Reena Hemrajani, MD, named program director for the J. Willis Hurst Internal Medicine Residency Program

We are pleased to announce that Reena Hemrajani, MD, has been named program director for the J. Willis Hurst Internal Medicine Residency Program. Hemrajani will be taking over the position from Karen Law, MD, who has held the program director role since 2016.

Hemrajani is an associate professor in the Division of Hospital Medicine. A nationally-recognized leader in graduate medical education and faculty development, Hemrajani joined the Emory School of Medicine faculty in 2017 as an associate site director and hospitalist at Grady and assistant division director for faculty development for the Division of Hospital Medicine. In 2018, she was named associate program director for the J. Willis Hurst Internal Medicine Residency Program. In 2019, she was named Associate Division Director for Faculty Development. Prior to joining Emory, Hemrajani served as an associate program director at Virginia Commonwealth University for four years, where she also completed her internal medicine residency and served as a chief resident. She is highly regarded for her leadership roles in the Society of General Internal Medicine (SGIM) and well-received workshops at the Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine (AAIM) meetings, and is a 2021 fellow of the Woodruff Leadership Academy.

As the program director, Hemrajani will lead a team that will guide the administrative, clinical, and educational oversight for the J. Willis Hurst Internal Medicine Residency Program, one of the largest residency training programs in the country. Her team will provide leadership for program administration, innovative curricular planning, and program evaluation; ensure compliance with all ACGME and regulatory requirements; lead recruitment efforts; mentor residents; and support the forward evolution of graduate medical education through scholarship.

Please join us in recognizing Karen Law, MD, for her incredible leadership as residency program director. During her tenure, she directed transformational change in our educational programs while fostering a robust culture of community and care for each individual resident. She oversaw the implementation of the inaugural Stimulating Access to Research in Residency (StARR) R38 award from the NIH, as well as the addition of two additional resident primary care clinic sites at MOT and 1525, and the addition of the Hospital Medicine section at Grady Memorial Hospital. She successfully ushered the program through the height of the pandemic, as well as its major transition to the X+Y schedule format, which has facilitated additional opportunities for research and engagement with our Distinction Programs in health equity and advocacy, HIV medicine, medical education, medical innovation, point of care ultrasound, and quality improvement.

Law’s impact on trainee education reaches far beyond our program as well. Her publications on resident parental leave, co-authored in partnership with five other leading universities, were the impetus for the American Board of Internal Medicine and the American Board of Medical Subspecialties to revise policy in support of parental leave during residency and fellowship training, paving the way for more robust parental leave policies for trainees across the country. Under her leadership, the program’s national reputation has grown thanks to its focus on intellectual curiosity and scholarship, health equity and advocacy, and diversity, wellness, and community. She is beloved for her care for each resident as a whole person and for her willingness to go above and beyond to advocate for resident needs. Law will stay on in her role as Associate Vice Chair of Education for the Department of Medicine and will work closely with Hemrajani to ensure a smooth leadership transition.

Please join us in congratulating Hemrajani on her well-deserved new role and in thanking Law for her dedication and accomplishments during her tenure.

There will be a call for applications for the associate program director position Hemrajani is vacating in the coming weeks.