“The Baltimore Surgery team recently gathered together at my house for our annual holiday party. It was a great chance to get everyone together and spread some holiday cheer. I’m grateful for the opportunity to serve this great group as their PD.”
This holiday season, the MedStar Health Baltimore family wanted to make it a little brighter for those in need.
The Internal Medicine residents organized a gift donation drive to support The Transformation Center, a local organization that supports rebuilding lives and restoring communities by providing pathways to rise above obstacles of poverty, addiction, poor education, unemployment, and social injustice.
We are truly grateful for everyone who helped us collect more than 50 toys for children ages 0-13, by filling The Transformation Center’s Amazon Wishlist during our holiday party.
I am really thankful for our faculty Dr. Anita Tammara (Wellness Committee Chair), Dr. Andrea Gaspar (Community Outreach Committee Chair) and to our amazing Dr. Heather Hartman-Hall for their tremendous support! And to everyone joined us in this worthy cause (faculty or residents)!
Together, we spread some holiday cheer and made the world a better place.
Happy holidays!
Cassie Libbing, DO (PGY-3, Internal Medicine)
Cassie Libbing, DO (PGY-3, Internal Medicine) is an advocate at heart. She was drawn to medicine because she wanted to be a good advocate for her patients and now at MedStar Health, she has stepped forward to be an advocate for her peers through her work as a Wellness Champion.
During medical school in her home state of Indiana, Dr. Libbing fell in love with the intellectual challenge of solving the varied diagnostic dilemmas that come with practicing Internal Medicine. She is also passionate about giving her patients tools to care for their health.
“We have medically complex patients, that’s our specialty, and it’s very important to me that my patients understand their diseases, ultimately empowering them with information so that they can make the best decisions for their health and take care of themselves,” she said.
This is especially important, Dr. Libbing said, because many of their patients do not have extensive experience with the healthcare system. The first physician a patient interacts with can have an immense impact on that patient’s trust in the healthcare system. “It’s easy to forget with the day-to-day work, but it’s an important role we carry,” Dr. Libbing said.
Dr. Libbing is also involved in fostering wellness among her colleagues. During her second year of residency at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital (MGUH), Dr. Libbing applied for, and received, a Wellness Champion Grant from the Center for Wellbeing to establish a dedicated Wellness Committee for the almost 90 Internal Medicine residents at MGUH.
“During that year, I was able to delve more into wellness research and learn more about what has been evolving with physician and resident wellness research in the past five years. A lot of it is moving past this idea of personal resilience and more towards seeking institutional interventions that can drive professional fulfillment and a sense of community,” she explained.
Now, with a second Wellness Champion grant, Dr. Libbing is building on her wellness work by utilizing a tool developed at Yale – the Residency Community Well-Being instrument – to track and evaluate resident wellness throughout the year. Anonymous surveys will help Dr. Libbing determine if wellness or professional fulfillment rises and lowers depending on the season, post-graduate year, specialty track, gender, or a number of other factors.
The tools that MedStar Health GME offers due to its status as a nationally-leading consortium – such as access to grants or statistical support from the MedStar Health Research Institute – is one contributing factor to Dr. Libbing’s success. That, plus the incredible community she has found at MedStar Health.
“There are so many great people who surround me and keep me going. Community is so important for wellness,” Dr. Libbing said. She advised her colleagues to find a mentor and never hesitate to ask for support.
Dr. Libbing also turns to her fiancé, an anesthesiology resident at MedStar Health, to stay grounded. But sometimes ice cream from Jeni’s Splendid or Van Leeuwen is just what the doctor ordered.
“I am an ice cream connoisseur,” she said. “I love ice cream. It’s the easiest way to make me smile.”
Maggie Arnold, MD (Vascular Surgery)
Maggie Arnold, MD (Vascular Surgery) has always been fascinated by anatomy. That’s what first interested her in medicine.
“I was drawn to the scientific inquiry part of medicine. Humans are amazing creatures, and I wanted to understand more about how our bodies worked,” she said.
Dr. Arnold is double board-certified in General Surgery and Vascular Surgery, but she did not always want to be a surgeon. Once she stepped into the operating room, however, she knew she loved surgery. “I loved the immediacy of it. I loved being able to fix things. Just being in the operating room was amazing,” Dr. Arnold said.
She was drawn to Vascular Surgery due to the fantastic surgeons she trained under, the interesting caseload, and the great patient population she treated.
As the Program Director for the General Surgery residency program in Baltimore, Dr. Arnold is now filling that mentor and educator role for MedStar Health residents.
“I have such a great job because I get to watch my residents start as interns and then go through an amazing transformation over the next five years as they become surgeons,” she said. “I love being able to work with people, troubleshoot problems, and help them grow as physicians.”
The current generation of physicians-in-training are mission-driven to help people, giving Dr. Arnold incredible hope for the future of medicine. “I see a profound sense of altruism in up-and-coming physicians,” she explained.
In addition to serving as a Program Director, Dr. Arnold is one of three inaugural GME Leadership Fellows. She is working with the GME Executive Team to further improve the training and educational experience at MedStar Health. But her voice is just one of many – and the collaborative nature of MedStar Health GME allows our program to leverage the diverse expertise of our faculty to better serve our residents and fellows.
