Resident Profiles - Mohammed Naeem, MD, PGY-1

Mohammed Naeem , MD

Medical School: Meharry Medical College School of Medicine, Nashville, TN

Greetings. You can read all of the reasons why CCF is a great place to train from my colleague’s testimonials but let me tell you my story as an intern during my first few months here that I feel is more illustrative…

The thing that has always stood out to me has been the dichotomy between the high expectations placed on me concurrently with an extensive support system. My senior told me on my first day as an intern that he expected me to run the service.  He also then calmly proceeded to state that he would stay up with me on the first on-call so he could help me with cross-cover! What I really appreciated was the great deal of autonomy I was allowed while I managed various medical problems by myself.

During that month I managed DKA, supraventricular tachycardia, atrial fibrillation, the side effects of haldol, and a myriad of other medical problems confident in the fact that I could always turn to my seniors for help. Hence, I really enjoyed the “hands on” aspect of the training and left that first month much more confident of my abilities as a young doctor.

The second thing that has stood out to me has been the acuity and diversity of the patients I have helped treat. There have been several instances where patients that were being managed in the ICUs of other hospitals were managed on the floor here.  Along with the “standard” medical case such as CHF, I have seen quite a number of rare cases. They have ranged from observing first-hand the effects of rituxan-induced lung injury, helping treat an AML patient with a necrotizing fungal infection, to managing the symptoms of a young woman with terminal rhabdomyosarcoma.  I think the saying from the movie Forrest Gump can be modified to state, “Life and CCF are like a box full of chocolates. You never know whatcha gonna get!”

What has made CCF an exciting place for me is that along with these unusual cases, we also have teachers who are experts in those fields to learn from, as well as the resources carry out research into any question. For instance, my patient who suffered ritxuan-induced lung injury has inspired me to work on a study further investigating its incidence and possible etiology. During this process I have been very heartened by the amount of faculty support I have received.  Furthermore the program provides us with several tools to help aid us in our research design such as library searches and meetings with statisticians.  Ultimately I think this reflects in the caliber of the residents, and with one exception, I have been most impressed with all of my senior residents so far.

So my impressions of the program after three months as an intern: A busy program where at least in the intern year, one learns by “doing”. The sheer volume and diversity of cases that one sees ensures that this more than adequate preparation for the second year. I feel this is a very dynamic and supportive program where my ability to grow as a physician in only limited by my own imagination.  I am very encouraged by my growth so far.  I hope this has given you some insight to the program. Good Luck to all the future doctors out there!