A Message from Program Director
Under the leadership of Drs. Leanne Forman and Neil Schluger, the Internal Medicine Residency Program of Westchester Medical Center/New York Medical College is committed to providing outstanding training in Internal Medicine. Dr. Forman was appointed program director in 2017 after serving in leadership positions in the residency as the Section Chief and Director of Outpatient Medicine for more than ten years. Dr. Forman has more than 25 years of experience in graduate and undergraduate medical education at several distinguished institutions. She has consistently been recognized for excellence in teaching and contributions to the program. The program continuously strives to anticipate the needs of the physicians of today and tomorrow. The educational process focuses on the acquisition of medical knowledge, utilization of evidence, and development of clinical skills, as well as emerging practice patterns.
We motivate each house officer to embrace a critical and probing scientific attitude, along with a commitment to reducing health disparities. As a tertiary referral center, Westchester Medical Center is among the highest case mix index in the region. The Cardiology, Transplant, and Critical Care services care for patients from throughout the Hudson Valley. Our diverse patient population provides a robust clinical and educational experience for training physicians. House staff interacts with full-time faculty members from all divisions regularly for mentorship, didactics and clinical supervision. All mandatory training, including resident continuity clinic, is provided on site.
The university hospital shares a large picturesque campus with New York Medical College, including the schools of medicine, dentistry, graduate school of basic medical sciences, and school of health sciences. This close proximity provides integration of medical student education as well as numerous teaching and precepting opportunities for the house staff. The medical school has a new translational research center that provides the infrastructure to conduct high quality research by utilizing the resources offered by New York Medical College and clinical investigators at Westchester Medical Center.
Recent enhancements to the program include the creation of a Director of Research for the Division of Internal Medicine. The position is held by Dr. Christopher Nabors, who has received national recognition for his quality and safety projects, which have led to many scholarly projects for the department. New educational venues include telemedicine, a formal point-of-care ultrasound training program, and increased use of the simulation center. Hospital-wide initiatives to advance safety and quality improvement include the expansion of a telehealth unit and increased collaboration with the quality improvement department.
Fellowships are available in all approved areas of subspecialty training at the Medical Center, and WMC house staff are highly successful at obtaining fellowships of their choice at the medical center and throughout the country.
Please be sure to take a look at the fellowship placement of our program graduates on the "Graduate Fellowship Placement" tab.
Program Leadership
Educational Program Liaisons
Neurology

Ronald Cho, MD
Dr. Ronald Cho is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at New York Medical College and serves as the Neurology Educational Liaison. He graduated from Cornell University, attended Texas Tech Medical School and completed his internal medicine residency at UTHSC at San Antonio. He has practiced medicine in a variety of settings for the past 19 years, primarily as a hospitalist.
Dr. Cho has won numerous teaching awards and was inducted into AOA as a faculty member. He is passionate about teaching house staff how to become better physicians by honing their clinical skills and supporting them during their educational experience. He serves as mentor to numerous medicine residents in addition to the Neurology categorical base interns.
Anesthesiology

