Becky grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in a family full of doctors, where she found her interest in medicine and her love of winter hats. She went to college at the University of Chicago, where she developed a passion for working in underserved areas, and also met her husband Mike. They moved out east for professional schools, with Becky attending Jefferson, and are thrilled to be staying in Philly for residency. Within family medicine, her areas of interest are obstetrics and urban underserved medicine. Outside medicine, her hobbies include hiking local state parks, reading library books, rooting for Wisconsin sports teams, and spending time with her husband.
Beth grew up in a small farming community in rural Pennsylvania, where she spent her summers harvesting strawberries and tomatoes. During her years at Lehigh University, she studied agriculture in Costa Rica but ultimately decided to pursue a career in medicine. Early on in her medical school career, she became involved in Move4Health, a student-run diabetes exercise and education class, and quickly fell in love with primary care. Her professional interests include chronic disease management and palliative care. In her free time, Beth enjoys running, cooking, hosting dinner parties, and spending time with friends, family, and her pet turtle Franklin.
Emilia was born in Cincinnati, OH, but was raised in St. Paul, MN. She attended the University of Minnesota with dual interests of medicine and theater arts. However, after a long and torturous route (which involved traveling in Ireland, Scotland and Spain, working in the real world and assisting single women and young families in the birthing process as a Doula) she finally earned her BA in Theater Arts. Despite her enduring love of theater, she never lost sight of wanting to be an MD so she packed up her bags into a minivan and drove out east to attend a post-baccalaureate pre-med program at Drexel. After successful completion of the program, she was accepted at Drexel Med. While at Drexel, she fell in love with various extracurricular activities such as Medical Students for Choice, the Streetside clinic (which caters to IV drug users/homeless) and being on the admissions committee. All of this shaped her professional interests of women’s health (with an OB focus) HIV medicine (for all sexualities) and adolescent medicine. When she isn’t pouring over her books, Emilia enjoys reading for fun, exploring her new-found love of gardening, spending time with friends, going to the theater, biking, traveling, shoe shopping and of course spending time with her sweetie Arvin and their kitten named Monte.
With roots in Western Pennsylvania, Sarah still has a soft spot in her heart for the Pittsburgh Steelers and the smell of freshly cut grass. She ventured to Michigan to attend Hope College, earning her degree in French and Dance and learning the true meaning of the word “blizzard.” At Jefferson, Sarah fell in love with Philadelphia in all of its glory and grit. She was involved with the Jefferson FMIG, acted as a patient advocate at a student run clinic, and had the chance to be a marathon coach for West Philadelphia high school students. Sarah was drawn to family medicine because of its emphasis on disease prevention and community outreach. She loves exploring the city with her husband Eric and spending time with their family, friends, and church community. Some of her professional interests include preventative medicine, women’s health, integrative medicine, and serving the underserved.
Anna grew up among the cows and corn of central Pennsylvania with her four siblings. After high school in Massachusetts and college outside Philadelphia, she set out to teach science and art and coach soccer in England. After coming to Jefferson for medical school, she found her passion for family medicine and hasn’t looked back since. Her medical interests include adolescent medicine, sports medicine, and international medicine. Outside of the hospital Anna enjoys spending time in the ceramics studio, playing soccer, traveling, and eating with family and friends.
Neena Ghose, MD
Jefferson Medical College, 2009
Johns Hopkins University, 2002
University of Pennsylvania, 1999 neena.ghose@jeffersonhospital.org
Neena grew up in the Philadelphia suburbs and attended the University of Pennsylvania for undergrad where she studied Anthropology and South Asian studies. After college she moved to Washington DC and worked at a policy consulting firm on issues such as health care reform, domestic violence and reproductive rights. She then worked at the Bureau of Primary Health Care where she focused on expanding the community health center program. She received a Masters in Public Health from Hopkins where she focused on health policy. After 4 years in policy, she desired to pursue her true dream of being a physician. She enrolled in a post-bacc program at Bryn Mawr College and matriculated to Jefferson. She credits Jefferson with introducing her to family medicine and she fell in love with the program and its strong ties to public health and the community. Outside of medicine you'll find her enjoying all the parks, playgrounds and good eats that Philly offers with her two amazing young children and wonderful husband.
