Chiefs’ Roast and Toast 2020 – Honoring the departing IM chief residents

The J. Willis Hurst Internal Medicine Residency Program recently hosted the annual Chiefs’ Roast and Toast to honor (and roast) the 2019-2020 outgoing chief residents, Caitlin Anderson, John Haydek, Babusai Rapaka, Danica Rockney, Akanksha Vaidya, and Cindy Ye.

This year’s event celebrated the residents’ hard work during COVID-19, while practicing social distancing. The event was “drive-in movie style,” where residents parked in a large lot in front of an inflatable movie screen, and enjoyed pizza and popcorn.

Karen Law, MD, program director of the internal medicine residency program, provided opening remarks, thanking all residents for serving valiantly during this challenging time. The event continued with the distribution of awards to faculty, residents, fellows, and staff who have shown dedication to Emory’s internal medicine residency program. The presentations concluded with a “roasting” video dedicated to the outgoing chief residents.

See below for a full list of award winners.

Juha P. Kokko Teaching Award

This award represents the single most outstanding teaching attending the residents work with at any of the hospital sites.

• Meredith Lora, MD

Joyce P. Doyle Award

The award recognizes an individual who has shown exceptional dedication toward Dr. Doyle’s vision of tirelessly working on the behalf of residents to make this the best program in the country.

• Dustin Smith, MD

Golden Apple Award

This award recognizes the most outstanding inpatient attending and subspecialist attending at each hospital.

• Daniel Hunt, MD (EUH)
• Subspecialist – Rebecca D. Levit, MD
• Ketevan Kobaidze, MD (EUHM)
• Subspecialist – Alexander Truong, MD (EUHM)
• Francois Rollin, MD and Mehul Tejani, MD (Grady)
• Subspecialist – Jennifer Spicer, MD (Grady)
• Dustin Smith, MD (VAMC)
• Subspecialist – Joanne Allam, MD (VAMC)

Most Outstanding Fellow Award

This award recognizes the most outstanding fellows who engage our residents with teaching and enthusiasm for their subspecialty.

• Randi Connor-Schuler, MD (Pulmonary)
• Meredith Greer, MD (Pulmonary)
• Danny Harris, MD (Pulmonary)
• Martin Runnstrom, MD (Pulmonary)
• John Ricketts, MD (Cardiology)
• Amy Sherman, MD (Infectious Diseases)
• Jaqueline Theresa Brown, MD (Hematology/Oncology)

Laurence Sperling Outstanding Research Mentor Award

This award recognizes the faculty mentor and fellows who most deeply supported resident involvement in research. 

• Faculty: Bashar Staitieh, MD (Pulmonary)
• Fellows: Amy Sherman, MD (Infectious Diseases) and Meredith Greer, MD (Pulmonary)

Best Conference Leadership Award

This award recognizes the highest quality hospital-based conference from any of the hospitals in our system.

• GMH – BST Mode/BST Mode Storytellers/BST Mode Faculty Edition (faculty recognized: Meredith Lora, MD, Francois Rollin, MD, Stan Sonu, MD, and Reena Hemrajani, MD)

Outstanding Resident Teacher Award

This award is presented to PGY2 and PGY3 residents who show the greatest dedication to resident teaching and medical education.

• PGY2: Annie Ho, MD
• PGY3: Craig Cook, MD

Golden Stethoscope Award

This award is presented to residents from each class who exemplify superior clinical skills, judgement, and use of evidence to support practice.

• PGY1: John Huang, MD and Farmin Samareh-Jahanim, MD
• PGY2: Gregory Damhorst, MD
• PGY3: Amalia Aldredge, MD and Mayssan Muftah, MD

Compassionate Resident Physician Award

This award is presented to residents from each class who represent exemplary humanism toward patients, colleagues, and all members of the health care team, serving as role models for integrity, altruism, respect, empathy, and service combined with clinical excellence.

• PGY1: Shub Agrawal, MD, Alex Galloway, MD, and David Wilhoite, MD
• PGY2: Dylan Baker, MD and Lakshmi Katta, MD
• PGY3: Grace Rim, MD, Rachel Shah, MD, and Natalia Smirnova, MD

Outstanding Advanced Practice Provider (APP) Award

This award recognizes the most dedicated and impactful APPs in our system who play instrumental roles on teams and in teaching.

• Alison Kelley, NP (CVICU – Grady)
• Jacob Goergen, NP (CVICU – Grady)

Outstanding Nurse Award

This award recognizes the most dedicated and impactful nurses on our system.

• Marcela Barragan, RN (OB-GYN Clinic – Grady)
• Orit Ahmed, RN (Medical ICU – Grady)

Citizenship Award

This award is bestowed by the chief residents upon the residents from each class who most exemplify program engagement and citizenship throughout the year.

• PGY1: Jonathan Huang, MD and Alex Galloway, MD
• PGY2: John Bloch, MD and Gregory Damhorst, MD
• PGY3: Chelsea Modlin, MD, Pedro Alberto Lamothe Molina, MD, and Danille Steed, MD