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Residents and Alumni

Residents

Brandon Bombar, MD (chief resident)

Hometown: Scranton, PA
Medical school: Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine 
Favorite part about the residency program/hospital/system: Learning from attendings with vastly different styles who have practiced/trained in a variety of settings. The patients tend to be ASA III to IV and need more complex procedures.  
Favorite thing to do in Danville/surrounding area: Visiting local wineries and breweries

Breeana Johng, MD

Hometown: Cerritos, CA
Medical school: George Washington University School of Medicine
Favorite part about the residency program/hospital/system: My co-residents. Anesthesia is a solo sport but I always know I'll have great company in the workroom when I'm on break or at the end of the day.
Favorite thing to do in Danville/surrounding area: Frequenting my favorite local restaurants and finding new places to explore with the pup

Gina Montone, MD

Hometown: Pottsville, PA
Medical school: Drexel University College of Medicine
Favorite part about the residency program/hospital/system: Everyone is so kind, supportive and goes out of their way to give residents the best learning opportunities. The anesthesiologists give autonomy to the residents to prepare us for the world. Most importantly, the program/system prioritizes the residents’ well-being and truly strives to have each resident graduate and become successful anesthesiologists. 
Favorite thing to do in Danville/surrounding area: I’ve really enjoyed taking walks around town with my puppy, going to farmers markets on weekends, cooking, baking and exploring new restaurants. 

Luke Shrum, MD

Hometown: Concord, NC
Medical school: East Carolina Brody School of Medicine
Favorite part about the residency program/hospital/system: Early and wide clinical exposure
Favorite thing to do in Danville/surrounding area: Hiking at Ricketts Glen, day trips to NYC

Akshay Vig, MD

Hometown: Somerville, NJ
Medical school: Albany Medical College
Favorite part about the residency program/hospital/system: The favorite part of the hospital is likely the morning fold-overs. Eggs, bacon and melted cheese in a warm toasted tortilla. Yum. Definitely hits the spot when you wake up hungry every day. The residency program is also pretty nice. I truly enjoy doing subspeciality cases very early on in the clinical anesthesia years as I noticed my fellow residents and I have drastically improved our procedural skills, expanded our skill set and blossomed our confidence in providing safe and efficient patient care.
Favorite thing to do in Danville/surrounding area: I enjoy playing board games with some of the co-residents I met during the intern year. The hiking, breweries and barbeques are also an added bonus.

Pouya Ataey, MD

Hometown: Sterling, VA
Medical school: Eastern Virginia Medical School
Favorite part about the residency program/hospital/system: Geisinger serves a massive patient population and provides robust opportunities for its resident physicians to hone their skills.
Favorite thing to do in Danville/surrounding area: My favorite thing to do here is explore the numerous parks and trails. The surrounding nature brings balance to a busy and focused lifestyle in medicine.

Abdullah Bheri, MD

Hometown: Chicago, IL
Medical school: Chicago Medical School 
Favorite part about the residency program/hospital/system: Great learning opportunities and welcoming environment 
Favorite thing to do in Danville/surrounding area: Close to many major cities and lots of nature hikes and overlooks in the area, as well 

Hugh Huynh, MD

Hometown: Pleasanton, CA
Medical school: Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University
Favorite part about the residency program/hospital/system: The culture is nice. I haven't had too many issues with working with other residents or attendings.
Favorite thing to do in Danville/surrounding area: Hanging out with my co-residents, trivia nights

Joseph Kovatch, DO

Hometown: Pittsburgh, PA
Medical school: Kansas City University
Favorite part about the residency program/hospital/system: Categorical program allows for introduction and integration with residents and attendings from different specialties, as well as early exposure to the anesthesia department intern year. Geisinger Medical Center is a large tertiary care center that exposes us to a wide range of complex clinical cases.
Favorite thing to do in Danville/surrounding area: Hike/run on local trails

Andrew Nesdill, MD, MBA

Hometown: Howell, NJ
Medical school: Penn State College of Medicine
Favorite part about the residency program/hospital/system: Training in a large tertiary center. And Geisinger has a noticeable impact and involvement with the local community.
Favorite thing to do in Danville/surrounding area: Hiking/camping, Ricketts Glen State Park

Mythili Pulavarthi MD

Hometown: Richmond, VA
Medical school: Albany Medical College
Favorite part about the residency program/hospital/system: Rotating through surgical services in our CBY so we see familiar faces in the OR
Favorite thing to do in Danville/surrounding area: Attending events hosted by the resident auxiliary (golf, axe throwing, etc.)