Sarah grew up in St. Louis and is a recent Midwest transplant to Philadelphia, after attending college at Miami University and medical school at University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. Between the fantastic Family Medicine Residency and winning Philadelphia sports teams, Sarah decided that Thomas Jefferson University and was the ideal place for residency! Within Family Medicine, Sarah’s professional interests include adolescent health, reproductive health advocacy, and integrative medicine. She dedicated much of her undergraduate and medical school careers to domestic violence and sexual assault victims’ health advocacy, and plans to continue this during her career at Jefferson. In her free time, Sarah enjoys running (a new marathon addict), cheering for St. Louis sports teams, college football, inventing new recipes, soft-serve ice cream, hanging with her boyfriend, Allan, and obsessing over her dog, Robert.
Steve grew up in Charleroi, PA, a small steel town south of Pittsburgh, PA. At a young age Steve developed a love for sports, and started playing football at age 7. After high school, Steve continued his football career and his education at The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD. After graduating, Steve moved to Philadelphia in 2003 and began working in medical research at the University of Pennsylvania, first in breast cancer research and then in sleep disorder research. During his time at Penn, Steve developed a sincere appreciation for the city of Philadelphia and he was very pleased when he was accepted to medical school at Jefferson Medical College, allowing him to stay in Philadelphia. While at Jefferson, Steve chose Family Medicine as a career, with primary care sports medicine as his main area of interest. The unique opportunities in the Jefferson Department of Family and Community Medicine to be involved in the community of Philadelphia as well as in sports medicine led Steve to want to stay at Jefferson. In his free time Steve can be found in the gym weight-training, out on the streets running or cycling, in the kitchen cooking, on the couch (or in the stands) watching football, baseball and hockey, or out trying one of Philly’s many fantastic BYOBs.
Jen was born and raised in northern New Jersey, but called New Haven, Connecticut home for the last nine years while earning her undergraduate and medical degrees from Yale University. Through her major in History of Science/History of Medicine, Jen learned to think critically about the culture of medicine, and interactions between medicine and society, long before entering the field herself. During her five years at Yale School of Medicine, Jen was able to expand her thoughts on an international level, traveling to El Salvador, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Uganda, and England for various public health, research, and clinical experiences. All of this has culminated in a deep commitment to providing and improving access to quality primary care, particularly for the geriatric population, and to reforming our nation’s broken health care system. When not trying to save the world, Jen enjoys playing sports—soccer, basketball, lacrosse, tennis and (though less so) running. She also can be found doodling in her sketch book, singing along to Beatles tunes, and catching up with family and friends.
Mafudia was born and raised in Sierra Leone, West Africa. She came to the United States after high school and got her baccalaureate degree from George Mason University in Virginia. She was a nursing major and spent 4 years practicing cardiovascular nursing in Northern Virginia before entering medical school. She got her dual MD/MPH degree from UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School. During medical school she was actively involved in various community service organizations; her favorite community service activity involved teaching and empowering lay community members in Newark to be community health advocates. She loves spending time with her family, trying different ethnic cuisines, reading, watching movies, participating in community outreach, getting involved in her church, and working out with her Wii.
Matthew Fellows, MD
Drexel University School of Medicine
Berkely University
Matthew grew up in sunny San Diego (having ironically never touched a surfboard). After completing his college education at UC Berkeley, he moved to Philadelphia to begin his medical career. He came to choose a career in Family Medicine because of the continuity of care, and the relationships that can be formed with patients. Within Family Medicine, he is most interested in HIV care, and LGBT health. Aside from his passions in medicine, Matthew has been singing in a barbershop quartet since he was 16 years old. He also loves baseball, rock climbing, hiking, and backpacking through the rugged trails of the Southwest. On the softer side, he enjoys living in the city, eating new foods at new restaurants, spending time with his wonderful fiancé, and is an avid baker.
Mudit grew up in the DC area in a doctor-filled family, but then headed out to western PA to the great city of State College. (Go Lions!) He spent his days studying philosophy and studying abroad Down Under. Now that he is in Philadelphia, he loves exploring the city. In medical school, he he spent his "free" time working with homeless men and women and victims of drug abuse, or traveling to India to help at a rural clinic. Within the field of Family Medicine, his special interests include working with refugees and patients with HIV/AIDS. Mudit enjoys running, biking, frisbee, traveling and spending time with friends and family. He hopes to one day have eaten at every restaurant in Philadelphia!
