Pediatric Residency Program: Our Alumni
Meet some of the alumni of the Mass General for Children Residency program, learn about their experiences in the program and find out where they are today.
Catherine Aftandilian, MD
Clinical Instructor in Pediatric Oncology, Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, Stanford
“I loved my time at MGfC. I'm stilling trying to get back there despite the fact that the weather in California is just a bit better than the weather in Boston!”
Read Catherine Aftandilian's story
Name: Catherine Aftandilian, MD
Graduation Year: 2011
First Position Out of Residency: Fellowship in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology at Stanford Children's Hospital
Current Position(s): Assistant Professor in Pediatric Hematology-Oncology and Ambulatory Medical Director at Stanford
MGfC and My Career: I loved my time at MGfC. I'm stilling trying to get back there despite the fact that the weather in California is just a bit better than the weather in Boston! The people are wonderful, and I feel like I received an excellent education. I still email Drs. Weinstein and Friedmann in the heme/onc department for advice, and I'm always very excited when I see them at conferences. I miss many of the attendings, nurses and residents and always love coming back for a visit!
Anna Goldenheim, MD
Boston University Medical School
"I feel so grateful for having the opportunity to train at MGfC."
Read Anna Goldenheim's story
Name: Anna Goldenheim
Graduation Year: 2018
First Position Out of Residency: Primary Care Pediatrician at Woburn Pediatrics
MGfC and My Career: I feel so grateful for having the opportunity to train at MGfC. The faculty, nurses, staff, and residents were all incredibly smart and wonderfully kind. It is an honor to be an alumna of such a special place.
Aisha James, MD
Mount Sinai Medical School
"I built an incredible network of mentors and friends during residency."
Read Aisha James's story
Name: Aisha James, MS, MD
Graduation Year: 2018
First & Current Position Out of Residency: Assistant in Pediatrics and Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital Everett Family Care; Instructor, Harvard Medical School
MGfC and My Career: I built an incredible network of mentors and friends during residency, and was thrilled to accept a attending position doing Med-Peds primary care at MGH Everett Family Care. I was extra excited to be able to continue the advocacy work I started in residency, through education, legislative action and community organizing.
Vimal Jhaveri, MD
University of Colorado Medical School
"MGfC provided me with great clinical training and exposure to inpatient, outpatient, community, and subspeciality care."
Read Vimal Jhaveri's story
Name: Vimal Jhaveri
Graduation Year: Med-Peds '18
First Position Out of Residency: Adult Infectious Disease Fellow
Current Position(s): Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Fellow
MGfC and My Career: MGfC provided me with great clinical training and exposure to inpatient, outpatient, community, and subspeciality care which allowed me to explore and direct my career path. Our co-residents and the culture is very supportive and it was a great place to train!
Lisa Lovas Bakhos, MD
Attending Physician, Pediatric Emergency Medicine, Jersey Shore University Medical Center, Neptune, NJ
“Looking back at my time at MGfC, I realize how amazing it was for my development as the physician I am today.”
Kathryn S. Brigham, MD
Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine at MGfC
“I clearly loved MGfC, since I chose to come back! Not only did I receive a fantastic and well rounded education at MGH.”
Ezra Cohen, MD
Fellow in Rheumatology at Boston Children’s Hospital
“Coming to MGfC for residency was one of the best decisions I’ve made. It is unique among residency programs, offering amazing training in general pediatrics and specialties while preserving autonomy for residents.”
John D’Orazio, MD
Associate Professor of Pediatrics, University of Kentucky
“MGfC was a superb place for me to learn pediatrics. I often advise medical students to look for residencies that give them true opportunities to “fly on their own” a bit with patient care, and MGfC certainly provided such times for me.”
Genevieve Daftary, MD
Pediatric Medical Director at Codman Square Health Center
“I always tell people that I chose MGfC because I knew I wanted to be a great primary care pediatrician, and I knew that meant being given real decision making opportunities as a resident and the chance to consistently see bread and butter pediatrics AND the rare diagnoses.”
Mike Epstein, MD
Pediatric Hospitalist, MGfC
“After an away rotation at MGfC, I knew both what I wanted to and where I wanted to do it. Three years later, my dream has come true: I am a PGY-3 peds resident at MGfC, preparing to be a chief resident next year.”
Jason Harris, MD
Associate Microbiologist, Associate Pediatrician, Massachusetts General Hospital; Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School
“I’ve been at MGfC for more than 15 years and it all started with an AMAZING experience as a resident at MGfC!!! When I think about the quality of my work (and my work life), it starts with the quality of my colleagues and how we work together and support each other.”
Emily Herzberg, MD
Chief Resident, MGfC
“After living here for 3 years, I honestly can’t imagine my life without MGfC! It is truly an incredible place to train, and I feel so lucky to be continuing here as one of the Pediatric Chief Residents for 2016-2017.”
