Gitanjali Rebello, MD

Following the completion of medical school in India and earning my MBBS degree, I worked as a general physician in rural underserved areas. My favorite patients were toddlers, and I enjoyed interacting with them in clinic. I enjoyed talking to them, earning their trust, and treating them. This small but significant experience, made me want to be a pediatrician.

I have enjoyed working and studying as a fellow in pediatric infectious disease at Golisano Children's Hospital of Buffalo. My colleagues both in the department and in departments we collaborate with have been enthusiastic and fun to work with, be it faculty, fellows, residents or med students. 

While on clinical service we have a varied team consisting of faculty, fellows, residents and medical students, who work together to treat patients we are consulted on. Our discussions are interesting, elaborate and interspersed with teaching for each case.  We encourage and motivate all our team members to participate at whatever level they feel comfortable. For example, whenever a medical student or resident is asked a question they are unsure of answering, the 'Phone a Fellow' lifeline is made use of.

We recently instituted ID Bingo, which has brought entertainment, camaraderie and healthy competition between teammates during a clinical week.

Our faculty are very supportive of a fellow's specific interests. With the support of my program director, I reached out to a transplant specialty hospital to secure a month-long rotation on the immunocompromised ID service. This rotation helped me gain more experience in my chosen field.

Karl Yu, MD, PhD, has been a great mentor to me. As an international medical graduate, I trained in a different country with different cultural experiences and conventions. He has been a great teacher, friend and mentor who helped guide and nurture my interest in immunocompromised ID, suggesting research projects and conferences to stimulate and grow my interests.

Mark Hicar, MD, PhD, has been an excellent program director and guide. Despite his heavy schedule, he has followed my clinical and research progress, suggesting projects that might be in line with my interests, conferences to further my experiences, as well as continuing the right direction with regard to people who could help me with my research projects.

Choosing this program for fellowship was a strategic choice. It is a big program with good clinical variety of both local and international infectious diseases due to a large migrant population. The faculty who interviewed me were interesting, approachable and easy to get to know. There were faculty who shared my specific interests, and I enjoyed talking to them during the interview.

We also have family in the area, and we were confident that my partner would find a job in his chosen field here. All these reasons helped me put the Jacob School of Medicine in Buffalo high on my list.