Sarah grew up in eastern Pennsylvania, where she aspired to be the next great mystery novelist. Somewhere along the way her plans changed, and she found herself holding a biology degree from The University of Scranton (before “The Office” made it infamous). She also picked up a double major in philosophy and an undying love of a good debate. A student-led service trip to Camden and her position as a campus ambassador to high schoolers sparked her interest in working with urban teens. Sarah also served as a DJ for the campus radio station. During her time at Jefferson Medical College, she participated in a medical mission trip to Jamaica, served as vice-president of the Jefferson chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility, and promoted childhood literacy through Reach Out and Read. Sarah's professional interests include working with urban underserved communities, adolescent health, diabetes education, and global health initiatives. When not at the hospital, you can find her playing volleyball, planning trips with her husband (and sometimes actually taking them), singing in her church choir, or chowing down in Philly's many restaurants.
Matt was born in NYC and raised on Long Island. At an early age he was captivated by politics and got involved at a local level. After high school, he attended the University of Maryland to pursue a degree in politics. Then, he also decided to push towards a degree in biology stirred by trying to understand his own and family members’ medical conditions. At the same time he interned for legislators at all levels of government and helped craft legislation, but was fascinated by one issue above all others - health care reform. After college, he decided to pursue medicine as a vehicle to accomplish what he had wanted to do with politics – improve people’s quality of life. Matt attended the University of Maryland School of Medicine where he helped lead the school’s FMIG and volunteered with lobbyists pushing an increased cigarette tax to expand Medicaid access. He is very excited for the new challenge of residency and Philadelphia. His professional interests include underserved medicine and primary care access.
Ellie was born in Philadelphia. She left the area for college in Boston (at Boston University) where she undertook a course of independent study and majored in Anthropology, Public Health, and Development. During college, Ellie became very interested in research and completed a field research project with adolescent AIDS orphans in Uganda. Immediately after college, Ellie began a postbaccalaureate premedical program at Bryn Mawr College followed by 2 years of research at Penn on HIV prevention among seriously mentally ill populations. Ellie was excited to stay in Philadelphia to attend Jefferson Medical College, where she helped start a public-health oriented service program for Jefferson students in Rwanda and became involved in JeffHOPE, Physicians for Social Responsibility, and Jefferson's Urban Underserved Program. Ellie took a year off after her 3rd year of medical school to complete a Doris Duke Clinical Research Fellowship at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, where she conducted a community-based research project on gestational diabetes and diabetes prevention among Mexican immigrant women. Her interests include global public health, community-based research, refugee health, and urban primary care. Ellie couples matched with her partner Jake and both are excited to be in Philly. Outside of medicine, Ellie spends her time creative writing, urban hiking, watching documentary movies, eating good food and traveling around the world.
After growing up in Utah and graduating from University of Washington in Seattle,
Amber ventured to the East Coast for medical school at Jefferson
Medical College. During medical school she was very involved in
Move4Health, a health education and fitness program for women
diagnosed with diabetes. She also was a member of the Urban
Underserved Program for students interested in primary care for
vulnerable and underserved populations. As well as concentrating on
her medical studies and learning how to become a great family
physician, Amber continued to pursue her other loves like dancing to techno,
enjoying long runs around the city, and spending as much time as
possible outdoors. Amber is happy to be in Philadelphia for residency,
as she grew to love the family medicine department at Jefferson during
her time as a medical student. Amber is especially interested in diabetes
care, women's health, weight management, adolescent medicine, and
working with underserved populations within family medicine.
Maziar has lived all over the United States including Michigan, Wisconsin, New Jersey and California, but he will always be a Detroit Pistons fan. He has a love of cultures and languages, and is fluent in Persian, English, Portuguese, and Spanish, the last in which he obtained a Bachelor of Arts at Rutgers University. During his undergraduate years he discovered the great potential of medicine for addressing social and institutional disparities through research, policymaking, advocacy, and direct care. He attended Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, where he continued to pursue his interests in healthcare equity, sexual and reproductive health education, and health policy. Maziar is deeply motivated by and concerned with the leading role of primary care in building a sustainable healthcare system of higher quality, lower cost, and equitable care. His activities outside of medicine include enjoying time with his family and friends, traveling when possible, playing capoeira, reading, writing, listening to music, trying to cook and talking trash on the basketball court.
Born and raised in Philadelphia and the surrounding area, Traci attended Haverford College and completed her medical school education at Temple University School of Medicine. However, she took the road less traveled. After graduating from college, her passion for music allowed her to travel across the country and abroad singing background vocals for an R&B artist. Upon returning, she decided to resume her pursuit of a career in medicine. She completed a post-bac at Drexel University, where she worked with young people at Youth Emergency Service. When she learned of Jefferson Family Medicine’s Y.E.S. efforts and commitment to the adolescent and underserved population, it was a natural choice. Her professional interests include adolescent medicine, sexual and reproductive health/women’s health, underserved and preventative medicine. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family and friends, watching Food Network and trying all the great restaurants Philly has to offer, going to live music spots/concerts, playing and watching basketball, and watching her beloved E-A-G-L-E-S – Eagles!
