Graduate Year 2023

Shafeeque Kunhiabdullah MD; PGY5 

”I am a 2nd year fellow in this program and this program provides all the aspect of training in neonatology, covering academics, research, and quality projects. The faculty and staff make you feel like family and you won’t feel away from home. The training so far has made me confident, independent, and competent to attend to high risk newborns, critical decision making.

Program and faculty provide good flexibility for being a family man, which is a real blessing for us. Nurse Practitioners and nurses work together with fellows making night calls and service months go smoothly. I am so thankful to everyone here and will always advocate for training here to aspirants, who want to be future neonatologists.”

Graduate Year 2022

Naveen Kannekanti MD; PGY6 

“I am Naveen Kannekanti, a 3rd-year Neonatal-Perinatal fellow at MetroHealth Medical Center. Having spent my two years in the program, I realized that the overall environment here is supportive, flexible and there is great emphasis on education. Our conferences, lectures, and simulations provide a good platform for learning. Our attendings are great mentors and dedicated to shaping fellows to be successful.  

My research interest is in Retinopathy of Prematurity. I am working on establishing clinical practice guidelines on "Postnatal steroids use". I am also doing QI projects on "Implementing Cord Blood Labs" and "To decrease Femoral line-associated bloodstream infections". 

Here, nurses, attendings and the entire ancillary NICU team is amazing and work as a family. It is a privilege for me to be a part of that family as a learner and contributor. If given the chance to choose again, I would rank MetroHealth as my top choice.”

Ibrahim Qattea MD; PGY6

“I chose MetroHealth Hospital for my neonatology fellowship because of the great opportunities for clinical and academic training and it has exceeded my expectations. The faculty members are experienced in diverse areas of Neonatology. The most meaningful clinical experience for me is the learning from being part of the resuscitation teams and taking care of babies during the NICU service and rounds.

The faculty, nurses, respiratory therapists and NNPs are great team players and I have learned so much from all of them. Now I feel myself as a physician leader. My training at MetroHealth has prepared me for this role, and I am very grateful for my training here. 

Graduate Year 2021

Stacey Ramey MD - Attending Neonatologist Aultman Hospital, Canton, OH

“The fellowship training at MetroHealth provided a diverse training and education. As a fellow, you are the team leader from the start of training which keeps you actively involved in all patient care decisions and helps to build confidence. The active delivery service and high-risk patient population provides a unique experience. The MetroHealth NICU is focused on education and working together to provide the best care to our patients at all levels of the medical team.

The Attendings are knowledgeable, approachable, and focused on fellow education and supportive of each fellow's education and growth. Upon graduation, I felt confident and well prepared to become an attending and lucky to have been a part of the NICU family at MH.”

Mathavan Sivarajah, MD - Neonatologist, Gulf Coast, Regional Medical Center, Panama City, FL

“The MetroHealth NICU fellowship experience was a very positive and unique one. The fellowship program does pride itself on being a fellow focused training institution, which is what I loved about it. I can confidently say in the three years this fellowship training program more than prepared me to be a competent attending in the real world.”

Graduate Year 2020

Zaineh Alja’nini, MD, FAAP - Assistant Professor of Clinical Child Health, University of Missouri School of Medicine, Attending Neonatologist  

“I had a great experience working in the NICU at MetroHealth Medical Center. We managed a wide variety of cases including but not limited to the extremely premature infants, the sick term infants, those with a wide variety of congenital and surgical abnormalities and infants with complicated social situations. The nurse practitioners are excellent and extremely skilled; they support you and help guide you to make decisions as the team leader, yet they are fun to work with even during the busiest night shifts.

The attendings combine the great experience, up-to-date clinical management, and research projects in various areas of neonatology, both bench and clinical. The nurses are very passionate and competent in their work. Through collaboration with the Maternal Fetal Medicine fellowship program, we had very informative, board-oriented lectures and didactics on weekly basis by inhouse and invited great lecturers. Case presentations and journal clubs also added to the educational experience.

Dr. Collin, Sharon Groh-Wargo and Stephanie Merlion-Bar were great research mentors who helped guide me through the various research projects I worked on during my fellowship. Dr. Kumar was not only the fellowship director but was also a great educational and life mentor. He made time for every single one of us whenever we needed him. He helped me mature as a person. Both Dr. Kumar and Dr. Parimi were strong advocates of change in the fellowship and around the NICU to benefit the fellows.

Living alone in the States comes with its challenges, but during the three years I spent in NICU at MetroHealth, I was surrounded by colleagues, friends, and caring family members. I have made great friendships that I plan to keep for life.” 

Indrani Bhattacharjee, MD

"MetroHealth Medical Center NICU training experience transformed me from a very medically focused physician to a versatile, culturally competent and astute professional. I shall carry the foundation this institution has created in me with regards to competency, skill, and research throughout my professional career. I found this training program to be a perfect balance of clinical hands-on experience and research opportunities.”

Juan Luis Guillen Hernandez, MD, FAAP - Clinical Assistant Professor, Neonatology, East Carolina University, Brody School of Medicine

"What fascinated me the most about the fellowship program was the opportunity to be part of an exceptional team managing preterm and susceptible infants...this awesome family will mentor and coach you, until all the sudden all the dots connect, and you go out to the world as a team leader ready to face all the challenges".

Graduate year 2019

Yasser Al- Jebawi. MD, FAAP

“After I had practiced as a general pediatrician for two years, I joined MetroHealth Neonatal Perinatal Medicine fellowship training. My goal was to learn the necessary skills and knowledge to care for a sick neonate. By the end of my fellowship training, my achievements were way beyond my initial expectations. In addition to the outstanding clinical training, the program offers many scholarly opportunities. After graduation, I moved to south Florida to work at Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital.”

Anudeepa Sharma, MD - Neonatologist, Midland Memorial Hospital Midland, Texas

My Neonatology/Perinatal Medicine training at MetroHealth/Case Western Reserve University was exceptional. There was always ample support from competent and dedicated faculty, nurses, NNPs, nutritionists, physical therapists and social workers in the NICU. The GME and the program coordinator together ensured all our educational requirements were always met. The academic learning environment was complemented by a diverse patient population with complex pathologies in the setting of a busy county hospital. Having the opportunity to follow my patients in the high-risk clinic provided me with a broader perspective of outcomes of babies with a complicated clinical course while in the NICU.

This clinical exposure and experience was very critical to helping me gain confidence in my procedural and clinical skills toward my growth as an independent neonatologist. I credit much of my ability to manage a very busy NICU currently to my fellowship training and mentors. 

Academically, I have had the opportunity to learn from and work with several faculty on basic science, clinical, and sociocultural research projects that have led to multiple presentations, abstracts, awards, and manuscripts including involvement with AAP initiatives. I look very fondly on my time at MetroHealth where I made lifelong friendships.