Anna Larson, MD
University of Minnesota
"MGfC is such a special to work and study. Here, the sometimes-terrifying transition from tentative early resident to true clinician is one that is made easier through incredible support and a collaborative spirit."
Elizabeth (Betsy) McKeen, MD
Primary Care Pediatrician at Belmont Cambridge Health Care in Cambridge, MA
“Although I clearly was not the only resident in my class at MGfC, I often felt like I was. From the moment I arrived, the faculty enthusiastically reached out to get to know me as person as well to discover my interests and goals as a pediatrician.”
Hasan Merali, MD
Sommer Scholar, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
“I initially came to MGfC as a one-year preliminary resident and was supposed to continue to a career in ophthalmology. However, after just 6 months of challenging and exciting pediatric rotations taught by the most caring faculty members, I decided to stay for the full residency.”
Vi Thuy Nguyen, MD
Kaiser San Diego Partner Physician, Medical Director Pediatrics Otay Mesa Clinic, Pediatric Asthma Lead
“Every day I am grateful for my clinical training and the pediatric attendings that invested in us. I often think back to the words of wisdom of Drs. Pasternak, Ezekowitz, Kinane, Levitsky and company imparted to us on those late night teaching rounds.”
Meryl Perlman, MD
I am doing a fellowship in Clinical Medical Ethics at The University of Chicago MacLean Center, working in Urgent Care at Lurie Children’s Hospital and doing pediatric GI research in the hopes of starting the GI fellowship I had intended to do out just of residency (Ron Kleinman was right-I should have done it 10 years ago!)
“There is not a day that goes by when in my personal and professional life I don’t think of the incredible opportunities and experiences I had as a trainee at MGfC.”
Patricia (Patty) Marzol Peters, MD
General Pediatrician at Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates, Wellesley, MA
“I will always treasure my time at MGfC. I entered residency knowing what I wanted to be: a pediatrician.”
David S. Reitman, MD, MBA
Medical Director, American University Student Health Center; Attending in Adolescent Medicine, Georgetown University Hospital
“As a resident at MGfC, I always knew that I wanted to specialize in Adolescent Medicine. After graduation, I did a year of private practice in anticipation of starting an adolescent medicine fellowship at Children's National Medical Center in Washington, DC.”
Nina Mayer Ritchie, MD, and Eric Ritchie, MD
Study Physician, Associate Faculty, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Center for American Indian Health, Infectious Disease Team, Chinle, AZ; Eric: Med-Peds Hospitalist, transitioning to Clinical Director, Chinle Comprehensive Health Care Facility, Chinle, AZ
“Training at MGfC gave us the opportunity to be surrounded by amazing colleagues with a variety of experiences and backgrounds, some of whom have worked with Indian Health Services.”
Scott Rivkees, MD
Chair and Nemours Eminent Scholar, Department of Pediatrics, University of Florida; Physician-in-Chief Shands Children's Hospital; Academic Chair of Pediatrics, Arnold Palmer Hospital.
“My training at Mass General to be summarized in a few words: inspiring, caring, and exciting. But, if you'd like more than a few words, let me suggest my recent book Resident on Call: A Doctor’s Reflections on his First Years at Mass General.”
Megan Schultz, MD, MA
Fellowship in Pediatric Emergency Medicine at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin
“I could not have designed a better pediatric residency program than MGfC. It was the perfect mix of autonomy with guidance, primary care with subspecialty pediatrics, bread and butter diagnoses with rare pathologies.”
Lisa Stellwagen, MD, FAAP
Clinical Professor of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatology at UC San Diego Medical Center. Medical Director of Newborn Service. NICU Hospitalist. This summer I will become an Associate Pediatric Residency Program Director.
“My journey in pediatrics has taken me from the community clinic, to private practice and now the academic hospital setting. I feel my well-rounded training in a general hospital prepared me for all three.”
Melissa Stockwell MD, MPH
Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Population and Family Health, Columbia University
“My time at MGfC steered me into the path of combining pediatrics and public health. Throughout my training there I was always taught to look not just at the child that I was caring for, but at the whole family and even at times the community.”
Julia von Oettingen, MD
Attending Physician, Pediatric Endocrinology, Montreal Children’s Hospital; Assistant Professor, McGill University
“MGfC was the place I made lasting friends, the place that let me pursue my passion and prepared me for a wonderful career in global pediatric endocrinology.”
Jeffrey Craig Winer, MD, MA, MSHS
Academic Clinical Quality Director, Division of Hospital Medicine, Wolfson Children's Hospital; Assistant Professor, University of Florida
“MGfC was ground zero for my love of Quality Improvement. While becoming a proficient general pediatrician, I also had opportunities for multiple projects. I was privileged to work on a team developing a standard approach to handoffs.”
Elisabeth Winterkorn, MD
Medical Director and Primary Care Pediatrician, Children's Medical Office of North Andover
“When I started at MGfC I knew I liked to teach, I liked neurology and brain development, and I liked kids. The last part, while trite, was what brought me to pediatrics.”
