More than 60 resident physicians and fellows were honored Friday, June 14 during a graduation ceremony at Western Michigan University’s Miller Auditorium.
“During this journey, you’ve acquired new knowledge and developed your skills and abilities after more than a decade of premedical, medical and now, specialty education,” Dr. Hal B. Jenson, the medical school’s founding dean, said during the ceremony. “Education is the mission of every medical school and residency program, including ours. It’s also the mission of this medical school to inspire you to be a lifelong learner.”
A large crowd comprised of WMed faculty members and family and friends of the residents and fellows came together at Miller to celebrate the graduates, who have spent between one and five years training in southwest Michigan.
WMed boasts nine residency programs in the specialties of Emergency Medicine, Family Medicine, General Surgery, Internal Medicine, Medicine-Pediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Orthopaedic Surgery, Pediatrics, and Psychiatry. There also are three one-year fellowships for Emergency Medical Services, Simulation, and Sports Medicine.
Of the 67 residents and fellows celebrated at the ceremony, six of them will remain and work in Kalamazoo. Meanwhile, an additional eight residents will work in other cities in Michigan.
Dr. David T. Overton, Associate Dean for Graduate Medical Education, said the graduates have excelled in patient care, medical knowledge, interpersonal communication and other competencies.
“Graduates, I give you my heartfelt congratulations for your accomplishments,” Overton said. “Your parents, friends and relatives all have reason to be proud and I know they join me in wishing you the very best for the future.”
The ceremony also gave the resident physicians and fellows the opportunity to honor the medical school’s clinical faculty with 2019 teaching awards. A total of 16 faculty were honored.
Photos from the event can be viewed on the WMed Flickr page.
Here’s a complete list of this year’s resident and fellow graduates, as well as faculty who received awards:
Emergency Medicine
John Ocenar Aguilar, MD
Ryan Scott Bade, DO
Sean Tyler Barkan, MD
Brent Roger James Bjorklund, MD
Nathan Edwin Brunken, MD
Brendan James Fowler, DO
Joshua Christopher Fronek, DO
Kelly Ann Halt, DO
Casey Logan Hoehn, MD
Fahad Khan, DO
David Jude King, MD
Benjamin Reed Litman, DO
Samantha Alecia Mix-Souther, MD (Chief)
Jorge José Morales, DO (Chief)
Kurt Thomas Schelling, DO
Mauli Ketan Shah, DO
Nour Ramiz Sinno, MD
Ramya Venigalla, DO
Sean Christopher Wilson, DO
Peter Anthony Zack, DO (Chief)
Emergency Medical Services Fellowship
Rasha Rahim Kazi, MD
Family Medicine
Justin Di Dionato, MD
Joshua Lawrence Fainsod, MD
Zhen Hua Geng, MD (Chief)
Mehmiya Zehra Raghid, MD (Chief)
Aisha Shakoor, MD
Lauren Elizabeth Vocke, DO
Stephanie Kathleen Witte, MD
General Surgery
Hira Hasnain Abidi, MD (Chief)
Steven Zhiyuan Lu, DO, MPH (Chief)
David Garrett Schutter, MD (Chief)
General Surgery – Preliminary Year I
Isaac Tracy Prows, DO
Tania Adelina Torres, MD, MS
General Surgery – Preliminary Year II
Joslyn Abraham Jose, MD
Internal Medicine
Karun Singh Badwal, DO
Joshua Michael Hamoud, MD
Christopher Foster Hanzaker, MD
Matthew Edmund Kelly, MD
Lauren Dawn Lamie, DO
Michael David Reaume, MD (Chief)
Muhammad Dansih Saleem, MD
Anita Bernadette Shallal, MD (Chief)
Tooba Tariq, MD
Carleigh Suzanne Zahn, DO (Chief)
Dominika Maria Zoltowska, MD
Medicine-Pediatrics
Emily Beth Cordes, DO (Chief)
Emily Marie Gray Goerl, DO (Chief)
Claire Diana Liepmann, MD
Patrick James Staso, MD
Alec Christopher Wilson, MD
Orthopaedic Surgery
Christopher James Betzle, MD (Chief)
Alexander John Connaughton, MD (Chief)
Matthew Nicholas Jaykel, MD (Chief)
Pediatrics
Jasmine Alsukhon, MD (Chief)
Preeti Borgohain, MD
Cailly Jo Howell-McLean, MD (Chief)
Sabrina Huq, DO
Skye Weihua Lu, DO
Alexander Clayton Mast, DO
Sharmeen Samuel, MD
Katie Jo Udenberg, DO
Psychiatry
John Sunny Jacob, MD
Chaz Tyler Johnson, MD
Andrea Kay Landesman, MD
Meagan Elizabeth Maas, MD
Sarah Margaret Myer, DO
Sports Medicine Fellowship
Karim Moustafa Elghawy, MD
2019 Teaching Awards
Emergency Medicine
Wael Hakmeh, DO
Richard Lovy, DO
Family Medicine
Wesley Eichorn, DO
Andrew Luciano, MD
General Surgery
John T. Collins, MD
Mark A. Dittenbir, MD
Internal Medicine
Thomas Flynn, MD
Scott Timmer, MD
Spencer Winters, MD
Medicine-Pediatrics
Jayne Barr, MD, MPH
Nicholas Helmstetter, MD
Orthopaedic Surgery
Robert R. Gorman III, MD
Pediatrics
Joseph Fakhoury, MD
Erica VanderKooy, MD
Psychiatry
Joseph Calles, MD
Perry Westerman, MD