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Temple
Emergency Medicine
Ilan Ben-Ami, MD
- Preferred Name: ilan ben-ami (in lowercase letters)
Hometown: Southfield, MI / Jerusalem, Israel
Undergrad/Med school: Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Hobbies/ interests: woodworking, viola, philosophy, meditation, frisbee, books, languages
Favorite movies/ TV shows: Scrubs, Ted Lasso, Arrested Development, Community, Bojack Horseman, The Wire
Favorite Foods/ Restaurants: good hummus, homemade food, cheese, wine
Five year plan: residency, then maybe a year of working in a developing country, then building and living in a Denmark-style co-housing community with close friends and a family
If you weren't doing EM, what would you be doing? I'd be a carpenter, mechanic, entrepreneur, or prehistoric hunter-gatherer tribesman
What superhero or cartoon character would you be? Calvin or Hobbes, or the Incredible Spaceman Spiff
Random fact: I have three superpowers - I don't get hangovers, or brainfreeze, and I can lick my own elbow
Elias Borne, MD
- Preferred Name: Elias
Hometown: Cambridge, MA
Undergrad: Haverford College
Major: Chemistry/Biochemistry
Med School: SKMC
Hobbies/ interests: Anything sports related, board games, reading fantasy/sci-fi, cooking, hiking, traveling
Favorite movies/ TV shows: Friday Night Lights, Breaking Bad, The Wire, Zoolander, LOTR, The Departed
Favorite Foods/ Restaurants: Favorite food for a single meal = Indian, Favorite cuisine to eat forever = Mexican
Five year plan: Work on becoming the best EM doc I can be while finding my overall niche in medicine, buy a house, adopt a dog, pick up ceramics again, stay connected to my family/friends
If you weren't doing EM, what would you be doing? Park Ranger out West
What superhero or cartoon character would you be? Calvin from Calvin and Hobbes
Random fact: I’ve played basketball against Brian Scalabrine
Amanda Carr, MD
- Preferred Name: Amanda
Hometown: Delaware County, PA
Undergrad: University of Vermont
Major: Neuroscience & Psychological Science
Med School: GCSOM
Hobbies/ interests: Running, hiking, climbing, baking, painting, exploring new places and playing with dogs
Favorite movies/ TV shows: 30 Rock, The Boys, New Girl, Key & Peele, Arrested Development, Mean Girls
Favorite Foods/ Restaurants: Grindcore House, Soy Cafe, Cheezy Vegan, Ao 26, Zero Gravity Craft Brewery, grilled veggies, anywhere with good coffee and ice cream
Five year plan: Become an awesome EM doc, keep a good work-life balance, run the Philly Marathon a few times and check out more national parks.
If you weren't doing EM, what would you be doing? Counselor and/or firefighter (or within medicine, maybe gen surgery or psych which are clearly very similar)
What superhero or cartoon character would you be? Louise Belcher
Random fact: My first paid gig/job-type thing was at CHOP when I was 8 (I was a lab rat/research participant). Best job I ever had.
Molly Crowe, MD
- Preferred Name: Molly
Hometown: Menlo Park, CA
Undergrad: Dartmouth
Major: Psychology
Med School: University of Pennsylvania
Hobbies/ interests: baking, skiing, gardening, painting, pilates, and hiking with my dog, Winnie
Favorite movies/TV shows: Law & Order SVU, Fleabag, Clueless, When Harry Met Sally, 10 Things I Hate About You, Love Island, most HGTV shows
Favorite Foods/ Restaurants: Sally’s, W.M Mulherin’s, Suraya, and any ice cream shop
Five year plan: enjoy Philly life, spend time with family and friends, hang with my dog, and see where EM takes me
If you weren't doing EM, what would you be doing? Work at an animal rescue or be a veterinarian
What superhero or cartoon character would you be? Snoopy
Random fact: I once found an injured baby turtle in Maine and nursed her back to health
Zackary Hintze, MD
- Preferred Name: Zack
Hometown: Shirley, New York
Undergrad: Boston University
Major: Biology
Med School: Boston University School of Medicine
Hobbies/Interests: Video games, trying new restaurants, cooking, wandering through museums, and watching terrible TV
Favorite movies/TV shows: The Bear, Gotham, CW’s ‘The Flash’, and anything Star Wars (the sequels don’t count)
Favorite Foods/Restaurants: Italian food, oysters, a good lox bagel
Five year plan: Grow into a great EM doc, travel abroad, and befriend some of the stray cats around my building. Beyond that, I’m keeping my mind open.
If you weren't doing EM, what would you be doing? In another life, I’d have wanted to direct movies. Writing would be fun too!
