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MEET OUR INTERNAL MEDICINE RESIDENTS

Chief Residents
Third Year Residents
Second Year Residents
First Year Residents

Chief Residents 2007 - 2008

I was an anthropology major at the University of Chicago, learning formal tools to examine the relationships between society, culture and health. While in college, I also started my now-stalled career as a rock star and concert producer. Later, at UC Berkeley, I studied public health. Through my coursework as well as less formalized means (such as providing emergency medical care at political demonstrations), I developed a deeper understanding of how politics shapes health. A year as a research fellow in violence prevention was followed by medical school at Drexel. There I was onstage again as a singer in a rock band. When it came time for residency, my first choice was Cambridge Health Alliance. It offered a strong educational program in a public hospital, with others who share my commitment to social justice, in a city with an incredible variety of concerts and cultural events. I'm very happy with the diverse patient population and I have real input in shaping the residency program. After chief year, I will complete a fellowship in Endocrinology.

Before medical school, I worked as a community organizer. At the age of 30, I received a scholarship to attend Mount Holyoke College. There, I discovered an interest in science and realized that medicine could bridge this newfound interest and my commitment to providing care to marginalized people. I attended medical school at the University of California San Francisco, an institution known for its commitment to excellent research, patient care and public health. I had role models among the very finest physicians & researchers in the country, who provided culturally competent care. I wanted to continue my training with these same kinds of mentors. This led me to the Cambridge Health Alliance. I came for a transitional year with plans to go to the University of Washington for a residency in Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation. Now it seems fated that family concerns required that I stay in Cambridge. I had fallen in love with our diverse patient population; our faculty's commitment to mentoring & resident education; and to providing comprehensive, community-based care. I am also a mom and Cambridge is a great place to raise my son with access to world-class theaters, museums and green spaces.

As a resident, I have been moved by the suffering and grace of our patients as they face illness. After my year as chief, I will complete a fellowship at the joint Mass General Hospital/Dana Farber Palliative Care program and hope to come back to Cambridge Health Alliance to practice.

Chief Residents 2008-2009

I grew up in Atlanta, Georgia as the eldest of four children. One of my brothers is developmentally disabled. We adopted him when he was four. Due to his influence, I grew up very interested in and involved with people with disabilities of all types. After graduating from Emory University with a political science degree, I worked in Jerusalem for a year and then began teaching special education in Florida. After a few years of teaching, I decided to pursue medicine. I moved to Boston and began pre-med courses at the Harvard Extension School while working at a dyslexia research laboratory at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. A few years later, I entered the Brown-Dartmouth Medical School program and graduated from Brown Medical School in 2005. I plan to develop a practice in primary care and would love to care for adults with disabilities. Cerebral palsy is a particular interest of mine. One aspect of the CHA Internal Medicine Residency Program that drew me here is the focus on community-based medicine. I'm also enjoying the atmosphere of this hospital - we work hard, but we also have a lot of fun together as residents!

Matthew Watson
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons

As my family moved across the American Southwest following my father's pharmacy career in the Indian Health Service, I have been directly exposed from a young age to incredible social inequalities in our society. These experiences and the strong feelings that they conjured in me led me to UC Berkeley, a place well-known for its political and social activism. There I studied history while preparing for a possible career in medicine. After acceptance to Columbia University, I agreed to work for the Indian Health Service in exchange for payment of my medical school expenses. At Columbia I took a pause in my medical education to complete a Master's Degree in Public Health, with an emphasis in Epidemiology. With the perspective and tools that I have acquired over time, I intend to practice outpatient general medicine after residency and wish to serve a predominantly American Indian patient population. I also hope to conduct community-based clinical research that will positively influence the health care of the Indian community. CHA was my first choice for residency because of the Alliance's commitment to equal access to care and the residency program's commitment to primary care medicine.

Third Year Residents

David Del Bello - SUNY Upstate

Supriya Gannamaneni
Gandhi Medical School, India

I was born in India and I'm the youngest daughter in my family. My experiences and constant support from my parents and sisters helped me to choose the Medical profession. I consider my self very fortunate for getting admission in med school because of the extreme competition in India (About 500 will get admitted out of 100 thousand test takers). I got married in 2002 and my husband's job in Boston brought us to US. I graduated from Gandhi Medical College in 2004. I did my internship at NUMC, Long Island. I consider my self very lucky to be part of the Cambridge Hospital because of excellent learning environment and its constant focus to improve patient care. Residents and Staff here are very friendly and caring; it's a fun place to work. In my free time, I enjoy cooking, attending spiritual discourses and spending time with family and friends.