Neal Shah, MD
Dr. Shah is an Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine, part of the teaching faculty here at Westchester. He completed his residency at Drexel University followed by serving as faculty at Temple University. Dr. Shah also serves as the Internal Medicine liaison for the categorical anesthesia residents.
Program Overview and Curriculum
Program Structure
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2020-2021
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2021-2022
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2022-2023
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2023-2024
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PGY-1
Categorical
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18*
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20*
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20*
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20*
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PGY-1
Preliminary
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8**
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1**
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0
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0
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Anesthesiology
Categorical Base Year
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5
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10
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10
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10
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Neurology
Categorical Base Year
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3
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3
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3
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3
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PGY-2
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18
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18
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20
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20
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PGY-3
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18
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18
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18
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20
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Chief Residents
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3
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3
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3
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3
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Net gain of three residents by AY 2023-2024
*1 Categorical Shabbos position available each year
**1 Preliminary Shabbos position available through 2021-2022
Our program follows a 6 + 2 schedule (6 weeks inpatient; 2 weeks ambulatory).
Currently all ambulatory rotations are on-site.
PGY-I (Categorical) Yearly Schedule:
- Eight to ten weeks Medicine
- Four to six weeks Specialty floors
- Six to eight weeks Intensive Care Unit
- Eight to ten weeks Elective
- Eight weeks Night Medicine
- 13 weeks Ambulatory Clinic and QI/Telemedicine
- Four weeks of Vacation
- Two weeks ER
PGY-I (Preliminary)
- 18-24 weeks Medicine/Specialty floors
- Eight weeks Intensive Care Unit/CCU
- 12-14 weeks Elective
- Six to eight weeks Night Medicine
- Four weeks of Vacation
- Preliminary program tailored to meet advanced program requirements.
PGY II
- 10-12 weeks general floors/specialty floors
- Eight to ten weeks Elective
- Two to four weeks ICU
- Four to six weeks Night Float
- 12-14 weeks Ambulatory Clinic and QI/Telemedicine
- Two to four weeks Medicine Consults
- Four weeks of Vacation
PGY III
- Eight to ten weeks Electives
- 10-11 weeks Ambulatory Clinic
- Six to eight weeks ICU / Consults
- Six to eight weeks ICU Night Float
- Six to eight weeks Medicine Admitting Resident
- Four weeks of Vacation
- Six to eight weeks General Floors
A Typical Day on the Floors
7:00 a.m. Morning Sign-in
7:15 a.m. Morning Report (on Thursday)
8:00 a.m. Hospitalist Team Bedside Rounds
12:30 p.m. Noon Conference
1:30 p.m. Patient Care
5:00 p.m. Sign-out
Floors
Weekends, Call and Night Float
Floor Call
On weekdays every 4th night from 5:00 – 9:00 p.m.
Floor Night Float
Six nights/week from 9:00 p.m. – 7:00 a.m. (Mon. – Sun.)
Ancillary Services
- 24/7 phlebotomy shifts
- IVs & PICC/midlines by trained nurses
- EKG technicians 24/7
- Patient transport support
Conference & Didactics
12:30 – 1:30 p.m. dedicated to resident lectures every day. Primary focus of the curriculum is to prepare residents for ABIM boards and to equip them to be mature and confident clinicians. Didactics comprises four-week blocks of each subject throughout the academic year, covering all core subjects for board preparation. This also includes weekly board review sessions run by the Chief Resident.
Residents have protected didactic experiences one half-day per week during each ambulatory rotation.
Subscription to NEJM 360 Knowledge+ provided by institution for PGY2 and PGY3 residents.
Grand rounds (Wednesdays)
On Wednesdays, we have departmental grand rounds from 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. for all PGY levels where distinguished guests present topics of interest and engage with the house staff and faculty in scholastic discussions.
Critical care rounds (Fridays)
Weekly critical care rounds take place from 12:30 – 1:30 p.m. where ICU residents from the CCU or Medical ICU present interesting cases, moderated by critical care attendings.
Chair Rounds (Fridays)
Weekly chairperson rounds take place in the main hospital from 12:30 – 1:30 p.m. where an on-call intern presents an interesting case from the floors, moderated by Dr. Schluger and faculty.
Know About Kidneys (Fridays)
Monthly kidney rounds with Nephrology Program Director, Dr. Savneek Chugh take place on the last Friday of every month from 12:30 – 1:30 p.m. The resident on call on the Medicine floor presents an interesting renal case and Dr. Chugh goes over systemic approach towards the case.
M&M (Fridays)
Monthly rounds with program leadership to discuss cases identified by chief residents.
Clinical Skills Education
Our educational simulation experiences include utilization of the state of the art New York Medical College Simulation Center and the Westchester Medical Center Surgical Skills Lab.
Our Residents
Department of Medicine Residency Program: Chief Residents
2020-2021 Chief Residents
Firas Jafri, MBBS

Firas is from Karachi, Pakistan. He spent his childhood in Saudia Arabia and later moved to Pakistan to complete his medical education at Jinnah Medical and Dental college. His desire to pursue a career in the United States lured him into research from early in his career. After graduation he came to Westchester Medical Center as a research coordinator in the department of Hematology and Oncology. He then decided to pursue his medicine residency here with us, and now he is one of our Chief Medical Residents.
Firas is interested in benign and malignant hematology and anticoagulation. He is well published with manuscripts in high impact journals. During the course of his residency he has published manuscripts, abstract, case reports, review articles and book chapters, and is now actively involved in mentoring the junior residents. Firas wants to see himself as a heme oncologist in an academic setting.
He lives with his lovely wife and a daughter in Valhalla. Inspired by his father, he enjoys reading about history, mainly of the subcontinent region. He is fond of traveling and automobiles. Firas utilized his time during residency to travel and explore 12 different national parks in the United States.
Jagjit Khosla, MBBS

