Meet the Interns

Jonathan Adams was born in Fullerton, California, but comes to us from his current place of residence in Houston, TX. He graduated from Ross University School of Medicine. He has a girlfriend, Mallory, and we look forward to meeting her. He is doing his Preliminary year with us before continuing on to Anesthesiology Residency at the Medical College of Wisconsin. Jonathan’s hobbies include soccer, football, hiking, mountain biking, frisbee, SCUBA diving… well basically anything outdoors! He is going to love the four seasons Upstate New York has to offer. A memorable experience for him is when he delivered a baby on his first day of clinical rotations… about 15 minutes into his time on the OB floor. While his friends in the lay community find this to be incredible, he admits it might be a common experience amongst physicians.

Dinesh Ananthan was born in Sri Lanka, but is joining us from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, which is his more recent place of residency. He graduated from St. George's University. Dinesh's interests include playing chess and basketball. He also competed in boxing tournaments during undergrad and he loves the sport. Dinesh did a rotation with our department as a student and we look forward to welcoming him back as a resident in our program. His competitive nature from his boxing days should serve him well in College Bowl!

Ruby Appiah was born in Accra, Ghana, but currently resides in Toronto, Ontario (Canada). She graduated from The Medical University of the Americas. Ruby will be joined by her fiance, Osei Whyte, who will also be an Internal Medicine Intern. Ruby enjoys reading, cooking, dancing and spending time with family and friends. She recently started drawing/sketching again, which is an old hobby that she had put on hold for a while. No doubt she will enjoy Cooking With The Chair and The Night at the Everson Museum!! Ruby admits that chocolate is her weakness… chocolate bars, chocolate cakes, chocolate ice cream... I think you get the idea… I’m betting if she needs a pick me up, we won’t have to look much past Cold Stone Creamery on the 11th Floor!

Umbreen Arshad was born in Multan, Pakistan, but comes to us from her most recent place of residence, Antioch, California. She graduated from St. George's University. Umbreen admits she will answer to any of the following: Umbreen, Breen, Bree, Breezy. Knowing our current house staff as I do, I am sure they will add one or two more to that list! She likes shopping, scrapbooking, cooking, traveling, listening to music, dancing, sleeping… especially at the beach, and of course hanging out and spending time with family and friends! It sounds like she will have plenty of options to keep her busy. I personally can’t wait to talk scrapbooking techniques with her! She feels there is nothing in the world like ice cream! It always puts a smile on her face and she is very excited she will be at Upstate since they have their very own Cold Stone… sounds like Ruby will have company!

Ganesh Aswath, who goes by either Ganesh or Aswath, was born in Bangalore, India, however his most recent place of residence is Cleveland, Ohio. Ganesh’s hobbies include movies, cricket, fixing computers and designing web pages. Good to know, in the event we ever need assistance with the web site! He noted that he enjoys being part of a non-governmental organization, VVans=Sankalpa in Bangalore, India, which is an association formed by the alumni of Vidya Vardhaka Sangha High School that concentrates their efforts on working toward social welfare awareness and education. (Yes, I admit it, I Googled that).

Arthur Bagabag was born in Pangasinan, Philippines, however he comes to us from his more recent place of of residence, Waipahu, Hawaii. He graduated from the University of Santo Tomas. Arthur enjoys running and he would love to participate in more marathon races. I have no doubt he will find many races to join in around Upstate New Yorl. He used to be a medical technologist and did a lot of microbiology as an undergrad. He admits that is when he fell in love with parasitology. He has a very strong interest in tropical medicine and infectious diseases.

Valerie Barta was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, but most recently she resided in New York City. She graduated from St. George's University. Valerie's interests outside of medicine include running, yoga, poker, travelling, and anything involving sunshine. Let’s keep our fingers crossed for a great summer with lots of sunshine! Valerie claims that nachos are her favorite food and notes that she has been hailed as the best nacho maker in history. She was willing to share that the secret is meticulous cheese placement. I guess it’s no secret what she will be expected to bring to Pot Luck Gatherings!

