Wright State Boonshoft School of Medicine neurology residents accepted into prestigious fellowships

All four members of the first class of neurology residents at the Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine have been accepted into fellowship programs at top universities, including Columbia University, Johns Hopkins University, University of Miami and Vanderbilt University. The neurology residents are (from left): Amr Elmaghraby, M.D.; Thomas Pitts, M.D.; Michael Kentris, D.O.; and Suraj Rajan, M.D.

All four members of the first class of neurology residents at the Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine have been accepted into fellowship programs at top universities, including Columbia University, Johns Hopkins University, University of Miami and Vanderbilt University.

The Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine Neurology Residency program began in 2014 as a collaboration between Wright State University and Premier Health. The first four residents will graduate in 2017. Residents are involved in patient care at area health care facilities including Miami Valley Hospital, Wright State University & Premier Health Neuroscience Institute, Dayton Veterans Affairs Medical Center and Dayton Children’s Hospital. The residency has grown to a total of 16 residents, four in each year’s class.

“These residents have not only excelled in their education and patient care, but they also spearheaded the development of our Neurology Residency Program,” said Bradley Jacobs, M.D., director of the program. “We’re pleased to have our first residents graduating from our program, and we are thrilled to have them attending these excellent fellowship programs upon graduation. This speaks to their own skills and their training at our program. As our residents further refine their neurology training, we are hopeful that some of them will return to our region to enhance care for patients requiring neurological expertise.”

Amr Elmaghraby, M.D., earned his Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Alexandria Faculty of Medicine in Egypt in 2011 and completed a cardiovascular research fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital in 2013. Prior to his neurology residency, he completed a year of training in internal medicine at Lutheran Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York. He has accepted a postdoctoral clinical fellowship in the Neuro-Critical Care Program at the University of Miami in Florida.

Michael Kentris, D.O., earned his Bachelor of Science in biology from Ohio State University in 2008 and his Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine from Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine in 2013. Prior to his neurology residency, he completed an internship at St. Elizabeth Health Center in 2014. He has accepted a postdoctoral clinical fellowship in the Clinical Neurophysiology Program at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee.

Thomas Pitts, M.D., earned both a Bachelor of Science in chemical science and a Bachelor of Science in marketing from Florida State University and his Doctor of Medicine from Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine. He also completed an internal medicine internship at Wright State. He was inducted into the Gold Humanism Honor Society. He has received a Humanism and Excellence in Teaching Award, Outstanding Role Model and an Internal Medicine Teaching Resident of the Year Award. He has accepted a postdoctoral clinical fellowship in the Clinical Neurophysiology Program (EMG Track) at the New York-Presbyterian Hospital at Columbia University in New York.

Suraj Rajan, M.D., earned his Doctor of Medicine degree from the Academy of Medical Sciences in India and his Master of Science in clinical neurology from the UCL Institute of Neurology at Queen Square in London. His internship was completed at the University of Missouri. He has accepted a two-year clinical fellowship in Parkinson’s disease and movement disorders at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Maryland.

The Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine is a community-based medical school affiliated with seven major teaching hospitals in the Dayton area. The medical school educates the next generation of physicians by providing medical education for more than 444 medical students and 443 residents and fellows in 13 specialty areas and 10 subspecialties. Its research enterprise encompasses centers in the basic sciences, epidemiology, public health and community outreach programs. More than 1,500 of the medical school’s 3,229 alumni remain in medical practice in Ohio.