Hackensack Meridian JFK Johnson Rehabilitation Institute Announces Class of 2024 Fellowship and Residency Program Graduates
July 22, 2024
Hackensack Meridian JFK Johnson Rehabilitation Institute has announced the graduates of its prestigious Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Residency Program and subspecialty fellowship programs.
The highly ranked residency program trains physicians from around the nation who specialize in physical medicine and rehabilitation — and the fellowship programs train doctors who sub-specialize in pain medicine and brain injury medicine.
JFK Johnson Rehabilitation Institute’s Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Residency Program regularly receives a Five Star rating — the highest possible — from Doximity, the leading network for American physicians. The fellowship programs are among the nation’s most competitive. The residency and fellowship programs are accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME).
The 2024 graduating fellows are:
- Arielle Berkowitz, DO - (Brain Injury Medicine)
- Michael Bova, MD - (Pain Medicine)
The 2024 residency graduates are:
- Michael Chung, MD
- Phillip Gordon, MD
- Eric Heckelmann, MD
- Stacey Jou, MD
- Yi Zhou, MD
“Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation is a rapidly growing field, and these graduates are well-equipped to meet the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. We are confident that they will make a positive difference in the lives of their patients and communities,” said Sara Cuccurullo, M.D., chair, vice president, and medical director, JFK Johnson Rehabilitation Institute.
The one-year Pain Medicine Fellowship program enables physicians to become board certified in the subspecialty of Pain Medicine — and expert in the pharmacological, interventional, psychological, and mechanical aspects of pain management and treatment.
The study and treatment of brain injury has advanced so far in the past decade that many in the field saw the need to create a subspecialty certification. As a result, in 2011 the American Board of Medical Specialties officially established the subspecialty of Brain Injury Medicine — creating a clear way to identify properly trained and experienced physicians in the subspecialty.
Soon thereafter, the one-year Brain Injury Medicine Fellowship offered at JFK Johnson Rehabilitation Institute became one of the first such programs to be accredited by ACGME.