Recent Graduates

2017-2018

Amit Bhowmik, MD

Dr. Bhowmik was born in Bangladesh, but has called Toronto, Canada home for the last eighteen years.  He completed his undergraduate education in biology at University of Toronto before attending medical school at Ross University School of Medicine in the Dominican Republic.  He then joined Albany Medical Center’s Family Medicine Residency program.  During his residency, Amit conducted a Quality Improvement project to help reduce Emergency Department visits for older adults by pairing them with family medicine residents to improve continuity of care and provide close follow-up, including urgent visits.  This project also utilized telemedicine and Dr. Bhowmik presented it at the Family Medicine Education Consortium.

Angela Kristan, MD

Dr. Kristan is originally from Oklahoma and completed her undergraduate education at the University of Oklahoma in microbiology and then went on to get a Master’s degree in theological studies.  Before attending medical school, Angela spent time teaching in a variety of areas including college microbiology, English as a second language, theology, and high school geometry and algebra.  She attended medical school at the University of Oklahoma and then joined the Highland Family Medicine Residency program at the University of Rochester.  Angela’s interest in bioethics and theology has helped shape her skills and approach to patients at the end-of-life. 

Janki Patel, MD

Dr. Patel was born in Ahmedabad, India.  She describes observing and caring for her aging grandmother as an influential factor in her deciding to pursue fellowship training in geriatric medicine.  Janki completed her undergraduate education at the University of California at San Diego in human biology and history before attending medical school at the American University of Antigua College of Medicine.  She then went on to join the Family Medicine Residency program at St. Elizabeth Medical Center in Utica, NY where she has spent the past year as Chief Resident.

Mary Pennington, DO

Dr. Pennington is originally from Texas and at a very young age Mary knew she wanted to become a physician.  One of her most memorable experiences she describes was working with an older woman with dementia in a nursing home when she was only 13 years old.   Mary completed her undergraduate degree in chemistry at Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas before attending medical school at University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth, Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine.  She then joined the University of California San Francisco Natividad Medical Center Family Medicine Residency program in Salinas, California.

2016-2017

Jason Zittel, MD

Dr. Zittel completed his undergraduate education in applied economics and management at Cornell University before attending the graduate program at Drexel University College of Medicine in Philadelphia where he completed the interdepartmental medical science program. He attended medical school at Penn State College in Hershey, Pennsylvania, and then joined the internal medicine residency program at the University of Rochester where he served as Chief Resident this past year. Following his year with the geriatric medicine fellowship program, Jason plans to complete additional fellowship training in Oncology at the University of Rochester to develop his expertise in providing care for older adults with cancer.

Next Step: Geriatric-Oncology Fellowship, University of Rochester

Dmitriy Migdalovich, MD

Dr. Migdalovich was born in Kiev, Ukraine and he describes observing his immigrant grandparents adapt to life and aging in the United State as a key factor in motivating him to pursue geriatrics training. He completed his undergraduate education in biological sciences with a neurobiology and behavior concentration at Cornell University before attending medical school at the University of Rochester.  He then joined the internal medicine residency program at the University of Rochester. Dmitriy has several major published research papers in the area of cardiology.

Next Step: Doctor, Acute Medicine at Highland Hospital, Rochester NY

Nicole Kosier, MD

Dr. Kosier completed her undergraduate education in chemistry at Binghamton University prior to her medical school at SUNY Upstate. She then joined the internal medicine residency program at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Nicole’s engagement in the field of caring for older adults dates back to her time in college when she worked as an aide in an assisted living facility in Binghamton, providing direct care to frail older adults.

Next Step: Palliative Care Fellowship, University of Rochester

Morgan Mihok, MD

Dr. Mihok completed her undergraduate education in chemistry at Penn State University prior to a master’s degree in Chemistry from Columbia University. She then went on to conduct work as an environmental analyst in Massachusetts and served as a research scientist, consultant, and expert witness in environmental litigation in Pennsylvania prior to making a career change into medicine. Morgan attended medical school at the University of Michigan and subsequently joined the family medicine residency program at the University of Rochester. She has numerous scholarships and teaching awards to her credit throughout her education and early career.

Next Step: Private Practice in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 

2015-2016

Sarmad Siddiqui, MBBS

Dr. Sarmad Siddiqui completed his medical training at Nagpur University, Indira Gandhi Medical College and Mayo Hospital in Nagpur, India. He then completed a rotating internship and served as an assistant physician in Jalna, India before coming to the United States to complete his Family Medicine Residency training at St. Elizabeth Medical Center in Utica, New York. As a resident physician he was the recipient of the Jeannette Schwartz-Anne Smith Memorial Award for Excellence. Following graduation he joined Faxton St. Luke’s Hospital in Utica where he served as a hospitalist physician for the last 7 years, this experience of caring for hospitalized frail older adults motivated him to pursue further training in geriatric medicine.

Leigh Ann Deshong, MD

Dr. Ann Deshong started with her interest in geriatrics through work as a nursing assistant in a hospital subacute unit. She then went on to earn several scholarships and completed her undergraduate education in biology at Juniata College in Pennsylvania prior to attending medical school at Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine in Hershey, Pennsylvania. As a medical student, Ann held leadership roles in the American Medical Student Association Chapter as well as conducted several research projects related to geriatric consultation and community weight loss interventions. She then joined the Internal Medicine Residency program at the University of Rochester where she has participated in the leadership of the Resident Aging Interest Group.

Heather Hopkins Gil, MD

Dr. Heather Hopkins Gil completed her undergraduate training in physiology at McGill University in Montreal prior to attending medical school at the University of Rochester. Heather distinguished herself early on in medical school with her interest in geriatrics, enrolling in the Medical Education Pathway, serving as the President of the medical student Aging Interest Group and completing a summer research project at the University of Chicago in geriatric oncology under the Medical Student Training in Aging Research (MSTAR) program sponsored by the American Federation for Aging Research and the National Institute on Aging. Dr. Hopkins Gil then stayed at the University of Rochester to complete her residency training in Internal Medicine. She is a past recipient of the R. Knight Steel Award for Excellence in Geriatrics in 2010 as a medical student and she received the T. Franklin William Award in 2014 as a resident physician.