About Representation IN Rehab

  • What We Do

    We promote PM&R to underrepresented students in medicine

    We increase access to opportunities in PM&R

    We build community around a commitment to health equity

  • Why We Do It

    There is no PM&R organization devoted to solely discussing diversity, equity and inclusion.

    Most medical schools do not have a PM&R residency program therefore students are not exposed to physiatry. Underrepresented students in medicine are most affected by this

  • How We Do it

    Resources - we have built and maintained an up-to-date application guide, away rotation guide, list of PM&R programs with funding for UIM students, mentorship program and more. We also have webinars and journal clubs.

    People - we have an active Slack community, strong social media following and we connect in person at conferences and online

Recent events

RiR and Medical Students with Disability and Chronic Illness (MSDCI) held an important conversation: Navigating Medical Training & Residency Applications with Disabilities

Tune in to hear from some of our RiR members who successfully navigated the Match this past year.

Explore our community

2025-2026 Resident leadership

  • Chandan Saini

    President

    PGY-3 Rush University

    Read Bio

  • Luis Valdez

    Vice-President

    PGY-3 UT Health San Antonio

    Read Bio

  • Andrew Rivera

    Media Committee

    PGY-3 - Mount Sinai at Icahn SOM

  • Karam Hamada

    Media Committee

    PGY-2 - Texas Rehabilitation Hospital of Ft. Worth

  • David Phrathep

    Mentorship Committee

    PGY-2 - Mayo Clinic FL

  • Harrison Jordan

    Mentorship Committee

    PGY- 3 - East Carolina University

  • Atharv Patwardhan

    Outreach Committee

    PGY-1 - Casa Colina

  • Trevor Anesi

    Outreach Committee

    PGY-2 - Stanford

  • Matthew Joseph

    Research Committee

    PGY-1 - University of Connecticut

  • Raquel Johnson

    Research Committee

    PGY-3 - University of Missouri

2025-2026 Student leadership

  • Abhinary Aeruva

    Media Committee

    University of Arizona College of Medicine - Pheonix

  • Jesus Alvarado Salinas

    Media Committee

    Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine

  • Kelly Dong

    Media Committee

    Western COMP

  • Morgan Storino

    Media Committee

    Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University

  • Rhoda Hijazi

    Media Committee

    SHSU College of Medicine

  • Shaili Kothari

    Media Committee

    LMU-DCOM

  • Sharon Nguyen

    Media Committee

    UNTHSC Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine

  • Alina Abraham

    Mentorship Committee

    NYITCOM

  • Ashley Thornton

    Mentorship Committee

    Albany Medical College

  • Emma Singleton

    Mentorship Committee

    University of Utah

  • Faiad Alam

    Mentorship Committee

    Texas Tech University Health Science Center

  • Gennyka Liebenthal

    Mentorship Committee

    Michigan State College of Osteopathic Medicine

  • Michelle Nguyen

    Mentorship Committee

    University of California, Irvine

  • Sona Santy

    Mentorship Committee

    NYITCOM

  • Daiana Takashima

    Outreach Committee

    Emory University School of Medicine

  • Geoffrey Zhang

    Outreach Committee

    Drexel University College of Medicine

  • Muneeb Zaidi

    Outreach Committee

    Research Year - Johns Hopkins

  • Nora Rodriguez

    Outreach Committee

    McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston

  • Stephen Chien

    Outreach Committee

    Drexel University College of Medicine

  • Suzanna Martin

    Outreach Committee

    LECOM

  • Vanessa Donaldson

    Outreach Committee

    Oklahoma State University - College of Osteopathic Medicine

  • Akinchita Kumar

    Research Committee

    LMU-DCOM

  • Alfeil Felipe

    Research Committee

    Kansas City University

  • Anjana Ganesh

    Research Committee

    University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

  • Danyal Tahseen

    Research Committee

    Sam Houston State University College of Osteopathic Medicine

  • Om Dalal

    Research Committee

    Indiana University School of Medicine

  • Zain Sattar

    Research Committee

    University of Illinois College of Medicine Peoria

  • Zarif Ladak

    Research Committee

    Rowan-Virtua SOM

2023-2024 Resident Leadership Team

  • Woman with glasses smiling with white background

    Roxana Garcia, MD MPH

    Founder, Executive Director

    Medical School: UCSF

    Residency: Stanford

    About Me

  • Allison Wallingford, MD

    Associate Director, Media Committee

    Medical School: Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

    Residency: University of Washington

    About Me

  • Yue Meng, MD

    Outreach Committee

    Medical School: Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell

    Residency: Stanford

    About Me

  • Quinn Howard, MD

    Media Committee

    Medical School: Howard University

    Residency: UC Davis

    About Me

  • Alexandra Fry, MD

    Research Committee

    Medical School: University of Alabama School of Medicine

    Residency: Beaumont

    About Me

2024-2025 student leadership team

After a competitive selection process, we have chosen our 2024-2025 student leadership team. The students below are continuing with us from the 2023-2024 team. We can’t wait for you to meet the newest members of the team.