Katie grew up in Bristol, Connecticut and graduated from Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York with a degree in biomedical sciences. Although a self proclaimed science nerd into her twenties, Katie had not yet discovered her interest in medicine. However, through the combination of extraordinary mentors, wonderful experiences as a teaching assistant, and through great exposure to the field of medicine during college, Katie recognized the enormous impact physicians make. As a student at Jefferson Medical College, Katie realized the compassion and personal relationships afforded in family medicine. She had found a home and was thrilled when she matched into Jeff's residency program. Opportunities working with the urban underserved populations at Jeff Hope and Bridging the Gaps inspired her. Today, she hopes to continue to work with these populations, help bridge disparate health communities, and contribute to the transformation of urban medicine. A newlywed, Katie enjoys spending time with her husband Lucas. While slowly renovating their home, they like to garden, entertain guests, and cook elaborate dinners. They also love to laugh and have dance-offs in their living room on a regular basis.
Liz grew up outside of Philadelphia in Yardley, Pennsylvania. She left Pennsylvania for college at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. After college, she spent a year working in DC as a case manager for heart failure patients. This work gave her experience in healthcare and patient advocacy, which she loved, and so she decided to come back to Philadelphia for medical school at Jefferson. During medical school, she came to admire many of the Family Medicine physicians through their work at Jefferson's student-run clinics, and decided to pursue a career in primary care. Her interests in Family Medicine include women's health, care for the underserved, geriatrics and palliative care. Her interests outside of medicine include exploring Philadelphia, traveling, reading and spending time with her wonderful friends and family.
...or simply Abu, was born and raised in tropical Manila, Philippines. She came to the United States for the first time as a Freeman Scholar at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, where she soon realized how critical it is to know what the temperature is before you step outside. She then worked for a couple of years in Boston as a clinical research coordinator on an osteoporosis study in postmenopausal women while applying to medical school. During her five years at Yale, Abu had the wonderful opportunity to work in the student-run free clinic, with the Indian Health Service in Chinle, Arizona, and in a rural clinic in Borneo, Indonesia, where it became increasingly evident that she belonged in family medicine. Her professional interests, if you really asked her to pin them down, include working with underserved communities and international health. Otherwise, she loves going back home whenever she can, traveling, reading, playing ice hockey, scuba diving, learning languages, eating (yes, it certainly does qualify as a hobby if you do it well), and then traveling some more. She once looked into clown schools and at some point wanted to become a skydiver. In high school, the career aptitude test determined that she ought to dedicate herself to either the military or horticulture. She is glad to be in neither but once in a while fears that that aptitude test may have had something to it.
Amy was born and raised in rural Pennsylvania, coming from a long line of truck drivers and farmers. She attended Grove City College where she earned her bachelors in Molecular Biology. While at Grove city, she worked with a primary care physician who was dually trained in family medicine and surgery, and who truly practiced the full scope of primary care. This experience opened her eyes to the possibility of a career in medicine. She came to Jefferson for medical school under the Physicians Shortage Area Program, which seeks out students who come from rural areas and desire to return to rural areas to provide medical care. Since that time, her desire to work with the medically underserved has expanded to include those in urban settings. Other interests in medicine include women's health, geriatrics, and palliative care. Outside of the hospital, Amy enjoys sewing, baking, exploring Philly on bike, running (to compensate for the love baking), and spending time with her family and friends.
Ken grew up in southeastern Wisconsin and received a Bachelor of Arts from Lawrence University in Appleton, WI with majors in music and philosophy. After working as a science teacher at the Fox Cities Children's Museum and managing Copper Rock Coffee Company, he completed the Bryn Mawr Premedical Postbaccalaureate Program before matriculating at Jefferson Medical College. There he was a member of JeffHEALTH, an aid organization working with Rwandan genocide survivors' villages and spent a very rewarding year as Project Director of JeffHOPE, JMC's constellation of student-run free clinics. Ken is thrilled to continue working in the community he has grown to love, caring for underserved populations and teaching. He lives with his wife in Philadelphia.
