Published on June 30, 2023

UNC Health Southeastern celebrates Class of 2023 resident graduation

On Friday, June 23, UNC Health Southeastern celebrated the graduation of 29 residents across three residency programs: Emergency Medicine, Family Medicine, and Internal Medicine. These residents marked the 6th graduating class of the health system's medical education program.

UNC Heath Southeastern President/CEO Chris Ellington gave the welcome remarks and congratulated the graduates on their accomplishments.

“Thank you for your contributions to the health of this community as well as our health system during your tenure as residents,” said Ellington. “You have made a difference in the lives of so many and you will continue to do so throughout your medical career.”

He also shared plans to expand the health system’s Medical Education program by applying for a pathology residency as well as post-graduate fellowships.

The commencement address was delivered by Kenya McNeal-Tice, MD, Vice Chair of Education, Department of Pediatrics, UNC School of Medicine. She challenged the new graduates to reframe the way they look at individuals in order to move past stereotypes and see the true individuals for which they will care.

Emergency Medicine graduates were: Laura James, MD; Brandon Vargas, DO; Gregory Griffin, DO; Anthony Vogt, DO; Stephen O’Neal, DO; Michael Bruss, DO; AJ Lakey, DO; Renaud Komandur, DO; Kristyn Flynn, DO; and Jacob Pearce, DO.

Six graduates completed the Family Medicine program. They were: Tayler Williams, MD; Alexandra Krawczuk-Smith, MD; Alexandar Johnson, DO; Monica Mansour, DO; Joshua Davis, MD; and Suraj Rao, MD.

Internal Medicine graduates included: Noor Al-Saund, MD; Awad Alboga, MD; Saira Amir, MD; Geira Denbel, MD; Prathyusha Gudapati, DO; Manozna Karri, MD; Vinod Krishnappa, MD; Reena Motwani, MD; Ashish Parmar, DO; Silviya Perookunnel, DO; Ambreen Perviaz, MD; Elizabeth Saunders, DO; and Subrina Sundil, MD.

Residency awards

Some of the program’s residents, attending physicians, and nurses with which they worked, were also recognized with special awards during the graduation ceremony. The awards were given as follows:

Emergency Medicine Resident of the Year: AJ Lakey, DO, and Kristyn Flynn, DO
Family Medicine Resident of the Year: Suraj Rao, MD
Internal Medicine Resident of the Year: Elizabeth Saunders, DO
Emergency Medicine Attending of the Year: Brianna Crosby, MD
Family Medicine Attending of the Year: Zoe Gravitz, MD
Internal Medicine and Transitional Year Attending of the Year: Poornima Vinod, MD
Emergency Medicine Nurse of the Year: Shantell Duarte, RN
Family Medicine Nurse of the Year: Andrea Meadows, CMA
Internal Medicine Nurse of the Year: Deborah Peterson, RN

Medical Education Program Background

UNC Health Southeastern and its affiliates have been a major clinical campus for Campbell University’s Jerry M. Wallace School of Osteopathic Medicine since 2015.

In February 2013, then Southeastern Health, formalized a commitment with Campbell University Jerry M. Wallace School of Osteopathic Medicine to train medical students at then Southeastern Regional Medical Center (SRMC) and other affiliates of the health system. The first 40 Campbell medical students arrived on the health system campus the week of July 27, 2015, to begin their third-year rotations and continued their medical training through the completion of medical school.

Funded by $1.6 million in grants, the health system unveiled a newly renovated, 10,000-square-foot space for the Medical Education department during an open house and ribbon cutting ceremony held July 28, 2015, in the medical center cafeteria. The space, located on the 4^th floor of the administrative wing of the medical center, is now the education hub for UNC Health Southeastern, offering student lockers, a 100-seat classroom, a small classroom, an electronic medical library, a resident/student lounge and meeting room, as well as administrative offices for the Medical Education department.

The education wing was made possible through funding by the following grantors: The Duke Endowment, The Golden LEAF Foundation, North Carolina Department of Commerce, and The Cannon Foundation.

In July 2018, 25 newly minted physicians from various universities throughout the country who selected UNC Health Southeastern as their residency training ground, entered three residency programs (training programs where physicians train before they enter practice), in the areas of family medicine, internal medicine and emergency medicine.