“You have this great network at MedStar Health and wealth of knowledge with people coming together to solve problems that affect all GME. You also get the benefit of different perspectives. I may have a very surgery-centered perspective, but that may not always be the best solution to the problem,” Dr. Arnold explained. “It allows you to hear other opinions, voices, and perspectives and helps us be stronger, together.”
When Dr. Arnold is not in the operating room or working with her residents, she’s training for her next marathon or spending time with her husband, two kids, and pet Lab, Sunny.
Dan Jamieson, MD (Pulmonary and Critical Care; Internal Medicine)
Dan Jamieson, MD (Pulmonary and Critical Care; Internal Medicine) has always called Maryland and the Washington, DC, area home – in fact he was born at Medstar Georgetown University Hospital! It’s no surprise then that after his fellowship, he ended up at MedStar Health, the largest healthcare provider in the region. Dr. Jamieson is the Program Director (PD) for the Pulmonary and Critical Care Fellowship at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital (MGUH) and one of the Associate Program Directors (APD) for Internal Medicine at MGUH.
Dr. Jamieson was inspired to pursue medicine while in high school when he developed a deep fascination with science and biology. His roles as a PD and APD at MedStar Health perfectly pair Dr. Jamieson’s medical skills as a clinician with his passion for mentoring and teaching the next generation of physicians.
“Number one will always be the students, residents and fellows,” Dr. Jamieson responded when asked what he enjoys most about working in graduate medical education. “There is an intentional focus on education in everything we do at Medstar Health. From our focus on the learning environment to the way we run daily rounds. I also love working with a dedicated team of educators to address current challenges in graduate medical education.”
There are always new challenges in healthcare, and MedStar Health is continually striving to find ways to build on current practices and better care for our patients and our communities. The knowledge that leaders like Dr. Jamieson are imparting on our residents and fellows are critical to that mission.
“The pace of change in medicine in the U.S. is impressive,” Dr. Jamieson said. “I know we will continue to support innovation and education of the next generation of learners.”
Dr. Jamieson doesn’t just envision a better future for healthcare – he is putting in the hard work to create that future. As one of three inaugural GME Leadership Fellows, Dr. Jamieson is gaining new insight into what it takes to run and improve our consortium and contributing his expertise to make it happen.
Dr. Jamieson and his wife have three children and they recently added two cats into the mix. “After intense negotiations with my daughter and wife, we have settled on Lola and Findus for their names,” Dr. Jamieson joked.
Christian Woods, MD (Pulmonary and Critical Care; Infectious Diseases)
When Christian Woods, MD (Pulmonary and Critical Care; Infectious Diseases) walked into Washington Hospital Center for his internship more than 20 years ago, he only intended to stay for a few years.
“My residency turned into a Chief Residency, which turned into fellowship one to fellowship two, and now I’ve been an attending physician since 2010,” Dr. Woods recalled.
In addition to being a double board-certified physician, Dr. Woods is the Program Director for the pulmonary and critical care medicine fellowship at MedStar Washington Hospital Center as well as an Associate Program Director for the internal medicine program. Dr. Woods deeply enjoys teaching and watching each resident or fellow’s individual journey.
“I learn just as much from my trainees, I think, as they learn from me,” he said. “I have a lot of pride watching them accomplish great things and become great physicians.”
Part of what makes a Program Director great, Dr. Woods believes, is having a personal investment in the success of your trainees and being willing to serve as a mentor. He experienced this first-hand as an intern when the esteemed Chair of Medicine at Washington Hospital Center at the time treated a young Dr. Woods as a respected physician, and not “just another resident.”
“I can give you the smartest doctor in the world to be your attending. But if the environment is not right, and you don’t feel comfortable and you don’t feel like you can inquire and ask questions, it’s a wasted opportunity,” Dr. Woods explained.
A lot of things have changed in the more than 20 years Dr. Woods has worked at MedStar Health, but GME and medical education has always remained a focus. “What’s unique about MedStar Health is that medical education and GME are so well regarded within our institution, and that makes it a great place to work.”
That’s why Dr. Woods is excited about the opportunity to further contribute to the success of MedStar Health GME as one of three inaugural GME Leadership Fellows. This unique fellowship is helping Dr. Woods expand his leadership capabilities while giving him new insight into what it takes to run a world-class medical education consortium.
As a student who became interested in the field of infectious disease after seeing how potent HIV medicines brought new hope to a devastating disease, and a physician who has experienced first-hand the challenges of providing evidence-based critical care in the face of a novel virus during the height of a COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Woods knows that medicine is always changing. What he sees on the horizon for medicine is an expansion of global collaboration and education to better care for patients. For example, using synchronous training to teach to residents and fellows at MedStar Health – and around the country. Or using a telehealth platform to help a physician across the globe manage a ventilator console.
When Dr. Woods is not practicing medicine or teaching residents and fellows, he enjoys spending time with family. He also turned to building complicated Lego sets during the COVID-19 pandemic to relieve stress – a hobby that he has continued alongside his two sons. Next up on his Lego list? A 9,000-piece replica of the Titanic.