Dr. Jagjit Khosla was born and raised in the historic city of New Delhi, the capital of India. During the final year of medical school, he was selected for electives at Massachusetts General Hospital, which inspired him towards the American healthcare system. After completing medical school at the prestigious University College of Medical Sciences in Delhi, Dr. Khosla worked as a junior resident doctor and then moved to the United States. He was moved by the beauty of the heavenly Hudson River Valley and chose to stay at Westchester Medical Center for residency in medicine. During residency, he was known for his hard work, professionalism and trustworthiness, and was rightfully awarded the “Clinical Excellence Award” for providing exceptional patient care. Patients loved his calm disposition at work, and fondly called him “Dr. Jags.” He was especially engaged in the teaching activities as NYMC preceptor, doing didactic sessions, QI projects, and has been known for excellent PowerPoint skills.
Dr. Khosla was elected to be a chief medical resident for his inherent leadership qualities. He enjoys academic writing and has worked on writing a book chapter, literature reviews, abstracts, and posters. As chief resident, he is spearheading the reforms in didactic education of the residents and working closely with NYMC to enhance medical student education. He is also an active member of numerous hospital committees, including Code and Resuscitation Committee, Peer Review Committee, and Clinical Competency Committee.
During his spare time, he loves to explore new places with his beautiful wife and enjoys reading motivational/self-development books. Being tech-savvy, you may find him troubleshooting someone’s PC or Android phone during his free time. His future goal is to be a heart failure specialist, and we wish him all the very best for his future endeavours.
Anila Kumar, DO

Dr. Kumar was born and raised in New Jersey, where she enjoyed summers on the shore. She also lived in Jakarta, Indonesia, for a few years, which sparked her lifelong interest in traveling and exploring. She completed undergrad at the University of Michigan (Go Blue!) where she found medicine as the way to combine her natural curiosity about science and her deep sense of compassion, leading her back to her home state for medical school. She attended Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine and went on to finish internal medicine training at Westchester Medical Center. Here, she was recognized for her hard-work, leadership, and research accolades by being honored with the “Best Research Project Poster Presentation Award on ‘Determinants of Primary healthcare utilization among LGBT individuals in Westchester County,’” as well as the “Best Clinic PGY-III” award. She was also selected to be a preceptor for MS1 and MS2 New York Medical College students under the Doctors Across New York (DANY) grant. Additionally, she presented several posters at national conferences such as the American College of Gastroenterology and American College of Physicians.
She was appointed as Chief Medical Resident where she organizes Grand Rounds, mentors residents and medical students, precepts at clinic and works to promote the social well being of the program. She hopes to continue this trend through a career in gastroenterology and hepatology. When Anila is not at the hospital, she can either be found reading by the Hudson, hiking a new mountain, traveling or spending time with her family and friends.
PL1 Categorical Residents

Basha Behrman, MD
New York Medical College
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Rebekah Cesar, MD
State University of New York Downstate Medical Center College of Medicine
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Lillian Chang, MD
University of Vermont College of Medicine
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Makeda Dawkins, MD
State University of New York Downstate Medical Center College of Medicine
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Kelly DeToy, MD
Stony Brook University School of Medicine
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Jared Feldman, DO
New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine
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Michelle Kantarovich, MD
Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University
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David Kastrinsky, MD
Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell
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Natanel Khaitov, MD
Technion Israel Institute of Technology
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Sungsoo Kim, MD
State University of New York Downstate Medical Center College of Medicine
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Kelsey McManus, MB BCh BAO
Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland
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Juliet Meir, MD
Charles E Schmidt College of Medicine at Florida Atlantic University
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Robin Ochei, MD
State University of New York Downstate Medical Center College of Medicine
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Alexander Ogilvy, MD
New York Medical College
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Jay Patel, DO
Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine
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Areen Pitaktong, MD
Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine
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Joseph Quintas, MD
State University of New York Downstate Medical Center College of Medicine
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Avisha Shah, MD
Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine
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|
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PL1 Preliminary Residents

Khaled Aziz, MD PhD
Mayo Clinic School of Medicine |

Danielle Emmet, DO
Touro University College of Osteopathic Medicine-California |

Christopher Ibabao, MD
State University of New York Upstate Medical University |

Hwajin Lee, MD
Wake Forest University School of Medicine |

Elana Pauls, MD
New York Medical College |

Tania Schiff, MD
New York Medical College
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|
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PL2 Categorical Residents