Amit Bhardwaj was born in New York City. He graduated from St. George’s University. Amit is joining us for a Preliminary year before continuing on to pursue a career in Neurology, also here at Upstate. He enjoys watching and playing basketball and football, relaxing with friends, traveling the world, working out, driving, and billiards. Hopefully he looks good in Syracuse University Orange and Blue!!! He shared that he and his close friends make music and call themselves "JBC". It sounds like we have the perfect candidate for Karaoke at the picnic.

Ramesh Cherukuri or “Mesh” was born in Syracuse, NY, so he should already know his was around well! He graduated from the American University Of Antigua College of Medicine. Ramesh is joining us for a Preliminary year before continuing on to pursue a career in Neurology, also here at Upstate. He enjoys working out, hanging out with friends, cars, watching TV/movies, reading, making people laugh, and long walks on the beach. I wonder if he’ll settle for long walks at Onondaga Parkway!! Ramesh wants it to be known that he has a sister named Anjuli who will be interning in surgery at Upstate this year, so please don't confuse them when trying to page him! His closing quote… "further more, I love lamp."

Dmitriy Dvoskin was born in Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine but comes to us more recently from New York City. He graduated from St. George's University. Dmitriy is joining us for a Preliminary year before continuing on to pursue a career in Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, also here at Upstate. His hobbies include fencing, running, reading, finance and entrepreneurship. While his interest in finance and fencing both originated while he was an undergraduate student, he feels both have helped define who he is as an individual.

Denzil Etienne was born in Venezuela, but more recently resided in Grenada. He graduated from St. George’s University. Denzil is an avid runner as well as a jazz enthusiast. He plays both the piano and saxophone and loves attending live performances! He is going to love Jazzfest!!! He prides himself on being a great outdoors person and admits he does not mind getting dirty!! He also enjoys swimming, (especially in the ocean) and hiking. I’m afraid he will have to settle for lakes or pools around here! Luckily we have many options! As far as winter sports, he has tried, successfully we might add, ice skating and looks forward to the chance to try skiing while in Syracuse. Other hobbies include watching NBA and sampling good restaurants with friends. Sounds like he is going to be busy inside and outside of the hospital! He admits he would like to attend a football World Cup at least once in his lifetime!

Harvir Gambhir was born in and joins us from New Delhi, India. He graduated from Santosh Medical College. Harvir will be joined in Syracuse by his wife Ravleen, and child Savir. We look forward to meeting them. He is a sportsman and he loves to play all outdoor sports but "CRICKET" is one of his passions. He really enjoys working out. He claims to be a foodie with a sweet tooth, and admits he has a love for "CHOCOLATE FONDANT." We will have to tip him off that no chocolate is safe around Ruby Appiah.

Hayas Haseer Koya was born in and joins us from Mavelikara, Kerala, India (God’s own country). He graduated from the Medical College Trivandrum. Hayas will be joining his wife, Dona Hayas (or Dona Varghese as we know her), who is currently a 2nd year resident in our program. Playing Cricket is his passion and he has been playing since the age of 7. He recently became a proud member of Upstate Cricket Club (UCC) in Syracuse. Hayas loves to explore new places, trekking, listening to music and hanging out with friends and family. He has found that he has a developing interest in football and basket ball, and claims the credit goes to watching the SU games. While he loves his Mom’s cooking, Swiss chocolate and Thai food, or food in general… he recently started conducting experiments with exotic dishes and the guinea pig is Dona. We’ll have to take note if she has lost weight recently! Regardless, he sounds like the perfect candidate for Cooking With The Chair.

Vanessa Cynthia Hoy was born in Johannesburg, South Africa but immigrated to Seattle, Washington at the age of 13. She currently lives in the great pacific northwest Seattle, Washington, and is looking forward to moving to Syracuse, New York for her residency. Vanessa graduated from St. George’s University and will be joining us for a Preliminary year prior to joining Anesthesiology’s residency program to complete her training. She loves to run, travel, shop, and try different cuisines. Vanessa has actually run two marathons and would like to continue running more. She is hoping to have time to train during residency!

