Surgery Residents
Hear from our chief residents
Our chief residents discuss the strengths of our program and what they've learned so far.
Day in the life
One of our residents breaks down a "typical" day.
Meet our residents
Learn about the current crop of residents
Learn about our recent graduates
In the last five years, the majority of our graduates have gone on to fellowship training. Our residents have been very successful in obtaining top notch fellowships in pediatric surgery, surgical oncology, breast oncology, plastics, vascular, cardiothoracic surgery and other specialties. And, we are proud to welcome several graduates into our faculty here at Baystate.
Thank you for your interest in our Surgical Residency here at Baystate Medical Center! We have an expanding program that offers a wide range of surgical experiences, including a strong foundation in general surgery and exposure to a wide range of sub-specialty care.
Our residency strikes the right balance of operative, clinical, and research experiences. We also have a dedicated simulation center with laparoscopic and endoscopic training programs, as well as patient simulation scenarios that our junior residents utilize both during “intern boot camp” and throughout the year. Nearly all faculty members conduct clinical research, and every resident is encouraged to participate in projects. Many of our residents present their research at prestigious conferences every year! We also have an option for two years of clinical or basic science research after our PGY-2 year.
As our training progresses, we spend more time clinically managing critically ill and trauma patients, while also gaining advanced operative skills in vascular, oncology, thoracic, pediatric, plastics, and transplant surgery. We have consistent exposure to minimally invasive general surgery (laparoscopic, robotic, foregut, hernia, and bariatric) and colorectal surgery (both open and minimally invasive techniques). Lastly, our Emergency General Surgery service continues to grow and offers a broad range of surgical pathologies, ranging from “bread and butter” general surgery to more urgent yet complex cases. We have also added elective rotations, during which time we can have further exposure to specialties like endoscopy or cardiac surgery.
Our residents are a unified and supportive group of colleagues. We enjoy what we do and take pride in our work. We find time to focus on wellness and enjoy the outdoors in western Massachusetts, take weekend drives, or spend time with each other after work just to decompress and have fun.
Good luck to you all, and please do not hesitate to contact our program with any questions. Phone Margarita Fuentes at 413-794-5165 or email her at margarita.fuentes@baystatehealth.org, or phone Joy Isotti at 413-794-4698 or email her at joy.isotti@baystatehealth.org.
We look forward to meeting you!
| An intern's perspective | |
|---|---|
| 4:00 am | My alarm clock goes off. I roll around in bed once or twice before I head straight to the shower. In total it takes me about 20 minutes to get ready. I pour a cup of coffee (that I programmed the night before) and take a few minutes to feed and walk my dog. I open the Praxify application on my phone and take a mental note of the number of my new patients on my list. I am on the Emergency General Surgery (EGS) Service, which depending on the number of new consultations overnight, can significantly increase the number of patients I will be taking care of. Luckily, I live 10 minutes away from the hospital. Baring there is no snow or frost on my car, I can be on the road in a minute or two. I throw on the Behind the Knife podcast and away I go. |
| 5:00 am | I arrive in the resident room to meet my night float co-intern and get sign-out for events occurring overnight, and new patients. This takes approximately 10-15 minutes. Since the trauma service also gets morning sign-out from the same resident, I always coordinate the night prior who will be getting there first and at what time. After signing out, I take over the service pager and walk over to a computer. I typically have 10-15 minutes before rounding to quickly jot down drain outputs, follow up on specific morning labs, and quickly glance at imaging for patients undergoing the small bowel protocol. I make copies of our list and head over to the EGS work room to meet the rest of my team. |
| 5:30 am | We meet as a team, including the chief resident, a PGY3 resident, an anesthesia PGY1 resident, two PAs, and medical and PA students, in the Wesson building work room. I go over overnight events and present new patients to the team. We all sit at computers and work together following up studies or labs ordered from the day prior, or figuring out what is pending for new patients overnight. Our chief residents develops preliminary plans and splits the team in two for rounding. I grab the consult phone from the overnight PGY3 resident, fill my pockets with dressing supplies, and go with my assigned rounding team. |
| 7:00 am | We meet back in the Wesson work room shortly before 7:00 am to join morning report via Zoom with all the attendings in the department. In this call the chief resident or PGY3 will go over pressing developments for existing patients, present new patients, and go over our operative cases for the day. Shortly after the call, we meet together as a team in our service attending’s office to run the list. With plans in our hands, interns and PAs split tasks including note writing, repleting labs, calling consultants, or other floor work, such as pulling drains. |
