The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education Holds Graduation

The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education celebrated 68 resident and fellow physician graduates during its 46th annual commencement on Saturday, June 21, at Hilton Scranton and Conference Center.

The commencement ceremony honored 36 graduates in The Wright Center’s Internal Medicine Residency Program, 15 in the National Family Medicine Residency Program, seven in the Regional Family Medicine Residency Program, five in the Geriatrics Fellowship, three in the Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship, and two in the Gastroenterology Fellowship. The graduates join more than 1,000 resident and fellow physicians who have completed their residency and fellowship programs since The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education began educating physicians nearly 50 years ago.

Dr. Sharon Obadia, a member of The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education Board of Directors and the dean of A.T. Still University School of Osteopathic Medicine in Arizona (ATSU-SOMA), was among the speakers who addressed graduates and guests during the ceremony. She works closely with officials at The Wright Center, which has been a training and educational site for ATSU-SOMA students since 2020.

As she spoke about ATSU-SOMA’s and The Wright Center’s shared mission to train the next generation of health care professionals, Dr. Obadia highlighted the Hometown Scholars Program, which targets and recruits future physicians, dentists, and other medical professionals from Northeast Pennsylvania who want to serve the region where they grew up. The training Hometown Scholars receive is unique compared to other medical schools, with students spending their first year on campus at ATSU-SOMA in Mesa, Arizona, followed by three years in Northeast Pennsylvania. Since 2019, four Northeast Pennsylvania students have been selected to participate in the program. Two have graduated with degrees from ATSU-SOMA; the other two are still completing the program. 

“I have been incredibly proud to work alongside The Wright Center in partnering to educate this next generation of osteopathic physicians who will go into the world providing patient and community-centered primary care to those most in need,” Dr. Obadia said during commencement. “I look forward to growing our Hometown Scholar Program in Northeast Pennsylvania to continue to enable students from this region to return and serve their community.”

Dr. Linda Thomas-Hemak, president and CEO of The Wright Center, addressed the graduates. She praised their dedication to providing high-quality, whole-person primary health services and urged them to remember what they learned during their time in Northeast Pennsylvania.

“You have practiced medicine in our communities that needed you most. You brought compassion to places where bureaucracy too often gets in the way. You brought light to the shadows. You brought love to our noble work and profession,” she said. “And as you did, you helped reshape those communities you proudly served. You did not wait for systems to change; you became the change.”

Dr. Hal Baillie, chair of The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education Board of Directors, also addressed graduates on Saturday. 

“Celebrating you as learners, The Wright Center thanks you for embracing our experiential primary care model, joining with us in your continuing education, and your developing efforts to provide care for our local patients,” Dr. Baillie said. “In so doing, you have fulfilled the definition of a profession, combining the development of expertise with service to the community. Every day, you compassionately provided that service to patients, many of whom have struggled to obtain adequate medical care, and you have done so with ever-increasing insight and ability.”

Dr. Jumee Barooah, designated institutional official and senior vice president of education at The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education, reminded the Class of 2025 about the long tradition they joined.

“You are now part of a powerful legacy, one that began in 1977 when six internal medicine residents started training to address a critical primary care physician shortage in Northeast Pennsylvania. Nearly half a century later, you join over 1,000 alumni who have carried that mission forward with grace, grit, and heart,” she said. “Our reach has grown far beyond Scranton, shaping training programs across the country – from Arizona to Washington, D.C. – all driven by one singular vision: to improve the health and welfare of our communities through responsive, whole-person health services for all, and the sustainable renewal of an inspired, competent workforce privileged to serve.”

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.

Graduates are:

Internal Medicine

Ahmed Abdellatif Ibrahim Mohamed Algohiny, M.D.; Sanya Badar, M.D.; Salman Abdul Basit, M.D.; Taibah Chaudhary, M.D.; Lokendra Chhantyal, M.D.; Yash Deshpande, M.D.; Sonam Gautam, M.D.; Faryal Haider, M.D.; Sajid Hussain, M.D.; Mohammad Ibrar, M.D.; Mohammad Faisal Iftikhar, M.D.; Aimen Iqbal, M.D.; Nadia Jamil, M.D.; Kanishq Rajan Jethani, M.D.; Jesvin Jeyapaulraj, M.D.; Lavleen Kaur, M.D.; Ravleen Kaur, M.D.; Mohamed Hesham Esmat Ahmed Khorshid, M.D.; Arathi Prabha Kumar, M.D.; Anand Reddy Maligireddy, M.D.; Elmkdad Mohammed, M.D.; Atif Nasrullah, M.D.; Maria Nawaz, M.D.; Ronakkumar Rameshbhai Patel, M.D.; Usman Iqbal Rana, M.D.; Samurna Sabir, M.D.; Sonali Sachdeva, M.D.; Muhammad Hassan Shakir, M.D.; Amninder Singh, M.D.; Gurminder Singh, M.D.; Harmandeep Singh, M.D.; Sapinder Pal Singh, M.D.; Archana Sridhar, M.D.; Ei Ei Tun, M.D.; Muhammad Waqas, M.D.; and Yuexiu Wu, M.D.

National Family Medicine

Stacey Elizabeth Benben, D.O.; Jacob Matthew Brumfield, D.O.; Sachit J. Desai, D.O.; Vaishnavi Gadicharla, D.O.; Jingyi Gao, D.O.; Daniel Gatazka, D.O.; Hope E. Hardy, D.O.; Justin Kim, D.O.; Sarah Jane Lawson, D.O.; Leah Joy Moorefield, D.O.; Urvashi Pandit, D.O.; Evan James Smith, D.O.; Kent Stanton, D.O.; Andrew Roy Tsai, D.O.; and Kayla Simone Williams, D.O.

Regional Family Medicine

Cassandra Rose D’Andrea, M.D.; Navaneeth Nambiar Othayoth Ganapathiyadan, M.D.; Renee Frieda Gladilen, M.D.; Justine Carlo G. Guevarra, M.D.; Imran Hamid, D.O.; Deepinder S. Samra, M.D.; and Andrew Sukhu, M.D.

Geriatrics Fellowship

Richard Michael Bronnenkant, M.D.; Ogochukwu Augustina Ekete, M.D.; Stephanie Farah, M.D.;  Ahmad R. Khan, M.D.; and Arun Kumar, M.D.

Cardiovascular Fellowship

Pranav V. Karambelkar, M.D.; Purveshkumar Patel, M.D.; and Nischay Nikhil Shah, D.O.

Gastroenterology

William Buniak, D.O., and Vabhave Pal, M.D.