Resident Profiles | Primary Care Internal Medicine | Residency Programs

2022-23 Primary Care Residents

PGY 1

Rabab Abdalla

Hometown: Brooklyn, NY & Sydney, Australia

Interests (personal and/or career): I love to travel to new and unique places immersing myself in cultures different than my own. I find it gives me new perspectives that better equip me to help my patients.

Why you chose, or why you would recommend Downstate PCIM: Our program is based in a university hospital setting which allows us a plethora of resources to pursue both professional and personal interests. In addition to focusing on academic and patient care activities, we are privileged enough to have activities encompassing communication skills, QI projects, volunteer opportunities and more.

gemonique bowen

Gemonique Bowen

Hometown: Miami, FL & Brooklyn, NY

Interests: I am interested in music, art and cooking. My professional interests include internal medicine, cardiology, women's health and community health.

Reasons you chose Downstate PCIM: I chose Downstate PCIM because I really appreciated the program's holistic approach to health care, community involvement and the sense of genuine kindness/thoughtfulness that I felt from the faculty and program team. My goal is to be a healthcare provider who practices preventative medicine, engages in community health initiatives, treat acute illnesses, treat chronic illnesses, practice specialty medicine. This PCIM program affords me the opportunity do all of those things.

Anwesha Chaudhuri

Hometown: Kolkata, India

Interests: Listening to and performing Indian classical/fusion music, watching Broadway shows, doing Karaoke with friends, painting

Why I chose PCIM downstate: The excellent leadership and mentor support was evident from the interviews and resident interactions. This program cares about you and your growth as a resident. I would recommend this program to anyone who is looking for a well-rounded university program in primary care, with plenty of learning opportunities in IM.

ryan gheevarghese

Ryan Gheevarghese

Hometown: Yorktown Heights, NY

Interests: Primary Care Internal Medicine and Hospital Medicine.

Reasons I chose Downstate PCIM: I love this program because I feel valued as a person and just not another resident. The continuity clinic is one of the best parts, because it helps us build a strong rapport with the patients we serve. Being able to practice medicine in such a diverse community and being mentored by supportive leadership are just some of the things that make this program a great fit.

nawshin zara jamil

Nawshin Zara Jamil

Hometown: Ottawa, Canada & Queens, NY

Interests (personal and/or career): Women's health and sports medicine/rehabilitation. Also, cooking, film, and exploring nature (minus the bugs!)

Why you chose, or why you would recommend Downstate PCIM: The supportive leadership and privilege of serving my hometown. Also, learning how to connect patients from unique and underserved urban communities with the city's vast resources and what NYC Health and Hospitals can offer. Training here can prepare me to practice anywhere.

Ekenedilichukwu Nnadi

Hometown: Brooklyn, NY & Philadelphia, PA

Qianjun Pan

Hometown: Guangdong, China

Interests: Primary care medicine, critical care, cardiovascular disease

Why you chose or would recommend DOWNSTATE PCIM: In addition to the strong leadership and supportive culture, the program offers unique opportunities to develop a long-term relationship with patients. You will also be exposed to the art of communication, the beauty of teaching, as well as everything you might be interested in medicine.

Hazel-Ann Prince

Hometown: Bon Air West Arouca, Trinidad

Interests: Primary Care & Inpatient Medicine

Why you chose or would recommend Downstate PCIM: I chose this program because of the numerous opportunities to serve the underserved, as well as the unique educational opportunities such as "teaching to teach" and "motivational interviewing workshops", to name a few. On the other hand, I would recommend this program because the program's leadership truly wants the best for the residents and is extremely supportive.

Rebhi Rabah

Hometown: Brooklyn, NY

Interests (personal and/or career): Primary Care & Gastroenterology.

2) Why I chose Downstate PCIM: I chose Downstate PCIM because it was an opportunity to serve and treat the underserved community, I grew up in. In addition, the program’s fantastic leadership and strong teaching curriculum are why I chose to join the Downstate PCIM family.

