Series: Department welcomes its new residents, part II

Every year, the National Resident Match Program’s Match Day has an enormous impact on students throughout the country who are looking to further their medical education. This year on March 31, 33,535 first-year resident program matches were made. Nine of those matches were made with the U of M’s Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. Our new residents include Jeremiah Atkinson, MD; Jonas Attilus, MD, MPH; Hamed Ekhtiari, MD, PhD; Jamie Fyda, MD; Hasti Hadizadeh, MD; Eric Leppink, BA; Christian Morfaw, MD; Caitlin Raasch, BA; and Masoud Salehi, MD. They will start their journeys in June.

This is the second in a series of three articles about our nine new residents. We are proud to introduce:

Jamie Fyda, MD

After learning where he matched, Dr. Fyda Tweeted, “I’m so excited to have the opportunity to do my training at the best Psychiatry program I interviewed at. I’m looking forward for the next 4 years of professional and personal growth.”

Dr. Fyda earned his MD from Universidad Evangélica de El Salvador Facultad de Medicina in San Salvador as a Salvadorean Presidential Scholarship recipient. Following medical school, he completed three eight-week voluntary externships, two in psychiatry and one in internal medicine. He also spent a year as the Medical Director of an organization that serves children and adults with cerebral palsy and other developmental disorders.

As a volunteer with the Salvadorean Department of Public Health in San Salvador, Dr. Fyda helped mitigate the spread of zika, dengue and other mosquito-born infections during a door-to-door campaign. For a year, he led a group of students who performed HIV testing in the community and helped found Brigada Amiga, a student-run organization that provides health screenings to underserved communities.

Dr. Fyda developed his research skills during 18 months in the lab of psychiatrist Andreea Seicean, MD, PhD, MPH; at the University of Chicago. He has two published journal articles, made two poster presentations during medical meetings, and gave a Grand Rounds presentation about cerebral palsy at the Hospital Juan Jose Fernandez in San Salvador.

During his spare time, Dr. Fyda enjoys collecting rare plants, spending time with his French Bulldog, Valentino, working out, and painting (he won a national award for one of his acrylic paintings).

Hasti Hadizadeh, MD

When Dr. Hadizadeh learned she had matched with the U of M, she Tweeted, “I’m going to be a psychiatrist alongside this amazing group of people! Couldn’t be more excited!”

She earned her MD from Iran University of Medical Sciences School of Medicine, in Tehran. Dr. Hadizadeh has been working as a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Clinical Neuroscience Research Unit under the supervision of Marc Potenza, Professor of Psychiatry, Child Study and Neurobiology at the Yale University School of Medicine, helping with three research projects focused on the neurobiology of addiction.

Prior to that, she spent almost three years in the private psychiatric practice of Hamid Reza Ahmadkhaniha, MD, and almost two years as a research consultant with Nikan Health Researchers Institute in Tehran, Iran, working with Masoud Ahmadzad, Asl, MD. In addition, Dr. Hadizadeh spent a year as a volunteer researcher in the Johns Hopkins Hospital Department of Psychiatry in Baltimore, MD, working under Marco A. Grados, MD, MPH, in the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

Another of her research assignments was a joint project between the Karolinska Institute Department of Neurobiology’s Division of Clinical Geriatrics in Stockholm, Sweden, and Iran University of Medical Sciences Department of Neurology, in Tehran. The project resulted in five published articles in peer-reviewed journals and one published abstract.

Dr. Hadizadeh has been involved with several articles published in medical journals and has made several poster presentations during professional meetings. One of her articles published in Pediatric Allergy and Immunology Journal was selected as an Editor’s Choice in 2017.

In her spare time, she enjoys cooking, watercolor painting, and designing and making clothing.

Eric Leppink, BA

Eric will earn his MD from the University of Minnesota in May 2021. When he joins the department, he will be working in the PERLab (Psychiatric Education Research Lab). Prior to coming to the U, he completed a pre-medicine program at Northwestern University’s School of Professional Studies in Evanston, IL. He earned a BA in psychology from Carleton College in Northfield, MN.

Eric is currently helping with the Minnesota Arc Program and is the student assistant/coordinator of the Residency Program in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the U of M, under the leadership of Lora Wichser, MD. In addition, he is the elected student council representative to the U’s Medical School Education Council for the class of 2021.

In 2019, Eric was the Student Representative for the Foundation and Clinical Science Integration Task Force at the U under the leadership of James Nixon, MD, MHPE. At the University of Chicago, he spent four years as a full-time research coordinator in the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Neuroscience in the Addictive, Compulsive, and Impulsive Disorders Research Lab.

Eric has helped author numerous articles for medical journals, contributed to three peer-reviewed book chapters, and presented several posters and given other oral presentations during medical meetings, both nationally and internationally. When he has spare time, Eric enjoys playing ultimate frisbee and hockey, loves to read science fiction and fantasy, and likes inline skating.

In the next and final new resident spotlight, we will feature Christian Morfaw, MD; Caitlin Raasch, BA; and Masoud Salehi, MD.

Link to the first spotlight featuring Jeremiah Atkinson, MD; Jonas Attilus, MD, MPH; and Hamed Ekhtiari, MD, PhD.