Twenty-two Doctors Headed to Baton Rouge for Residency Training

BATON ROUGE, La. – Baton Rouge General (BRG) welcomed a new class to its graduate medical education program on Friday, March 18, also known as “Match Day” -- the much-anticipated day when medical students find out which residency or fellowship program they are accepted or “matched” into. Twenty-two residents will join BRG’s internal medicine, family medicine and sports medicine residency programs.

The physicians will complete their residency training at BRG’s Bluebonnet and Mid City campuses, which provide a clinical setting for Internal Medicine, Family Medicine, Emergency Medicine, Critical Care Medicine, Anesthesia, Psychiatry, and General Surgery Residency Programs.

“Our residency programs at BRG have been in place for decades, but never has it been as important as the past few year to have our residents working side-by-side our doctors to care for patients,” said Dr. Venkat Banda, Chief Academic Officer. “They’ve been the backbone of our community’s response to the pandemic, and we are proud to call yet another group of young doctors our own here at Baton Rouge General.”

Joining the Family Medicine Residency Program are: David Anderson, DO; Arthur Chernostrik, DO; Tara Henagan, MD; Cameron Karnish, MD; Aliya Khasanova, MD; Alexia Montas, MD; Rury Santiago Guzman, MD; and Akash Shah, MD.

Joining the Internal Medicine Residency Program are: Garrett Allen, MD; Michelle Arsenault, MD; Bhagyasri Challa, MD; Chukwunonso Ezeani, MD; Tanmayi Gadri, MD; Stephen Hollingsworth, MD; Srujani Karra, MD; Nadjel Opamen, MD; Sneha Puvvada, MD; Raja Saravanan, MD; Bharatsimha Toutireddy, MD; and Maithri Vallabhaneni, MD.

Kelechi Akamiro, MD, and Pratik Patel, MD, are joining the sports medicine fellowship program.

Through its education programs, the hospital trains annually more than 500 medical students, residents, fellows, nurses, pharmacists, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, certified registered nurse anesthetists, and radiation technologists, and provides instructional locations for medical students from other schools, including Tulane and LSU.

Learn more at BRGeneral.org/medical-education.

About Baton Rouge General Medical Center
Baton Rouge General Medical Center is the area’s first community hospital with over 600 licensed beds between three campuses. Baton Rouge General opened its doors in 1900, and has provided the Greater Baton Rouge community with high-quality healthcare for generations. An accredited teaching hospital since 1991, Baton Rouge General is affiliated with several medical school programs, and offers other medical education programs, including a School of Nursing, School of Radiologic Technology, Family Medicine Residency Program, Internal Medicine Residency Program, and Sports Medicine Fellowship Program. For more information, visit BRGeneral.org, find us on Facebook at Facebook.com/BatonRougeGeneral and follow us on Twitter @BRGeneral and Instagram @batonrougegeneral.

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