Residents, welcome to your new life – beginning today

Published on Monday, July 1, 2019

By: Ruth Cummins

Dr. Patrick Wood is a self-described DIY kind of guy.

That’s one reason he’s chosen surgery for his residency at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. “I like to build things with my hands,” he said.

Wood, who grew up in Madison, admits to another big reason he’s performing his five-year residency: His fiancé, Dr. Kelsey Bounds of Newton, a fellow University of Mississippi School of Medicine grad who is beginning her ear, nose and throat residency this summer.

They’re among the 194 new medical school graduates, interns and fellows from Mississippi and across the nation who begin work as “house officers” on July 1. Although no longer traditional students, all are continuing their health sciences education with oversight from UMMC’s Office of Graduate Medical Education.

“This group is one of the first to experience a GME office with a very deep bench,” said Dr. Brad Ingram, associate professor of pediatric neurology and one of three GME assistant deans.  Dr. Jimmy Stewart, professor of medicine, serves as associate GME dean; other assistant deans are Dr. Arthur Calimaran, professor of anesthesiology; and Dr. Marc Majure, professor of pediatric pulmonology.

Ingram and the GME team welcomed the new residents Thursday with a first-ever party for them, their significant others and children. The gathering at the Mississippi Children’s Museum in Jackson gave residents the chance to mingle, share a meal and relax before their demanding schedules commence.

“We wanted to do an event off campus and to engage them, at least for one night, as people who happen to be residents,” Ingram said. “We wanted to take the chance to welcome them to the city of Jackson and Mississippi at large, outside of UMMC’s walls.”

During the just-completed academic year at UMMC, a total 652 residents and fellows were continuing their medical education.

Those at the welcome party included Dr. Abedulnaasseer Mohammedelamien, a Sudanese American and native of Sudan who is a new resident in the Department of Preventive Medicine. He’s got considerable experience under his belt, having graduated from the University of Khartoum Medical School in Sudan in 1994, followed by training in Sudan and employment as an emergency room physician in Saudi Arabia.

Mohammedelamien, who goes by Naser, completed a transitional residency year at Hurley Medical Center in Flint, Mich., before earning a master of science in biomedical informatics from Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. After that, he worked as a clinical analyst with an interest in informatics.

That piqued his interest in preventive medicine, said Mohammedelamien, who also is pursuing a master of science in clinical investigation from the School of Health Related Professions.

In combination with his clinical background as a physician, “this will add another layer to my career,” said Mohammedelamien, who with wife Kelly has four children. During his time at UMMC, “I hope to bring some value to this organization,” he said.

New internal medicine/pediatrics resident Dr. Jasmine Padgett admits to butterflies, but is more than ready to hit the ground running. A strong sense of community at UMMC played into her decision to remain on campus following graduation from UMMC in May.

“I feel we all support each other well, and I feel supported by the staff and faculty,” said Padgett, who grew up in Biloxi. “And, I like the patient diversity. We see a lot of interesting pathology here that you don’t see in other places.

“It’s going to be a transition. Now, you will feel that the patient belongs to you and that you are responsible for their care,” she said. ‘That’s something I’m going to have to learn to embrace.”

Wood said he and his fiancé enjoyed a four-week rotation in Houston, but feared that only one of them might match there. “And even at 5 in the morning, you are sitting in traffic in Houston. That was not what we were used to,” Wood said.

“Being together was the main end goal, and the bonus was that we knew we liked the faculty and residents here at UMMC. It was a win-win.”

While he won’t be taking charge of a surgery any time soon, Wood said, UMMC faculty “don’t hold back on the interns. In some other places, you are on the floor and do paperwork every day, but here, they let us assist on a good deal of the surgery.”

Life as a resident will come with pressure, Wood said. “As a med student, you get the ‘med student excuse’ and can say you just watched a surgery. As a resident, you are more than partially responsible for what happens in the OR. You are a physician now, and you have no excuses.”

The welcoming party is just one of GME’s ongoing efforts to unite residents who sometimes find themselves operating in departmental silos, Ingram said.

A resident once told him, Ingram said, “that the worst thing that can happen is that I meet another resident for the first time over a patient.

“One of the goals of our office is to get residents to work more in groups, and not just in the patient care arena,” he said. “We want people who are friends and who have a relationship with each other first – and then, they can focus exclusively on the patient, and not developing that relationship.”

Padgett and her husband, Jim Hill High School teacher Korian Padgett, just purchased a house in Brandon. It’s where she will go after a long day - or night - at the hospital.

“One of my greatest strengths is compassion and the ability to connect with patients,” she said. “The hospital can be a scary place, and I enjoy making patients comfortable and explaining what’s going on so that parents feel included in their loved one’s care.

“On difficult days, I can remember that I chose this field because I love it.”