Tahereh Ghaziani
Shaheed Beheshti, Iran

I grew up and lived in Iran until I moved to the United States in 2003. My husband and I made a serious commitment to pursue our career goals in medicine and decided to move to the US to be trained in a rigorous research and education environment. I participated in intensive research in liver disease, and in 2003 I traveled to the US to present my work on host genetic factors in hepatitis B patients. When my husband got a fellowship on global health at Harvard, we were able to plan to stay in Cambridge and I continued my training in internal medicine at Cambridge Health Alliance. Here I have gained innumerable clinical and academic opportunities and continue to receive tremendous encouragement and support from the program. I enjoy the diverse patient population served by CHA. It's been fun working with my co-residents and the faculty members, and the program directors are always working hard to improve the program. I am really happy that I ended up being a Cambridge resident!

I am committed to becoming an academic gastroenterologist with special interest/training in hepatology. I'm excited to start my GI fellowship at Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital in July 2008.

Jeremy Keller
University of Massachusetts Medical School

After graduating from college I spent a year in New York City as an Americorps volunteer helping teachers and their students develop community service projects to better their schools and neighborhoods. This experience furthered my desire to work with underserved populations. As a medical student I took a year off to work as a research assistant on an inner city asthma project in Boston. During this time I discovered Cambridge Health Alliance's residency program and was immediately attracted to its emphasis on primary care medicine and the many opportunities to get involved with the community. I am thrilled to be here and hope to have a career in primary care and population based medicine. I love to travel-most recently traveled to Peru. I also enjoy running and watching the Red Sox.

Kim Khoury
Albany Medical College

I started medical school at 30, after teaching high school English for five years. I looked carefully for a residency program that would balance intense internal medicine, a culturally diverse patient population, strong teaching, and an excellent academic reputation with the chance to have a real life and see my family while training. CHA has just that. My co-residents are smart and friendly; they work hard and have lives outside of the hospital. This was by far my first choice, in part because of the hospital's genuine commitment to treating the whole person. When I complete the medicine residency, I plan to continue here with three years of psychiatry training. Though I am not sure of the form it will take, I hope to practice a combination of both disciplines when I am done with my training.

My life outside of work is busy but fun. My husband and I have two children -- Alexandra, 4 yrs old, and Charlie, 19 months old. I play tennis when I can, though not as seriously as I did in college. Surprisingly, I do have time to do the things I love and be with the people who matter to me while also being a resident.

A. Odina Lungu
University of Medicine, Romania

Second Year Residents

Zarpash Babar
West Virginia University

Michael Hochman
Harvard Medical School

During medical school I spent a year doing epidemiologic research on the Navajo Reservation in New Mexico. I also spent part of my time doing clinical work at an Indian Health Service hospital. I found that I really enjoyed working in this setting because of the opportunity to serve an underserved patient population. I also enjoyed being in the personal setting of a smaller hospital. Upon returning to Boston to complete medical school, I decided that I wanted to do a residency at a similar type of hospital. Cambridge Health Alliance turned out to be the perfect match for me not only because Cambridge is a community hospital that serves a diverse and underserved patient population but also because all the resources of a larger program are available. I look forward to pursuing my interests in public health, epidemiology, and medical education throughout my three years here.

Jude Koomson
University of Ghana

I was born in Ghana and received my undergraduate degree and attended medical school at the University of Ghana, where I participated extensively in community service projects. Following medical school, I went on to complete several years of house officer training in Ghana and in Ireland. I have a Masters Degree in Public Health from the Harvard School of Public Health and my hobbies include tennis, soccer, and reading about African history.