Aamil Haameem, MD

Hometown: Kashmir, India 
Favorite part about the residency program/hospital/system: The collegial atmosphere within the hospital. Clinically diverse case exposure with particular emphasis on education.
Favorite thing to do in Danville/surrounding area: Hiking, hanging out with family and friends.

Kiranjot Kaur, DO

Hometown: Queens, NY 
Medical school: New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine
Favorite part about the residency program/hospital/system: In addition to the access to a diverse variety of cases, it's all about the people! A friendly environment goes a long way during residency. 
Favorite thing to do in Danville/surrounding area: Sleeping, attempting to cook, going on weekend trips to various close-by cities (NYC, DC, Philly)

Brandon Mahajan, MD

Medical school: State University of New York

Bradley Nafziger, MD

Hometown: Reading, PA
Medical School: Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine 
Favorite part about the residency program/hospital/system: The camaraderie between residents and dedication to physical and mental wellness.
Favorite thing to do in Danville/surrounding area: Visit the great playgrounds in the area with my wife and kids, and have backyard barbecues at home with friends and family.

Patrick Nguyen, MD

Hometown: Katy, TX 
Medical school: Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University 
Favorite part about the residency program/hospital/system: The close-knit community and supportive environment enhance the work and education experience.
Favorite thing to do in Danville/surrounding area: I enjoy the beautiful Susquehanna river and the outdoor activities in central PA. Day trips to NYC, Philly and DC are great options as well.

Kamille Parungo, DO

Hometown: Fremont, CA/Black Diamond, WA
Medical school: Liberty University College 
Favorite part about the residency program/hospital/system: Patients are flown in from all over central PA, so we get to see many pathologies and interesting cases. Additionally, during intern year, we had earlier anesthesiology exposure than I had seen at many other programs.
Favorite thing to do in Danville/surrounding area: Sunset walks with my husband and dog, hosting potlucks at our house, gardening and day trips to watch Broadway/regional theatre productions.

Natalia Tarasova, MD

Hometown: Moscow, Russia 
Medical school: First Moscow State Medical University 
Favorite part about the residency program/hospital/system: Incredible colleagues and learning environment. I feel supported every step of the way. The work/life balance is great.
Favorite thing to do in Danville/surrounding area: Hiking at the numerous nearby state parks with my husband and our amazing sheltie dog.

Hazem Dahshan, MD

Medical school: Suez Canal University Faculty of Medicine 

David Fluharty, MD

Medical school: Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine

Christian Orr, MD

Medical school: Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine at the University of Utah

Marc Pajarillo, DO

Medical school: West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine

Anthony To, DO

Medical school: Western University of Health Sciences College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific

Sean Zacharias, MD

Medical school: Drexel University College of Medicine 

Alumni

Class of 2024

  • Angie Chang, MD
  • Matthew Dowhower, MD 
  • Taylor George, DO
  • Vincent Martello, DO
Class of 2023

  • Scott Barndt, DO
  • Adam Johnson, DO
  • Andrea Liu Gerytch, DO
  • Lasnette O’Garro, MD
  • Taylor Ralston, DO
Class of 2022

  • Taylor Blalack, DO
  • Alexander Hunter, DO
  • Roman Krasnov, MD
  • John Logan, MD
  • Rikin Patel, MD
  • Scott Taddonio, DO
Class of 2021

  • Drew Cornwell - Interventional Pain Management Fellowship at Case Western/University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, Cleveland, OH
  • Sean Dennig - Staff anesthesiologist at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, MD.
  • James Hartney - Staff anesthesiologist at Prisma Health Richland Hospital, Columbia SC
  • Christopher Jones - Staff anesthesiologist at West Shore Anesthesia Associates in Camp Hill, PA 
  • Robert Moyer - Staff anesthesiologist at Geisinger Medical Center, Danville, PA 
  • Anton Nikitin - Pediatric Fellowship at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI. 
Class of 2020

  • Caleb Hodge - Trauma Anesthesiology Fellowship at the University of Maryland – R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore.
  • Andrew Longenecker - Position with Tower Health in Reading, PA
  • Birju Patel - Staff anesthesiologist with Geisinger
  • Adrian Salazar - Pain Fellowship at Allegheny in Pittsburgh, PA
  • Stefan Trela - Regional Anesthesia and Acute Pain Medicine Fellowship at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio
Class of 2019

