The American Canadian School of Medicine prides itself on being a medical school that was created by physicians, for physicians. Our curriculum was developed by some of the leading doctors from the U.S. and Canada, and our dynamic faculty consists of passionate professionals who are at the forefront of medical education and are wholly committed to supporting student learning.
Director of Longitudinal Anatomy Lab Course Content
Dr. King is the Assistant Professor of Surgery at University of Wisconsin. He received his PhD, from Boston University School of Medicine in 2002 and graduated from the Ross University School of Medicine in 2010. He completed his General Surgery Residency at Medical College of Georgia in 2015 and his Colon and Rectal Surgery Fellowship at the University of Minnesota in 2016. As a graduate of Ross and Dominica campus, Dr. King has been dedicated to the education of medical students in Dominica and has developed the entire first year anatomy lab, leading the ACSOM instructors in their work to prepare a clinically focused and practical curriculum.
Director of Surgery/Anatomy Course Content, Surgery Adjunct Professor
Dr. Goodman is currently the Professor of Medical Education and Director of Surgical Education and Co-director of Organ Systems at the City University of New York (CUNY) School of Medicine. He received his M.D. at Cambridge University and his MBA with emphasis on leadership and strategy at Queen's University. Dr. Goodman then completed his surgical internship at Cambridge and moved on to complete his residency at the Maimonides Medical Center, Brooklyn, New York. He has also completed a research fellowship at the Columbia University Department of Surgery and a Trauma and Critical Care fellowship at the Coney Island Hospital, Brooklyn, New York. Dr. Goodman has been the Assistant Professor of Surgery and the director of Surgical Clerkship (MSB/MSBI) at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
He is Board Certified by the American Board of Surgery and holds a Certificate in Healthcare Delivery Leadership from Cornell University, and a Certificate in Surgical Leadership from Oxford University. Dr. Goodman is also a member of the American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery.
Director of Surgery/Head and Neck Anatomy Course Content, Surgery Adjunct Professor
Dr. Anaïs Rameau is an attending laryngologist at the Institute, and an Assistant Professor of Otolaryngology at Weill Cornell Medical College. She is a fellowship-trained otolaryngologist-head and neck surgeon, with advanced expertise in the evaluation and treatment of swallowing disorders, encompassing esophageal stenosis, gastro-esophageal reflux, dysmotility, sequelae of head and neck and thoracic radiation, Zenker’s diverticulum, and age-related dysphagia. Dr. Rameau also has specialized training in the management of chronic cough, treatment of benign diseases and malignant tumors of the larynx, voice restoration, and airway rehabilitation surgery.
Director of Surgery/Anatomy Course Content, Surgery Adjunct Faculty
Dr. McMahon received his M.D. from National University of Ireland, Galway and went on to complete his master of public health at University College Dublin. He is also completing a master of business administration at the National College of Ireland. Dr. McMahon has completed his residency in general and vascular surgery and has served as an Orthopedic senior house officer. His research interests include quality improvement, endovascular surgery, postoperative use of anticoagulants, and clinical leadership.
Director of Head and Neck Anatomy/Ophthalmology Curriculum Content, Ophthalmology Adjunct Professor
Dr. Paikal received his bachelor of science in Cell and Molecular Biology at UCLA and went on to complete medical school at UCLA. He completed his internship at UCLA Medical Center and his Ophthalmology residency at the UCLA Jules Stein Eye Institute. Dr. Paikal is currently the Associate Clinical Professor of Ophthalmology at the UCLA Jules Stein Eye Institute.
Co-Director of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Public Health Course Content, Epidemiology Adjunct Professor
Dr. Petrini received her master in public health from Yale University and her PhD from New York University. She has published widely in the fields of perinatal epidemiology and public health. Dr. Petrini has been a leader of teams in clinical, translational, and health outcomes research and innovation at Western Connecticut Health Network. She was formerly Director of the Perinatal Data Center at the National March of Dimes Foundation and Chief Science Officer at the National Institute for Children’s Health Quality (NICHQ). Dr. Petrini served as one of 15 members of the Advisory Committee on Infant Mortality for the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services. She was also selected as the recipient of the 2001 National Young Professional Achievement Award, from the Coalition for Excellence in Maternal and Child Health Epidemiology.