Scott Malkin
Flinders University School of Medicine, South Australia

I lived in Southern California and studied Anthropology and Biochemistry at UC San Diego. After college I worked in research and development before studying medicine at Flinders University of South Australia. Prior to starting my training in Internal Medicine at Cambridge Hospital, I did an internship in Family Medicine. I interviewed at Cambridge Hospital while contemplating switching training programs. By the end of my interview day I knew that Cambridge Health Alliance was where I wanted to be. It offers an ideal environment to learn medicine that parallels my medical school education experience. This includes an innovative third-year Medical School clerkship with its emphasis on longitudinal care that mirrors the novel clinical education at my medical school as well as problem-based and evidence-based didactics. There is excellent training in primary care with abundant opportunities to experience subspecialty electives at other Harvard-affiliated hospitals. I look forward to continuing my training here and learning more from our diverse patient population. I am also enjoying exploring all that Cambridge, Boston and New England have to offer.

I was born and raised in Brazil, but my family is all of Italian descent. This combination created a curiosity in different cultures beginning when I was quite young. After getting a masters degree in philosophy, I went to the Federal University of Sao Paulo, Brazil for my medical training. After residency, I did 2 years of Endocrine Fellowship. I developed a fascination with the medical and social consequences of diabetes and so I came to the Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston for a clinical fellowship in 2001, and spent 3 years doing research on obesity, adipose tissue and insulin resistance. I ended up meeting my husband during a noon conference, and here I am! I enjoy the diverse patient population served by the Cambridge Hospital, in particular the Brazilian immigrants. The physician and nursing staff are sensitive to cultural issues and do an excellent job providing health care to a population in great need.

Outside the hospital I enjoy spending time with family and friends, cooking, going to the movies and traveling.

Daniele Rohne
University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine

Rebecca Sands
Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine

I grew up in northwestern Pennsylvania, the youngest of three daughters. My parents and sisters have taught me to live with the sky as my limit and to give back to the community for all the blessings in my life. I attended college at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, PA and graduated with a degree in Chemistry. While in college, I spent a year studying in Glasgow, Scotland where I fell in love with my future husband (unfortunately, he has a Wisconsin accent instead of a Scottish one!) and we have been married for 3 years. After college, I spent time working in biochemistry research at the National University of Singapore and also taught 2nd grade in New Hampshire. I felt that a career in medicine was the most effective way for me to do something meaningful in other people's lives. I chose to go to osteopathic medical school in Chicago and was fortunate enough to rotate at large public hospitals such as Cook County where I was able to see first hand the extreme need of underserved populations. I also spent a month in Mumbai, India doing an infectious disease rotation. I was immediately attracted to Cambridge Health Alliance because it combines my interests of public and community health with a strong academic teaching program. There is also a sense of kinship here among all the residents and the environment is extremely supportive. I hope to go into the specialty of hematology/oncology and I know I will be a well-trained internist when I leave here and ready for the challenge. Outside of the hospital, I enjoy going to cultural and musical events, exercising, and spending time with my family.

First Year Residents

Charlotte Atiemo
University of Virginia

I was born in Washington, DC and graduated from the University of Maryland College Park with a degree in physiology/neurobiology.After graduating college, I began my medical studies at the University Of Virginia School Of Medicine. While in school, I became interested in looking at medicine not just through a scientific approach, but in examining the relationship between health and the social world. My newfound interest spurred me to help bring forth an unprecedented student-led community health fair targeted at the underserved areas surrounding Charlottesville, Virginia. I later went on to produce and direct a documentary entitled "Access to Healthcare", which examined the need for healthcare within Southwest Virginia. I am very excited about the program here at Cambridge Health Alliance and enjoy being part of such a great community.

Cassie Frank
University of Illinois

I was born in Detroit and graduated from the University of Michigan. I then went on to earn a Masters in Public Health from Emory University and a medical degree is from the University of Illinois, Chicago - College of Medicine. Before medical school I worked as a high school science teacher on Chicago's South Side. I have also worked for the Frontier Nursing Service in Appalachia and for the Public Health Service on the Navajo Nation. I have studied health in Ecuador, Mexico, and Cuba.

Justin Groode
Ben Gurion University, Israel

I grew up surfing in California & Hawaii. My undergraduate years consisted of music (Jazz bass) & Psychology at the University of Colorado at Boulder. I had always felt that I was destined to a path of service but was not quite sure how that would manifest until I found homeopathic medicine and discovered my passion for the healing arts. I studied homeopathy for 4 years, culminating in an MA. What I liked about homeopathy was twofold; the analytical diagnostic work-up and the intimate patient-practitioner encounters. As my patient breadth grew I was pleasantly struck by the diversity of medical complexities in my practice. This intrigue quickly transformed into inspiration; I decided to become a physician.

