Member Spotlight Archive - December
Lina Dobronevsky
NYCPM Class of 2022
Delegate
Lina Dobronevsky has been elected as the American Podiatric Medical Students' Association (APMSA) Class of 2022 Delegate for NYCPM. She was born and raised in the Ukraine and moved to New York City with her family when she was 14. As an avid tennis player, Lina discovered the field of podiatry at the tennis center. There, she found her mentor, Dr. Arthur Gudeon, who inspired her to pursue a career in podiatry. As a graduate of Baruch College and having earned her post bac from Queens and Hunter College, Lina was shocked to discover how little exposure podiatry had in such a large education system in New York City. She aspires to be able to change that through her role as an APMSA delegate.Outside of school, Lina has a strong support system in her husband and their two children. This past Thanksgiving she had the delight to watch her 6 year daughter as a dancer in the Macy’s Day Parade. Lina is fully fluent in Russian and Hebrew. She also has a bearded pet dragon named Spike who is sometimes her study buddy. If given the opportunity, Lina would love to treat the magical feet of the world renowned ballerina, Misty Copeland.
Zishan Quader
NYCPM Class of 2022
Alternate Delegate
Zishan Quader has been elected as the American Podiatric Medical Students' Association (APMSA) Class of 2022 Alternate Delegate for NYCPM. Originally from New York, but raised in Jacksonville Florida, Zishan is back in the big city pursuing his passion of becoming a podiatrist. It was his undergraduate advisor at Emory University that introduced him to the field of podiatry. After shadowing local podiatrists, he says that this profession “was very personalized to him and his family history of diabetes”. He is excited to begin work with the NYCPM delegation and house of delegates to make an impact in our field.Outside of school, Zishan likes exploring new restaurants and whipping up a new recipe every week. If given the opportunity, Zishan would like to work on the feet of Lionel Messi. Go Barca! His favorite vacation destination is Alaska because it is far away from industrialization, and his most played song right now is “Clocks” by Coldplay.
Blake Pritchett
KSUCPM Class of 2022
Delegate
Blake Pritchett has been elected as the American Podiatric Medical Students' Association (APMSA) Class of 2022 Delegate for Kent State University College of Podiatric Medicine. Blake comes to us from Columbus, Georgia and recently found out that South Carolina is now the leading peach producer, which is, understandably, quite upsetting to him. Even though Blake is upset about the peaches, he do his best to get over it while consuming his favorite dessert: banana pudding. In his spare time, Blake is an avid football fan, particularly of the Georgia Bulldogs and Atlanta Falcons. When Blake was asked whom he would choose if he could work on any celebrity's feet, he responded with Nick Chubb. Chubb, of course, is now the starting running back for the local Cleveland Browns and played college football at Georgia.Blake chose podiatry because he found it "to be unique in that, from day one, its students are guaranteed to be in a surgical specialty while maintaining a sizeable number of hours in clinic.” He stated that he liked that “podiatrists see an incredibly wide range of patients, whether it be a high school athlete with an ankle fracture, a single mother suffering with hallux valgus pain, or an active grandmother being hindered by diabetic neuropathy.” Blake also likes how the future of podiatry is growing and that with the growing number of patients with foot care issues, including diabetes, there will always be those in need of care. Blake also really loves this profession allows for one to have a good balance between professional and family life.
Blake reported that his mentor is Charles Krauthammer, who was paralyzed during a diving accident and went on to finish his medical education from a hospital bed. "He had an unrivaled level of determination, intellect, integrity, and humility, all of which are things that I hope can be said about me one day.” Blake has a strong will and drive to do whatever he can do to better the field of podiatry in the now and in the future.
Ali Fadel
KSUCPM Class of 2022
Alternate Delegate
Ali Fadel has been elected as the American Podiatric Medical Students' Association (APMSA) Class of 2022 Alternate Delegate for Kent State University College of Podiatric Medicine. Ali comes to us from Ann Arbor, Michigan. He is Lebanese so one of his favorite vacation destinations is, of course, Lebanon, where he visits with family that he hasn’t seen in a long time. Ali finds that honesty is the most important characteristic an individual can have and he can honestly tell you that chicken fettuccini alfredo is his favorite meal, which is honestly a great choice. Between studying and more studying, Ali is somehow able to find time to relax by hitting the gym and working out. Even though Ali does study daily, he has a secret technique before exams which entails napping during the day and then studying up until the start of his exam - don’t tell him we let out his secret.Ali discovered podiatry after completing his prior education in public health. While studying and working in public health, Ali discovered that a “majority of the chronic diseases that develop within the human body can be identified by looking at the feet. Podiatric medicine is the first line of defense for many disease processes, and many of us take our feet for granted until these diseases develop into something worse and debilitating.” For Ali, podiatry was a calling for him to not only be able to use his public health background, but also to use medicine to help prevent diseases.
