Honoring the Heart of Our Department: Resident Appreciation Week!

03/03/2026

Resident Appreciation Week 2026: A Record-Breaking Celebration

resident appreciation week 2026 polaroid collage

Last week, our department proudly celebrated Resident Appreciation Week 2026, recognizing the dedication, resilience, and commitment of our exceptional residents!

Thanks to the incredible generosity of our faculty, alumni, advanced practice providers, and the Houston EM Foundation, we raised a record amount this year in support of our residents.

Top Donors

  • Sam Luber, MD, MPH, FACEP
  • Jamie McCarthy, MD, MHA, FACEP
  • Mike Van Meter, MD, MPH
  • Houston EM Foundation

Faculty Donors

Victoria Morris, Hashim Zaidi, Michael Vu, Fanni Cardenas, Brandon O’Keefe, Shabana Walia, Eric Power, Jessica Wilson, Karl Upplegger, Kay Takenaka, Alex Lazar, Kayleigh Fischer, Gowri Stevens, Sadia Jamshad, Thomas McCarty, Jessica Dunn, Kunal Sharma, Sunny Elagandhala, Salil Bhandari, Hilary Fairbrother, Jackie Furbacher, Jennifer Liu, Rachel Bower, Sara Miller, Christine Ju, Janel Paukovits, Kris Lehnhardt, Joseph Gill, Toby Thomas, Charles Maddow, Jasmine Ginn, Dorian Alexander

Alumni Donors

Gunnar Reichenberger, Zack Timmons, Jason Lesnick, Timothy George, Adam Woods, Nishtha Sharma

APP Donors

Anne Ervine, Tina Chacko

2026 Resident Raffle Winners

Monday

  • Houston Rodeo Ticket (Dr. Wilson): Angela Yu
  • Juiceland $50 (Dr. Furbacher): Kevin Taylor, Kaycee Fillmore, Tommy Maloney, Libby Collyer, Madison Matsuda
  • DoorDash $50 (Dr. Bhandari): Riya Sreenivasan, Alyssa Poe, Hunter Pope
  • Regal Cinema $50 (Dr. Bhandari): Evan Wolff, Allison Grim, Chandni Aghera, Kenneth Paul, Ngozi Pierce

Tuesday

  • La La Land $75 (Dr. Bhandari): Isabelle Gefke, Hunter Harbold, Cait Minutella, Chloe Wentland, Cade Johnson, Aqeeb Ali, Neha Kuderu, Sam Long
  • Local Foods $75 (Dr. Furbacher): Bailey Singleton, Luke Gjondla, Dan Walter, Tomas Hernandez, Justin Peoples, Samantha Boever, Alex Goay, Jay Harrell

Wednesday

  • DoorDash $100 (Dr. Bhandari): Yoseph Mahmoud, Carra Banda, Serena Meng, Jaden Hattery, Lizzie Smith, Rahi Patel, Alaina Arthur, Mariah Arneson, Altamish Daredia
  • Target $100 (Dr. Furbacher): Sager Patel, Ethan Heh, Shazia Malik, Elliot Flint, Elias Perli

Thursday

  • ClassPass $100 (Dr. Furbacher): Lorenzo Baeza, Abbey Pastorelle, Dailey Watson, Delaney Rahl, Neil Orton, Jennifer Lee, Amara Ogoke, Linda Nguyễn
  • GEN BBQ $100 (Dr. Bhandari): Jordan Wallis, Ravi Soni, Dale Boardman, Christina Anderson, Bre Williams

Friday

  • El Tiempo $100 (Dr. Bhandari): Hannah Mainor, Gigi Villasana, Deena Abdelhalim, Ryan Johnson, Samuel Buske
  • Uchiko $150 (Dr. Wilson): Tiffany Shields

Saturday – Grand Prizes

  • Katami Dinner for Two (Dr. Timmons): Serena Meng
  • Costa Rica Trip (Dr. Reichenberger): Alaina Arthur

raffle collage RAW 2026

Additional Resident Gift

Each resident will also receive a pair of high-quality compression socks, which will be placed in mailboxes next week. These are intended to provide comfort and support during long shifts in the ED.

Gift cards will be distributed directly by Dr. Wilson, Dr. Furbacher, and Dr. Bhandari to ensure confirmation of receipt.

We would also like to extend a special thank you to Dr. Bhandari for coordinating the majority of the efforts behind this year’s celebration. His thoughtful planning and continued dedication to our residents played a significant role in making this week such a success.

For the full list of raffle videos, please see below:

To our Residents: thank you for your unwavering commitment to patient care and to the continued excellence of our program.
To our Donors & Supporters: thank you for investing in the people who represent the future of Emergency Medicine.