Residents & Physicians at UC and UCMC Honored During National Doctors Day

Residents and physicians at the University of Cincinnati and UC Medical Center were recognized Thursday, March 30, 2017, for their commitment to the medical profession as part of National Doctors’ Day activities. 

The Office of Graduate Medical Education honored five UC Medical Center/College of Medicine residents with the 2017 Graduate Medical Trainee Award of Excellence. The residents were honored at a special recognition breakfast and during surprise ceremonies held by each of their individual departments. Criteria for the award include professionalism, interpersonal skills, leadership, dedication to teaching and fostering innovation and quality improvement. This year’s resident awardees are:

Steven Cogorno, MD, a third-year resident in the Department of Internal Medicine, is described by superiors as passionate, hardworking, team-oriented and gifted at computer sciences. Cogorno has contributed to various projects and committees including ones to further patient safety, lessen the risk of medication mistakes, advise on the use of EPIC computer system, and support the work of clinical laboratories. "Steve is an outstanding physician,” wrote one of his peers. "He is thorough, compassionate, and efficient. He is patient with his colleagues and consistently goes out of his way to help them. The skill that he possesses that stands out the most, however, is his tireless dedication to patient care. When others may find opportunity to cut corners, Steve remains dedicated, going well beyond the essential tasks to assure every patient receives the best care possible. He certainly raised the bar for everyone on our team and served as role model for all of us.”

Natalie Kreitzer, MD, a third-year fellow in stroke and neuro-critical care and former resident at UC Medical Center’s Emergency Medicine Department, defined her interest in caring for and understanding brain-injured patients by securing a $5,000 resident research grant to study patients with traumatic brain injury. She also received a $25,000 grant in 2016 dedicated to patient outcomes from the UC Gardner Neuroscience Institute and the College of Medicine to study the unmet needs of family members and patients with moderate-to-severe traumatic brain injuries as they transition through the health care system. "Our nursing staff has frequently praised Dr. Kreitzer for her experience critical care skills during emergency situations as well as compassionate bedside manner and deep and true caring for her patients,” wrote her superior. "As an example, she is well-known by our physicians and nurses for appearing in the ICU (intensive care unit) on days where she is not working clinically, to follow-up on patients she took care of during her ICU rotations or stroke calls, always seeking feedback on her clinical management and engaging with the families of her patients with extreme grace and compassion.”

Morgan McBee, MD, a fifth-year resident in radiology, has used his training and passion for imaging informatics to improve patient care through quality initiatives. In addition to the rigors of a demanding residency program, McBee has taken additional coursework and examinations to become a certified imaging informatics professional. His service and background in informatics has been vital in reviewing and disseminating policies related to intravenous contrast administration to other residents an faculty. McBee serves as the radiology department’s webmaster through which he consistently updates policies and procedures regarding contrast administration and management, a resource used by faculty, residents, nurses and technologists. "Dr. McBee has excelled in his clinical duties and research endeavors, serving as role model for junior residents and medical students,” wrote his superior. "All of his faculty evaluations have been exemplary, describing Dr. McBee as a hardworking model resident. Dr. McBee has had multiple presentations at national meetings and publications including an article in Academic Radiology titled, ‘Image Sharing in Radiology—A Primer.’”

Teresa Meier, MD, a chief resident in radiation oncology, has excelled in all facets of radiation oncology training. She’s been a tireless advocate for cancer patients often forming a bond that lasts well after they have completed treatment. Meier has also excelled in research, presenting her work at the ASTRO annual meeting last year and winning a $40,000 grant from Ride Cincinnati for the study of proton therapy in breast cancer patients. A leader in her department, Meier during her chief year facilitated an entire overhaul of the academic didactic schedule, the clinical rotation schedule and the creation of multiple new electives. Meier is well-respected by the staff in radiation oncology. "Teresa has always gone above what is needed for any patient,” remarked one nurse who worked with Meier. "She is an excellent role model.”

Maham Rahimi, MD, PhD, a fifth-year vascular surgery resident, has been singled out by trauma, transplant and cardiac, to name a few off-service rotations, as having provided excellent, mature and outstanding care for patients. Since joining integrated vascular residency, Maham has been actively involved in the training of medical students has received praise from junior residents and rotating medical students for his dedicated to supervised responsibility and teaching both in the operating room and on the wards. He holds a patent for the Smart Chest Tube, a flexible and camera-equipped device developed with the Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering at the UC College of Engineering and Applied Science to provide greater precision in locating and treating pleural effusion or fluid around the lungs, in cancer and pneumonia patients.

In addition to the residents and fellows, five attending physicians were honored with Doctors’ Day Awards by UC Medical Center. They were:

Satwant Singh, MD, professor in the Division of Nephrology, Kidney CARE Program, received the Exemplary Physician Award. The honor is given to the attending physician with a distinguished career at UC Medical Center who has made major contributions to its clinical mission of providing life-changing, patient-centered care and has significant participation in either; education of the next generation of health care professionals or innovation through ground-breaking research.

Louis B. Louis IV, MD, chief of cardiac surgery, received the Impact Award. The honor is given to the attending physician who has one to 10 years tenure at UC Medical Center and has demonstrated leadership and improvement in a specific area of the hospital. The honoree has introduced new skills/procedures, developed new programs, introduced new levels of professionalism and/or enhanced the delivery of patient care through the provision of cutting-edge research.

Vivek Narendran, MD, professor of pediatrics, received the Sustained Excellence Award. The honor is given to the attending physician who has provided clinical leadership over time, consistently leading by example, taking on difficult assignments, and promoting innovative approaches to longstanding issues. The honoree is recognized outside of her specialty and unit either as a leader/champion or behind the scenes removing obstacles and barriers

Renee Hebbeler-Clark, MD, assistant professor in the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, has received the Collaborator Award, an honor given to the attending physician who has demonstrated success with multidisciplinary teams, developing strong positive physician and nursing relationship and advocating for solutions that resulted in sustained improvements.

Yash Patil, MD, associate professor in the Department of Otolaryngology, received the Clinical MVP Award. The honor is given to an attending physician who has a highly productive clinical practice who also maintains excellent clinical outcomes and high patient satisfaction. It recognizes the physician who makes a significant contribution to our inpatient, outpatient, and/or procedural patient care, quality and patient experience.