Left to right, graduating Internal Medicine residents, back row: Salaheldin Elhamamsy, MD, Radu Hagau, MD, Waseem Barham, MD, Abdullah Alquadan, MD with daughter Sophia, Abdullah Chahin, MD, Ahmad Daraghmeh, MD and Easa Al-Ghandour, MD. Front row, left to right, Valeria Fabre, MD, Prerna Ganjoo, MD and Asha Shrestha, MD.

Left to right, graduating Family Medicine residents, back row: Jodi Roque, MD, Derek Andelloux, MD, Malcolm Sheldon, DO, Matt Hall, DO, David Dildine, MD and Jen Buckley, MD. Front row, left to right, Christine Nevins-Herbert, MD, Elise Bender, MD, Brandi Shah, MD, Stephanie Chow, MD, Alicia Sanchez, MD, Manisha Kumar, MD and Jessica Early, MD.

Graduation day exercises were held on Friday, June 22, 2012, for residents and fellows completing their training at Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island. Arthur DeBlois, III, Interim President and CEO, performed the dual role of congratulating the graduates and greeting the new residents and fellows coming to the hospital in their wake.

Graduates received their plaques from Residency Program Director Eleanor Summerhill, MD, Associate Program Director Joseph Rabatin, MD,  Joseph Diaz, MD, Interim Chief of Medicine and Ahmad Ismail, MD, Assistant Program Director.            

The graduates made way for a new class of Internal Medicine residents, who began a three-year program that includes education and patient interaction under the supervision of experienced doctors. They are: Maxwell Afari, MD, Rasha Alqadi, MD, Mohammad Ashkiani, MD, Adil Bhutta, MD, Thomas Guerrero, MD, Mobeen Rehman, MD, Mohammed Salhab, MD, Hammad Shafqat, MD, Rajesh Shrestha, MD, and Takehide Umeda, MD. Abdullah Chahin, MD will be the Chief Resident.

In the Family Medicine Department, Residency Program Director Melissa Nothnagle, MD, Associate Program Director, Gowri Anandarajah, MD, Assistant Program Directors, Tina Duarte, MD and Fadya El-Rayess, MD, and Jeffrey Borkan, M.D., PhD, Chairman, Graduate Medical Education, and Physician-in-Chief, Department of Family Medicine, announced the graduates and welcomed new residents.

New family medicine residents, who will see patients in the Family Care Center under the supervision of staff physicians, are: Cara Berkowitz, MD, Kristina Conner, MD, Alexis Drutchas, MD, Lauren Goddard, MD, Carmen Goojha, MD, Jessica Huang, MD, Jennifer Lu, DO, Melissa Mackel, DO, Tania Menz, MD, Daria Szkwarko, DO, Mark Turshen, MD, Sara Watson, MD, and Erin Wisman, MD. Christopher Furey, MD and Ashley Lakin, DO will serve as Co-Chief Residents.

Jason Mallette, DPM, graduated from the Podiatric Medicine and Surgical Residency Program. He will practice at South County Foot & Ankle, Inc. in RI.

Aaron Davis, DO, Katherine McCleary, MD and Heidi Schneider, MD, all graduated from the Maternal Child Health Fellowship Program.