Our Faculty
I grew up in Bagdad, Iraq, where I earned my medical degree from the University of Baghdad, Faculty of Medicine in Iraq. In 2006, I relocated to the United States. After completing my training in internal medicine at Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia, I joined the faculty at Mass General Brigham Salem Hospital, where I provide clinical care and teaching to medical students and residents. My passion for teaching started early in childhood by being inspired by my teachers, including my mother, when I was observing her teaching physics. This was all enriched by my understanding of the pathophysiology of diseases, as it has always intrigued me, and the joy of applying this to clinical practice is invaluable. It is also rewarding to see my trainees grow and succeed on their own as outstanding physicians.
Professional Interests: Medical Education
Personal Interests: During my free time, I enjoy biking, hiking, swimming, and spending time with my family.
Director, Simulation Center
Diversity has been the hallmark of my experiences. Be it my upbringing in a multicultural, multilingual society in India or my training in the USA, the world's melting pot. The diversity of thoughts, opinions, and clinical impressions in medicine has always been fascinating and motivates me to work as an Internist. Working in a team with different levels and types of expertise is the most exciting aspect of patient care for me. As a Teaching Attending, my favorite phrase to hear is "I Don't know," as I believe it to be an "opportunity" rather than "inadequacy".
Professional Interests: I am keenly interested in Medical Education through Simulation, Choosing wisely, and Clinical reasoning.
Personal Interests: In my leisure time, I like to travel, cook different cuisines, and watch stand-up comedy.
I studied chemistry in Waterloo, Ontario, and medicine in Krakow, Poland. My father is a priest in the Macedonian Orthodox Church, and I learned how to engage people and serve the community. My mother developed a career in the hospitality industry (in which I, too, partook!). Spiritual care and hospitality are similar to the practice of medicine. We fulfill the community's basic needs and treat each as we would ourselves and our loved ones. The teacher is the ultimate manifestation of the physician. The word doctor comes from the Greek, meaning teacher. The fulfillment of that goal is a journey of continuous self-improvement and the empowerment of future physicians. We teach our patients and one another.
Professional Interests: I am particularly interested in the technology shaping hospital medicine and the healthcare industry.
Personal Interests: Organic gardening, martial arts, ancient and medieval history
I grew up in Upstate New York but have lived in New England for many years. I love inpatient acute care medicine and teaching, which is why I became a Hospitalist. Almost everything I know about medicine was taught to me by someone else. I can still visualize and relive where I received some of my most pivotal teaching moments as a student and resident. My goal is to create those moments for other people and help them become great clinicians and teachers.
Professional Interests: Hospital Medicine Administration, Patient Safety, Medical Education
Personal Interests: Spending time with my family, cooking/baking, fish keeping, Celtics and Bruins fan.
Additional faculty
- Sameer Shah, MD Director, POCUS Training
- Mona Hinrichsen, MD, Chief of Hospitalist Medicine
- Nupar Dandawate, MD
- Avalon Mertens, DO
I am originally from England and grew up in New Hampshire – after spending my years of medical education in Florida, Delaware, and New Jersey, I am happy to be back home near the sea, leaves, and snow. I had wanted to become a veterinarian, but a strong cat allergy pushed me towards human medical school instead, and after finishing a Med/Peds residency I decided to pursue adult pulmonary/critical care which to me epitomizes medical physiology. Teaching is the best way to challenge yourself to stay up to date and the best way to shape the types of doctors you want to work with, a few years down the line. Observing the growth of medical trainee is extremely rewarding and being able to play a part in that growth is an honor.
Professional interests: Point of care ultrasound, palliative care.
Personal interests: CrossFit, food (mostly Asian), travel
Subspeciality Education Coordinators
- Somwail Rasla, MD, Cardiology
- Ruta Shah, MD Infectious Disease
- Kanwal Anwar, MD, Endocrinology
- Khalid Syed, MD Rheumatology
- Mitchell Jacobson, MD Nephrology
- Tao Liu, MD Geriatrics
- Ronald Hartfelder, MD Gastroenterology
- Shushi Kosla, MD, Addiction Medicine
- Jordan Cummins, MD PhD Dermatology
- Patricia Dwyer, MD Urgent Care
- Marcelo Matiello, MD Neurology
- Adam Miller, MD Hematology/Oncology