WELCOME
I am Andria M. M. Chada-Jenkins, M.D. and welcome to my blog detailing my path as a Foreign Medical Graduate from Brazil to applying for a Pathology Medical Residency in the United States.
About Me.
I grew up in a northern state of the Brazilian Amazon. Born to a civil engineer father and a lawyer mother, I have always enjoyed studying. Maybe I didn't really have much choice given their professions but my dad always found a way to make learning fun and intriguing to me. After high school, I debated becoming a Chemical Engineer or a Doctor, and spoiler alert, I chose to become a doctor. I was planning on doing a medical residency in internal medicine and specializing in infectious diseases or GI. Covid hit and I moved to Miami so I could pursue research at the Veterans Affairs Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center (GRECC). At the VA in Miami was my first real in-depth exposure to pathology when I spent time in the pathology department. It may sound a little corny but I immediately knew that pathology was the right speciality. It combined a more holistic picture of diagnosing and caring for a patient. I stayed at the Miami VA for two years before my husband's job took us to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Luckily for me, I got a wonderful opportunity to work remotely for the Hadlock lab at the Institute for Systems Biology. Here, I have gotten to see the big picture behind pharmaceutical research and been amazed at the cross-disciplinary collaboration.
Why Pathology?
Easy question! I enjoy learning, I enjoy studying, I enjoy helping people, and I enjoy diagnosing them. Working as a general physician in Brazil was an interesting experience, I did enjoy being able to help people directly and interact with my local community. However, I have always been deeply intrigued with and fascinated by the cellular-molecular diagnostics in my daily life as a physician. Not being able to dive deeper into diagnosing peoples diseases at the the lab level left me unfulfilled with treating patients. I relish the thoughts of caring and actively diagnosing the patients. Having to perform a FNA and analyze the content under the microscope makes me feel good because I am utilizing both my clinical and cellular-molecular knowledge to get a fuller view. Being able to watch patients under apheresis treatment and decide which blood component matches the best is another example of getting the fuller view which leads me to believe that pathology is right for me. Simply put, I like getting as complete of a picture as possible of a patients ailments. It is also important to me to understand what are the challenges and limitations of diagnosis today, what are the newest technologies available, and how can they be used to enhance the tools and resources available to find more sensitive and less invasive tests.
Needless to say, I enjoy the tough questions. I Iike doing the work. In the long run, I can see a future where I will be involved in research and patient diagnosis. That is part of the reason I am working as a Clinical Informaticist in the Hadlock Lab for the Institute for Systems Biology, it gives me a look behind the curtain of the pharmaceutical industry and how that industry conducts research. Someday, I envision combining my diagnostic and research skills to develop less invasive and more sensitive diagnostic laboratory tests for NP, ID, and pathobiology of diseases.
Education
USMLE Step 2
USMLE Step 1
OET - Medical Occupational English Test
Universidade Estadual do Para - Medical School
Passed.
https://medicaleducator.co.uk/directory/universidade-do-estado-do-para-faculdade-de-medicina-belem/
https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universidade_do_Estado_do_Par%C3%A1
Passed.
Passed - B+ (Gold Standard)
Professional Experience
Institute for System Biology (Hadlock Lab)
Clinical Informaticist / Clinical Research Consultant
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Review chart abstraction from EHR, medical terminology, and medical notes.
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Create clinical concepts using Python.
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Collect, manage, and design projects on RedCap.
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Data coding: SNOMED, RxNorm, ICD-10, LOINC.
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Assist with manuscript and literature review.
Veterans Affairs - GRECC
(Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center)
Research Scholar
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Collected and analyzed raw patient data on SPSS Statistical software for multiple research projects related to frailty, dementia, and PTSD in high need high risk Veterans (t-test, one-way ANOVA, Survival analysis, ROC curve, Binomial Logistic Regression).
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Trainings: MoCA, OTAGO, SPSS, and basic SQL.
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Presentation on EBM (Evidence-Based Medicine) Journal Club.
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Assessed older adult Veterans in various specialty clinics such as the Frailty clinic, Falls clinic, Memory Disorders clinic and Urinary Incontinence clinic.
Melhor em Casa - Public Practice
Primary Care Physician
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Provided pain relief, hydration, and nutrition as a Home Care Physician to prevent hospitalization of terminal ill patients (cancer, bronchiectasis, SLE).
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Partnered with nurses, psychologist, nutritionist and physiotherapist to best implement patient care plans.
Evandro Chagas Institute - Department of Parasitology
Research Fellow
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Project “Risk factors for yellow fever, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C in patients in treatment for malaria at Evandro Chagas Institute”. Scholarship sponsored by CNPq (National Council for Scientific and Technological Development).
Presentations and Abstracts
Chada A, Jibril A, Chanyalew Z, Hassell L, Woldeab BB, Yeabo G, Razzano D. “Global Pathology: A snapshot of the problems, the progress, and the potential.” Arch. Path. Lab. In-Press.
Chada A, Razzano D, Wang C, Shen J. “Pathologist Workload Assessment in Gastrointestinal Subspecialty: A Pilot comparative study in an academic setting.” American Society for Clinical Pathology. September, 2024. Chicago, IL. Blue Ribbon finalist.
Resendes NM, Chada A, Torres-Morales A, Fernandez M, Diaz-Quiñones A, Gomez C, Oomrigar S, Burton L, Ruiz JG. Association between a Frailty Index from Common Laboratory Values and Vital Signs (FI-LAB) and Hospital and Post-Hospital Outcomes in Veterans with COVID-19 Infection. J Nutr Health Aging. 2023;27(2):89-95. doi: 10.1007/s12603-023-1886-0. PMID: 36806863; PMCID: PMC9893965.
Vargas G, Azarbal J, Chada A, Hammel IR, Resendes N, Cevallos V, Tang F, Ruiz JG. “The Association of Frailty with Risk for Institutionalization in High Need High Risk Older Veterans With Aortic Stenosis.” American College of Cardiology. April, 2022. Washington, DC.
A Chada, A Gonell, H Abdul, Tang F, JG Ruiz, IR Hammel. “Relationship between Frailty and Dementia in High-Need High-Risk Older Veterans”. University of Miami Research Day. March, 2022. Miami, FL.
Chada, A.M.M., Revoredo, A.M.S. “Risk factors for yellow fever in patients in treatment for malaria at Evandro Chagas Institute.” Brazilian Internal Medicine Conference. 12 October, 2012. Porto Alegre, RS. Brazil.