Lastly, a fun fact about Ali is that he was home schooled in the first grade, but only for that one year. He also shared that the pancake syrup used in television commercials is in fact motor oil because it is not absorbed as fast by the pancakes. Overall, Ali hopes to better the field of podiatry and feels that his background in public health will be one of his greatest strengths to do so.
Dan Kim
CSPM Class of 2022
Delegate
Mr. Daniel Kim has been elected as the American Podiatric Medical Students’ Association (APMSA) Class of 2022 Delegate for California School of Podiatric Medicine (CSPM) at Samuel Merritt University. His exposure to podiatric medicine started early on since his father is a podiatric physician. Having a podiatrist in the household only solidified his interest in pursuing a career in podiatric medicine. Daniel was most impressed at the wide variety of patients and cases he was seeing. There was never a dull moment in the office.Daniel grew up in Orange County, CA and was heavily involved in competitive sports such as baseball, basketball, and golf. Having sustained many ankle injuries over the years, he knew the importance of proper foot wear and care. He is also an avid landscape photographer. His love for the outdoors has taken him to some incredible locations in the American west such as Utah, Wyoming, Oregon, and Washington. Photography has provided an outlet for Daniel to be creative and get away from the hustle and bustle of work and school life.
Mr. Kim remained fairly active during his undergraduate studies at the University of California at Berkeley. If he wasn’t in the classroom studying or on his next quest for ideal photography locations, Mr. Kim devoted time to serving his college community. It was through volunteering that Mr. Kim learned about what issues had to be addressed in healthcare and how can we make it more accessible to those who cannot afford it as physicians. Mr. Kim has always been a prime advocate for podiatric medicine since his college days as it runs in his blood.
After graduating from UC Berkeley with a degree in Integrative Biology, Daniel worked as an emergency medical technician (EMT) in Southern California. After residency, Daniel hopes to move back to Orange County and practice alongside his father. He is excited to serve his classmates as an APMSA delegate.
Inshal Malik
CSPM Class of 2022
Alternate Delegate
Mr. Inshal Malik has been elected as the American Podiatric Medicinal Students’ Association (APMSA) Class of 2022 Alternate Delegate for California School of Podiatric Medicine (CSPM) at Samuel Merritt University. Motivated by his father's work ethic as a physician, as well as his love for sports and a passion for surgical medicine, Mr. Malik developed an interest in Podiatric Medicine. Mr. Malik grew up as the oldest of six kids on the eastern coast in the Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania. There, he grew up in the great outdoors and had competitive sports to find hobbies in. He has hiked and skied many of the various trails in the Pocono Mountains as well as played Varsity Basketball and Tennis at Moravian Academy High School. Aside from these sports, some hobbies Mr. Malik partakes in to let off steam from the inevitable stresses of life include boxing, muay thai, and lifting.
Prior to accepting his offer of admission to California School of Podiatric Medicine, Mr. Malik achieved his Bachelor's degree in Kinesiology at Temple University in Philadelphia. There he was involved as the Vice President of the Temple University Greek Association, which governed a body of over 5,000 Undergraduate students. Since graduating, Mr. Malik served as the Vice President of Communications for the National Executive Board for Iota Nu Delta Fraternity, Inc. This was a role that had Mr. Malik heavily involved in maintaining lines of communication to facilitate collaboration within his organization at the national, regional and 23 Undergraduate Charters at their respective campuses. In this role he oversaw public relations, record management, information technology and social media brand building.
Mr. Malik hopes to transition these leadership experiences and skills into being the best asset he can be for the American Podiatric Medicine Student Association. Mr. Malik understands the importance of leading by example and communication and looks forward to being the voice of his classmates in the frontlines of advocating for the field of Podiatric Medicine.