Heather Lorenc, MD
State University of New York Upstate Medical University, 2011
Pennsylvania State University, 2007 heather.lorenc@jeffersonhospital.org
Heather grew up in New York State, but her heart was always in Pennsylvania, as her mother was from Philadelphia and her father grew up in a small town near Pottsville, PA and attended Penn State University. She followed her father's footsteps to Penn State, where she focused on Biology in the Schreyer Honors College, completing a thesis about the benefits of breastfeeding in regulating maternal stress levels. While there, she also pursued her passion for Dance, receiving a minor and participating in a dance company. She returned to New York for medical school at SUNY Upstate in Syracuse, where she participated in Amaus free clinic, as well as Peds Relief, a program that spent time with children at the hospital to make them feel at ease while their parents took much needed time away from the hospital. From a young age, Heather always had a wide range of interests, and this carried through to medicine. She decided she loved being able to follow patients and help shape their health throughout their lives in Family Medicine, but has special interests in pediatrics and women's health. She also believes strongly in community outreach and was drawn to Jefferson because of its projects such as Jeff HOPE and Project Home. Heather's outside interests include dancing of all kinds, American Sign Language and Deaf culture, traveling, cooking, spending time with friends and family, and of course, following Penn State, the Phillies, and the Eagles!
Neesha grew up in beautiful Florida, working at her family's motel. She quickly learned to embrace the Gators and stayed to attend the University of Florida for college. Despite her love for warm weather, she was enticed by the northeast and moved up to Philadelphia to attend Jefferson Medical College.
She came to Family Medicine after work with Philadelphia's refugee population and teaching kids about medicine. Within Family Medicine, she is most interested in serving the whole patient, especially the social challenges that patients face. Outside of medicine, Neesha can often be found visiting the many restaurants Philly has to offer, watching Gator sports, hanging out with friends, and visiting museums (with occasional escapes to sunny Florida).
Nick grew up in Lawrenceville, NJ, and ventured down to Duke University for college. He majored in cultural anthropology, and developed an interest in the intersection of culture, medicine, and social justice which has blossomed into his passion for family medicine. Before med school, he spent the best year of his life in Ethiopia working for a non-profit that provides support and advocacy for HIV positive individuals. Nick went to med school across the river at UPenn, where he became involved with the Covenant House adolescent crisis shelter, and had the opportunity to do a medical elective in Botswana. Within Family Med, he is particularly excited by global health, urban underserved care, and adolescent medicine.
Nick loves spending time with his wonderful fiancé, enjoying friends and family, eating, playing and watching sports, reading, and travelling.
Komal was born in India and grew up in Kuwait till the age of seven at which time she moved to Philadelphia. She continued to live in Philadelphia and went to the University of Pennsylvania where she pursued a degree in Fine Arts. During her time at Penn she wavered back and forth between the two fields of medicine and art, but finally decided to pursue medicine as a career and continue art as a hobby. Between Undergraduate and Medical School, Komal joined the AmeriCorps *NCCC program and served the United States through projects focusing on disaster relief and education in Louisiana, environmental work in California, and healthcare in Oregon. She travelled the country, met some wonderful people, and learned a whole lot about life. She finally settled back in Philadelphia for Medical School and Residency. Initially interested in Women's health she pursued an Ob/Gyn residency. During her intern year, she realized that family medicine was a better choice for her future career goals in public and international health (and she missed the little kiddies) and so made the transfer over to family medicine. In her spare time, Komal still pursues her love for art through photography, and enjoys salsa dancing, travelling, and trying new foods and wines!
Chaney grew up on a cattle farm in a small town north of Pittsburgh, Gibsonia. While growing up she became passionate about sports in addition to academics, which continued throughout college on the Oberlin College Field Hockey team. Wanting to explore living in a city on her own and having a job prior to embarking on the life/career commitment that would ensue with medical school, she moved to and lived in Boston for two years prior to attending Jefferson Medical College. Chaney honestly struggled to find her career match within the vast options of medicine during medical school and initially pursued the field of radiology. She has completed an intern year in internal medicine at Christiana Care in Newark, Delaware and one year of radiology at Penn State Hershey Medical Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Having ultimately realized that her passion in medicine is intimately embedded in the patient-physician relationship and that her interests are vast (preventative medicine, pediatrics, geriatrics, palliative care, sports medicine, obstetrics), she's excited to have finally discovered her ideal match in the field of family medicine. When Chaney's not "being a doctor," she can be found either at the nearest dog park with her pup Dora, laughing with her beloved fiancé, hopefully munching on some Stewman home-grown steak, dancing around her apartment to the radio, or chatting with her parents and brother/sister-in-law.
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