Syed (or Haider, as he prefers to be called) Imam was born in Sheikhupura, Pakistan and comes to us from his current place of residence, Faisalabad. He graduated from Aga Khan Medical College. Haider enjoys playing and watching sports, especially soccer, cricket & tennis. He also enjoys working out at the gym, hanging out with friends, watching movies and TV and listening to music. He is a foodie, and loves trying new cuisines. Haider is excited to experience outdoor activities in the Syracuse area, such as hiking, skiing, etc… He admits to being a coffee/tea addict, as it helps to relax him. I guess we will be seeing a lot of Haider in the front office, as long as we keep the coffee brewing!

Sumendra Joshi was born in and joins us from Kathmandu, Nepal. He graduated from Nepal Medical College. His interests outside of medicine include cricket, hiking, cycling, movies and travelling. Sumendra especialy loves to travel to new places and is looking forward to taking a road trip with friends to explore Syracuse and the surrounding areas. Since we are centrally located to so many major cities, and surrounded by so many great lakes and state parks, I am sure he will not have a problem deciding on a direction to travel.

Viren Kaul, who goes by V.K. or Sunny, was born in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India and joins us from New Delhi, India. He graduated from Karnataka Institute of Medical Sciences. His interests include photography, especially taking candid portraits; reading books, mainly political espionage / war time novels / non fiction; listening to music, and he admits that discovering new music through friends, youtube and online recommendations keeps him very busy. He also enjoys dancing, and although he has not received formal training in dance, he finds it hard not to break into a jig when the music goes up. Other interests include playing lawn tennis, badminton, table tennis and cricket. He is an absolute movie buff, which I am sure will come in handy during College Bowl. It is Viren’s wish to travel to countries across the world. He worked as Director (and eventually V.P.) for a human rights organization where he conducted medical camps in far flung regions in North India, some in un-motorable areas. The Indian Medical Association (E.D.B branch) awarded him with the Doctor's Day and Annual Appreciation awards for the same.

Navneet Kaur, or Naina, as she prefers to be called, was born in Patiala, India, but currently resides in Syracuse, New York. She joins her significant other, Pahul Singh, who is also a resident in our program. Naina graduated from Dayanand Medical College. Her interests include listening to music, dancing and shopping, apparently a lot of it. I wonder if she would be willing to give tours of Carousel Mall to the interns! She admits that she has a big time phobia of water and she regrets missing out on all the fun water sports, and although she is working on getting over her fear of water, she freely admits she compensates with her love of shopping!

Matthew Leidl, or Matt as he prefers to be called, was born in Morristown, New Jersey, but comes to us from his more recent place of residency, Philadelphia, PA. He graduated from Temple University School of Medicine. Outside of medicine, Matt enjoys listening to music, body boarding, reading, playing video games and travelling. As a matter of fact, at the end of a two week road trip with his best friend when they were 19, they drove from Los Angeles to their homes in NJ in just under 60 hours. You would have to love travelling to attempt that!!

Yi Mao was born in Shanghai, China but comes to us from Ontario, Canada. He graduated from the University of Queensland, which is located in Australia. He has lived there for the past five years while attending medical school. His significant other, Angela will join him as he starts his residency training in Syracuse. We look forward to meeting her. Yi will be a Preliminary Intern with us this year, and will continue on as a Neurology Resident, also here at Upstate. Outside of medicine, Yi enjoys eating, travelling, diving and basketball.

Ricky Mehta was born in and joins us from Buffalo, New York. He graduated from the American University of the Caribbean. Ricky, who also goes by Rick, enjoys comedy, watching and playing Sports (especially football, basketball, golf), trivia, dancing and movies. Sounds like a great candidate for College Bowl. He has actually done standup comedy a few times and claims it was the most fun and most embarrassing times he’s ever had. Coming from Buffalo, he should be well versed in how to deal with snowy winters!

