81st Medical Group interns, residents graduate June 10 Published June 2, 2010 By Dr. Kenneth Levin 81st Medical Group KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. -- Thirty-two physicians and dentists graduate from 81st Medical Group internship and residency training, 2 p.m. June 10 in Keesler Hospital's Don Wylie Auditorium. Air Force Deputy Surgeon General Brig. Gen. (Dr.) Byron Hepburn will deliver the commencement address. Physician graduates include six residents with three years of specialty training in internal medicine. This is of special significance to the Keesler community as this is Keesler's first internal medicine residency graduating class since Hurricane Katrina. This culminates five difficult years as the hospital faced many infrastructure challenges as well as rebuilding its teaching faculty post-Hurricane Katrina. The internal medicine residency received a three-year accreditation status from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical education in 2009. Five pediatric residents, four from the University of Mississippi Medical Center and one from Louisiana State University, will also graduate. Physicians who complete these programs are eligible to take board certification examinations in their specialty and are assigned to military hospitals in the U.S. and overseas. Four of the graduating internal medicine residents were selected for fellowship training and are headed to San Antonio. All nine medical graduates completing one-year internships continue their residency training at Keesler. Eight graduating dentists are completing a one-year advanced education in general dentistry residency and two are completing a one-year general practice residency. They will be assigned as military dentists at other bases. Keesler hosts the largest one-year AEGD program in the Air Force. The two-year dental graduates are completing a residency in endodontics and will be assigned to other bases as specialists. Graduates are: Internal medicine Third-year postgraduates: Maj. (Dr.) William Pomeroy and Capts. (Drs.) Mark Burbridge, Raetesha Dabney, Clint Hoangquocgia, Keith Kramer and Ryan Stoner. First-year postgraduates: Capts. (Drs.) Adam Ackerman, Steven Deas, Mauricio Decastro-Pretelt, Kevin Loh, Sabrina Sumner and Jordan Williams. Pediatrics Third-year postgraduates: Capts. (Drs.) Starrina Gianelloni (LSU) and Jeremy Harwood, Christeen Hodge, Kathryn Taylor and Robert Weatherwax (UMMC). General surgery First-year postgraduates: Capts. (Drs.) Kendrix Evans, Leslie Keller and Shea Pribyl. Dental Second-year postgraduates: Maj. (Dr.) Paul Hilfer and Capt. (Dr.) Jered King. First-year postgraduates: Capts. (Drs.) Joshua Breding, Cynthia Dominessy, John Dusenbury, Peter Frandsen, Johnathan Gerik, Anthony Kasallis, Jessica Milburn, Nicholas Polczynski, David Schindler and Paula Stepp.