| 7:30 am | Our first patient is in the operating room. Our case may be a routine tracheostomy and PEG or an emergent pneumoperitoneum from a perforated viscus, there is no way to predict what the night may bring. Our PGY3 heads down to get the patient settled and ready while our chief resident either starts rounding with the attending or is facilitating other patient care. Depending on the case and any pending consultations, I may sometimes join the operating room. If a case is appropriate for my level of training, my chief or PGY3 may stay out of the operating room to cover consults while I scrub. |
| 8:00 am | On the Emergency General Surgery service every day is different. Some days there are no consults and no cases, and we have time to prepare for education, catch up on case logs, and even order lunch as a team. On other days we have a full OR board and new consultations coming in every hour. Either way, the work for our current patients needs to be done and thus a great portion of the morning is spent on notes and floorwork. New consultations are triaged appropriately and seen and staffed shortly thereafter. On busy days, lunch is on the go. Every day is challenging in its own way because you don’t know what the day will bring. A positive attitude and willingness to work hard to get the job done goes a long way. We stop taking non-emergent consults at 4:30pm. If there are no pending consults from earlier in the day or pressing floor work, at this time we make sure things are wrapped up for the day, including updating “stickies” (our handoff tool) and making sure our night team is prepared for success by re-ordering expiring medications and providing anticipatory guidance to nursing. |
| 5:00 pm | I head down to the resident workroom to meet my night float co-intern yet again. Generally, the Blue Surgery service signs out first because they have a shorter list of patients. Trauma and EGS alternate who signs out first depending on who got there first in the morning. After I hand off the pager, I double check to see what is pending. Generally, if everything has been taken care of, I can go home. However, if things are still pending from earlier in the day, it is my responsibility to stay and make sure it gets done. On occasions I stay late, but it is part of the job. |
| 6:00 pm | Finally, I’m home after a long day. I am tired but there are still plenty of things to do. I am greeted by a wagging tail. We go potty and either go for a quick walk around the block or a run around the backyard. I heat up some left-over food in the microwave and check to see if I have been assigned to any cases for the next day. If so, I will prepare for my cases. Otherwise, I will take some time to go over the general surgery education topics for the week. And if it is ABSITE season, well... Studying. |
| 10:00 pm | Down time or bedtime. Depending on my level of energy I will work on my hobbies, otherwise if it is a sports night, I'll throw on the last few minutes of the game. I am tired, but so is everyone else. I chose this career path. I fall asleep ready to do it all over again. |
Current residents
George Bushey, MD
Albany Medical College
Tate Higashihara, MD
University of Hawaii John A Burns School of Medicine
Tommy Kim, MD
UMass Chan School of Medicine
Katherine Lindeman, MD
Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at The University of Buffalo
Maziyah Ogarro, MD
New York Medical College
Emily Pearlstein, MD
St. George’s University School of Medicine
Colin Rivet, MD
UMass Chan School of Medicine
Molly Schassberger, DO
University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine
Colline Wong, MD
University of Connecticut School of Medicine
Alyssa Webster, MD
Tulane University School of Medicine
SARAH BUNKER, MD
Central Michigan University College of Medicine
SARAH CHEN, MD
Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland
LINDSAY HAEFNER, MD
State University of New York Downstate Medical Center College of Medicine
ADAM SAUER, MD
Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
VICTORIA SPEDDING, MD
Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University
CHELSEA SPENCER, MD
St. George's University
CECILIA TRAN, MD
University of Maryland School of Medicine
ANNIKA NULER, MD
Western Michigan University Homer Stryker MD SOM
VITALIS OSUJI, MD
Indiana University School of Medicine
ANTOINETTE PACIFICO, MD
Saba University School of Medicine
ASHLEY TARDUNO, MD
Albany Medical College
YANN WENDEU FOYET, MD
Creighton University School of Medicine
ELIZABETH BERGGREN, MD
Tufts University School of Medicine
JORIND BEQARI, MD
UMass Medical School
JUSTINE CHENG, MD
Tufts University School of Medicine
CAROLINE CIOCCA, MD
New York Medical College
MATTHEW MIKULSKI, MD
Drexel University College of Medicine
SCOTT STEGEMANN, DO
University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine
ZACHARY STICKNEY, MD
Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland School of Medicine
DENNIS ZAMBRANO, MD
University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry
CRAIG ASHCROFT, MD
Jacobs School of Medicine & Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo
KARINA LO, MD
Boston University School of Medicine
ALOYS NSEREKO, MD
University of Connecticut School of Medicine
Gold Humanism Honor Society
LINDA SALAZAR, MD
Boston University School of Medicine
WILLIAM SELKIRK, MD
University of Massachusetts Medical School
MARGARET SIU MD
Creighton University School of Medicine
LUKE TRENCH, MD
Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland School of Medicine
MEAGAN ROSENBERG, MD
Wake Forest University School of Medicine
MARISSA MATTO, MD
Drexel University College of Medicine
OSWALDO SUBILLAGA, MD
The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University
