Top first time winner Physicians

Lech Dudarewicz , MD , Poland

 (23 solved cases)

Lech has been responding for many years but this year he got new equipment and a renewed interest. His dedication really paid off!

Elena Andreeva , MD , Russia

(22 solved cases)

The two Elena Andreeva (from Russia and Belarus) have endlessly confused us at first. We finally sorted it out. This Elena has worked in the municipal hospital for 3 years. Her husband is an engineer in the oil industry and she has a 4 years old daughter who is already a horse lover. When she is not busy with patients or the Case of the Week Elena likes to do needlework and fishing.

Debabrata Das , MD , India

(19 solved cases)

Debabrata is a radiologist practising ultrasound in his private clinic located in a small city called Coimbatore (South India). He loves gardening. He managed to solve 19 cases what means that ultrasonography must be his hobby too.

Maria Kossakiewicz , MD , Germany

(19 solved cases)

Maria too has send answer for some times. but this year her mostly laconic answers were wonderfully on target!

Elena Andreeva , MD , Belarus

(17 solved cases)

This is the second Elena Andreeva and she works in the Medical Genetic Centre in Gomel. Elena usually write to me in French and to Franti in Russian so we have a great mix of languages. She is not only very knowledgeable but has a very sharp eye and has helped detect some mistakes in a preliminary lecture that she reviewed. She has been interesting about prenatal ultrasound for 7 years. She has a 5-year-old daughter: Arina. Her husband is a urologist. 

Megha Venkatraman , MD , Oman

(16 solved cases)

Megha not only does a great job at answering the cases but she has a strong philosophical fiber and often send me wonderful emails full of profound human stories.

Irina Tihonenko , MD , Belarus

(15 solved cases)

Irina came to spend a few weeks in the USA and impressed me by her knowledge, her determination and her skills. I quizzed her in English in front of patient (something that usually paralyze residents and visitors) and she answered with no hesitations. Irina works in 2 different institutions doing mostly ultrasound. Her daughter Veronika is 7 years old and her husband is a professor of economics.

Pilar Prats , MD , Spain

(15 solved cases)

Pilar is a particularly exceptional person with not only great skills in ultrasound, but a great lecturer and very important to me, someone with a great social conscience. She is involved in many Non-Governmental Organization doing work for Africa and voluntering her skills in Africa. An all-around scholar and humanist!

Adi Friedman , MD , Israel

(15 solved cases)

Adi kept sending good answer even during the turmoil of the past summer! A smart and brave person!

Ruggero Trevisan , MD , Italy

(14 solved cases)

Ruggero is another correspondent who has responded for many years but this year made a special effort and got great results! He lives in Bassano del Grappa a town in Nord-Italy, about 50 km from Venice, and Iworks in a Ob-Gyn dept. (1400 deliveries/year) since 1983.

Stanley Ng , MD , Australia

(14 solved cases)

Stanley has been working in obstetric ultrasound since 2000. He works in the medical imaging department of a women"s hospital as well as in private practice in Sydney, Australia. His wife is a pediatrician and they have a 4 year old son.

Tudor Iacovache , MD , Romania

(13 solved cases)

Tudor had answered a few cases in the past but he too made a special effort. He deserves special mention since he is only 29 year-old and still a resident! He lives in Brasov, Romania. His wife is an Anesthesiology resident, and they have two boys, 5 and 2 years old.

Top first time winner Sonographers

Susan Fletcher, USA

(12 solved cases)

Susan is a long time friend of TheFetus.net and to confuse the list she got married this year so she is appearing with a new name (she was Susan Byers) and different hairs :). She has been doing ultrasound for 15 years and is in a group of 14 sonographers in Maine.

Melisa Quinn, USA

(11 solved cases)

Melissa has been a sonographer for 8 years at the New York Presbyterian, the university hospital of Columbia, division of maternal fetal medicine. She is also an Adjunct Instructor in diagnostic medical sonography, White plains New York. She is married with 2 daughters. 
She says: “My husband has often waited up for me while I figure out the answer to some of the most challenging cases. When ever I answer a case correctly my 10 year old would laugh at my not so hip victory dance.” Her victory dances are actually well reflected in her happy emails!!! She is expectign her 3rd child.

Bethany Boyette-Wilkie, USA

(10 solved cases)

Bethany was one of the participant of the course on Fetal Echo this year and this must have energized her. She not only knows ultrasound very well, she is also a redoubtable canoe rider!

Emily Chambers , RDMS , USA

(5 solved cases)

Emily is one of the few who not only has her registry in Ob/Gyn but she also has her Fetal Echo boards. She trained with Harris Finberg in Phoenix and moved to the Perinatal Center of Iowa since April of 2002 where she is the lead sonographer for the past year.
She got married in July 2005 and while working on getting real kids she has her dogs as substitute.

Le-Jen Fan, Taiwan

(5 solved cases)

Previous top winners - physicians

Christa Faschingbauer , MD , Germany

(25 solved cases)

Christa ought to be in a class of her own. For years she has constantly be either top or very near the top. I wish she would transfuse some of her knowledge to me! She writes: “I"m working in a private ob/gyn practice with two colleagues and only a part of my work is prenatal diagnosis (but I like it). I live and work in a small town in the south of Germany. My three children are grown up and are studying - this makes my life easier”. My opinion is that she should open a prenatal diagnosis school and I would enroll in it!

Francois Manson , MD , France

(21 solved cases)

Francois always delights me with his diagnoses, his humor and his “joie de vivre”. Plus funny or cute pictures of his daughter! A true scholar and a gentleman!

Robert Dankovcik , MD , Slovakia

(18 solved cases)

Robert is another physician with consistently high scores (check the previous years). He correspond with me in English and with Franti is Slovak, so from time to time a get a really puzzling email!

Marzio Casoli , Italy

(18 solved cases)

Marzio is the epitome of dedication to the case of the week. For month this year, some inexplicable bug prevented him to send his email answers. He printed them and mailed them! His 18 cases correctly answered are those we know about. Who knows whether the mail might have eliminate a few more!

Annette Reuss , MD , Netherlands

(17 solved cases)

Annette is also a solid, reliable and faithful respondent. See her profile in the past years.

Tibor Kovacs , MD , Romania

(17 solved cases)

Tibor has also been a dedicated responder and has done another amazing performance this year.

Previous top winners - sonographers

Fabienne Bigi , France

(21 solved cases)

Fabienne is one of the longest running in the contest (since 2001) with remarkable consistent great results. She sends her answer in French, so Franti forward them to me with lots of “????”.

Dianna Heidinger, USA

(15 solved cases)

Diana has been answering case since the very first year of TheFetus.net! Another endurance respondent!

Pragna Patel , USA

(15 solved cases)

Pragma was top winner last year, but she has spectacularly improved her score since last year (from 4 cases to 15!!) Congratulations!