Fellows
Second-year fellows
Kristen A. Salava, MD
Medical school: Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University, Philadelphia, PA
Residency: Geisinger Medical Center, Danville, PA; Chief Resident, 2021-2022
Medical interests: Medical education, vasculitis, scleroderma
Hobbies: Traveling, spending time with my family, reading, hanging out with my co-fellows
Ruchi Patel, DO
Medical school: Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine, Stratford, NJ
Residency: Geisinger Medical Center, Danville, PA
Medical interests: Inflammatory arthritis
Hobbies: Spending time with family and friends, board games, traveling, hiking
First-year fellows
Lillian Chang, MD
Hometown: Great Neck, NY
Medical school: University of Vermont
Residency: Westchester Medical Center
Medical interests: Vasculitis, lupus, MSK ultrasound, precision medicine and medical innovation.
Why Geisinger: "I chose the program because it has a unique scholarly track system allowing one to specialize in MSK ultrasound — equipping each fellow with our very own butterfly ultrasound; the extensive Geisinger catchment serving some three million patients thus allowing for great case exposure while in training; and the interdisciplinary clinic including autoimmune eye clinic and autoimmune nephritis clinic wherein we can discuss complex cases with a multidisciplinary team of experts. Finally, as I have a former background in design, Geisinger is of particular interest because of the institution’s overall focus on medical innovation.”
Nneka Chukwu, MD
Medical school: College of Medicine, Ebonyi State University, Nigeria
Residency: Nuvance Health Internal Medicine Residency, NY
Medical interests: Lupus, vasculitis and scleroderma
Why Geisinger: “There is a wide variety of musculoskeletal pathology at Geisinger, and having all this specialized learning integrated in one center made it more appealing. I also perceived during my interview how enthusiastic and deeply invested our program director and faculty are in medical education, and the overall welfare of the program, which is instrumental to a rewarding learning experience.”