Global Health Track Biographies
2011-2012

Introducing the first-year and second-year members of the Global Health Track! Our eight residents and fellows in the Track hail from each of our Family Medicine residencies in Worcester and Fitchburg and bring a great breadth of experience to UMass.

First Year
		Monica Agarwal, MD, MHS PGY-1, Worcester Family Health Center of Worcester Monica has traveled the farthest this year to come to UMass! She is from Canada and recently completed her medical school training at St. George's University in Grenada (along with Stephanie). She has a wealth of experience in global health work, both through research and clinical experiences. She earned her Master of Health Science in International Health from Johns Hopkins University, during which time she spent 6 months in Bangladesh doing research. Her long-term goals include being a consultant for the United Nations or World Health Organization.

		Christopher Chang, MD PGY-1, Worcester Barre Family Health Center Christopher hails from the University of Rochester School of Medicine. He has had experiences during medical school in South Africa and in Honduras with Shoulder-to-Shoulder. His cross-cultural experience in Rochester included working with patients from the deaf community. He is open to different ways of weaving global health into his ongoing work after residency.

		Serena Hon, MD PGY-1, Worcester Hahnemann Family Health Center Serena joins us having just completed medical school at the University of Rochester School of Medicine. She has had cross-cultural experiences both internationally and within the US. Serena has spent time in medical school in Ecuador and Honduras and traveled around the world visiting family members. She is interested in continuing to practice in the United States after residency while actively participating in sustainable brigade work in Central/South America.

		Stephanie Muriglan, MD, MS, MAT PGY-1, Fitchburg Stephanie comes to UMass from the New York/New Jersey area, after earning her MD degree at St. George's University in Grenada, West Indies, her MS degree in Biology at New York University and her MA degree in Teaching from the College of New Jersey. She's had a variety of experiences working with other cultures on rotations in Grenada and in Paterson, New Jersey as well as 5 years of experience working as a volunteer EMT in Central Park, NYC. Stephanie is personally familiar with issues immigrant families face as she is a first generation American whose family is from Hungary. She would like to practice clinically in other countries and to also develop organizational structures to train physicians, residents, and students to work in underserved international settings.
Second Year

		Cristina Mota, MD PGY-2, Worcester Family Health Center of Worcester Cristina graduated in 2010 from the Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI. She hails from a "global family", having lived between the worlds of Los Vela, Mexico and Los Angeles, USA. In college, Cristina studied abroad in Ecuador and during medical school had international experiences in both Mexico and Ecuador. She also has research and program development experience. Cristina hopes to use her global health training to enhance her capacity to incorporate immigrant/refugee/asylum issues into her practice and understand how family dynamics in other cultural contexts impact the health of her patients.

		Juan-Carlos Ramos, PsyD Second Year Primary Care Psychology Fellow Family Health Center of Worcester Juan Carlos comes to us upon earning his doctorate from the Ponce School of Medicine Clinical Psychology program, Ponce, Puerta Rico. He also has experience in research and has been published as well. Juan-Carlos has traveled to Honduras and Cuba. He hopes to use his additional global health training to enhance his capacity to provide cultually competent patient care, as well as impact change at the micro and macro levels of healthcare system

		Elliot Schaeffer, DO PGY-2, Fitchburg Elliot is a 2010 graduate of the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine, Erie, PA. He also has research experience and has completed rotations in Kenya and the Dominican Republic while in medical school. Elliot hopes to use his global health training to enhance his capacity to work abroad after residency to establish a community-based, sustainable program. Long-term, he would like to be able to continue to practice at that site and also practice within the United States. Elliot was the official "Track blogger" during our February 2011 trip to Nicaragua. (Look for him to blog again during his return trip to Nicaragua in 2012!)

		Amber Wiekamp, MD PGY-2, Worcester Hahnemann Family Heatlh Center Amber is a 2010 graduate of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev's Medical School for International Health in Israel (in collaboration with Columbia University Medical Center.) During high school she studied abroad at the Armand Hammer United World College and returned to her native Nebraska for her undergraduate studies, also spending time in Guatemala. During medical school, Amber also lived for a time in Ethiopia. She hopes to use her global health training to enhance her capacity to work with diverse populations in the United States. Long-term, she hopes to live and work in India, pursuing both clinical medicine and public health.