What superhero or cartoon character would you be? Batman..but maybe with less punching and more investing into social programs. I’d keep the cave though.
Random fact: I once got electrocuted as a result of a lightning strike…It was shocking.
Rahul Kathard, MD
- Preferred Name: Rahul
Hometown: Chapel Hill
Undergrad: NC State University
Major: Biomedical Engineering
Med School: UNC
Hobbies/ interests: Staying active (bball/tennis/gains?), piano, cooking, and chowing down.
Favorite movies/ TV shows: Witcher, Scooby doo movies, Black mirror, always sunny
Favorite Foods/ Restaurants: Ethiopian, Indian/mood cafe in west Philly, Alisam Halal, K’far cafe
Five year plan: Community EM/PTA parent/US aficionado?
If you weren't doing EM, what would you be doing?
What superhero or cartoon character would you be? Scoobert (Scooby) Doo
Random fact: I got to teach as a substitute teacher for a short stint before residency!
Sam Kokoska, MD
- Preferred Name: Koko or Sam (they/she)
Hometown: Zionsville/Carmel, Indiana
Undergrad: University of Washington (Seattle) - go dawgs!!
Major: Bioengineering
Med School: Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons
Hobbies/ interests: Commuting via bike; cooking *without* following recipes; playing pick-up soccer, basketball, and tennis (challenge me, I dare you); reading books with gripping plots; hiking amongst very tall trees
Favorite movies/ TV shows: Sort Of, the Bear, the Haunting of Bly Manor, Parks & Rec, the Office, Dark, Feel Good
Favorite Foods/ Restaurants: I could eat variations of middle eastern food *every* day. Popcorn and ice cream are my most frequent snacks!
Five year plan: I'm sorry, 5 years from now?? I'll hopefully still be striving to care for patients, loved ones, and myself in ways that align with my values.
If you weren't doing EM, what would you be doing? Ideally I'd be spending most of my time outdoors, moving my body, and/or creating art!
What superhero or cartoon character would you be? *Tries to think of non-binary/queer character*... maybe Russell from Up?
Random fact: For my most recent Dungeons & Dragons quest (yes, there have been multiple..), my character was inspired by Russ from Up!
Jeremy Laxner, MD
- Preferred Name: Jeremy Laxner
Hometown: Byron, IL
Undergrad: College of Charleston
Major: B.S. in Biology
Med School: University of South Carolina School of Medicine, Columbia
Hobbies/ interests: Fishing, Backpacking, Camping, Woodworking
Favorite movies/ TV shows: Transformers, Marvel movies (especially Thor movies)
Favorite Foods/ Restaurants: Pizza 100%
Five year plan: We'll see what route I'll take to get there, but five years from now I'd love to be getting established as an attending. Really getting my feet under me career wise while taking the time to travel and see the world. It's wild to imagine but possibly having a kid around that time as well!
TL/DR: Graduate. Get job. Do medicine. Live.
If you weren't doing EM, what would you be doing? Probably OB. Or be an engineer if I wanted to spice it up
What superhero or cartoon character would you be? Oh Thor ofc! Who else? Okay maybe Goku from DBZ
Random fact: My first job involved walking through corn fields for hours on end in the middle of summer
Andre Marques, MD
- Preferred Name: Andre
Hometown: Silver Spring, Maryland
Undergrad: University Of Maryland - College Park
Major: Neurobiology and Physiology
Med School: Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University
Hobbies/ interests: Weightlifting, building Gundam models, video games (FPS/RPG), cooking
Favorite movies/ TV shows: The Dark Knight, Akira, The Office - and for current shows I have way too many anime to list (AoT is goat) but I love watching those random Netflix cooking shows too.
Favorite Foods/ Restaurants: Pizza has my heart... But I am always down for some Tacos, Sushi, and Kabobs. I really love a good steak too.
Five year plan: I have some interest in ultrasound, but not entirely sure at this point. I just like to take it one day at a time.
If you weren't doing EM, what would you be doing? I would probably be doing some combination of trying to be a professional gamer and streaming me eating food all over the world with hopes that the streaming revenue will be enough to cover the cost.
What superhero or cartoon character would you be? The Flash... He can run faster than the speed of light, can vibrate his body to phase through matter, can heal faster, and not to mention TIME TRAVEL!!!
Random fact: I was that one kid in the neighborhood that had a rooster and chickens in his backyard... mind you, I grew up in the residential suburbs right outside Washington DC.