  • Caitlin Aguirre

    Outreach Committee

    School: UT Medical Branch

  • Angela Ballesteros

    Outreach Committee

    School: TTUHSC SOM

  • Stephen Chen

    Outreach Committee

    School: Drexel

  • Lauren Clarke

    Outreach Committee

    School: Stanford

  • Rhoda Hijazi

    Outreach Committee

    School: SHSU COM

  • Maxwell Li

    Outreach Committee

    School: OUWB

  • queenDenise Okeke

    Outreach Committee

    School: PCOM

  • Josselyne Orbegoso

    Outreach Committee

    School: SHSU COM

  • Tija Passley

    Outreach Committee

    School: NYITCOM AR

  • Vince Song

    Outreach Committee

    School: Touro COM

  • Zachary Abdo

    Research Committee

    School: LECOM

  • Nicholas Bohannon

    Research Committee

    School: PCOM South Georgia

  • Fatima Fontus

    Research Committee

    School: LSU New Orleans

  • Luigi Gonzales

    Research Committee

    School: UC Irvine

  • Matthew Joseph

    Research Committee

    School: University of North Texas Fort Worth

  • Akinchita Kumar

    Research Committee

    School: LMU-DCOM

  • Selena Lugosi

    Research Committee

    School: UT San Antonio

  • Peter Nguyen

    Research Committee

    School: A.T. Still

  • Sahil Patel

    Research Committee

    School: Nova Southeastern

  • Zain Sattar

    Research Committee

    School: University of Illinois

  • Tanvee Sinha

    Research Committee

    School: University of Alabama Birmingham

  • Danyal Tahseen

    Research Committee

    School: SHSU COM

  • Youshaa El-Abed

    Mentorship Committee

    School: Kansas City University

  • Mengdong He

    Mentorship Committee

    School: UCLA

  • Dianna Levin

    Mentorship Committee

    School: NSUKPCOM

  • Swathi Mettela

    Mentorship Committee

    School: Penn State

  • Kate reidy

    Mentorship Committee

    School: MSUCOM

  • Ashley Thornton

    Mentorship Committee

    School: Albany

  • Matthew Tan

    Media Committee

    School: Western University of Health Sciences

  • Krisha Amin

    Media Committee

    School: University of South Alabama

  • Jennifer Lee

    Media Committee

    School: Rutgers NJMS

  • Brian Gutierrez

    Media Committee

    School: UQ-Ochsner

  • Valencia Henry

    Media Committee

    School: VCOM

  • Morgan Storino

    Media Committee

    School: Lewis Katz at Temple

  • Karam Hamada

    Karam Hamada

    Media Committee

    School: University of Kansas School of Medicine

History

  • Dr. Garcia at Stanford had the idea for this organization December 2021

  • She contacted Dr. Wallingford at UW. A team was assembled to support this mission

  • Representation in Rehab launched May 2022

2022-2023 Student Leadership Team

Chandan Saini, DO

Research Committee Student Co-Chair

Midwestern University ’23

Rush University PM&R Residency

Sidney Okon, MD

Outreach Committee Student Co-Chair

University of South Florida ’23

Baylor PM&R Residency

Nick Sullivan, MD

Media Committee Student Co-Chair

SUNY Downstate ’23

UPMC PM&R Residency

Jimmy To, DO

Media Committee, Website Manager

Burrell COM ’23

Gopher PM&R Residency

Roxana Garcia, MD, MPH

Founder, Executive Director

Stanford PM&R Residency

Yue Meng, MD

Outreach Committee

Stanford PM&R Residency

Allison Wallingford, MD

Associate Director

UW PM&R Residency

Seye Raymond, MD

Mentorship Committee

Johns Hopkins SOM ’23

Jefferson PM&R Residency

Luis Valdez, MD

Mentorship Committee

UT Houston McGovern ’23

UT Houston PM&R Residency

Ashley Otto, DO

Mentorship Committee

Philadelphia COM ’23

Jefferson PM&R Residency

Janae Chatmon, MD

Mentorship Committee

UCLA SOM ’23

Stanford PM&R Residency

2022-2023 Resident Leadership Team

Sparsh Ray, MD

Research Committee

Texas Tech University SOM ’23

NM Marionjoy PM&R Residency

Mira Modi, DO

Research Committee

Kansas City University COM ’23

Schwab PM&R Residency

Erik Anderson, DO

Touro University CA ’22

Honor Health PM&R Residency

Lauren Clarke, Outreach Committee

Stanford University SOM

Youshaa El-Abed, Mentorship Committee

Kansas City University COM

Alexandra Fry, MD

Research Committee

Beaumont PM&R Residency

Ashley Sanchez, MD

Outreach Committee

Shirley Ryan PM&R Residency

Stacy Jones, MD, EdM

Outreach Committee

Stanford PM&R Residency

Quinn Howard, MD

Media Committee

UC Davis PM&R Residency