Our Internal Medicine residency program celebrated the graduation of their Class of 2025 on Saturday, 6/14. Hosted at Next Level Events in Little Rock, faculty, GME staff, and resident friends and family gathered to celebrate the monumental achievement.
The Internal Medicine Program Director, Dr. Paula Podrazik, commenced the ceremony with a beautiful speech, recognizing the hard work and dedication of the 
graduating resident class. Following was the Program Manager, Donald Sandlin, who delivered a heartwarming account of his time spent with the class. Dr. Priyanka Prakash, a graduating chief resident, also spoke, addressing her fellow graduates, and expressing their deepest gratitude for the program faculty and staff for their support and wisdom over the last 3 years.
An array of awards were given to highlight the strengths of some of the resident and faculty physicians. To start, the Internal Medicine faculty voted for the PGY1 resident who showed immense promise in their abilities, deciding to recognize Dr. Gami Williams with the Intern of the Year award. The Best Inpatient Resident award was given to Dr. Danial Gill, for exemplifying an inquisitive approach to internal medicine, with dedication to patient care in the inpatient setting. For the Best Outpatient Resident award, our faculty decided on two graduating residents who foster strong physician-patient relationships in an outpatient setting: Dr. Ihsan Al Bayati and Dr. April Erdag. Dr. Miriam Tawadros was awarded the Resident of the Year award, for demonstrating professionalism, and dedication to teamwork and patient care, consistently.
The faculty awards were voted on by resident physicians, and presented with sincere appreciation from our graduates especially. Dr. Lauren Ewing was awarded with the Faculty Teaching award for the second year in a row, for her commitment to the educational growth of residents. The Outstanding Internist Award was given to Dr. Emily Enderlin. She has shown residents quality bedside teaching and strong communication in the inpatient setting, while showing a significant interest and commitment to the education of the Internal Medicine residents. Finally, Dr. Maxine Seales-Kasangana was awarded the Consultant of the Year award for her passion for teaching and reliability as a consultant, also for the second year in a row.
Internal Medicine’s graduation ceremony was a beautiful celebration of the class of 2025. The entire Baptist Health-UAMS GME team is so proud of the Internal Medicine graduates this year, and we can’t wait to see what all they accomplish in their careers! Best of Luck, Class of 2025!