Kiley Nygren, DO
- Preferred Name: Kiley
Hometown: Harvard, MA
Undergrad: Trinity College, CT
Major: Biology
Med School: University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine
Hobbies/ interests: Being an auntie, all things outdoors, going to the beach, soccer, boating, brewery hopping, working out
Favorite movies/ TV shows: How I Met Your Mother, Outlander, Game of Thrones, Transformers
Favorite Foods/ Restaurants: MAC AND CHEESE!
Five year plan: Become an amazing EM doctor while enjoying all that life has to offer. And become a (dog) mom!
If you weren't doing EM, what would you be doing? I would be a lawyer
What superhero or cartoon character would you be? Mulan
Random fact: I grew up with a pony and I am convinced he was a unicorn because he flew over his fence and escaped on the regular.
Alexa Profozich, MD
- Preferred Name: Lex (they/them)
Hometown: Wexford, PA
Undergrad: Washington University in St. Louis
Major: Philosophy-Neuroscience-Psychology
Med School: Drexel
Hobbies/ interests: Hiking, biking, playing board games, trying new breweries and restaurants
Favorite movies/ TV shows: The Dark Knight, Inception, Breaking Bad, Bones
Favorite Foods/ Restaurants: Martha, Royal Izakaya, Lucky’s Last Chance (Queen Village), Cuzzy’s Ice Cream, Tuna Bar, Forin
Five year plan: +/- toxicology or addiction medicine fellowship, stay in Philly forever
If you weren't doing EM, what would you be doing? Applying my passion for organic chemistry to brewing beer or teaching chemistry
What superhero or cartoon character would you be? Fantastic Mr. Fox
Random fact: I’ve seen the Pittsburgh Penguins play hockey in three countries – including Haiti!
Richu Raju, MD
- Preferred Name: Richu
Hometown: Philadelphia, PA
Undergrad: University of Pennsylvania
Major: Biology
Med School: Howard University College of Medicine
Hobbies/ interests: dancing, ceramics, binge watching reality TV, travelling, hosting dinner parties and having board game nights
Favorite movies/ TV shows: Interstellar (I have watched this movie an unhealthy amount of times), Friends, Carnival Row, How I Met Your Mother, White Chicks, Think Like a Man, New Girl
Favorite Foods/ Restaurants: Looooove korean food, there's a really homey spot in Cheltenham called Dubu, must try! I also really got into Mediterranean food while in DC so I'd say Zaytinya as well
Five year plan: get through residency and possibly do a fellowship, get a pet that's not a fish, I also really want to learn to use power tools and do furniture flips
If you weren't doing EM, what would you be doing? I loved learning about the ocean when I was a kid, so probably a marine biologist (maybe in another life I learn to swim)
What superhero or cartoon character would you be? probably Pocohontas
Random fact: I was born in a country that doesn't give you citizenship unless you're a direct descendent/bloodline. Guess where :)
Kevin Tan, MD
- Preferred Name: Kevin
Undergrad: Stony Brook University
Major: Chemistry
Med School: Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University
Hobbies/Interests: running, hiking, birdwatching, making coffee, cooking, and trying to keep my houseplants alive
Favorite Movies/TV shows: Star Wars, The Bear, Beef, The Last of Us, Scrubs
Favorite Foods/Restaurants: Szechuan (I love E-mei and DanDan), Indian (Amma’s South Indian), Pasta, Tacos, and I’m on a quest to find the best Ramen in Philly
Five Year Plan: Crit care or addiction fellowship maybe? Whatever happens, I want to spend as much time with my partner, friends, and family as possible and be the best ER doc I can be. And adopt a dog at some point!
If you weren’t doing EM, what would you be doing?: High school chemistry teacher!
What superhero or cartoon character would you be?: Spongebob
Random Fact: I am afraid of moths
Abriana Tasillo, MD
- Preferred Name: Abriana
Hometown: Windsor, CT
Undergrad: Boston University
Major: Mathematics & Statistics
Med School: Yale School of Medicine
Hobbies/ interests: Gardening, running, hiking, live music
Favorite movies/ TV shows: Singing in the Rain
Favorite Foods/ Restaurants: Breakfast tacos in Texas, pizza in Connecticut, and I'm really getting into the Philly water ice lifestyle
Five year plan: Graduate from residency and then spend two years congratulating myself for graduating from residency
If you weren't doing EM, what would you be doing? I'd probably be a farmer growing vegetables and herbs plus a few flowers for fun
What superhero or cartoon character would you be? I feel like a cartoon character whenever I look at my closet full of identical scrubs lined up in a row
Random fact: The Atacama desert is the driest place in the world, and I once ate a zucchini covered in shaker cheese there
PGY 3
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