Co-Director of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Public Health Course Content, Epidemiology Adjunct Professor
Dr. Khoshnood is an Associate Professor and Director of Undergraduate Studies at the Yale School of Public Health and an executive committee member at Yale Council on Middle East Studies. He is co-founder of Yale Violence and Health Study Group and a faculty member of the Program on Conflict, Resiliency and Health at the Yale MacMillan Center. Dr. Khoshnood is trained as an infectious disease epidemiologist and has more than three decades of domestic and international experience in HIV prevention research among people who use drugs and other at-risk populations. Dr. Khoshnood's research interests include: 1) epidemiology and prevention of HIV/AIDS, 2) research ethics and 3) humanitarian health. His projects are primarily in China, Lebanon and Bhutan. Dr. Khoshnood teaches a new course on health in humanitarian crises.
Director of Pathology/Molecular Biology Course Content, Pathology Adjunct Faculty
Dr. Fiedler is Attending Pathologist at Nuvance Health. He also holds academic appointments at Yale University, the University of Vermont, and Ross University. With 29 years of experience as an attending pathologist, medical educator and inventor of medical tests, Dr. Fiedler is part of a team of highly skilled pathologists, scientists, pathology residents and medical technologists that provide laboratory services for patients in Connecticut and New York and develop novel assays that have promising clinical applications. His research interests relate to Lyme disease, circulating tumor cells in whole blood, the microbiome of colorectal neoplasia and the quantification of protein biomarkers in tissue. Dr. Fiedler has published over 30 papers and has been granted 9 United States patents. He recently served on the Practice Management Committee for the College of American Pathologists and is past-president of both the Connecticut Society of Pathologists and American Association for Clinical Chemistry, Connecticut Valley Section. In addition, Dr. Fiedler has provided consultative services to pharmaceutical and diagnostic companies and has been retained as an expert witness in medical-legal proceedings.
Co-Director, Cardiovascular Module
Dr. Plavec is the Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine at Yale School of Medicine. He completed his M.D. at Charles University in Prague and his internal medicine residency at Yale-Griffin Internal Medicine residency training program in Connecticut. He went on to serve as Chief Medical Resident at Cleveland Clinic. He then joined Oschner Clinic Foundation as a cardiology fellow, as well as the chief cardiology fellow before returning to Connecticut where he now is a cardiovascular medicine and cardiac imaging specialist at Yale New Haven Hospital. Dr. Plavec specializes in preventive cardiology, echocardiography, cardiac arrhythmias, implantable cardiac devices, and congestive heart failure.
Director of Internal Medicine and Critical Care Course Content, Internal Medicine Adjunct Professor
Dr. Tuktamyshov is assistant clinical professor of medicine at the Yale school of Medicine. He completed his residency in Internal Medicine at the Yale-New Haven Hospital Saint Raphael campus. Dr. Tuktamyshov is a member of Northeastern medical group and chief of hospitalist service at Yale New Haven Hospital. His interest areas are critical care, hospital medicine, and bedside teaching.
Director of Behavioral Medicine Course Content, Behavioral Medicine Adjunct Faculty
Dr. Seif attended Virginia Commonwealth University for her residency in Psychiatry and completed her fellowship in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the University of Maryland. Dr. Seif is a board-certified psychiatrist in the U.S. and Canada. She is an integrative psychiatrist that looks at the whole patient. Dr. Seif not only treats the illness itself, but her goal is to also prevent future illnesses and improve the well-being of the individual to reach their ultimate level of health mentally, physically, and spiritually. Dr. Seif has been awarded several teaching awards and recognized for outstanding teaching of her medical students.
Director of Simulation Center, Clinical Medicine Adjunct Professor
John Leopold is an accomplished simulation leader. He is a board-certified family nurse practitioner, diabetes educator, and wound care specialist. He is passionate about advancing clinical education through innovation and simulation to achieve excellence in patient care. Mr. Leopold has been successful at developing, introducing and growing new facilities, programs, and services. He is skilled at managing personnel and projects; designing curricula; educating and assessing clinicians; evaluating programs; applying research and care standards; establishing institutional protocols and procedures; ensuring regulatory compliance; developing formularies; building cooperative work environments; and motivating individual excellence. Mr. Leopold is experienced in improving individual and community health in diverse communities with multidisciplinary teams.
Director of Nephrology Course Content, Nephrology Adjunct Professor
Dr. Tolouian is Clinical professor of Medicine at University of Arizona College of Medicine. Dr. Tolouian graduated from Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine. He completed his internal medicine residency at Yale-Griffin internal medicine residency training program and his nephrology fellowship at Los Angeles County - USC Medical Center. He is currently the Chief of Nephrology at VA in Tucson, Arizona.
