There are several ombudspeople that you can contact for advice. The Ombudspeople provide an opportunity for students and residents to share and discuss concerns in an informal, neutral, independent, and confidential environment. If you are not sure about where to report your concerns or are trying to determine if something needs to be reported, the Ombudspeople are a great place to start.
View complete description of the role of the ombudsperson
Ombudspeople for MD Programs
Alan Wasserman, MD
awasserm [at] gwu [dot] edu (awasserm)awasserm [at] gwu [dot] edu (@gwu.edu)
Alan Wasserman is the Eugene Meyer Emeritus Professor of Medicine. He was the Chair of the Department of Medicine from 1997 to 2021. He has been involved in medical house staff and student education for over 40 years as a Program Director, Division Director and Chair. Dr Wasserman is teaching in POM and is working with the Diversity Committee to make GW a more inclusive and safe environment in which to work, teach and learn.
Ombudspeople for Regional Campus
Laura Green, MD
laurakgreen [at] yahoo [dot] com (laurakgreen[at]yahoo[dot]com)
Laura K. Green, MD is the Vice Chair for Faculty Development at the Krieger Eye Institute at Sinai Hospital of Baltimore where she previously served as the Residency Program Director from 2010-14. She is originally from Oakton, Virginia, outside of Washington, DC., and is a graduate of the College of William and Mary and Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. Dr. Green completed her ophthalmology residency at Harvard/Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, followed by cornea fellowship at the Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins. She has been on the faculty of Sinai Hospital of Baltimore since 2007. Her research interests include simulation for medical and surgical training, medical education, and diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Ombudsperson for Graduate Medical Education (Residents and Fellows)
Susanne Bathgate, MD
sbathgate [at] mfa [dot] gwu [dot] edu (sbathgate[at]mfa[dot]gwu[dot]edu)
Susanne Bathgate (she/her/hers) is an associate professor of OBGYN who joined the GWU faculty in 1992 after completing her training in OBGYN and Maternal Fetal Medicine fellowship at GWU. She has held positions on the SMHS and Post-Bac admissions committee, Medical Student Evaluations Committee, amongst others, and has served as GME ombudsman to the CLE for several years. Additionally, she currently serves as president of the Medical Society of the District of Columbia and participates in local advocacy. She participates in medical student education through lecturing in the Repro/Endo block, the 3rd year clerkship and directing the MS4 elective in Perinatal Medicine. She strives to create a supportive, inclusive environment where all can participate and make GWU a great place to learn and practice medicine.
Tenagne Haile-Mariam, MD
thailemariam [at] mfa [dot] gwu [dot] edu (tenagne[at]email[dot]gwu[dot]edu)
Tenagne Haile-Mariam is an Associate Professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine. Throughout her career, she has been involved in the education and training of medical students, residents and fellows as well as in efforts to recruit and retain persons from underrepresented groups in academic medicine. She has served on numerous SMHS academic and clinical committees as well as been an advisor to many medical students, residents and fellows. She currently serves on the Committee on the Learning Environment. She trained as a Restorative Justice (RJ) facilitator through the AAMC RJ for Academic Medicine program and hopes to bring the principles of RJ to her role as GW Resident Ombudsperson. Dr. Haile-Mariam received her BA (History) and MD from Dartmouth and completed residencies in IM and EM as well as a fellowship in ID, all at GW. She then joined the GW faculty and has participated in several clinical initiatives including the founding of the Hospitalist program, the GW Wound Center and the International EM Program. She currently splits her clinical time between the GW and UMC ED’s and is a member of the Innovative Practice Division in the Department of EM. She is the recipient of the several honors including the Leonard Tow Award for Humanism in Medicine and the Barbara Carroll Award for Excellence in Emergency Medicine.
Ombudsperson for Health Sciences Student:
Erin Wentzell, DPT
ewentzell [at] email [dot] gwu [dot] edu (e)ewentzell [at] email [dot] gwu [dot] edu (wentzell[at]email[dot]gwu[dot]edu)
Erin Wentzell, PT, DPT, DrPH, PCS, is an assistant professor in the George Washington University Doctor of Physical Therapy Program and a pediatric physical therapist practicing with the DC Strong Start Early Intervention Program. She earned her Doctor of Physical Therapy degree from Oakland University and her DrPH in Public Health, with a concentration in health behavior, from George Washington University. Dr. Wentzell is a board certified pediatric clinical specialist through the American Board of Physical Therapy Specialties and holds a certificate in Early Intervention from Georgetown University. Dr. Wentzell serves as the academic residency director for the Pediatric Physical Therapy Residency program with Johns Hopkins Hospital. She also serves as the Equity Director for the Health, Human Function, and Rehabilitation Sciences department. Her teaching and scholarship center on pediatric practice, health equity, and community engaged learning.
Raja Mazumder, PhD, MS, MSc
mazumder [at] gwu [dot] edu (mazumder[at]gwu[dot]edu)
Dr. Raja Mazumder is a Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine at George Washington University and a member of the GW Cancer Center. With over 25 years of experience in bioinformatics, bio-curation, and data standards, Dr. Mazumder has contributed to widely used international resources, including GlyGen, BiomarkerKB, and UniProt, and has co-led major standards and bioinformatics platform initiatives such as Biocomputing and High-performance Integrated Virtual Environment (HIVE). His work centers on integrating diverse biological data to enable function prediction, biomarker discovery, and identification of experimental targets. He applies machine learning and AI methods for knowledge discovery, with a strong emphasis on rigor, interpretability, and trust. His recent work includes predictive software for clinical intervention prediction and knowledge graph-based approaches for integrating and evaluating complex biomedical data, while working closely with the international community to advance reproducible and transparent bioinformatics research and train the next generation of scientists.