  • Trey Creech - Regional Anesthesia Fellowship in Gainesville, FL
  • Nitin Kumar - Staff anesthesiologist position in California
  • Christopher Lam - Pain Fellowship in Kansas
  • Matthew Skoblar - Staff anesthesiologist at Geisinger Wyoming Valley 
  • Chadron Vassar - Fellowship in Pediatric Anesthesiology at the University of Iowa.  
  • Kerolos Yousef - Staff anesthesiologist position at Geisinger Medical Center, Danville, PA

Testimonials

During medical school, I knew I liked the clinical volume seen at community hospitals, but knew I wanted to be involved in research usually seen in academic centers. It's difficult to find anesthesia residency programs that incorporate both these aspects well and it was Geisinger's ability to combine the two that helped me decide on the program. The faculty and institution are vested in training adept physicians and creating an environment to do so successfully. We meet with our program director regularly and are involved in discussions on many of the evolving aspects of our anesthesiology training.

Christopher Lam, MD

My experience at Geisinger Medical Center has been very positive. The experiences I have had thus far have been rewarding and have provided plenty of opportunities to learn and grow as a physician. I have been exposed to a wide variety of pathology that will prepare me for a successful career in anesthesia. The teaching faculty here at Geisinger Medical Center, on all services, are excited about teaching and preparing the upcoming generation of physicians.

Brandon Fordham, DO

Geisinger promotes an excellent environment that fosters learning and individual growth as a resident. With its diverse patient population and high acuity of cases, Geisinger offers a variety of learning opportunities.

Mehreen Iqbal, MD

I am happy to have chosen Geisinger for my anesthesiology residency. My intern year provided me with sound baseline medical knowledge in internal medicine, critical care and surgery, among others. Over a year into clinical anesthesia, I have worked closely with incredibly knowledgeable physicians who enjoy teaching and encouraging the utilization of the most modern techniques and technologies. This, in addition to significant dedicated educational time, has made ascension up the CA-1 learning curve relatively simple. There is plenty of opportunity for research and quality improvement projects as well. Studying anesthesiology at Geisinger has strengthened my clinical acumen and improved my efficiency while adequately preparing me for the ABA board exams and ultimately paving the way for a successful career in anesthesiology.

Matthew Corriveau, MD

My integration into the Geisinger anesthesiology residency has been a serendipitous experience. We're a new program, but our preceptors are not new to resident education. It’s apparent that our program chair, director and core faculty understand the delicate balance of direct oversight and independent practice in our clinical training. This understanding has led to a competent progression to autonomy in the operating rooms and perioperative settings. Our resident education consists of resident-led morning reports, traditional weekly lectures and online tutorials. This educational format caters to all facets of learning styles. Our attendings effectively help us translate theoretical learning to practical application and, by extension, best practices for patient care. Our caseload is diverse and extensive. Although we do a significant amount of operative cases and other anesthesia practices, our work hours are protected. It’s obvious that our program exists for the sake of resident education and optimal patient care. I’m confident that Geisinger's approach to anesthesia residency not only sets us apart from other anesthesiology programs but also puts us at the forefront of anesthesia residency education.

David Fryzel, MD

Geisinger Medical Center provides me the opportunity to see challenging patient cases along with a strong support system within the Department of Anesthesiology — all these qualities made this program appealing to me. During my first year, I improved my clinical judgment and communication skills through direct patient care, didactics and simulations within the wide variety of rotations offered. I believe the program will provide me with a solid foundation for my career in anesthesiology.

Shilpi Seth, MD

Geisinger's rural setting and tertiary care capabilities offer a unique combination. The exposure to a diverse patient population and clinical pathology, combined with an incredibly stable and resourceful healthcare system, ultimately led me to choose Geisinger. Teaching faculty are engaged and committed, residents are challenged but also respected, and the numerous clinical and academic opportunities available to residents make this center an excellent place to train.

Weston Shertzer, DO

As a learner and caretaker, my experience at Geisinger has been enjoyable and educational. I am impressed by the unique mix of community-oriented medical care and academic medicine, high degree of resident autonomy, diverse patient populations, a broad range of pathologies and excellent faculty mentoring. In addition to the rich learning atmosphere, the friendly and supportive collegiality at Geisinger makes me feel like part of a family.

Kevin Wong, DO

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