YY Yang, MD
UMass Medical School
I came into residency thinking I had no idea what I am going to do . . .
Helen Yeung, MD
Pediatric Ophthalmology Fellow, Children’s National Health System (Washington, DC)
“My training at MGfC made me “more complete” as a physician in caring for children and their eyes. Through my rotations and electives such as in pediatric surgery, pediatric neurology, and pediatric anesthesia, I acquired the knowledge and skills to be competent while caring for children and their eye problems during my ophthalmology residency.”
Christa Borgman, MD
Pediatric Hospitalist at St. John’s Children’s Hospital; Assistant Professor in Pediatrics at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine.
“MGfC was the perfect place for me to do my pediatric residency. Not only did I receive phenomenal training and build a network of fantastic colleagues, but I also made life-long friends.”
Corrie (Klopcic) Chumpitazi, MD
Pediatric Emergency Medicine Fellow at Baylor College of Medicine Texas Children’s Hospital.
"I love that MGfC provides short white coats (I hope they still do!!), to indicate the life-long learning that you have chosen in pursuing a field in medicine."
Timothy Ferris
Fellow, general pediatrics, MGH.
"Though I no longer practice pediatrics, the training I received at MGH was important to my career in several ways."
Kelly Gardner
Pediatric Critical Care Fellow (at MGfC!).
"MGfC is the best of both worlds - access to the incredible resources of the Harvard system while training in a small, supportive environment."
Craig Garfield
I was a stay at home dad for the first year after residency, then I was a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar for 2 years.
"I loved my residency at MGH--I know that is strange thing to say! I was so honored to be there, felt welcomed and respected, and learned a ton."
Suzanne Goh
Post-doctoral research fellowship at the Pediatric Brain Imaging Lab at Columbia University.
"What an incredible group of people and an amazing environment to practice medicine!"
Bruce Kalow
Pediatrician, Somerville Pediatrics.
"MGH was a great place to start a career in primary care. It is still my "go to" hospital for referrals, I still have many contacts there."
Jondavid Menteer
Fellow, Cardiology, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
"My wife and I couples-matched from our medical school, Washington University School of Medicine in Saint Louis."
Rob Meyer
Primary Care Pediatrician, Bunker Hill Health Center, Charlestown.
"On the day I interviewed at MGfC (then known as the Children’s Service,)."
Chris Moran
Pediatric GI Fellowship at MGfC.
"The most amazing thing about my training at MGfC is that my mentors here really focus on their trainees."
William E. Russell
Fellow in Pediatric Endocrinology at MGH with John D. Crawford.
"There was no better option on earth for me than to train at the MGH. Incredible mentors in Pediatrics at the MGH during my years as an HMS convinced me that the MGH was my home."
Sakina Sojar, MD
SUNY Buffalo Medical School
"My favorite thing about MGfC is the intelligent, compassionate and personable colleagues that I worked with every day."
Raffi Tachdjian
Fellowship in Adult and Pediatric Allergy/Immunology at UCLA.
"I came to MGH thinking that if I can teach these great things, I will have learned a lot. It was quite a steep curve at first."
Katherine Larabee Tuttle
Allergy and Clinical Immunology Fellow, Brigham and Women's Hospital.
"There is not "one type" of pediatrician and one of the most unique attributes of MGfC is that it fosters career paths of multiple types of pediatricians."
Howard Weinstein
Clinical Associate at National Cancer Institute.
"I was born in Brooklyn, grew up in Baltimore and graduated from Cornell University and the University of Maryland School of Medicine."
Abdullah A. Alangari
Fellow in Allergy and Immunology at Boston Children’s Hospital.
"Doing residency at MGfC was a lot of fun and a great opportunity to learn from world leaders in the field. It opened doors for me to advance in my career."
Elena Grant
Pediatric Cardiology Fellow at Children's National Medical Center/The George Washington School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Washington DC.
"I loved my time as a resident at MGfC!"
Annie Murray
Pediatric Infectious Diseases Fellow at Boston Children’s Hospital.
"The people at MGfC are amazing! The mentorship I received from the humble yet expert clinicians at MGfC helped me to choose to pursue a specialty in Pediatric Infectious Diseases."
Julie Wolfson
Coordinator, Pediatrics and Emergency Department, Cambridge Health Alliance followed by Fellowship, Pediatric Hematology-Oncology, Children's Hospital Los Angeles.
Tommy Heyne
MGH Emergency Ultrasound Fellowship.
"I'm grateful to have graduated from a well-respected Harvard med/peds program."
Liz Weiner, MD, MFA
Global Health Fellow, Texas Children's Global Health Service Corps, Gondar, Ethiopia.
"I am working as a general pediatrician at Children's Hospital Los Angeles. It's a great job where we do a mix of outpatient, inpatient and newborn nursery."
Anna Pinto
"I was very fortunate to have a 1 year internship at MGH for Children and I still have plenty of good memories that I have shared in MGH."