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Leadership
María J. Alemán
María Jimena Alemán was born and raised in Guatemala where she currently works in community and rural health care. After suffering from long standing neurophobia, she has embraced her love for neurology and will pursue a career in this field. She looks forward to dedicating her life to breaking barriers for women in medical fields and improving medical care in her country. Outside of medicine, she enjoys modern art, 21st century literature, and having hour-long conversations over coffee or tequila.
Reza
Reza Manesh
Reza was born in Tehran, and grew up mostly in Pittsburgh. He graduated from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and completed internal medicine residency at UCSF. He works as a hospitalist, primarily taking care of patients with medical students and residents. Reza’s passions include lifting heavy weights, eating at chipotle, and studying at coffee shops. His life hero is his grandfather. His ultimate goal is to share his excitement and love of clinical problem-solving with others.
Rabih Geha
Rabih Geha
Rabih was born in Lebanon, and grew up mostly in Pakistan before coming to the US to attend Boston College and then Brown for medical school. He completed residency and chief residency at UCSF. Rabih splits his time between the Emergency Room and the inpatient teaching wards. Within diagnosis, Rabih enjoys creating diagnostic schemas; this interest in crafting logical solutions dates back to the good old days of high school math, most of which he learned from his dad.
Jack Penner
Jack Penner
Jack Penner was born and raised in Los Gatos, CA (a small town about an hour south of San Francisco). He was lucky enough to come back home to the Bay Area for residency at UCSF, where he is in his residency. Jack is hoping to pursue a career as a clinician educator in HIV primary care, infectious diseases, and general medicine. Outside of residency, he is a fan of brewing coffee, attempting latté art, and spending time in the ocean whenever he can.
Madellena Conte
Madellena Conte was born and raised in San Francisco, CA. She completed her undergraduate degree at Dartmouth College. After college, she completed her Master’s of Science in Global Health at UCSF. She is a MS4 at the Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell in New York and is currently taking a research year in the Division of HIV, ID, and Global Medicine at UCSF. Outside of medicine, Madellena loves to travel, meet new people, run, figure skate and really do anything outdoors. She plans on applying into internal medicine residency.
Virtual Morning Report Leadership
Madellena Conte
Madellena Conte was born and raised in San Francisco, CA. She completed her undergraduate degree at Dartmouth College. After college, she completed her Master’s of Science in Global Health at UCSF. She is a MS4 at the Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell in New York and is currently taking a research year in the Division of HIV, ID, and Global Medicine at UCSF. Outside of medicine, Madellena loves to travel, meet new people, run, figure skate and really do anything outdoors. She plans on applying into internal medicine residency.
Ravi Singh
Şeymanur Yildirim
Şeyma is a medical student at Charité University Berlin who was born and raised in Berlin. She has a very big passion for Internal medicine and Neurology and enjoys Clinical Reasoning. Her first encounter with CPsolvers started with one of their schemas shown by a medical student from her university and now she is involved in the German Schema project and in the VMR team. She wishes to work in a University hospital in her future career because she loves MedEd and Research. Outside of medicine she enjoys spending time with her friends, watching real-crime documentaries, and tasting food from different countries.
Debora Loureiro
Debora was born in Brazil where she graduated from UNICEUB University of Law. After passing the Brazil Bar exam to become a lawyer, she soon realized her passion was medicine and moved to Buenos Aires, Argentina to study at the Facultad de Medicina de la Universidad de Buenos Aires. She will graduate in 2023 with a focus on Internal Medicine. Her interests include clinical reasoning, pulmonary and critical care. Outside Medicine she enjoys a variety of exercises including Crossfit, running and cycling. She also loves to travel and taste wines
Yazmin Heredia
Yazmin is a Mexican Graduate from the Universidad Autonoma de Yucatan. During her medical training, she developed a strong interest in Public Health, Medical Education, and Health Equity and is looking forward to pursuing a career in Internal Medicine. When she is not volunteering on a project, she likes taking care of her plants, developing her skills in the fine arts, or learning a new language.
Rabih Geha
Rabih was born in Lebanon, and grew up mostly in Pakistan before coming to the US to attend Boston College and then Brown for medical school. He completed residency and chief residency at UCSF. Rabih splits his time between the Emergency Room and the inpatient teaching wards. His primary interests are in medical education and clinical reasoning. Within diagnosis, Rabih enjoys creating diagnostic schemas; this interest in crafting logical solutions dates back to the good old days of high school math, most of which he learned from his dad.
