The Wright Center: Dr. Hassan Joins As Teaching Hospitalist A teaching hospitalist and physician has joined The Wright Centers for Community Health and Graduate Medical Education. Dr. Faiza Hassan will serve as a teaching hospitalist for The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education’s Internal Medicine Residency Program, supervising resident physicians in clinical learning environments across Northeast Pennsylvania, including Wilkes-Barre General Hospital and Geisinger Community Health Center. In this role, Dr. Hassan will support program leadership in developing, implementing, and evaluating curriculum for the internal medicine residency program, as well as mentoring resident learners and assessing their progress. Additionally, Dr. Hassan will provide responsive and inclusive whole-person primary health services for individuals 18 and older, including checkups, physicals, screenings, and treatment of common illnesses and injuries at The Wright Center for Community Health Scranton, 501 S. Washington Ave. The community health center is open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. To schedule an appointment, go to TheWrightCenter.org or call 570-230-0019. Dr. Hassan earned her medical degree from Fatima Jinnah Medical University in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. She moved to the United States in 2014 and completed her internal medicine residency at Central Michigan University Health in Saginaw, Michigan, in July 2025. The program focuses on training resident physicians for careers as hospitalists and primary care physicians.
The Wright Center Interns Gain Hands-on Experience The Wright Centers for Community Health and Graduate Medical Education hosted 26 high school and college interns over the summer, providing hands-on experience for students following multiple career paths. The interns were assigned to several departments, including administration, clinical, finance, legal, and marketing and communications. Their experience was capped off with an Internship Poster Capstone event, which board members, executives, and employees attended to hear students discuss their projects and answer questions about their findings, internship experience, and future plans. Attendees at the annual event cast ballots for the scholarly posters. Prizes were awarded to the top three vote-getters: First place: Katherine Mena Pereyra, of American University in Washington, D.C., created the scholarly poster, “Advocacy Coffee Connections: Understanding the Big Beautiful Bill. She was mentored by Aimee Wechsler, director of government affairs at The Wright Center. Second place: Noah Lynch of Elizabethtown College in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, for his research poster, “Increasing the Uptake of PrEP Among Women.” The project focused on educating providers and women in the community about the importance of pre-exposure prophylaxis, commonly known as PrEP, which can significantly reduce the risk of contracting HIV. Melissa Bonnerwith, grants administrator at The Wright Center’s Ryan White HIV/AIDS Clinic, was his mentor. Third place: Shane Cegelka, of King’s College in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, showcased his poster, “The Importance of Proper Informed Consent in Healthcare.” Cegelka was mentored by Jennifer Walsh, Esq., senior vice president and chief legal and governance officer, and Courtney Kuschke, paralegal, at The Wright Center. To learn more about internship opportunities, visit TheWrightCenter.org/internships.
The Wright Center Resident Presents at National Cardivovascular Conference An Internal Medicine resident physician at The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education presented research at a national conference for cardiovascular innovations. Dr. Shehroze Tabassum, a first-year medical resident based in Scranton, Pennsylvania, attended the Cardiovascular Innovations Meeting in Austin, Texas, in July. At the three-day conference, which focused on state-of-the-art therapy for peripheral, coronary, and structural heart disease, Dr. Tabassum presented research on peripheral artery disease (PAD) mortality trends in patients 25 and older with metabolic syndrome, which is a cluster of conditions that increase the risk of developing heart disease and other chronic illnesses. He led a research team, which included Dr. Douglas Klamp, the Internal Medicine Residency Program director, chief medical education officer, senior vice president, and physician chair of resident and fellow talent acquisition at The Wright Center, and Wright Center Internal Medicine resident physician Dr. Aroma Naeem, that analyzed data using a free, online public health information system maintained by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The team examined data collected between 2000-2019 about patients’ gender, race and ethnicity, state, census region, and metropolitan status. “We found a decline in PAD-related mortality among patients with metabolic syndrome,” Dr. Tabassum said. “However, notable disparities persist across demographic and regional groups, emphasizing the need for targeted interventions and further research.” Dr. Tabassum, a native of Faisalabad, Pakistan, developed an interest in cardiology through a combination of clinical exposure and academic curiosity. “It was a pleasure and an honor to represent The Wright Center on a national stage,” Dr. Tabassum said. “Attending a conference with so many like-minded professionals was a great opportunity to exchange ideas, learn from leading experts, and stay updated on the latest advancements in cardiovascular care.” The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education was established in 1976 as the Scranton-Temple Residency Program, a community-based internal medicine residency program. Today, The Wright Center is one of the largest U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration-funded Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education Safety-Net Consortiums in the nation. Together with consortium stakeholders, The Wright Center trains resident and fellow physicians in a community-based, community-needs-responsive workforce development model to advance its mission to improve the health and welfare of communities through responsive, whole-person health services for all and the sustainable renewal of an inspired, competent workforce that is privileged to serve. The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education’s residency and fellowship programs are accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. For more information, go to TheWrightCenter.org or call 570-866-3017.
