ChristianaCare Academic Affairs

Research Notables of the Month   The Medical Libraries team is thrilled to congratulate the most recent research notables of the month on the successful publication of their medical research.   Here’s a summary of the research studies:   Long-Term Prospective Outcomes of Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy for Locally Advanced Lung Cancer (Adam Raben, MD (not pictured) Empowering Victims of Lived Violence Delaware’s Hospital Violence Intervention Program (HVIP) (David Chen, MD (pictured)) A Case of Infected Pulmonary Sequestration in Adulthood (Ranjodh Singh, DO & Lynnae Duffalo, MD (not pictured))   It is quite an accomplishment to contribute to the ever-growing body of knowledge in the medical field and their hard work and dedication has paid off. Their research has the potential to make a significant impact in the lives of others. Their papers are shared on our Research Notables wall located in the Lewis B. Finn Medical Library, Newark Campus. If you are interested in submitting your work to be featured, contact the Medical Libraries, [email protected] or Submit your research publications to be featured as our next research notable of the month! (office.com).   Please Note: selected research does not constitute endorsement by the Medical Libraries unless otherwise noted.  

Academic Affairs is excited to announce the August 2024 Resident of the Month Winner is Dr. Joseph Kuiper, PGY-5 from the General Surgery Residency! Here is a little bit about Joe! "I’m originally from a small town in Iowa (not to be confused with Idaho; think corn not potatoes), and my fun fact is that I worked on a strawberry farm in the summers and now believe that all store-bought berries are sub-par. I attended the University of Tulsa in Oklahoma for undergrad and then the University of Oklahoma for medical school before finally landing on the east coast for residency. I’m excited to be heading to Los Angeles next year for a one-year fellowship in Foregut and minimally invasive surgery at USC, which is a little silly since I hate going to the beach.   It feels cliché, but my favorite part of residency is the friendship I have with my co-residents, especially my own class that I’ve gone through the last 4.25 years with. I wish we could keep doing this forever, but maybe with higher salaries and better work hours.   In my free time I enjoy cooking, especially if it’s adjacent to (but not with) my partner, Arielle. Too many cooks in the kitchen is a very real thing! I also love hiking and camping, and I hope to one day visit every US national park. I have a lot of them left to see, but you have more time for that sort of thing after residency, right? Right??" Here is what Joe's co-residents have to say! "As chief of the EGS service, Joe has been exemplary. He efficiently runs this busy, dynamic, and unpredictable service. He manages to make both his patients and his team feel cared for. He is an excellent and patient teacher and consistently leads by example. Perhaps most impressive of all he can operate all day and all night on a 24 hours shift and still be kind and selfless. I hope to be more like him everyday and feel very lucky to train with him." "He is an excellent leader and takes the extra time/exhibits extra effort to always teach more junior residents. He is an excellent surgeon." "Joe has been a great EGS chief. We worked together during my first call shift of intern year and he really helped me navigate this busy time. He shows kindness and understanding to all members of the team and helps us improve daily. He is a great teacher and creates a welcoming environment!" Congratulations Joe! #academics #hardwork #education #surgery

Please join Academic Affairs at ChristianaCare in congratulating our July “Educator of the Month” winner, Dr. Ammar Alzoubi, Hematology! Dr. Alzoubi was born in Damascus, Syria, and attended Aleppo University for medical school.   He moved to the United States in the mid-1990s, completed his Internal Medicine residency at Case Western University, Mt. Sinai Medical Center in Cleveland, Ohio, followed by fellowship in Hematology-Oncology at the University of Massachusetts in Worcester.   Favorite part of his job? “The best part of my job is my interaction with patients and their families to help them comprehend the complexity of medical care and to enable them to make management decisions.”   Fun fact: “My happy place is always on the water and spending time outdoors. My other passions are traveling and cooking."   Dr. Alzoubi has been nominated for "Educator of the Month" multiple times, and repeated stellar resident/fellow anecdotes such as those below made him our clear July winner!     “Fantastic educator. Perfect balance of autonomy and supervision. Dr. Alzoubi is very intentional about the cases/patients assigned to learners to optimize educational utility. He creates a light-hearted, low stress environment, yet challenges learners appropriately and motivates their ongoing learning (ie--he strikes an excellent balance on that Yerkes-Dodson curve!!). Dr. Alzoubi has not only been an exemplary educator in real-time, but an incredible career mentor as well. I am forever grateful for the impact he has had on my learning and my life.”     “Exemplary bedside manner, intelligent, compassionate -- all-around phenomenal physician and educator. ChrstianaCare is lucky to have him!”     “Dr. Alzoubi is endlessly compassionate, is deeply committed to doing the right thing, even when it may not be the easiest thing, always has a smile on his face, and made me genuinely excited to come to work every day. It is evident that he truly cares not only about his patients and their families, but about his learners as well.”     Thank you so much, Dr. Alzoubi, for the many meaningful ways you enhance the ChristianaCare educational experience!  

Fall months focus on literacy and health literacy awareness, but this is a focus of our work daily. Grateful for the opportunity to reach out, teach back, and share ways to partner around improving health literacy. Special shout out to Greg O'Neill, MSN, APRN, AGCNS-BC, NPD-BC, NEA-BC and the PFHE team for trust and collaboration!