Co-Director of Cardiology Course Content, Cardiology Adjunct Professor
Dr. Kaveh Sadigh is a clinical cardiologist and Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine at Stony Brook. He spends his clinical time between inpatient cardiology in the CCU and the Cardiac stepdown unit, as well as the Cardiology consultation service. In this capacity, he teaches medical students, residents, as well as cardiology fellows. He also has a prolific outpatient practice. Dr. Sadigh obtained a masters in biological science from Drexel University. He then went on to Tulane University School of Medicine to complete a joint degree in Medicine and Public Health in Tropical Medicine. He completed his Internal Medicine training at Tulane Hospital and came to Stony Brook for his cardiology fellowship. Upon completion of his training, he joined the Cardiology faculty at Stony Brook.
Dr. Sadigh’s true passion is in medical education. From teaching bedside rounds with the house staff to lecturing in the School of Medicine, he is heavily invested in training the next generation of physicians.
Co-Director of Cardiology Course Content, Cardiology Adjunct Professor
Dr. Mazhari is an Associate Professor of Medicine at the George Washington University. She specializes in interventional cardiology, cardiac catheterization and peripheral vascular disease. Her clinical interests include management of patients with coronary disease, peripheral vascular disease, hemodynamic studies, congestive heart failure, and valvular heart disease. Dr. Mazhari's research uses genomic testing to assess the population at risk for premature coronary artery disease, and to determine the outcome of patients with congestive heart failure. She is also interested in minimally invasive interventional procedures including trans-radial cardiac catheterization and interventions in women and elderly population. In her most recent paper, she discussed the increased risk and increased reward in coronary intervention in older patients with acute coronary syndrome.
Her professional activities include membership in the American College of Cardiology, the American Heart Association, and the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions. She has been consistently named a Washingtonian Top Doctor since 2012. Dr. Mazhari received her medical training at the Iran University of Medical Sciences and the SABA School of Medicine, and completed her internship and residency training at The George Washington University Hospital. Dr. Mazhari then went to Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard School of Medicine to complete a postdoctoral hypertension fellowship, and later returned to The George Washington University Hospital for a cardiology fellowship. She spent two years at Johns Hopkins University for a research fellowship in stem cell therapy, and interventional cardiology fellowship. Prior to joining The George Washington University faculty, Dr. Mazhari completed a peripheral vascular fellowship at Washington Hospital Center.
Director of Radiology and Digital Anatomy Course Content, Anatomy Adjunct Professor
Dr. Mojibian is the Associate Professor of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging and Associate Professor of Internal Medicine at Yale University School of Medicine. He also serves as director of Cardiac CT/MR imaging center at Yale. Dr. Mojibian completed his fellowships at Yale and Baylor College of Medicine. He completed his residency at Aultman Hospital/Neoucom, Canton, Ohio in 2004.
Director of Emergency Medicine Course Content, Emergency Medicine Adjunct Professor
Dr. Zehtabchi is Professor and Vice Chairman for Scientific Affairs and Research in Emergency Medicine at SUNY Downstate. He graduated from Mashhad University (1993) and completed his residency training at SUNY Downstate Medical center/Kings County Hospital. His areas of research interest are Trauma, Hemorrhagic Shock, and evidence-based medicine.
Director of Geriatric Medicine and Aging Course Content, Geriatrics Adjunct Professor
Dr. Khorasani Far completed his residency at Yale-Griffin Hospital in Connecticut and his Geriatrics fellowship at Mayo clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Currently he works as an Internist/Hospitalist for Kaiser Permanente Long Beach Memorial Center, California. Dr. Khorasani Far has worked extensively with medical students and residents as a clinician educator.
Director of Pulmonary and Critical Care Curriculum Content, Anesthesiology Adjunct Professor
Dr. Saidi completed her Anesthesiology residency at Yale New Haven Hospital, Yale School of Medicine in 2003 and went on to complete her fellowship at University of Western Ontario University Hospital in 2005. She graduated from Universidad Eugenio Maria de Hostos School of Medicine and completed her internship at Yale-Griffin internal medicine residency program. Dr. Saidi has an interest in humanitarian emergencies and volunteered for emergency aid relief to Haiti in 2011 after the earthquake.
Faculty/Instructor
Dr. Abdrakhimova graduated from Kazan State Medical University (KSMU) in 2017. She completed her residency training in Neonatology at Kazan State Medical Academy (KSMA). From 2019 to 2021, Dr. Abdrakhimova has worked as neonatologist in different hospitals in Kazan (Department of pathology of newborns and premature babies – City Children Hospital №1, Department of newborns – Maternity Hospital of Kazan Federal University, Pediatric department for patients with COVID-19 – Regional Clinical Infectious Diseases Hospital).
