Meet the Residents

Name: Hannah Phillips
Hometown: Manhasset, NY
Undergraduate School: Duke University
Medical School: Renaissance SOM at Stony Brook University
Areas of Interest in Child Neurology: Neurodevelopmental, Epilepsy and a sprinkle of everything else
Personal Interests: Cooking, dance, running (slowly), and spending time with my husband, friends and my two cats
Why did you choose to train at Children’s National? The experience and the people are truly unmatched. During my interview I felt right at home and was excited by all of the interesting variety of cases and subspecialties I would be exposed to. DC is pretty cool too.
Future Plans: I am leaning general neurology with a focus in neurodevelopmental disabilities and a side gig in graduate medical education

Name: Sophie Reid
Hometown: Brookline, MA
Undergraduate School: American University
Medical School: Tufts University School of Medicine
Areas of Interest in Child Neurology: Neurocritical care, neonatal/fetal 
Personal Interests: Hiking and spending time with my German Shepherds and husband
Why did you choose to train at Children’s National? I wanted to train at a large, academic institution with lots of opportunities for research!
Future Plans: Considering fellowship (Maybe neurocritical care) 

Name: Rea Mittal
Hometown: Niskayuna, NY
Undergraduate School: Penn State University
Medical School: Penn State College of Medicine
Areas of Interest in Child Neurology: Epilepsy, global health
Personal Interests: New restaurants, hiking, rowing, tennis, shopping
Why did you choose to train at Children’s National? Wanted to be in a big, diverse city with a robust child neurology program where I’ll see everything!
Future Plans: Epilepsy Fellowship

Name: Kiet Zhou 
Hometown: Montgomery County Maryland
Undergraduate School: University of Maryland
Medical School: New York Medical College
Areas of Interest in Child Neurology: Neuroimmunology
Personal Interests: Crocheting, painting, exploring new restaurants
Why did you choose to train at Children’s National? I chose to train at Children's National for a couple of different reasons -- The variety in training and the many different sub-specialties within the field, the location (close to family and friends), and supportive environment! 
Future Plans: Possibly fellowship but still undecided at the moment

Name: Desiree D’Souza 
Hometown: Toronto, Canada 
Undergraduate School: McGill University 
Medical School: Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland 
Areas of Interest in Child Neurology: Neonatal neurology, functional brain networks
Personal Interests: Spinning, fine dining, live music, travel and adventures. I know the best dessert in every city I’ve visited (In D.C., it’s Happy Ice cream in Dupont). 
Why did you choose to train at Children’s National? I wanted a program that offers the breadth and depth of child neurology, robust NICU experience, and exposure to unique clinical cases with strong resources for patients. The program's collegial atmosphere, responsiveness to fellows and the dedication to my clinical development and goals has been an excellent experience. Living in D.C. is an amazing bonus. 
Future Plans: Neonatal Neurocritical Care Fellowship

Name: Anthony May
Hometown: East Orange, NJ
Undergraduate School: Temple University
Medical School: Howard University College of Medicine 
Areas of Interest in Child Neurology: Undecided but interested in Neuroimmunology; Epilepsy 
Personal Interests: Fitness/health, anime, genealogy
Why did you choose to train at Children’s National? Loved the diverse community and patient population in D.C., and the opportunity for exposure to the breadth of both bread-and-butter neurology/pediatrics but also the rare academically stimulating cases as well 
Future Plans: Likely academic medicine/medical education 

Name: Christian Hidalgo Jara
Hometown: Palm Harbor, FL
Undergraduate School: University of Florida
Medical School: Case Western Reserve University SOM
Areas of Interest in Child Neurology: NDD, neuromuscular, general neurology
Personal Interests: Reading, board games, biking, language learning 
Why did you choose to train at Children’s National? As a visiting student with ADAP (Advancing Diversity in Academic Pediatrics), I was looking for a place that supports patients and providers from all backgrounds, where I could grow as a bilingual provider. I was happy to find the representation and support here!
Future Plans: Most likely general neurology in academic setting

Name: Adriana de la Flor Llona
Hometown: Lima, Peru
Undergraduate School: Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia
Medical School: Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia
Areas of Interest in Child Neurology: A little bit of everything!
Personal Interests: Spending time with my baby and my dog and going to museums 
Why did you choose to train at Children’s National? Really great people, with a great culture and diverse population of both trainees and patients, in a beautiful city!
Future Plans: TBD!

Name: Joanna Bendeck
Hometown: Tegucigalpa, Honduras 
Medical School: Universidad de La Sabana, Bogotá, Colombia 
Pediatrics Prelim Residency: St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children, Philadelphia
Area of interest in Child Neurology: Epilepsy
Personal Interests: Reading, hiking
Why did you choose to train at Children’s National? The exposure to such a wide variety of patients and their pathologies, working alongside families and having the tools and team to provide them with the best care, all happening in an amazing city, close to family! 
Future Plans: Epilepsy and general child neurology

Name: Allison Saunders
Hometown: Saco, Maine
Undergraduate School: Georgetown University
Medical School: Columbia University
Areas of Interest in Child Neurology: Neuromuscular medicine
Personal Interests: Exploring hiking trails with my dog, discovering new music at live shows, audiobook enthusiast, finding the best sushi in D.C.
Why did you choose to train at Children's National?  I wanted to be at a place where I felt at home, and I felt like I found “my people” even from my interview day!
Future Plans: Neuromuscular fellowship!

Name: Lauren Vilardo
Hometown: Buffalo NY
Undergraduate School: Hamilton College
Medical School: George Washington
Areas of Interest in Child Neurology: General, headache 
Personal Interests: Exploring the Arlington, VA trail system by foot (with my dog, Caya) and by bike. Spending time with my husband and step-son. Finding new restaurants in the area to try -- There are so many different types of cuisine in the DMV!
Why did you choose to train at Children’s National? I did my med school clerkships in pediatrics and child neurology at Children's National, and I wanted to learn everything seen here, from bread-and-butter diagnoses to zebras. I was impressed by the attendings, fellows and residents. They were all so knowledgeable and confident, not to mention great teachers. I wanted to be like them. 
Future Plans: General/headache with a mix of inpatient and outpatient 

Name: Dhwani Sahjwani
Hometown: Mumbai, India
Undergraduate School: K.J. Somaiya Medical School and Research Center
Medical School: K.J. Somaiya Medical School and Research Center
Areas of Interest in Child Neurology: Neuroimmunology/neurocritical care
Personal Interests: Running, dance, exploring D.C., museums, hiking and travel
Why did you choose to train at Children’s National? The people, the neurology team is amazing! I was at Children’s National as a medical student and my experience was so wonderful and made me want to come back. I learned so much and I’m grateful to be here! Everyone I meet is so personable, kind, intelligent and care so much for their patients and what they do! 
Future Plans: Practice at an academic center with focus on neuroimmunology and medical education.  

Name: Busola Shifatu
Hometown: Lagos, Nigeria 
Undergraduate School: DePauw University
Medical School: University of Virginia 
Areas of Interest in Child Neurology: Global health, epilepsy, neuro-hospitalist
Personal Interests: Roller skating, crocheting and hiking 
Why did you choose to train at Children’s National? I chose to train at Children’s National because I wanted to work with a diverse patient population, particularly underserved communities. I also wanted the opportunity to see bread and butter as well as complex/rare case and opportunities for global health within child neurology 
Future Plans: Still figuring it out!