Three residents continuing to EMS fellowships

Dr. Unsa Shafi - UMMC 

Dr. Unsa Shafi hails from Chattanooga, Tennessee. Interestingly, Dr. Shafi shares that she has a bifid ureter, which led to her interest in emergency medicine. She currently does not have too much free time because in October she gave birth to twins, Amna Gul and Aiza Zainab Arain! Still, Dr. Shafi loves to travel. During her residency alone, she traveled with her husband, Dr. Omair Arain of UMMC Interventional Radiology, to Mexico, Pakistan, France, The Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and the Bahamas (as well as traveling all over the US). Perhaps her love of travel is what led to her interest in flight medicine. Dr. Shafi has spoken to other flight physicians around the country and would love to become one in the future. Because of her interest in flight medicine, she researched UMMC’s AirCare program and was very impressed. Shafi says, “It is one of the best in the southeast and there is so much opportunity to learn from those critical care providers.” After completing her Emergency Medicine Residency in June of 2023, she will remain at UMMC for her Emergency Medical Services Fellowship. She praises Drs. McCarter and Shermer, and she is so excited to work with them. After her fellowship, she would like to stay in Jackson around her family and work at UMMC, ultimately aiming to develop a flight physician training program similar to the ones offered at other institutions in the southeast.

Dr. Janna Williams - UMMC 

Dr. Janna Williams calls Midhurst, Ontario, Canada (currently under two feet of snow) her home! Her draw to the medical field came from her family. She is a first-generation physician in a long line of dentists. From cases discussed over family barbecues and even assisting chair-side for a time, Dr. Williams learned a lot. She says, “It was fascinating to see the manifestation of systemic disease in one organ system, but frustrating to have a limited scope of impact.” She is grateful that Emergency Medicine allows her to tackle so many challenges each day and provide a vital link in the health outcomes of the community! Through the pandemic, Mississippi became her adoptive home. The health disparities present in Mississippi made for unparalleled educational challenges and opportunities and presented Dr. Williams with some of the greatest possibilities for impacting change. She furthers, “UMC, Medcom, and AirCare have and continue to pioneer advanced medical care to a rural and needful state.” She felt that the prospect of joining that legacy was exceptionally enticing, so she decided to join the EMS fellowship at UMMC. She is most interested in community education and outreach, and after her fellowship, she plans on spending time growing and fostering the community and research projects that she has started in Mississippi, as well as finding ways to extend her impact to underserved communities in Canada and abroad. Dr. Williams is not only talented and dedicated in the medical field; she enjoys cooking, hiking, playing the guitar, and learning new crafting and woodworking skills.

Dr. Chris McCuller - University of Texas at San Antonio 

Dr. Chris McCuller grew up in Bossier City, Louisiana. In the five years after undergrad and before he decided to take on medical school, Dr. McCuller worked all sorts of jobs. One of those jobs was as an EMT, which piqued his interest in both emergency medicine and further EMS training, and he decided to complete his EM residency at UMMC. Throughout his residency, his interest in EMS training grew. He is most interested in ground EMS and following up with simulation training to bring simulation into the EMS learning and training space. Dr. McCuller has matched with the EMS fellowship program at UT San Antonio! He praises the program for being an all-around great program and for participating in cutting edge EMS research. He is also happy to get back to Texas, where he and his wife spent time when she was in graduate school and he was between graduate and medical school. After his fellowship, Dr. McCuller just hopes to find a job somewhere where he can immediately get started with an EMS System! In his free time, Dr. McCuller likes to play board games and spend time with his wife and daughter.