Since 2020, Dr. Abdrakhimova has been a member of teaching faculty of Graduate Medical Education Development Global, working on curriculum development for the American Canadian School of Medicine, lecture and instructional material development and implementation, conducting workshops for international students and ICU nursing staff, training and evaluation of students and trainees.
Faculty/Instructor
Dr. Belogubova graduated from I.M. Sechnov First Moscow State Medical University in 2019 and completed her residency in general medicine before joining the ACSOM curriculum and faculty development team in 2022. She has served as project manager for AMEE International Network Center since 2018, promoting medical education and successfully training more than 130 faculty members and providing AMEE Specialist Certificate to 23 faculty members. She received her AMEE Specialist Certificate in 2021 and was awarded the status of Associate Fellow of AMEE. She has completed the Johns Hopkins Curriculum Development course with certification and the Stanford Model of Teaching Course in 2022.
Faculty/Instructor
Dr. Mukhametshina graduated from Kazan State Medical University (KSMU) in 2017. She has successfully finished her residency training in general adult psychiatry and narcology at KSMU in 2019, during which time she was awarded a special achievement scholarship for young psychiatrists.
Dr. Mukhametshina is actively involved in the international affairs of KSMU. She started on her path of international engagement as a National Research Exchange Officer of Tatarstan Medical Students Associations (TaMSA-Tatarstan), organizing research exchanges in more than 20 countries around the world. Later, she became a president of Tatarstan Medical Students Association.
She has been working with GMED Global for the last 5 years helping to develop the curriculum of ACSOM. She also has significant experience in student support services and has worked with KSMU Student Support Services. Dr. Mukhametshina is an active member of the European Federation of Psychiatric Trainees (EFPT) with responsibility for organizing internships and clerkships for psychiatrists from all over Europe. She also represents the Young Russian Psychiatrist Society in the international arena and plans to continue to aid the organization’s growth in the years ahead.
Faculty/Instructor
Dr. Kondratiuk graduated from I.M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University in 2019 and completed his residency in internal medicine before joining ACSOM curriculum and faculty development team in 2022. He has worked at Bakulev Medical Research Center of Cardiovascular Surgery from 2017 to 2019. He has completed the Johns Hopkins Curriculum Development course with certification and the Stanford Model of Teaching Course in 2022. Dr. Kondratiuk has developed an online EKG and Cardiology course for USMLE Step 1 preparation.
Faculty/Instructor
Dr. Shadab received her BSc in biomedical science from Hull York Medical School at University of Hull-Kingston. She then went on to complete her MRes Degree and DIC Cancer Biology at the Imperial College of London Medical School, working at the department of surgery and cancer for 6 years. She has experience working with industry and product development and her area of interest is cancer biology research.
Faculty/Instructor
Dr. Khalitov was trained at the Infectious Disease fellowship program at Penn State University, Milton S. Hershey Medical Center in Pennsylvania. He completed his M.D. and residency in Internal Medicine at Kazan State Medical University and was a global health scholar of Yale University/Makerere University/KSMU Global Health program.
Dr. Khalitov has worked in a number of U.S. hospitals including Yale New Haven Hospital, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, and St Mary’s and Waterbury Hospitals in Waterbury, Connecticut.
He has conducted research on microbiology education and educational rounds during the Pandemic, developing and implementing a remote access curriculum under the direction of Dr. David Craft at PSHMC. He has also helped develop Tropical Medicine teaching modules under direction of Dr. Majid Sadigh.
Director of Family Medicine Curriculum Content, Family Medicine Adjunct Faculty
Dr. Monroy is a board certified family medicine doctor in Flagstaff, AZ. She received her undergraduate degree from University of New Mexico (Main Campus) and her medical degree from Indiana University School of Medicine. She completed her family medicine residency at Union Hospital. Dr. Monroy currently practices at Ponderosa Pines Care and Rehab Inc and is affiliated with Flagstaff Medical Center and has been in practice for more than 20 years. She will supervise the content of Family Medicine Clerkship and deliver some of the family medicine course content to the 3rd year ACSOM medical students.