Spaced Learning Series
Anna Fretz
Anna is from Vancouver Island, British Columbia. She studied public health at UC Berkeley and went on to get a Master’s degree in epidemiology at Johns Hopkins. After completing medical school at Dartmouth, she returned back to the west coast for residency, where she is currently a resident in IM at UCSF. She is interested in hospital medicine, critical care and clinical epidemiology. In her free time, she enjoys doing anything outside, including hiking, biking, skiing, windsurfing, and petting as many dogs as possible.
Kirtan Patolia
Kirtan Patolia is a final year medical student from B.J. Medical College, Gujarat, India. He is currently applying for an internal medicine residency in the USA. Clinical reasoning is his biggest passion. You will frequently find him sharing clinical cases on VMR. Outside of medicine, he likes to read fiction, particularly Agatha Christie and Nancy Drew novels. He also loves kite flying, especially the aspect of using various techniques and maneuvers to fly the kites.
Smitha Ganeshan
Smitha Ganeshan is an internal medicine resident at the University of California San Francisco. She was born and raised in Johns Creek, Georgia outside Atlanta. She studied Biology at the University of Georgia and then earned a MD/MBA at Harvard. She is interested in technology in healthcare, medical education, and physician leadership. Outside of the hospital, she loves traveling, running, and exploring Bay Area hikes.
Mukund Raguram
Mukund grew up in Hagatna, Guam, and Portland, Oregon. He studied Spanish literature and cell biology at UC Berkeley, worked as a housing navigator, and is now a medical student at UC San Francisco in the PRIME program. Mukund is interested in health systems advocacy, housing insecurity, and addiction medicine. In his free time, Mukund is an avid deep sky astrophotographer and visual astronomer.
Valeria Roldan
Valeria is a medical student at Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia. She was born and lives in Lima, Perú. She hopes to pursue Neurology residency. Her interests include neuro-infectious diseases, transgender health and medical education. Her work with CPSolvers involves being a part of the Virtual Morning Report team and serving on the Spanish schemas team. Outside of Medicine she loves running, hiking, cooking pasta and spending time with her dogs.
Simone Vais
Simone is a Family & Community Medicine resident at UCSF/San Francisco General Hospital. She was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, and stayed in NY to attend undergrad at Barnard College. She went on to complete medical school at Boston University School of Medicine before moving out to the west coast for residency. Her medical interests include taking care of the urban underserved, inpatient adult medicine, and substance use disorders (especially in pregnancy). Outside of work, she enjoys gymnastics, unicycling, and endless coffee consumption.
H. Moses Murdock
H. Moses Murdock is an intern at the Brigham & Women’s Hospital. He is originally from Orlando, Florida, and received his undergraduate degree at the University of Central Florida in molecular biology and microbiology. In his free time, Moses enjoys running, reading, and discovering new vegetarian restaurants.
Schema Episodes
Sharmin Shekarchian
Sharmin was born and raised in Iran before moving to the Bay Area. She is working as a hospitalist at UCSF pursuing a career in medical education. Her interests include clinical reasoning and curriculum design. Sharmin is an avid tennis and soccer fan and loves traveling and spending time with family and friends. She knows every episode of Friends by heart, thinks there is never a bad time to drink coffee and she’s a big fan of a good laugh.
Ann Marie Kumfer
Jack Penner
Jack Penner was born and raised in Los Gatos, CA (a small town about an hour south of San Francisco). He was lucky enough to come back home to the Bay Area for residency at UCSF, where he is in his residency. Jack is hoping to pursue a career as a clinician educator in HIV primary care, infectious diseases, and general medicine. Outside of residency, he is a fan of brewing coffee, attempting latté art, and spending time in the ocean whenever he can.
Madellena Conte
Madellena Conte was born and raised in San Francisco, CA. She completed her undergraduate degree at Dartmouth College. After college, she completed her Master’s of Science in Global Health at UCSF. She is a MS4 at the Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell in New York and is currently taking a research year in the Division of HIV, ID, and Global Medicine at UCSF. Outside of medicine, Madellena loves to travel, meet new people, run, figure skate and really do anything outdoors. She plans on applying into internal medicine residency.