Academic Affairs is excited to announce the July 2024 Resident of the Month Winner Dr. Saira Khan PGY-3 in the Emergency Medicine Residency Program! Here is a little bit about Saira! "I'm originally from South Florida and went to undergrad at the University of Florida (Go Gators). I actually did PA school first and practiced as a PA for a few years in Miami before I decided to go back to school and complete my medical training to become a physician. I went to medical school in Pennsylvania, and to my good fortune, ended up at Christiana for EM residency.  My favorite part of being at Christiana is hands down the people I get to work with every day - from my amazing co-residents who have become a second family, to our wonderful attendings who love to teach and push us to be the best clinicians we can be, and of course, our incredible ED nurses, clerks, and pharmacists who always have our backs. I couldn't ask for a better group of people to work with, and I feel very fortunate to be here caring for our community with these rockstars by my side. After graduation, I'm hoping to pursue a fellowship in EMS. In my down time, I love hanging out with my co-residents, trying out new restaurants, hunting for new plants, and recently I have taken up scrolling the Brandywine SPCA dog adoption website.  Fun fact: the correct pronunciation of my name is actually 'Sy-rah' 😉" Here is what Saira's co-residents have to say! "Saira is one of the kindest and hardest working residents in our program. She's always looking out for her co-residents on shift and will pick up extra patients to get others out on time. You'll often find her staying late after her shift to help out as well. The thought and care she puts into her patients is inspiring, and she's such a great role model for our new interns. If I came in as a patient, she's who I would want taking care of me." "Dr. Saira Khan consistently demonstrates exceptional dedication, compassion, and skill in her work. Her positive attitude and unwavering commitment to patient care are truly inspiring. Saira’s ability to seamlessly integrate into any team, collaborate effectively, and support her colleagues makes her an invaluable member of our EM residency. Being named Resident of the Month is a testament to her hard work and kindness, which never go unnoticed. We are fortunate to have such a remarkable resident among us" "Saira is the epitome of a star resident. She approaches every patient with an incredible sense of empathy, care, and compassion. She is a true friend in and out of the emergency department, and is always ready to help out in any way!" Congratulations Saira!! Thank you for all your hard work and dedication everyday!

This week, our ChristianaCare Center for WorkLife Wellbeing and medical resident farmers rounded our Christiana Hospital resident lounges. They brought along their wellbeing wagon filled with fresh flowers, fruits, vegetables and herbs from our iLEAD Discovery Garden. The garden is open to all caregivers as a place for bonding, community, rejuvenation and education. Our resident wellbeing elective currently has three resident physicians working in the garden, and participating in activities with the Food Bank and shadowing our community health educators. Residents from six different residency programs are eligible for the one or two-week elective. So far, they have distributed over 1,200 pounds of produce this season! The resident farmers, iLEAD and ChristianaCare Center for WorkLife Wellbeing caregivers concluded their rounds by giving a tour of the Discovery Garden to ChristianaCare President and CEO, Janice E. Nevin MD MPH, and ChristianaCare Chief Clinical Officer, Dr. Neil Jasani. They showed all the hard work and care put into the garden. A fitting motto for our Discovery Garden comes from the famous words of Hippocrates, "Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food." #residency #LoveOfHealth #foodismedicine #gardening #healthcare

We are so proud of our Family Medicine Residency Program for being recognized as 2024 Health Hero by the Lt. Governer, Dr. Bethany Hall-Long. #FamilyMedicine #substanceusedisorder #residency

A huge shout out to all Graduate Medical Education Professionals! On Friday August 16th, we celebrate the invaluable contribution you make each and every day! You are a vital component in creating the next generation of physicians. Thank you for all you do to support Graduate Medical Education! ChristianaCare #happyGMEprofessionalsday #GME #academics #hardwork #workisfun #thankyou

Academic Affairs ChristianaCare is excited to announce the June 2024 Resident of the Month Winner, Dr. Hannah Sweeney PGY-4 from the OBGYN Residency program! Here is a little bit about Hannah! "I grew up in Western Massachusetts (aka the not Boston part) where I had my first job at Friendly’s scooping ice cream. I went to UPenn for undergrad and stayed in Philly for a year after as a research assistant at CHOP. I went to med school at UVA prior to starting my residency here at Christiana. My favorite part of residency has been getting to know so many great people. My number one hobby outside of work is hanging out with my roommates’ dogs as pictured above." Here is what Hannahs co-residents have to say about her! "Hannah is a person who is dedicated to making the transition period for interns as seem less as possible. The orientation she organized for us, covering review, intro to the EMR, and innovative skills simulation was amazing and so helpful!" "Hannah is our administrative chief this year. In addition to the excellent compassionate care she takes of our patients, she has spent countless hours helping to accommodate all of our scheduling and administrative requests. She planned, coordinated, and spearheaded orientation efforts to help prepare our new interns to hit the ground running! She brings a clever meme to every email and knows how to uplift her team with her humor. She is a supportive friend, dependable co-resident, and a levelheaded chief!" #hardwork #education #loveandexcellence #pets