Director of Cardiopulmonary Simulation Curriculum Content, Anesthesiology Adjunct Faculty
Dr. Peters completed his undergraduate education at Case Western Reserve University and later at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He went on to get his master of science degree from Medical College of Wisconsin and then obtained his M.D. from University of South Dakota School of Medicine. Dr. Peters initially completed his residency in Internal Medicine at Medical College of Wisconsin and Mount Sinai Medical Center. He was boarded by the ABIM and practiced internal medicine for a decade in Howard Young Medical Center in Woodruff, Wisconsin. He was Chairman of the Department of Internal Medicine and supervised many students and residents in the field of Internal Medicine. In 1989, Dr. Peters returned to Medical College of Wisconsin to complete a second residency in Anesthesiology and went on to obtain a second board with American Board of Anesthesia.
Director of Radiology and Digital Anatomy Course Content, Radiology Adjunct Faculty
Dr. Blackman graduated from Howard University College of Medicine and went on to complete his internship at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. He then completed his residency training at University of Florida College of Medicine in Diagnostic Radiology. Following his residency Dr. Blackman completed a fellowship in Vascular and Interventional Radiology at University of Florida College of Medicine. He is board certified by the American Board of Radiology Radiology.
Faculty/Instructor
Dr. Ahmadi is an academic ophthalmologist with subspecialty training in anterior segment. He has taught medical students and residents for over a decade. Dr. Ahmadi has ten years of operative experience in anterior segment field including cataract and refractive surgery, post trauma primary repair, and complicated cataract surgeries such as PEX, Traumatic Cataract, Pediatric Cataract, Coloboma, Combined Surgery, Implantation of Toric and Premium IOL’s. He graduated from Kerman University of Medical Sciences, completed his Ophthalmology residency at University of Medical Sciences Shiraz, and went on to complete his fellowship in Anterior Segment at Tehran University. Dr. Ahmadi is a fully licensed anterior segment surgeon in both the United Arab Emirates and Iran.
Director of Radiology and Digital Anatomy Course Content, Radiology Adjunct Faculty
Dr. Bagherpour is an interventional radiologist who graduated from Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine. He completed a surgical internship at Mount Sinai, Beth Israel in Manhattan, followed by a radiology residency at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, where he was chief resident. Dr. Bagherpour then completed his fellowship training in vascular and interventional radiology at the University of Florida Health Sciences Center Jacksonville. He is a board-certified vascular and interventional radiologist who has had a robust academic career and specializes in minimally invasive therapeutic interventions. He was the Vascular and Interventional Radiology Residency Program Director at University of Texas Medical Branch. Dr. Bagherpour is certified in diagnostic radiology and interventional radiology by the American Board of Radiology.
Faculty/Instructor
Dr. Piatenko completed her M.D. at I.M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University (Sechenov University) with Honors and went on to complete an Internal Medicine Residency at Sechenov University. She remained there to complete a Cardiology Fellowship and then went to Bulgaria to do an internship with Prof. Dr. Paraskev Stoyanov, in Varn in internal medicine. Dr. Piatenko was awarded the Young GI Associate (MD) by United European Gastroenterology 2022. Dr. Piatenko has a passion for medical education and has completed the Johns Hopkins Curriculum Development course as well as the Stanford Faculty Development Program at Stanford Center for Professional Development.
Adjunct Faculty / instructor
Greg Gilbert has earned degrees in psychology (bachelor’s), public health with a concentration in biostatistics and epidemiology (master’s), and instructional leadership (doctorate). Greg holds Professional Statistician (PStat®) certification from the American Statistical Association.
He began his career working for the Charleston Heart Study as a biostatistician and continued his career at the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources. Greg then transitioned to the private sector working for a contract research organization (CRO). He then made a career shift to institutional research and medical education at the Medical University of South Carolina where he worked for several years.
After receiving his terminal degree, he was immediately hired as Director of Research at Healthcare Simulation South Carolina, a consortium conducting simulation-based education (SBE). It was at this time Greg was introduced to generalizability theory. With Greg’s background in psychology and his terminal degree in education he found psychometrics a perfect fit for his career in simulation working for Adtalem Global Education. At Adtalem Global Education. He received a faculty appointment at Ross University School of Medicine. Dr. Gilbert has worked with several different areas of healthcare education including medical, nursing, and veterinary educational gaming and simulation. After Adtalem, Dr Gilbert founded his own statistical consulting company ΣigmaΣtats® Consulting, LLC. In 2019, Greg took a position as a Senior Statistical Analyst at one of the largest contract research organizations in the world.
His research interests include generalizability theory, reliability, validity, and longitudinal (and generalized) linear mixed models. Dr. Gilbert has published almost 100 peer reviewed articles, several book chapters, is an associate editor for several journals, and a reviewer for many more.