Recent graduates
Jordan Basham, MD
University of New Mexico School of Medicine
Post-graduate position: Arrowhead Reg Med Ctr-CA Surgical Critical Care Fellowship
Heather Grant, MD
Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University
Post-graduate position: Hospital Sainte-Justine-PQ Pediatric Surgery Fellowship
Niloufar Hafezi, MD
University of Illinois College of Medicine
Post-graduate position: Univ Texas Med Branch-Galveston Pediatric Surgery Fellowship
April, Hou, MD
Boston University School of Medicine
Post-graduate position: Temple Univ Hosp-PA Vascular Surgery Fellowship
Antonio Lam, DO
Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine
Post-graduate position: Montefiore, NY Minimally Invasive Surgery Fellowship
Nikita Ramanathan, MD
Wayne State University School of Medicine
Patient-Family Advisory Council Award
Post-graduate position: Indiana University MIS/Bariatrics Fellowship
Bobby Yu, MD
University of Western Ontario, Canada
Post-graduate position: NYU Langone, NY Transplant Fellowship
Medical School: Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine at Quinnipiac University
Post-Graduate Position: Colon & Rectal Surgery Fellowship Program - Advent Health, FL
FRANCESCA IZZO MD
Medical School: New York Medical College
Post-Graduate Position: Surgical Critical Care Fellowship - Montefiore Medical Center, NY
ALEX LIN MD
Medical School: Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine at Quinnipiac University
Post-Graduate Position: Vascular Surgery Fellowship - Boston University, MA
TIMOTHY MORLEY, MD
Medical School: Tufts University School of Medicine
Gold Humanism Honor Society
Post-Graduate Position: Minimally Invasive Surgery Fellowship, St. Francis Hospital, CT
DIANA PRATT, MD
Medical School: University of Maryland School of Medicine
Post-Graduate Position: Cardiothoracic Surgery Fellowship - BI Deaconess, MA
BRANDON SMITH, MD
Medical School: University of Massachusetts Medical School
Post-Graduate Position: Colon and Rectal Surgery Fellowship - Baylor University, TX
KRYSCILLA YANG, MD
Medical School: Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine
Post-Graduate Position: Transplant Fellowship - NYU Langone, NY
Medical School: Drexel University College of Medicine
Post-Graduate Position: Minimally Invasive Surgery Fellowship, St. Joseph Medical Center Virginia Mason Franciscan Health, Tacoma, WA
ANDREW LITWIN, MD
Medical School: New York Medical College
Post-Graduate Position: Trauma-Surgical Critical Care Fellowship, Rutgers-New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ
VINCENT REGINALD NARVAEZ, MD
Medical School: University of California - Riverside School of Medicine
Post-Graduate Position: Vascular Surgery Fellowship, North Shore University Hospital & Long Island Jewish Medical Center, Queens, NY
SANDY ROH, MD
Medical School: Rutgers New Jersey Medical School
Post-Graduate Position: Surgical Critical Care Fellowship, University of Connecticut-Hartford Hospital, Hartford, CT
ELIZABETH SANTONE, MD
Medical School: University of Connecticut School of Medicine
Post-Graduate Position: Minimally Invasive Surgery Fellowship, Carolinas Medical Center Atrium Health, Charlotte, NC
JANE TSUI, MD
Medical School: University of Nebraska College of Medicine
Post-Graduate Position: Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Fellowship, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX
YA ZHOU, MD
Medical School: University of Maryland School of Medicine
Post-Graduate Position: Minimally Invasive Surgery Fellowship, Montefiore Medical Center-Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY
Medical School: Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Post-graduate Position: Minimally Invasive Surgery Fellowship, Banner Health, Tucson, AZ
MILAGROS LOPEZ-GERENA, MD
Medical School: University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine
Post-graduate Position: General Surgery Practice, Surgery South, P.C., Stockbridge, GA
HNOUKAJ LYFOUNG, MD
Medical School: University of Minnesota Medical School
Post-graduate Position: Minimally Invasive Surgery Fellowship, Alta Bates Summit Medical Center, Oakland, CA
ADRIANA MEHOLICK, MD
Medical School: University at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical
Post-graduate Position: Minimally Invasive/Bariatric Surgery Fellowship, Hackensack University Medical Center, Hackensack, NJ
PARTH SHARMA, MD
Medical School: Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
Post-graduate Position: Minimally Invasive Surgery Fellowship, Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Hershey, PA
SHEINA THEODORE, MD
Medical School: The Commonwealth Medical College
Post-graduate Position: Surgical Critical Care Fellowship, Boston Medical Center, Boston, MA
Medical School: Tufts University School of Medicine
Post-graduate Position: Endocrine Surgery Fellowship, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC
CHASEN GREIG, MD
Medical School: Temple University School of Medicine
Post-graduate Position: Surgical Critical Care Fellowship, University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA
DEREK MOORE, MD
Medical School: University of Texas Medical School, Houston
Post-graduate Position: Cardiothoracic Fellowship, Allegheny General Hospital, Pittsburgh, PA
ASHWINI POOLA, MD
Medical School: University of Missouri Kansas City School of Medicine
Post-graduate Position: Minimally Invasive Surgery Fellowship, Multicare Health System, Tacoma, WA
JAMES WANG, MD
Medical School: Eastern Virginia Medical School
Post-graduate Position: Private Practice, St. Joseph Heritage Healthcare, San Francisco, CA
A Wonderful Place To Be
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