Internal Medicine Residency Program

‍PROGRAM AIMS

San Ysidro Health’s Internal Medicine Residency Program has two main goals.  First is providing graduate education in the specialty of Internal Medicine. Second will be training future Internists to serve the ongoing medical needs and challenges faced in providing accessible and quality health care to all populations.

San Ysidro Health will achieve these goals through a unique program that incorporates evidence-based practice within the primary care setting.  Based on a Patient Centered Medical Home Model (PCMH) of quality medical care our Internal Medicine Residency Program will incorporate outpatient continuity clinic rotations within the traditional Hospitalist training program.  Residents will have ample opportunities to participate in ongoing public health research available in the clinic setting as well as to take on or participate in community, hospital, or clinic quality improvement projects of their own.

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‍MESSAGE FROM THE PROGRAM DIRECTOR AND ASSISTANT DIRECTOR

We would like to welcome you to our San Ysidro Internal Medicine Program.  We are initiating a unique program that will provide an excellent education to physicians while providing care for the most vulnerable patients in our community.  We hope to develop caring physicians that will serve these types of communities in the future and hope that you can join us in this endeavor.  Our program offers broad-based medical education training in a community setting with diverse patient populations while having the opportunity to be exposed to the teaching format of Scripps Mercy Chula Vista and San Diego Hospitals.  We hope to attract a unique group of student physicians who are committed to this cause.  We also look to prepare a future generation of physicians who are not only altruistic but who will also become leaders in the physician community and deal with the changes in healthcare in the 21st-century, advocating for these vulnerable populations.

Michele Lamantia, Program Director

Dalia Strauser, Associate Program Director

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HIGHLIGHTS

The San Ysidro Health Internal Medicine program works closely with Scripps Mercy Chula Vista and San Diego Hospitals under the leadership of Dr. Dalia Strauser.  Dr. Strauser has started five hospitalist programs within San Diego and El Centro.  She has been actively involved in the Scripps Mercy San Diego Internal Medicine Residency Program for over 30 years and brings a wealth of insight and structure to our IM training program.  Although the primary goal is to have our graduates stay in community practice, the medical educational experiences our trainees receive will follow in steadfast future careers if they choose to become Hospitalists or advance their training into subspecialty IM fellowships.

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General program schedule

• Year 1: 4 blocks wards, 1 block ICU, 4 blocks continuity clinic, 3 blocks subspecialty services (hematology-oncology, cardiology, nephrology)
• Year 2: 4 blocks wards, 2 blocks ICU, 4 blocks continuity clinic, 3 blocks subspecialty services (neurology, gastroenterology, infectious disease)
• Year 3: 4 blocks wards, 2 blocks ICU, 4 blocks continuity clinic, 3 blocks subspecialty (pulmonology, palliative care, including emergency medicine)

Training sites

• Scripps Mercy Hospital Chula Vista
• Scripps Mercy Hospital San Diego, in conjunction with Scripps Cancer Center

San Ysidro Health Centers:

• San Ysidro Clinic
• PACE in Chula Vista, El Cajon

‍Educational Activities:

• Morning report Monday-Thursday at Scripps Chula Vista
• Grand Rounds with Scripps Mercy Tuesdays
• Morbidity & Mortality Conference once monthly
• Medical Spanish Course
• Didactics:
• Fundamentals of Critical Care Medicine Course
• Point-of-Care Ultrasound training
• Simulation Lab at UCSD/Scripps Mercy Chula Vista
• SYHealth Adult Medicine Grand Rounds (Every Other Month)
• Monthly journal club presentations

‍PROGRAM BENEFITS:

• PGY-1 Salary: $92,064
• PGY-2 Salary: $94,564
• PGY-3 Salary: $97,064
• Chief Resident Salary: $103,064
• Vacation: 20 days/categorical year
• Sick Leave: 10 days

Other Benefits:

• $300 per month meal stipend
• $2,500 continuing education stipend
• Butterfly handheld ultrasound and POCUS training
• MKSAP, MedStudy, and IM Board Review are provided
• Residents receive a computer, cell phone, headset, and Dragon dictation software
• Post-Graduate Training License (CA)
• California Training License
• DEA License cost coverage
• Step 3/Level 3 cost coverage
• Funding for travel to medical conferences
• Business Cards
• Spanish immersion training

