Author: jc3324

Graduating PGY4’s

(From left to right: Elie Sternberg, Rachel Beekman, Monica Diaz, Margie McCullough-Hicks, Stacy Chu and Paul Fu. Not Pictured: Arash Danesh)

A huge congratulations to all of the amazing PGY4 residents who graduated this June 7. It was an incredible night with great food, lovely conversation, much-deserved awards, lovely and thoughtful gifts from PGY2 class to the graduating seniors, and many laughs as the faculty roasted each of the graduating residents (and got a taste of their own medicine, courtesy of the outgoing PGY4’s). Thank you to all of you for all you have taught us and all you have given to the program. We are sad to see you go, but excited to see how you will change the landscape of Neurology in your respective fields going forward. Good luck in your jobs and fellowships next year!!

A HUGE congratulations to Dr. Arash Danesh, PGY4, on being awarded the 2018-2019 Clinical Research Fellowship Award from the American Headache Society! Arash will be graduating from our residency program this June and will stay on for a headache fellowship. This fellowship comes with a $50,000 award for use towards headache research Arash will be conducting this year with Dr. Gottschalk at Yale and presenting at the 61st annual American Headache Society Scientific Meeting in Philadelphia. We are so proud of you, Arash!

Dr. Rachel Beekman, PGY4 worked on a project designed to characterize spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) in the very elderly and evaluate how risk factors for in-hospital mortality vary by age group. This work was in collaboration with and presented in a platform presentation by Dr. Stacy Chu, PGY4.  Abstract here: Spontaneous Intracerebral Hemorrhage in the Elderly Population.

Dr. Stacy Chu, PGY4, presented several projects including the talk above with Dr. Rachel Beekman, a poster looking at potential associations between  history of intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) and mortality in patients treated with intravenous tissue plasminogen activator (IV-tPA) for acute ischemic stroke (AIS) (abstract:Safety Outcomes of Thrombolysis for Acute Ischemic Stroke in Patients with History of Intracranial Hemorrhage), and a case report of a patient who developed PML despite no diagnosis of HIV or history of immunosuppression (abstract: PML in the absence of HIV or immunosuppressive therapy.)

Dr. Paul Fu, PGY4, presented a poster examining rate of burnout in Yale Neurology Dept, finding they are similar to national averages, and reporting on steps Yale has taken to address burnout in Neurology. See his abstract here: Burnout and Vitality for Yale Neurology.

Dr. Monica Diaz, PGY4, presented a fascinating case report of a patient who presented with meningoradiculitis who ended up having Lyme Disease. Here is her abstract: Lyme Disease Presenting with Meningoradiculitis: A Case of Variant Bannwarth Syndrome.

Dr. Justine Cormier, PGY3, presented a case report on a patient with metastatic pituitary carcinoma with leptomeningeal spread to spinal cord, an extremely rare clinical presentation. See her abstract here: Spinal Leptomeningeal Dissemination as a Fatal Complication of Malignant Prolactinoma. 

Dr. Priyanka Chilakamarri, PGY2, presented a case report entitled Hypoglossal Cranial Nerve Palsy: Unusual Microvascular Complication (click on the title to link to the abstract).

Dr. Adeel Zubair, PGY2, was not able to be present at the conference, sadly, but had a colleague present his interesting work on a case series of patients with Primary Lateral Sclerosis in whom intrathecal baclofen pumps were both safely and effectively used. See his abstract here: Utility of Intrathecal Baclofen Pump in Primary Lateral Sclerosis.

And we were so pumped to have two future Yale Neurons, Sarah Mancone and Gabriella Garcia in attendance! Gabriella was awarded the 2018 AAN Medical Student Diversity Scholarship. Great work!

A HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to all for all of your hard work and productivity!!

Congratulations to our very own Dr. Peter Kim (PGY4) for being awarded the

YNHH Resident and Nurse Collaboration Award!

Peter was nominated by nursing staff and selected for his outstanding professionalism, attentiveness and collaborative spirit while work with nursing staff to care for a number of complex patients and their families during a very busy time on service. Great job, Peter!

Yale Neurology hosted its second annual Neurology Career Night during which residents were able to chat over dinner and drinks with attendings representing a wide variety of subspecialties, practice types, and training pathways. Attendings shared their pathways, offered insight and valuable career advice, and answered residents’ burning questions about everything from how to choose a specialty to lifestyle to negotiating a contract. It was a huge success, and another career night is in the works for a couple of months from now for those who were unable to attend.

Dr. Hafler, our department Chair, and his wife, Dr. Janet Hafler, Associate Dean for Educational Scholarship for Yale Medical School, hosted another successful dinner party for our residents. It was a wonderful night full of delicious food and drink, catching up, and discussions about the direction of the department and resident career goals. It was also a nice opportunity to celebrate another successful match, with 10 incredible new residents joining our program in the coming academic year.

German Society for NeuroIntensive and Emergency Medicine and the German Stroke Society 34th Annual Meeting 2018 (ANIM 2018)

Our very own Jens Witsch, PGY2, was personally invited to give a talk entitled, “Subarachnoid Hemorrhage Prognostication Scores” at the ANIM 2018 (Annual Mtg for German Emergency, Neurointensive and Stroke societies). Jens studied neurology in Germany prior to joining us at Yale, and they obviously loved his work so much, they want to bring him back. Congrats on that great honor, Jens!

UPDATE-  Through the love and support of his co-residents and program leadership, Jens was able to rearrange his schedule to allow him to attend this conference. He did an outstanding job giving his talk on SAH prognostication, and it was received incredibly well by a crowd of emergency medicine, stroke and neurocritical care physicians. We are so proud of you, Jens!

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Idaira Aguilar, one of our incredible PGY3 residents, just returned from her international neurology rotation at Complejo Hospitalario Universitario Insular-Materno Infantil in Las Palmas Gran Canaria. Idaira grew up in the Canary Islands and hopes to practice both there and in the USA after residency. This was her first time practicing as a physician there, and she loved it. Thank you for representing Yale so incredibly well overseas, Idaira. We are glad to have you back!

Congrats to Stacy Chu on another great publication with Dr. Lauren Sansing, Evolution of blood pressure management in acute intracerebral hemorrhage. Keep up the awesome work, Stacy!

Congratulations to our very own, Amanda Hernandez, PGY2, for being selected to attend the Americas Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ACTRIMS) Neurology Resident Summit in Multiple Sclerosis in gorgeous San Diego January 2018. Amanda was selected from a number of qualified applicants to attend this incredible conference (all expenses paid) where she will learn about cutting edge MS research and have the opportunity to meet and learn from leaders in the field. Congrats on this incredible opportunity, Amanda!