Chief Residents

Hometown: East Brunswick, NJ
Interests: Hospitalist medicine, academic medicine
Hobbies: Traveling, hiking, trying new coffee shops

1. What advice would you give to the current or prospective residents? 
   Ask lots of questions! You can learn something from everyone around you. Medicine is a long road, make sure you make time for yourself and to enjoy life outside of medicine.
2. What did you get out of residency?
   Lifelong friends, a strong clinical foundation

Hometown: Irvine, CA
Interests: My interests and passions include teaching and education, spending time and hanging out with loved ones and friends
Hobbies: Playing and watching all different sports, road trips and immersing myself in new cultures, and movies

1. What advice would you give to the current or prospective residents? 
   Never be afraid to ask questions and always be curious! Learning is much more fun when you integrate yourself as part of the team and take the initiative and you will always get the most out of each rotation and opportunity.
2. What did you get out of residency? 
   I made some of my closest life long friends in residency. I learned valuable skills such as leadership, hard work, discipline, and found my passion and drive for patient care.  

Hometown: Concord, CA.
Interests: Academic hospitalist, Point of care ultrasound (POCUS)
Hobbies: Board games, soccer, rock climbing, portrait photography

1. What advice would you give to the current or prospective residents? 
   Medical knowledge is only one of many pillars that make a “good doctor.” Don’t make the mistake of neglecting the others such as: communication skills, how you deliver patient care, understanding your systems, and professionalism.
2. What did you get out of residency? 
   I was lucky to have met several amazing mentors that helped shape how I want to practice medicine and interact with my patients. Such as how to search an ever-growing medical literature, how to incorporate physical touch across varying medical settings, and the power of saying “good morning, how did you sleep?” to my admitted patients before diving into a review of systems and physical exam.

Hometown: Loma Linda, CA
Interests: Cardiology Fellowship
Hobbies: Socializing, napping and traveling, volleyball, tennis, eating, and yapping.

1. What advice would you give to the current or prospective residents? 
   Communicate and whatever Dr. Bera, Chief Resident at the VA said!
2. What did you get out of residency? 
    Life long friendship and dark circles under my eyes.

Hometown: Little Neck, NY
Interests: Primary Care Provider and Hospitalist
Hobbies: Going out to eat to try new food, traveling with my wife, watching Netflix (Brooklyn Nine-Nine, HIMYM, K-dramas), camping

1. What advice would you give to the current or prospective residents? 
   Be proud of how far you've come! The days are long, but the years are short. Make the most of this once in a lifetime opportunity to learn, make mistakes, and train to become the physician you want to be.  
2. What did you get out of residency? 
   I'm grateful for all those who took interest in both my professional and personal growth throughout my residency. I learned practicing medicine.

Hometown: South Korea
Interests: Hospitalist 
Hobbies: Traveling

1. What advice would you give to the current or prospective resident class? 
   Residency is a challenging yet rewarding time that offers the chance to experience many different parts of internal medicine. Take advantage of all the learning opportunities available to you, as time will fly by.
2. What did you get out of residency? 
   I have invaluable mentors and friends who I can reach out to for advice and support anytime, anywhere. 

Hometown: Oak Glen, California
Interests: Medical ethics, outpatient academic internal medicine
Hobbies: Traveling, scuba diving, fossil hunting

1. What advice would you give to the current or prospective residents? 
   Try to match your hard work inside the hospital with rest and rejuvenation outside the hospital! Hard work is key to medicine, but so is protecting your mental health and well-being. Your current and future patients need you and the medical knowledge you've obtained throughout your training: burning out does a disservice to you, as well as to them!  Find your passion and pursue it with the same fervor as you approach internal medicine.
2. What did you get out of residency?  At the end of my time with LLU IM, I found myself with a superb toolset of medical knowledge + patient care skills, as well as a friend group I'll have for life! 

Hometown: Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico
Interests: Healthcare disparities, gastrointestinal diseases, academic medicine
Hobbies: Running, reading

1. What advice would you give to the current or prospective resident class? 
   Be kind to yourself and try to do your best by your patients. A wise attending once told me to practice Medicine in a way that allowed you to go to sleep every night at peace with the decisions you've made for your patients and their families. Don't lose the passion and curiosity that brought you to Medicine in the first place. There's always something to learn and someone to learn from! It's absolutely true that the days are long but the years fly by.
2. What did you get out of residency? 
   Confidence in medical knowledge, grace towards others when dealing with difficult life conversations, and a solid group of friends!