Michael Miller, who also goes by Mike, was born in Southampton, New York and more recently lived in Long Island. He will be joined in Syracuse by his fiancé Amanda, and we look forward to meeting her. He graduated from New York College of Osteopathic Medicine of NY Institute of Technology. He will join us for his Preliminary Year, then he will do his Anesthesiology Residency, also at Upstate. Michael enjoys golf. He also enjoys reading, watching movies, and is learning to play bass guitar. He played rugby at SUNY Geneseo and is looking forward to joining a men's rugby club in Syracuse. He is also looking forward to meeting everyone and starting in July!

Omar Mousa was born in Amman, Jordan, but more recently resided in Houston, TX. He graduated from Jordan University of Science and Technology. Omar’s interests include sports (soccer, swimming, snorkeling, squash, biking, hiking), traveling, automobile racing, music, web design and learning different languages. Omar admits that he would love to go on a long tour, travelling all around the world and would also love to do car racing on special tracks. He could always practice with the Go Carts at the NY State Fair!

Bhargav Mudda comes to us well traveled. He was born in Hyderabad, India, but grew up in Dallas, Texas, and more recently resided in Manhattan, New York. He graduated from Ross University School of Medicine. He will be joining us for his Preliminary Medicine training prior to joining the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Residency program, also here at Upstate. Bhargav enjoys sports, movies and playing basketball. He enjoys trying out new restaurants in whatever city he lives in, and while he feels he may have to hold back a little with his new paycheck, he will no doubt be pleasantly surprised with the cost of living in Syracuse, NY. He admits he’s been trying to learn how to play the guitar and has not been extremely successful at it. He is willing to welcome offers from anyone who wants to teach him.

Katherine Nanos, who also goes by Katie, was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, but more recently resided in New Jersey. She graduated from St. George’s University. She will be joining us for her Preliminary Medicine training, and will then continue her residency training in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Katie enjoys playing sports, attending sporting events, watching movies, playing board games, traveling, cooking and enjoying the cuisines of many different cultures. She sounds like another perfect candidate for Cooking with the Chair. She is very excited to be working at a hospital that has a Tim Horton's and is looking forward to her first "Roll up the Rim to Win" season in over 4 years. Being from Toronto, she is a loyal Leaf fan, despite the constant heartache associated with that commitment. I am sure any die hard SU fan can relate to that feeling. She does hold out hope that she will see the Leafs hoist the Stanley Cup in her lifetime!

Andreea Nitu-Marquise was born in Cluj-Napoca, Romania and more recently resided in Tampa, Florida. Her significant other is Damien, and we look forward to meeting him. Andreea graduated from the Universitatea de Medicina Si Farmacie Iuliu Hatieganu. She will be joining us for her Preliminary Medicine training prior to joining the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Residency program, also here at Upstate. Andreea likes spending time with her family, jogging, reading, walking and going to the theater. Andreea shares an interesting fact with us. She used to win a lot of radio contests and small lotteries when she was young. Her biggest win ever was a brand new car when she was 10. I can’t help but wonder what a 10 year old did with a car!!

Arpan Patel was born in Brooklyn, New York and more recently resided in New Hartford, New York. He graduated from Medical University of Lublin. He got married in April and we are looking forward to meeting his wife, Shivani Patel. Arpan loves cooking, photography and videography, cars, driving, wine, beer, and last but not least movies! Actually he and his family make their own wine and brew their own beer!! He would love to have everyone over for some homemade pizza and drinks!! Arpan rotated here as a student and we are excited to welcome him as an intern in our program.

Aiswerya Madanam Sampath, or Aish, was born in Tamil Nadu, India, but more recently resided in Horsham, Pennsylvania. We look forward to meeting her significant other, Jay Rajasekaran. She graduated from Thoothukudi Medical College. Aiswerya enjoys movies, cooking and gardening. She is a food lover. I am sure since she loves food and cooking, she will definitely love Cooking with the Chair. She likes to explore new places and meet new people. She loves outdoor activities, especially camping or rafting. I see a trip to Black River for White Water Rafting in her future.