William Assante, MD
New York Medical College
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Glory Atuh, MD
New York Medical College
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Daniel Greenberg, DO
University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine
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Urvashi Hooda, MBBS
All-India Institute of Medical Sciences
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Chengyue Jin, MD
Peking University Health Science Center
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Justin Konig, MD
Stony Brook University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine
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Bo Li, MD
University of Toledo College of Medicine
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Michael Lichtbroun, MD
Sackler School of Medicine
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Zilan Lin, MD
Medical University of South Carolina
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Liana Michaud, DO
Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine
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Gaspar Miranda, MD
Escuela Autónoma de Ciencias Médicas de Centro América
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Fareena Nawaz, MD
University at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences |

Victor Paulose, MD
SUNY Downstate Medical Center College of Medicine
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Daniel Peneyra, MD
SUNY Upstate Medical University College of Medicine
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Robert Pollock, MD
Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University
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Russell Rozario, MD
Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University
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Aaron Schluger, MD
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
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Matthew Seplowe, DO
Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine
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Abhinaya Sridhar, MBBS
Kasturba Medical College Mangalore
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Rathnamitreyee Vegunta, MD
Katuri Medical College, Guntur
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PL3 Categorical Residents

Sara Akbar, MBBS
Aga Khan University Medical College
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Michael Broker, MD
Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University |

Michael Chen, MD
Penn State University College of Medicine |

Neha Deval, MBBS
Gandhi Medical College, Secunderabad |

Nikhil Govil, DO
Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine |

Lawrence Huang, DO
Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine
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Anant Jain, MBBS
Government Medical College Amritsar
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Dennis John, MD
New York Medical College
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Woo Young Kim, MD
Korea University College of Medicine
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Levy Jo Manuntag, MD
University of Santo Tomas Faculty of Medicine and Surgery
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Berhanemeskel Nesketa, MD
Jimma University College of Public Health and Medical Sciences |

Monica Fabiola Nogueira Cordeiro, MD
Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) Faculdade de Medicina
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Leonardo Zelaya Castillo, MD
Universidad Católica de Honduras Nuestra Señora Reina de la Paz Facultad en Ciencias de la Salud |
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Aditi Sen, MBBS
Rajarshi Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj Government Medical College
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Kowshik Sen, DO
Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine |

Zhong Zheng, MD
University of New Mexico School of Medicine |

Yangsheng Zhou, DO
New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine |
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Graduate Fellowship Placement
Congratulations to our class of 2021! The following positions were secured in this year’s match by our 3rd year and chief residents:
Cardiology
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University of Oklahoma
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Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism
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Albert Einstein College of Medicine / Montefiore Medical Center
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Gastroenterology
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Westchester Medical Center
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Hematology and Medical Oncology
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North Shore University / Long Island Jewish Medical Center
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SUNY Downstate Medical Center
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Nephrology
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Baylor College of Medicine
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New York University
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University of Washington-Seattle
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Pulmonary / Critical Care Medicine
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Westchester Medical Center
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Rheumatology
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Loma Linda University
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Fellowship Matches 2016 - 2020
Specialty
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Location
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Allergy and Immunology
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Rutgers-New Jersey Medical School, NJ
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Cardiology
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Lehigh Valley, PA
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Cardiology
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Loma Linda University, CA
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Cardiology
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Montefiore Hospital, NY
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Cardiology
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Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, NJ
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Cardiology
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Tulane University, LA
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Cardiology
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Tulane University, LA
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Cardiology
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Westchester Medical Center
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Cardiology
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Westchester Medical Center
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Cardiology
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Westchester Medical Center
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Cardiology
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Westchester Medical Center
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Cardiology Research
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Kansas Medical Center
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Clinical Nutrition
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Cleveland Clinic, OH
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Endocrinology
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Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, NH
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Endocrinology
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University of Alabama @ Birmingham
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Gastroenterology
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Henry Ford Hospital, MI
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Gastroenterology
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University of Connecticut
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Gastroenterology
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University of Iowa
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Gastroenterology
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Westchester Medical Center
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Gastroenterology
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Westchester Medical Center
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Gastroenterology
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Westchester Medical Center
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Gastroenterology
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William Beaumont, MI
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Heal Initiative
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University of California-San Francisco
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Hematology and Medical Oncology
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Baylor, TX
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Hematology and Medical Oncology
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Westchester Medical Center
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Hematology and Medical Oncology
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Westchester Medical Center
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Hematology and Medical Oncology
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Westchester Medical Center
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Hematology and Oncology
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University of Vermont, VT
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Infectious Diseases
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Northwell Health, NY
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Infectious Diseases
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Westchester Medical Center
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Medical Education
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Boston University, MA
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Nephrology
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Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital, MA
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Nephrology
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Massachusetts General Hospital, MA
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Nephrology
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Westchester Medical Center
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Nephrology
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Westchester Medical Center
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Pulmonary Critical Care
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New York Presbyterian Hospital-Queens
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Pulmonary Critical Care
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St. Louis University
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Pulmonary Critical Care
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Westchester Medical Center
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Pulmonary/Critical Care
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Albany Medical Center, NY
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Pulmonary/Critical Care
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Mayo Clinic, AZ
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Rheumatology
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University of Connecticut
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Rheumatology
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University of Southern California, CA
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Rheumatology
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Washington University in St. Louis
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Rheumatology
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Westchester Medical Center
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Chief Resident Placement
2015
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Prakash Harikrishnan
Westchester Medical Center | Cardiology
Dhaval Kolte
Brown University | Cardiology
Massachusetts General Hospital | Interventional & Structural Cardiology
Abdallah Sanaani
Westchester Medical Center | Cardiology
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2016
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Tanush Gupta
Montefiore/Albert Einstein Hospital | Cardiology
Columbia University Interventional | Cardiology
Houston Methodist Hospital | Structural Interventions
Marjan Mujib
Brown University | Cardiology
Neha Maria Paul
University of Texas at Houston | Cardiology
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2017
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Dennis Roarke
Northshore LIJ Health System | Faculty
Rahul Sao
University of Connecticut | Gastroenterology
John Savooji
Westchester Medical Center | Hematology and Medical Oncology
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2018
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Khwaja Haq
Henry Ford Health System | Gastroenterology
Stony Brook University Hospital | Advanced Endoscopy
Katherine Linder
Baylor University | Hematology and Medical Oncology
Srikanth Yandrapalli
Massachusetts General Hospital | Interventional Cardiology
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2019
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Gabriela Andries
Newark Beth Israel Hospital | Cardiology
Zahava Farkas
Westchester Medical Center | Gastroenterology
Michael Karass
NY Presbyterian-Queens Hospital | Pulmonary/Critical Care
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2020
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Joanna Blanco
Englewood Hospital & Medical Center | Primary Care
Shikha Broker
Atlantic Air Regional Hospital | Primary Care
Alina Kifayat
Westchester Medical Center | Rheumatology
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Faculty

