University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine

Internal Medicine/Pediatrics InternsToni Chanroo University of Miami Leonard M Miller School of Medicine

John Hershberger Tulane University School of Medicine

Colleen Macke University of Michigan Medical School

Derek Macmath Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

Caila Magazine Baylor College of Medicine

Diem-Tran Nguyen Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California

Brian Schnettgoecke McGovern Medical School at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston

Alex Warr University of Washington School of Medicine

Preliminary Interns

Azizat Dawodu McGovern Medical School at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston

Joan Fernandez Baylor College of Medicine

Nhon Le Baylor College of Medicine

Matthew Lee The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University

Catherine McNulty Tulane University School of Medicine

Ahmed Minhas Baylor College of Medicine

Talia Noorily Baylor College of Medicine

George Parker Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine

Elana Putterman Drexel University College of Medicine

Laraib Safeer Baylor College of Medicine

Rohini Sigireddi Baylor College of Medicine

Angel Su University of Texas School of Medicine at San Antonio

David Szynkarski Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine

Justin Thomas Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Paul L Foster School of Medicine

Yufan Wu Stanford University School of Medicine

Patrick Wu University of Texas School of Medicine at San Antonio

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CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OF THE BAYLOR MEDICAL STUDENTS WHO WILL BE CONTINUING THEIR TRAINING IN THE BAYLOR INTERNAL MEDICINE PROGRAM! We enjoyed celebrating with all of you on Match Day!

THE INTERNAL MEDICINE OFFICE is very excited to welcome all of our new interns!

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CONGRATULATIONS to our 2020-2021 CHIEF RESIDENTS!

CRQS 2020–2021

IM CMR 2020–2021

Third year residents Nicole Cannon, Zach Yeung, and Danny Hyman presented clinical cases at the American College of Chest Physicians Conference in October.

RESIDENT ACHIEVEMENTS

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The residency program had a great showing at the Southern Society of General Internal Medicine meeting in February! Congratulations to all of the residents who presented clinical vignettes and research.

Michael Blair, Rani Bhatia, and Danny Hyman presented at the American College of Physicians conference in Philadelphia in April. They were joined by Baylor medical students Anna Berry, Albert Jang, and Kallie Kram. Congratulations to all who presented!

Congratulations to the following fellows, residents, and students who were winners at the Baylor Department of Internal Medicine Research Symposium in April:

BASIC SCIENCE: 1ST: David Bader, Medical Student2ND: Premranjan Kumar,

Postdoctural Associate 3RD: Dominique Armstrong,

Predoctoral Fellow

CLINICAL RESEARCH: 1ST: Premaranjan Kumar,

Postdoctural Associate2ND: Michael Holiday, Fellow3RD: Tariq Hammad, Fellow

CLINICAL MEDICINE: 1ST: Wajeeha Hussain, PGY-3

Med-Peds2ND: Karen Resnick, Medical Student3RD: (Tie) Christian Inchaustegui, PGY-1

Internal Medicine and Adam Combiths, PGY-1 Internal Medicine

QI/PATIENT SAFETY: 1ST: Daniel Hyman, PGY-3 Internal Medicine2ND: Dina Winograd, Fellow3RD: (Tie) Elaine Nguyen, PGY-2 Internal

Medicine and Jennifer Freytag, HSR Researcher

RESIDENT ACHIEVEMENTS

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CONGRATULATIONS to our ALPHA OMEGA ALPHA INTERNAL MEDICINE INDUCTEES!

• Nasser Lakkis, Professor, Section of Cardiology•  LeChauncy Woodard, Associate Professor,

Department of Medicine Division of Health Services Research

• Sanket Borgaonkar, Cardiology Fellow• David Wong, Cardiology Fellow• Derian Lai, PGY-3• Anthony McClafferty, PGY-2• Christie Turin Moore, PGY-3• Jefferson Triozzi, PGY-2• Diana Vila, PGY-3

CONGRATULATIONS to our JEOPARDY TEAM!

OUR JEOPARDY TEAM

HAS HAD A GREAT

YEAR! They won at

Texas ACP and Southern

SGIM, and made it to the

semifinals at the national

ACP conference in April.

Great job to Christiana

Hayward, Nico Herrera,

Christian Inchaustegui

Castro, David McCormick,

Jefferson Triozzi, and

Hal Zhang!

CONGRATULATIONS to our GOLD HUMANISM and HONOR SOCIETY RESIDENT INDUCTEES!

• Eva Amenta, PGY-2

• Jackie Birnbaum, PGY-2

• Paige Farinholt, PGY-3

• David Jiang, PGY-1

• Julia Kaplan, PGY-1

• Elaine Nguyen, PGY-2

• Nehal Patel, PGY-3

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THANKS TO OUR CHIEF RESIDENTS FOR PLANNING A FANTASTIC RETREAT AT PITCH 25 IN MARCH AND APRIL! Our residents had a great time playing soccer while reminiscing about the excitement of Match Day and their journeys through the Baylor Internal Medicine residency program.

OUR ANNUAL HOLIDAY PARTY WAS A GREAT SUCCESS! Thanks to everyone who joined us to celebrate.