Around the same time, my wife and I had our first child. Seeking an immersion into her culture and language I again took an unorthodox path; I went to study at Ben Gurion University in Israel's culturally rich southern region. My med school experience was graced with tremendous patient diversity; namely Arabic speaking Bedouins and heaps of Russian, Ethiopian, and North African immigrants, among others. Unsurprisingly, when I began looking toward residency, I aspired to train in a facility embodying diversity. What I found at CHA is one of the premiere models of a health care system committed to addressing its community's health disparities and population-specific differences in access to care. Working as a resident here makes it that much easier to actually practice culturally competent medicine, even amidst the chaos of internship.

Eirini Iliaki
University of Crete, Greece

I was born in Greece and attended the University of Crete Medical School. After graduating, I came to the US to conduct research in the Mass Eye and Ear Infirmary and completed a preliminary medicine internship at St. Elizabeth's Medical Center. I then went on to earn a Masters in Public Health at the Harvard School of Public Health. While there, I worked on international and domestic projects with the HSPH and the World Bank. I am fluent in Greek and am currently learning Portuguese. My hobbies include running, cooking and theater.

Florian Koci
University DiRoma, Italy

I was born in Tirana, Albania. As a teenager, I took part in professional chess competitions. Later, I attended Medical School at the University of Tirana, Albania, but graduated from the medical school of the University of “Tor Vergata” in Rome, Italy. I immigrated to the Boston area in 1996, where I worked for several years providing direct patient care as a registered respiratory therapist at the CHA Somerville Hospital campus and Massachusetts General Hospital. Throughout my career in healthcare I have been part of a minority community, and I have developed an active interest in facilitating medical care for underserved minority populations. Therefore, Cambridge Health Alliance, with its well-established reputation for providing the best quality of care to a wide variety of minority communities, is the ideal environment for me to pursue training in Internal Medicine. My experience so far has definitely exceeded my expectations, especially with regard to the faculty's dedication to resident education. Outside of work, I love playing with my two boys. My hobbies include soccer and chess. I am fluent in English, Albanian and Italian.

Arun Mohan
Emory University

I was born in Chicago and graduated from Swarthmore College, where I was Editor of the school newspaper. I then attended Emory University School of Medicine and at the same time, completed an MBA with a concentration in Leadership. I also co-founded "Health Students Taking Action Together", a student-led organization that seeks to increase collaboration and civic engagement among students in Georgia. My hobbies include cooking and basketball.

Carmen P. Mohan
Emory University

I am a graduate of the Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, GA. I came to CHA because I believe that primary care physicians play a critical role in reducing health disparities. To promote access to health care, I serve on the Board of Directors of the Community Campus Partnerships for Health (CCPH), which is working to increase civic engagement of health professionals. I have also served on the board of directors for several nonprofit organizations including Health Students Taking Action Together, Inc (Atlanta, GA), and The Third Wave Foundation (New York, NY). I received a Bachelor of Science in Biological Resource Engineering from the University of Maryland at College Park, and after college completed the Jane Addams-Andrew Carnegie Fellow at the Center on Philanthropy in Indianapolis, IN.

Tejpreet Kaur Nakai
NY College of Osteopathic Medicine

Born and raised in the culturally rich settings of New York City and Long Island, I completed a combined Bachelor of Science and Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine program at the New York Institute of Technology and New York College of Osteopathic Medicine. My family and diverse community surrounded me with examples of service, humility, and compassion; medicine seemed to be the most natural outlet for returning these teachings to all those who helped raise me. I wanted to continue my training at a progressive program that was both academically challenging and devoted to the welfare of its patients and to the broader community it served. I wanted to be part of a program that nurtured my interests in public and international health, healthcare access to underserved populations, epidemiology, health activism, and human rights. The PCIM program at The Cambridge Hospital provides all these opportunities in a supportive and friendly environment of like-minded and spirited residents a nd faculty. I feel fortunate to have the opportunity to take care of members from our local and global community and to learn not only about their disease states but to also immerse myself in their experiences and customs. I have embraced the community of Cambridge as my own, and I look forward to sharing the principles and values that drove me to become a physician with them during my phase as a physician-in-training.