Physicians, Residents and Fellows Honored on National Doctors' Day

Residents, fellows, and physicians  at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center/College of Medicine have been recognized as part of activities marking National Doctors’ Day, an annual observance on March 30 designed to celebrate physicians’ commitment to the medical profession.

The Office of Graduate Medical Education honored four UC Medical Center/College of Medicine residents with the 2018 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 leading up to Doctors’ Day. Criteria for the award include professionalism, interpersonal skills, leadership, dedication to teaching and fostering innovation and quality improvement. UC has 658 residents in 93 training programs. This year’s resident awardees are:

Farhan Arif, MD, a second-year nephrology fellow, offers compassionate professional care for patients often serving as an advocate who is keenly aware of the socioeconomic difficulties faced by those he treats. "I have had the first-hand opportunity to see Dr. Arif’s interaction with patients, the way he holds their hand when giving them advice or updates and how he relays difficult news to their families with utmost compassion,” wrote Ajay Srivastava, MD, nephrology fellowship program director. Arif constantly looks for ways to improve his knowledge base and will read up on cases that he is covering and bring new information to rounds. He quotes articles to promote evidence-based treatment plans and takes time to teach this new information to other trainees and medical students. "Dr. Arif is a leader in the truest sense of the word and is highly regarded by his peers, other trainees and medical students as well as his attending physicians,” Srivastava added. "He has the know-how and the determination to see projects and tasks to their completion and on many occasions has stayed after hours to see them through. He has a quick grasp on the reality of clinical and inter-office situations and is confident in offering his wisdom on how things can be improved.

Kari Gorder, MD, a fourth-year emergency medicine resident and current chief resident, is described by her superiors as having excellent medical knowledge and an ability to translate it into sophisticated medical decision-making. Gorder is the recipient of the Michael P. Spadafora, MD, Award for clinical excellence as a PGY-1and the Optime Magistrum Award, an honor given by medical students recognizing top teaching.  "Since her first shift as a PGY-1, she has impressed us with her diligence and dedication to patient care,” wrote Erin McDonough, MD, emergency medicine residency program director. "No one expects more of Dr. Gorder than Dr. Gorder herself and this was evident in her outstanding work ethic and meticulous approach to her training.” Gorder has been described as an outstanding team leader in the resuscitation bay and has earned the respect not only of her own colleagues but of residents and attending physicians throughout the hospital. Gorder’s leadership is seen in her coordination of a volunteer program she helped create in the Emergency Department and her collaboration with colleagues in the Division of Cardiology to update and streamline clinical protocol for the care of patients with ST elevation myocardial infraction. GME is thrilled that Gorder will continue her training at UCMC/COM next year as a fellow in critical care anesthesia.

Michael Hellmann, MD, a third-year fellow in pulmonary and critical care, is has received high praise from his superiors for excellence in patient care, clinical knowledge and teaching, leadership and for fostering innovation, patient safety and quality improvements. "Michael is a fellowship program director's dream and has been an outstanding clinician and scholar, leader, and teacher,” wrote Peter Lenz, MD, pulmonary and critical care medicine fellowship director. "He is a superstar fellow clinically but has even surpassed this performance when it comes to graduate medical education and supporting the training of medical students and residents, particularly in the up-and-coming craft of bedside and critical care ultrasound. He has served as a chief resident and has been nominated by numerous faculty in our division as well as the Department of Internal Medicine.” Some highlights mentioned by superiors include Hellmann’s role as a key faculty member in the department’s pulmonary and critical care fellows boot camp held last summer. He taught over 10 hours of ultrasound training to an incoming class of first-year fellows. Even as a fellow, he was asked to be a faculty member for the Southwest Ohio Regional Board Review Course, hosted by UC Medical Center. The College of Medicine is thrilled to have Hellmann join the Pulmonary and Critical Care faculty next year.

Joshua Kuethe, MD, a fifth-year surgery resident and chief administrative resident, is considered by his superiors as one of his department’s finest residents with an intense dedication to patient care and teaching medical students and more junior surgical residents. He won the 2016 and 2017 Gold Foundation for Humanism and Excellence in Teaching Award, an honor given by third- and fourth-year medical students to a resident who demonstrates commitment to teaching and compassionate treatment of patients and families. Kuethe also won the 2017 UC College of Medicine’s Resident Teaching Award for his outstanding contribution to education. "Dr. Kuethe is a natural leader and teacher who is dedicated to his patients and to sharing his outstanding skills and medical knowledge with medical students and junior residents,” wrote Jeff Sussman, MD, program director of residency training in general surgery. Kuethe has served as a resident member of the accreditation committee and previously was a preceptor for the Baseline Resident Assessment of Clinical Knowledge (BRACK) program and been a participant in the GEME-sponsored Internal Review. "Josh has a level of maturity and sophistication far advanced for his level of training,” added Sussman. Kuethe will join the faculty in the Department of Surgery, working at the Cincinnati VA, and joining the leadership of the medical student surgery clerkship. 

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

Bruce Bracken, MD, professor in the Department of Surgery, 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.

Jordan Bonomo, MD, associate professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine, 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.

Mitchell Rashkin, MD, professor emeritus in the Department of Internal Medicine, 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 his or her specialty and unit either as a leader/champion or behind the scenes removing obstacles and barriers

Suzanne Bennett, MD, assistant professor in the Department of Anesthesiology, 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.

Syed Ahmed, MD, professor in the Department of Surgery, 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.