Rushikesh Shah, who also goes by Rishi, was born in Ahmedabad, India, but has lived in Dallas, Texas since 2010. He graduated from Padmashree Dr. D.Y. Patil Medical College for Women. Rushikesh loves swimming, biking, cooking new dishes, photography, music and working out. He admits one of his biggest passions is to explore new things, such as new places or new restaurants or any kind of food. For that reason, he is very excited to start life in Syracuse as is sure he will love exploring everything about living on the East Coast (which he has never done before). He is also excited about his other interest, clinical research, which he has been actively participating in for the past two years, and he is planning to continue during residency.

Bikram Sharma was born in Tapu, Nepal, but more recently resided in Kathmandu, Nepal. He graduated from Tribhuvan University. Bikram finds something enjoyable about everything he does. He especially loves nature and outdoors, movies and music. Bikram feels he has discovered something very beautiful in this life, something that always joins him however and where ever he is. He feels encouraged and feels the need to celebrate life. He is a strong believer that besides academic excellence, there is another pursuit of life, which he considers the inner journey of peace and tranquility. He strongly believes that in order to be successful in life, you need to be comfortable in that journey as well.

Runa Shrestha was born in and comes to us from Biratnagar, Nepal. She graduated from B.P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences. Runa enjoys traveling, cooking and spending time with family and friends. She loves to explore nature! She will no doubt appreciate all the parks New York State has to offer. She would also love to travel around the world someday! She admits she enjoys shopping, and simply adores ice cream. She did a rotation here at Upstate, so I am sure she already knows all about Cold Stone Creamery on the 11th Floor!

 

Vikas Kumar Singh was born and comes to us from New Delhi, India. He graduated from Maulana Azad Medical College. Vikas enjoys playing cricket and especially likes watching Sachin Tendulkar (an Indian cricketer) play. He is also a big movie buff and he really enjoys listening to all kinds of music. He should do well in College Bowl. He keenly follows current affairs and other news topics and his interests include politics, foreign relations and economy.

 

Subhas Sitaula was born in and comes to us from Dhading, Nepal. He graduated from B.P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences. He enjoys trekking, bowling and chatting with friends. He also enjoys health administration and economics. A little known fact is that he has been to Everest Base Camp recently! We will have to hear more about that!!

Devamohan Sivalingam, who also goes by Deva, was born in Sri Lanka, but more recently resided in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He graduated from Ross University School of Medicine. Deva enjoys movies, sports (Tennis, Hockey, Football) and computers. He admits that he has a strange adoration for romantic comedies. Even though he has tried to convince himself otherwise of this fact, come Friday or Sunday night, you'll most probably find him watching chick flicks such as "How to lose a guy in 10 days", "The Vow", "The Notebook", etc. Another unique fact about Deva is that he is a twin, and similar to the 1988 film "Twins" with Danny Devito and Arnold Schwarzenegger, he claims to be much smaller and less built than his 6', 200lbs of muscle twin brother. He does admit however, that despite this physical difference, they are very close and he is sure we will all have the pleasure of meeting him. We look forward to that!

Benjamin White, who also goes by Ben, was born in Houston, Texas, but more recently resided in Brooklyn, New York. He graduated from St. George's University. He will be joined in Syracuse by his wife, Karen, who will be doing a Pathology Residency, also at Upstate. We look forward to meeting her. Ben enjoys basketball, soccer, music (classical, piano), hiking and reading. He claims that he has the best dog in the world!! We will have to tip him off to Wegman’s Doggie Park at Onondaga Park.

Osei Whyte was born in Montego Bay, Jamaica, but more recently resided in Burlington, Ontario. He graduated from the Medical University of the Americas (Nevis). He will be joined by his fiance, Ruby Appiah, who will also be a resident in our program. Osei enjoys reading, playing basketball and soccer, cooking, baking and travelling. Osei shared that when he lived in Jamaica, he used to be a competitive swimmer for his primary school. Competitiveness will come in handy during College Bowl!!

Zachary Williamson, who also goes by Zac, was born in Atlanta, Georgia, but has lived in Syracuse, New York for a while. He graduated from State University of New York Upstate Medical University. He has a significant other, Liz Burman and a dauther, Sieonna Williamson, both of whom we look forward to meeting. Zac enjoys art, politics, running, and disc golf. He shares that he lived in Germany for 4 years when I was in the Army.