RESIDENT EVENTS

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THANKS to ALL WHO JOINED US for ACP ASSOCIATE’S DAY on MAY 4TH!

Congratulations to our medical students for winning the Stump the Students Competition! Great job Hannah Abrams, Ben Belfort, and Catie Ingram. Our intern team of Chris Nemeh, Jessica Kaczmarek, and Christian Inchaustegui also won the Doctor’s Dilemma competition!

Intern Tushar Ramesh was elected to serve as our region’s Texas ACP Resident Representitive! Congratulations to Tushar!

CONGRATULATIONS to the FOLLOWING RESIDENTS for THEIR AWARD-WINNING PRESENTATIONS: 1ST PLACE Research Oral Presentation: David McCormick

Prostatic Abscesses: A Case series and Review of the Literature

1ST PLACE Clinical Vignette Poster: Ruchit Rana Murine Typhus, An Occasional Acute Febrile Illness

2ND PLACE Clinical Vignette: Anna Strasma Erythroderma: More than Skin Deep

2ND PLACE Quality Improvement Poster: Sophia Chang Improving Pneumococcal Vaccine Rates in a VA Outpatient Clinic

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THANK YOU to DR. SARAH CANDLER for your keynote speech about advocating for our patients!

THANK YOU to DR. MICHELLE MOURAD from UCSF for serving as our Chief Resident Visiting Professor! Your input in our morning report cases and insight about the future of quality improvement were incredibly valuable to our residents.

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THANKS TO ALL OUR RESIDENTS, FACULTY AND FAMILY who shared their talents at BCM Live in March!

THANKS TO DR. STACEY ROSE for sponsoring a wellness hour for our residents!

CONGRATULATIONS to the NEWEST MEMBERS of the BAYLOR FAMILY!

Congratulations to Dr. Wilson Lam, Associate Program Director and Adult Congenital Cardiology Faculty, and his wife, Dr. Claire Bocchini, Pediatric Infectious Diseases Faculty, on the newest addition to their family! Joseph Yin-Yee Lam was born on December 15, 2018.

Congratulations to PGY-1 Ying Xian on the birth of her son! Damon Li was born November 15, 2018.

Ben Misoi was born on February 8, 2018. Congratulations to PGY-2 Mercy Misoi on the newest addition to her family!

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NEWSWRITING IN NEW YORK CITY

“Who wants to become a writer? And why? Because it’s the answer to everything. …It’s the streaming reason for living. To note, to pin down, to build up, to create, to be astonished at nothing, to cherish the oddities, to let nothing go down the drain, to make something, to make a great flower out of life, even if it’s a cactus.” –Enid Bagnold

As physicians we encounter many issues within the healthcare system that are beyond our control. We can prescribe patients the insulin that they need but whether they can afford the medication is something we individually cannot change. Many physicians feel frustrated by such disparities in care and are thus involved in advocacy and improving this system. At BCM we have the IM Advocacy Committee which does an incredible job of promoting awareness and supporting healthcare reforms at Capitol Hill.

Another less-recognized form of advocacy is through writing and storytelling.

Writing has always been my preferred form of expression. I wanted to express my thoughts as a young physician through this outlet so I applied for the month of medical journalism at ABC News. After a phone interview with the editors at the medical unit, I was able to go on my journey.

I stayed in Harlem during my month there and would take the subway to the Manhattan office every morning. To start off the day, we, the members of the medical unit, would go to a meeting about the upcoming World News Tonight episode. We got to see how the producers discussed the latest news and what to include in that night’s show. My team and I would update them on current medical news. This meeting was followed by a similar one for Good Morning America. It was fascinating to see the behind-the-scenes work that goes into producing live news.

As a member of the press, I was able to get access to upcoming journal articles and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention statements prior to their publication dates. During my time in New York City, the measles outbreak was spreading in New York and Washington so I also had the opportunity to represent ABC News at a press conference with each state’s respective health commissioners.

In addition to measles and the effects of the anti-vaccination movement, I got to write

about subjects important to me like the opioid epidemic and its effects in women, post-traumatic stress disorder, gender biases in medicine, and diabetic alert dogs. I had the opportunity of working with renowned journalists like David Muir and Eric Strauss and the ABC News Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Jennifer Ashton on a daily basis.

Medical journalism itself is an art of its own. I learned from experts in reporting and made contacts and memories that will last a lifetime. If any residents are interested in medical journalism, they can apply online to the ABC News medical unit resident rotation. I would highly recommend it.

I did miss being in the hospital but for those few weeks at ABC I was able to use my unique perspective as a physician to promote awareness, whether through writing digital media or editing behind-the-scenes medical footage for news shows, on a platform that amplified my voice.

As physicians, we have firsthand exposure to the plight of our patients but are often not the ones making healthcare policy decisions or discussing such stories in the media. For change to occur I encourage residents to speak up on topics of healthcare advocacy and disease prevention. All of us have our stories and medical expertise to share, whether that’s through writing, joining organizations that address these causes, or simply supporting our patients every day.

Azka Afzal, PGY-3

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DEPARTMENT OF INTERNAL MEDICINE

www.bcm.edu

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