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Lower Bucks Hospital’s Residency Graduation
Fourteen graduates to begin careers after completing three-year medical residency
Bristol, PA– ( 06/18/2021) – On June 10, Lower Bucks Hospital’s Residency Program celebrated its 2020-2021 resident physicians graduates in a ceremony and reception at the Falls Manor Banquet Hall, in Bristol, PA. A total of 14 resident physicians graduated this year after three years of training at Lower Bucks Hospital and its physician practices.
Members of the Class of 2021 include:
TALHA BHATTI, DO. –Hospitalist at Private Practice, Woodbridge, Virginia
NAMITA BIALA, DO.- Nephrology Fellowship, Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Philadelphia, PA
YIN CHI, DO.- Hunterdon Family Practice & Obstetrics, Flemington, NJ
ESTHER DAVILA, DO.- Family Medicine Private Practice, Las Vegas, NV
JOHN DEMARIO, DO.- AFC Urgent Care, Aston, PA
MONIKA DRZYMALKSI, DO.-Patient First Urgent Care, Langhorne, PA
ANTHONY ERRICO, DPM.– Podiatric Private Practice, Dallas, TX
DINNA GETACHEW, DO.– Outpatient Internal Medicine, San Francisco, CA
SHIVALI PATEL-JOHNSTON, DO.- UPMC Pinnacle Primary Care Practice, York, PA
ARIANNA LALPUTAN, DO.- Comprehensive Care Medical Associates, Langhorne, PA
CHRISTOPHER LYERLY, DPM.- InStride Foot and Ankle Specialists, Clemmons, NC
KHUZEMA MOHSIN, MD. -Critical Care Medicine Fellowship Larkin Community Hospital, Palm Springs, FL
NATHAINA SMITH, DO.- Intermountain Healthcare, Las Vegas, NV
USMAN ZAHEER, DO.- Hematology/Oncology Fellowship at LSU Health Shreveport, Shreveport, LA
Some of the program’s residents and attending physicians were also recognized with special awards during the program. The awards were given as follows:
Faculty and Nursing Awards, Steven Orland, DO., Urology and Radhika Pathalapati, MD., Nephrology
Teaching Faculty of the Year Award, Nand Ram, MD., Internal Medicine
Nursing Award recipient, Susan Anderson, RN Telemetry / Med Surg.
Departmental Resident Awards recipient, Shivali Patel Johnston, DO.
Resident Award of Excellence – Outpatient Medicine, Dinna Getachew, DO.,
Resident Award for Intern Teaching that was chosen by the Intern Classes, Award Recipients, Sean Duffy, DO.; Usman Zaheer, DO.; and Christopher Lyerly, DPM.
Resident Research Award recipient, Pejmahn Eftekharzadeh, DO.
Resident Award for Compassionate Care, based on information provided by the patient experience department Award Recipient, Monika Drzymalski, DO.
Resident of the Year Award recipient, Ankit Patel, MD.
Intern of the Year Award for Family Medicine, Darshini Shah, MD.
Intern of the Year Award for Internal Medicine, Sabin Karki, MD.
Intern of the Year Award for Podiatry, Ahmad Namous, DPM.
Resident Award for In-service Exams (ABIM, ABFM, and ABFAS) presented by Michelle Buado were, family medicine residents PGY1 Kulin Patel, PGY1 Darshini Shah, PGY2 Zachary Nevolo, and PGY3 John DeMario, internal medicine residents PGY1 Sabin Karki, PGY2 Elena Sokolova, PGY3 Usman Zaheer, and podiatry residents PGY1 Ahmed Namous, and PGY2 Mohammed Muntaser.
Residency is a stage of graduate medical training. Residents hold a medical degree and practice medicine under the indirect supervision of an attending physician, and successful completion of a residency program is a requirement to obtaining a medical license.
“Residency graduation is such a momentous occasion,” said Teresa D. Robinson, MSEd, administrative director and designated institutional official over Lower Bucks Hospital and Suburban Community Hospitals Residency Programs. “Today is of course a celebration of your hard work and commitment to your patients and the community. But, it’s also a great reminder of how by working together, we can truly change people’s lives.”
