Works Shine at Residents’ Day Program

On June 25, residents and faculty joined together for the UMass Memorial Eye Center’s second Residents’ Day program, marking the end of the academic year. Priya Janardhana, MD, Educator of the Year 2020, started the program with a special introduction of guest speaker, John Gittinger, Physician and Surgeon, Mass Eye and Ear, Senior Lecturer, Harvard Medical School, and former UMass Chair, before turning the focus to resident doctors Aron Sampson, MD, Omar Abdelmegid, MD, Saad Al-Kadhi, MD, MS, and Soraiya Thura, MD, who each presented a detailed review of their work of the past year. The program concluded with Benjamin Jastrzembski, MD, being selected by the residents as Educator of the Year 2021.

Director of the Residency Program, Misha Faustina, MD, congratulated the entire team for the program’s success, which she credited to the attention of Lean-tailored problem solving and the diversity of its members. “When we created this program, we wanted it to be diverse. I think it’s the differences that each of us brings that creates strength within our team and allows each person and their unique perspectives to shine,” said Dr. Faustina. “We want to be known as the new, innovative model for modern academics in efficient, cutting-edge medicine.”

The Eye Center is pleased to welcome the next two classes of residents in July, which will result in all eight of our program’s residency slots being filled. The full complement of the program includes the first, new ACGME-approved ophthalmology residency training program in more than two decades and the first new program to offer an integrated internship. Congratulations to all!

(left to right) Shlomit Schaal, MD, PhD, MHCM, Aron Sampson, MD, Saad Al-Kadhi, MD, MS, Misha Faustina, MD, FACS, Omar Abdelmegid, MD

John Gittinger, Physician and Surgeon, Mass Eye and Ear, Senior Lecturer, Harvard Medical School, and former UMass Chair

Priya Janardhana, MD,

Benjamin Jastrzembski, MD,

Soraiya Thura, MD,