Bella Akpan, MD

Aspiring mental health advocate and to empower with knowledge.There is light at the end of the tunnel.

[Kevin Pho, M.D. @kevinmd]

A physician says he was removed from his residency over feedback that existed in no evaluation system, from faculty members who were never identified, in a meeting where he was told no explanations or objections would be heard.

Vasilii Khammad is a physician and researcher who came to the United States as a Fulbright Scholar and matched into a pediatrics residency in 2024. He passed his rotations and says he scored around the national average on the in-training exam. He wrote two manuscripts and about five abstracts with the pediatric hematology and oncology team.

In October, first-year residents brought workload and scheduling concerns to a group meeting with the program director. He says the residents who spoke up began taking pressure afterward, and in his case that meant repeated one-on-one meetings where his medical knowledge was questioned. He asked for specifics. He says he was pointed to comments that weren't in the evaluation system, attached to no named faculty member. "Every time I asked what this anonymous feedback was based on, I never got a clear answer."

By February he was placed on a focused review, which he describes as the formal process for a resident considered to be failing, with a mandatory ADHD evaluation written into the plan. He names the likely reason himself. His first in-training exam came in his first month of residency and didn't go well, and part of the program director's own work in adolescent medicine involves ADHD. His objection isn't to the evaluation. It's to a referral that was mandatory and sat inside a disciplinary process.

He decided to transfer. He says the program director told him she would completely support the decision.

In April he was called out of a shift, told he couldn't come alone, and taken to a conference room in an administrative building where the designated institutional official, two faculty members and the program director were waiting. He says a long list of allegations was read out, his attempt to respond was stopped, and his request for documents or evidence produced nothing. He handed over his badge and was escorted out of the building mid-shift, in front of colleagues and patients.

Two separate things, months apart. The comments in the one-on-one meetings started after October. The allegations were read out in April. He doesn't say they were the same list. What both have in common, in his telling, is that he was never shown what he was accused of and never allowed to answer it.

He says he learned during the legal process that preparations for his removal had begun several days before that meeting. On his account, the decision was made before he was in the room.

Afterward, no call from the legal office and no contact from anyone responsible for international trainees. His access was revoked the same day, so he couldn't initiate contact either. "No one explained what my rights were, what options I had, or even where I could go for help." And no attorney would take the case: "I'm a foreign medical specialist on a J-1 visa."

He filed an internal appeal, then complaints with the ACGME, federal agencies and a state commission. Those are under review, and all of the above is his account of events that are now contested.

Listen to the full conversation on The Podcast by KevinMD. Link in the replies.

If you had to give a first-year resident one sentence about protecting themselves before anything goes wrong, what would it be?

#MedEd #ThePodcastbyKevinMD

[Àgbà John Doe @jon_d_doe]

As a parent, I think this video has taught me something useful.

I recommend that you should try it on your kids, too.

I have also shared it with my wife.

Credit: joe_drummer_boy on IG.

[Power of Positivity @LIVEpositivity]

Your mind is a garden... 🌱💭

[Kari Joys MS @KariJoys]

#Affirmations to start your day!

#JoyTrain #Joy #Love #Mindset #Quote #MentalHealth #Quote #Mindfulness #SaturdayMorning #SaturdayMotivation #SaturdayThoughts #ThinkBIGSundayWithMarsha RT @plazmuh111

[Naija @Naija_PR]

Thoughts?!

[Sub-Pharmacist🍏 @subpharmacist]

1. Eggs are good for the brain.
2. Water is good for the kidneys.
3. Cabbage is good for the liver.
4. Cucumber is good for the skin.
5. Oranges are good for the colon.
6. Carrots are good for the eyes.
7. Ginger is good for the lungs.
8. Avocado is good for the heart.
9. Fresh tomatoes is good for the prostate.
10. Red bell pepper is good for the lungs.
11. Green beans is good for the bones.
12. Exercise is good for your overall health.
13. Repost, it is good for others.

[Suczalka @JavaHolly]

putting up art i forgot to share back in like december because. i need to. Alois D’courtois

[ESPN @espn]

Tiger celebrating #SerenaWilliams like he just hit a winning putt 💪

[Bella Akpan, MD @bella_akpan]

The point of power is always in the present moment. The only thing we are ever dealing with is a thought and a thought can be changed. Louise Hay @ Coney Island Creek https://t.co/q1hy9auOki

[Bella Akpan, MD @bella_akpan]

https://t.co/jV4MmHxMSZ

[Bella Akpan, MD @bella_akpan]

Check out this book I am selling on PangoBooks https://t.co/Py7ZbopSgm via @PangoBooks

[Joshua Budhu @JoshuaBudhu]

My suggested reading list before starting residency:

Being Mortal
Emperor of All Maladies
What the Eyes Don't See
When Breath Becomes Air
In Shock
One by One by One
An American Sickness
House of God
Anything by Oliver Sachs

Any other suggestions?

[Bella Akpan, MD @bella_akpan]

@JavaHolly Happy birthday

[Bella Akpan, MD @bella_akpan]

@doc_bipolar Wishing you success

[Bella Akpan, MD @bella_akpan]

@PoleDoctress None of your business

[Bella Akpan, MD @bella_akpan]

Just posted a photo @ Brooklyn, New York https://t.co/fkepsTHVVb

[Tyler Gordon @tygordonsworld]

You guys my book arrived and I am speechless! I can't believe I wrote and illustrated a book that will actually be in places like Barnes & Noble and Amazon! I'm just a kid from San Jose! My book, 'We Can Portraits of Power' comes out September 28th and I hope you all Enjoy it!

[Bella Akpan, MD @bella_akpan]

Troubled teen sets NYC apartment on fire, jumps to death from roof https://t.co/JqSEVA4AB7 via @nypmetro No one will talk about who abused him and scarred him mentally . They will blame it on something else. Mental illness is caused by society who abuses and torments you