The residency program offers a learning environment across several settings, including hospital, ambulatory, emergency, and various specialty rotations. The rotations include training with community physicians specializing in pediatrics, behavioral health, wound care, podiatry, cardiology, geriatrics, dermatology, gynecology, obstetrics, general surgery, orthopedics, nephrology, urology, and pulmonology.
“Lower Bucks Hospital is proud to equip our residents with the education they need for a successful career in health care,” said Christopher Belletieri, D.O., family medicine program director. “Between services like family medicine, podiatry, wound care, general surgery, internal medicine, and more, Lower Bucks Hospital’s residency graduates are prepared to address health issues pertinent to our community and beyond.”
Dr. Radhika Pathalapati, director of the internal medicine education program at Lower Bucks Hospital, added “Their sincere desire to improve themselves to better serve and care for their patients in this community cannot be overstated. Not only did they provide quality and compassionate health care, but they provided humanistic care to the community, especially during the pandemic. We sincerely thank the many people who made this possible and the residents’ families for trusting us to teach the next generation of physicians.”
Robinson added, “We are achieving our vision. These 14 students have already contributed to the communities they serve, and their careers bring so much promise into our future. This is a proud day.”
According to Ronak Bhimani, MD, CMO of Lower Bucks, “There are some challenges when it comes to recruiting physicians to community hospitals, but the Lower Bucks Hospital’s Residency program is proving success in helping to address that challenge.
I am so incredibly proud of these graduates and all that has been accomplished by the establishment of our residency program.” They will be this community’s future medical leaders, and we are proud of the future we have started.”
While Lower Bucks Hospital says congratulations to one group, the hospital welcomes the new incoming class of resident physicians on July 1, 2021. This year’s new class has 14 new residents from about 300 applicants who were interviewed for our three residency programs.
Each year, residents seek a graduate medical education program that is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education; and after completion of a qualifying residency program, physicians are eligible to take an exam to become board-certified in the program specialty.
During this time, hundreds of applications are reviewed by the Residency staff for the limited number of spots. After interviews are conducted, both the Residency and applicant submit their ranking of preference (Resident to Residency) to The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) Program. The ACGME computerized mathematical algorithm matches applicants’ preferences with program directors for training positions available at teaching hospitals nationwide across the country. The matches are announced on Match Day – the third Friday in March.
The Lower Bucks Hospital Residency program is comprised of Osteopathic, Allopathic, Surgical and Podiatric physicians. Throughout the years, the hospital has been involved in training residents from universities in the Philadelphia region. On the educational side, residents benefit from exposure to a large, diverse patient population with a wide spectrum of disease states and clinical-social scenarios in both inpatient and outpatient settings.
To learn more about Lower Bucks Hospitals Residency Program visit www.lowerbuckshosp.com/education/
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About Lower Bucks Hospital: Lower Bucks Hospital is a community hospital, serving the Lower Bucks County region with medical, surgical, and emergency care. Located in historic Bristol, Pennsylvania, the Hospital is well-known for its knowledgeable medical staff, including cardiology, orthopedics, radiology, wound care, and general surgery. The hospital has more than 200 physicians on staff, as well as another 700 employees. As part of Prime Healthcare Services, headquartered in Ontario, California, Lower Bucks Hospital is focused on becoming one of the leaders in technology. Prime Healthcare is an award-winning hospital management company operating 45 acute care hospitals in 14 states, including Roxborough Memorial Hospital in Philadelphia, Lower Bucks Hospital in Bristol, and Suburban Community Hospital in Montgomery County.
About Prime Healthcare and Prime Healthcare Foundation: Prime Healthcare is an award-winning health system operating 45 hospitals and more than 300 outpatient locations in 14 states, providing over 2.6 million patient visits annually. It is one of the nation’s leading health systems with nearly 50,000 employees and physicians dedicated to providing the highest quality healthcare. Fourteen of the Prime Healthcare hospitals are members of the Prime Healthcare Foundation, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit public charity. Based in Ontario, California, Prime Healthcare is nationally recognized for award-winning quality care and has been named a Top 10 and Top 15 Health System by IBM Watson Health. Its hospitals have been named among the nation’s “100 Top Hospitals” 58 times and have received more Patient Safety Excellence Awards from Healthgrades than any other health system in the past six years. To learn more, please visit www.primehealthcare.com