Women In Diagnosis Series
Sharmin Shekarchian
Sharmin was born and raised in Iran before moving to the Bay Area. She is working as a hospitalist at UCSF pursuing a career in medical education. Her interests include clinical reasoning and curriculum design. Sharmin is an avid tennis and soccer fan and loves traveling and spending time with family and friends. She knows every episode of Friends by heart, thinks there is never a bad time to drink coffee and she’s a big fan of a good laugh.
Jane Hinkle
Rafael Medina Subspecialty Series
Madellena Conte
Madellena Conte was born and raised in San Francisco, CA. She completed her undergraduate degree at Dartmouth College. After college, she completed her Master’s of Science in Global Health at UCSF. She is a MS4 at the Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell in New York and is currently taking a research year in the Division of HIV, ID, and Global Medicine at UCSF. Outside of medicine, Madellena loves to travel, meet new people, run, figure skate and really do anything outdoors. She plans on applying into internal medicine residency.
Şeymanur Yildirim
Şeyma is a medical student at Charité University Berlin who was born and raised in Berlin. She has a very big passion for Internal medicine and Neurology and enjoys Clinical Reasoning. Her first encounter with CPsolvers started with one of their schemas shown by a medical student from her university and now she is involved in the German Schema project and in the VMR team. She wishes to work in a University hospital in her future career because she loves MedEd and Research. Outside of medicine she enjoys spending time with her friends, watching real-crime documentaries, and tasting food from different countries.
Rafael Medina
Rafael Medina dos Santos is a Brazilian medical graduate. Before medicine, Rafael wanted to be a teacher. Unsurprisingly, he loves everything related to teaching and learning, so his passion for the CPSolvers’ mission was only natural. He’s applying this 2023 match season for internal medicine. Beyond medicine, Rafael loves fiction books/movies, pop music, and singing Disney songs.
#EndNeurophobia Neurology VMR
Shelly Ganguli
María J. Alemán
María Jimena Alemán was born and raised in Guatemala where she currently works in community and rural health care. After suffering from long standing neurophobia, she has embraced her love for neurology and will pursue a career in this field. She looks forward to dedicating her life to breaking barriers for women in medical fields and improving medical care in her country. Outside of medicine, she enjoys modern art, 21st century literature, and having hour-long conversations over coffee or tequila.
Aaron Berkowitz
Aaron recently joined UCSF’s faculty as a professor of neurology. He previously served as an associate professor of neurology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. As a health and policy advisor to Partners In Health and senior specialist consultant to Doctors Without Borders, he has worked tirelessly to bring neurology care and education to regions where it is limited or non-existent, including co-developing the first neurology residency in Haiti. He is the author of Clinical Pathophysiology Made Ridiculously Simple, Clinical Neurology and Neuroanatomy: A localization-based approach, and most recently One by One by One, which tells the inspiring stories of patients he and colleagues brought from Haiti to Boston for neurosurgery for brain tumors. When he is not trying to #EndNeurophobia, Aaron loves hiking, backpacking, and obsessively researching outdoor camping gear.
Lea Bischoff
Lea was born and raised in Austria and is currently a medical student at the University of Graz. Her primary interests are Clinical Reasoning, Medical Education, Rheumatology and General Internal Medicine. She hopes to inspire others with her passion for teaching and deep thinking. Her goal is to contribute to improving medical education in German speaking countries and creating fruitful learning environments. Outside of medicine Lea enjoys good books, long hikes, dancing, meeting new people and discovering their stories. She loves traveling but always finds herself returning to places with proximity to mountains.
Valeria Roldan
Valeria is a medical student at Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia. She was born and lives in Lima, Perú. She hopes to pursue Neurology residency. Her interests include neuro-infectious diseases, transgender health and medical education. Her work with CPSolvers involves being a part of the Virtual Morning Report team and serving on the Spanish schemas team. Outside of Medicine she loves running, hiking, cooking pasta and spending time with her dogs.
Gabriela Pucci
Gabriela Pucci graduated from UNICAMP and completed neurology residency at UNESP, both in Brazil. She is enthusiastic about medical education and the #EndNeurophobia campaign. She works with Portuguese-speaker students to democratize neurology knowledge (using the Portuguese translation – #FimDaNeurofobia). She also loves to draw and spends hours creating schemas to simplify neurology topics (@Neudrawlogy). Apart from medicine, she enjoys traveling with her husband, practicing pilates, binge-watching comedy series, reading biography books, going out with her friends, drinking wine, and cooking (still learning).