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OUR FACULTY

Outpatient Faculty:

• Michele Lamantia, MD IM Program Director
• Jennifer Poast, DO FACP Director of Research and Quality Improvement
• Bassam Nassir, MD
• James Cevallos, MD
• Luis Ortega, MD
• Ivan Rosado, MD
• Cristina Deis, MD

Inpatient Faculty:

• Dalia Strauser, MD IM Associate Program Director
• Amanda DeFour, MD Co-Director IM Residency Education
• Diep Dao, DO Co-Director IM Residency Education
• Gilbert Seda, Director Scripps Mercy Chula Vista ICU/Pulmonary Departments

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OUR RESIDENTS

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Class of 2023 (ABIM Board-Certified):

• Andrew Bui, DO
• Justin Cohen, DO
• Reman Sami, DO (Chief Resident)
• Roel Sanchez, MD
• Sharonya Shrivastava, MD

Class of 2024:

• Samuel Ani, DO
• Solomon Kreik, DO
• Ikramah Latif, DO
• Steve Pham, DO
• Brian Trinh, DO
• Jimmy Wong, DO

Class of 2025:

• Diana Chen, DO
• Alberto Godinez, MD
• Sonia Matthews, MD
• Chatratip Nasongkla, DO
• Emeukevuoke Umukoro, DO
• Krishen Wadhwani, DO

Class of 2026:

• Carlos Carriedo, DO
• Alda Chavez, MD
• Jerry Chen, DO
• Caleigh Horan, DO
• Nicole Sassounain, DO
• Jonathan Semaan, DO

Class of 2027:

• Vardan Dagstanyan, DO
• Sihye Edwards, DO
• Hana Hadiprodjo, DO
• Jasmin Hamidi, DO
• Christopher Hannum, DO
• Aaron Lee, DO

RESEARCH

San Ysidro Health has a health promotion and community outreach department whose mission is to create and utilize translational research to benefit their truly diverse population of patients.  San Ysidro Health has partnerships with several teaching organizations for both the designing both the research and the implementation of the findings of this translational research.

The San Ysidro Health Internal Medicine Residency Program is committed to giving our residents the tools they will need to understand, use, and perform quality improvement or clinical research using evidence-based medicine strategies. Each resident has protected time to create, analyze, and report a quality improvement or research project of their own design with a faculty mentor who is an expert in the area of your project (cardiologist, pulmonologist, etc.).

• Year One: Determine research project; do literature review, develop, and submit IRB proposal
• Year Two: Collect and analyze data
• Year Three: Finalize project abstract; submit to conferences

Throughout the 3-year program, we will also teach the basics on research methods, medical statistics and evidence-based medicine principles using didactic lectures, journal club and the research project itself.

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PROGRAM APPLICATION + APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS:

Applications will be reviewed up until November 22, 2023 and will focus on:

• General academic performance
• Research development
• Clinical performance (particularly in internal medicine and related rotations)
• Minimum of three (3) Letters of Recommendation
• Personal biography addressing qualities and achievements that make you a fit in our community-based program
• Volunteer community service with medically underserved/demarginalized populations

Interview dates: October 16th through December 22nd, 2024.

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Apply ERAS/THALAMUS

Apply NRMP #2220140C0 – AAMC ID  15176143

Questions? Contact Irma Morgan or Dora Reynoso-Busio at IMResidency@syhealth.org

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‍Application Requirements:

Applicants must have finished medical school preferably within 3 years, or have continued clinical involvement during a postgraduate period over no more than 6 years.  In order to complete your file, we require.

1. Your Dean’s letter
2. Your medical school transcript
3. Your USMLE Step 1; Step 2 CK Scores or COMLEX 1; CE Scores
4. Three separate letters of recommendation from the following individuals:

• The Department Chairman in Medicine (or his/her designee)
• An internal medicine faculty member
• A faculty member of your choice

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