Neil W. Schluger, MD | Director, Department of Medicine
Neil W. Schluger is the Barbara and William Rosenthal Professor and Chairman of the Department of Medicine at New York Medical College and Director of the Department of Medicine at Westchester Medical Center.
Throughout his academic career, Dr. Schluger has focused on tuberculosis and global aspects of lung health, with a strong public health orientation. His work in TB has centered on epidemiology, novel diagnostics and new treatments for latent and active tuberculosis. His work on global lung health centers on the effect of air quality on health, the need to build a physician workforce in low and middle-income countries, and raising awareness of the global drivers of lung disease including tobacco and air pollution. He has been a principal investigator in the Tuberculosis Trials Consortium, an international collaboration sponsored by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for 25 years and was the Chairman of the consortium from 2000-2016. He is also co-editor and a co-author of The Tobacco Atlas, the definitive work describing the extent and consequences of the global epidemic of tobacco use, published by Vital Strategies and the American Cancer Society. Dr. Schluger is a founder and director of the East Africa Training Initiative in Pulmonary Medicine. Through this program, based at Tikur Anbessa (Black Lion) Specialized Hospital in Addis Ababa and the Addis Ababa University School of Medicine, the first generation of pulmonary physicians in Ethiopia has been trained and an academically oriented pulmonary division has been established at Ethiopia’s leading public hospital. He also serves as Senior Advisor for Science at Vital Strategies, a global not-for-profit organization devoted to public health issues.
Dr. Schluger was elected to the American Society of Clinical Investigation in 2003. He is the author of over 180 articles, chapters and books, and his work has been published in The New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA, The Lancet, Lancet Respiratory Medicine and the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, among other leading journals. He is an Associate Editor of The American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Medicine. Dr. Schluger is a past-president of the American Lung Association of New York.
Prior to coming to New York Medical College and Westchester Medical Center, Dr. Schluger was Professor of Medicine, Epidemiology and Environmental Health Sciences at Columbia University and Chief of the Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. At the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia he was also co-director of the Programs in Education in Global and Population Health.
Dr. Schluger was born and raised in New York City. He is a graduate of Harvard College and the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. He lives in Westchester County with his wife, Dr. Leona Kim Schluger.
General Medicine Faculty
Hospitalists
Ronald Cho, MD
Leanne Forman, MD
Richard Gil, MD