Charlie Spell, IV

Hometown: Memphis, TN

Interests:

-Personal: Music, Painting, Visual art, Traveling, Food, Running, Yoga,

-Career: Primary Care and Internal Medicine, Gastroenterology, Infectious Disease

Reasons I chose Downstate PCIM: One of many reasons I selected this program is because I wanted to align myself with the opportunity to serve underserved communities all the while living in one of the most diverse cities in the world. Spread love it's the Brooklyn way!

afroza sultana

Afroza Sultana

Hometown: Ozone Park, NY

Interests: Primary care medicine, allergy/immunology, rheumatology.

Why I chose Downstate PCIM: I chose this program because of its academic aspect with a primary care focused curriculum, emphasis on teaching and learning. We have the most caring leadership and faculty who always offer support in order to help us become the best physicians we can be. The patient population is also a great asset to this program.

Mahtab Zangui

Hometown: Mashhad, Iran & New York, NY

Interests: primary care, preventive medicine, hospital medicine, exploring medicine subspecialties

Reason I chose Downstate PCIM: This is an academic program with amazing environment, supportive faculty and strong curriculum.

PGY 2

Nada Akkari

Hometown: Lebanon

Interests: Volunteering, traveling, diving, fishing, preventative care.

Reason you chose Downstate PCIM: This is a highly academic program with a focus on primary care.

vallerey antenor

Vallerey Antenor

Hometown: New Jersey

Interests: Primary Care

Reason you chose Downstate PCIM: You should pick this program if you value great leadership that cares about your personal and professional growth. The patient population we get to serve is why I made this program my top choice.

Vladimir Falb

Hometown: Brooklyn, New York

Interests: Wide variety of interests from Primary Care, Geriatrics, Sports Medicine, Rheumatology. Have had exposure to all and found them very interesting.

Reason you chose Downstate PCIM: The training and exposure to primary care is probably one of the best that you can get. You will learn the building blocks of both outpatient and inpatient medicine that will set you up well for whatever you want to do in medicine.

jaiyashree gandhi

Jayashree Gandhi

Hometown: Lexington, MA

Interests: Primary care & hospitalist medicine

Reason you chose Downstate PCIM: Focus on primary care in an underserved population

sarah goldhill

Sarah Goldhill

Hometown: Cambridge, England

Interests: Preventative medicine, wilderness medicine, sports medicine, primary care, acute medicine

Reason you chose Downstate PCIM: Amazing program leadership, great teaching, lots of opportunities to learn how to be a good teacher and to explore all your interests, vibrant patient community, lovely co-residents!

Zerin Kashem

Hometown: Brooklyn, New York

Interests: Primary Care

Reason you chose Downstate PCIM: The diversity among patients, clinical conditions, and residents.

Steffi Nainan

Hometown: Dallas, Texas

Interests: Hospital medicine, Primary Care and Gastroenterology

Reason you chose Downstate PCIM: I chose this program because of how genuine and personable everyone was. I loved that my program strives to deliver special learning experiences, exceptional 4x+2y block schedule and a strong continuity ambulatory curriculum, just to name a few. The vision of this program aligned with my own.

Krunal Patel

Hometown: Canton, OH

Interests: Primary Care, Cardiology, Inpatient Medicine

Reason you chose Downstate PCIM: You will receive a tremendous amount of support here!

Gyuhee (Kate) Seong

Hometown: South Korea

Interests: Primary care, research, healthcare innovation

Reason you chose Downstate PCIM: This is an academic program with incredible support from the faculty, a forward-thinking curriculum, and a vast array of pathologies to learn from, not to mention living in the heart of Brooklyn!

Vedhapriya Srinivasan

Hometown: Chennai, India

Interests: Patient-centered care, Cardiovascular health in women and preventive medicine.

Reason you chose Downstate PCIM: This is a program with excellent outpatient medicine exposure along with strong inpatient training. We have amazing program leadership and faculty invested in residents careers and well being, diverse pathology and the opportunity to work with an underserved but vibrant community.

bethany syracuse

Bethany Syracuse

Hometown: Buffalo, New York

Interests: Primary care and optimizing medical health care to the unique medical needs of the developmentally disabled community. Currently exploring the multiple avenues of internal medicine.

Reason you chose Downstate PCIM: This program offers fantastic opportunities for continuity of care and education on how to best navigate medical systems in order to help the underserved. Furthermore, there is great diversity of patient pathology and presentation.