Family Medicine Residency Program - Voorhees

Virtua Family Medicine Residency

Virtua Family Medicine Residency has been training residents in family medicine since the inception of the program in 1977. Since then, our program has changed in many ways, but our core mission, vision, and goals have not—we will train you to be the best family physician that you can be. Many of our graduates have stayed in the area and, still to this day, practice locally. Our hopes are to recruit the excellent family physicians that we train to stay within our area and provide primary care to the Virtua community. Through our association with Virtua Medical Group, we have been able to offer employment to any resident who wants to stay in the area, thus allowing for a sense of "future job security" to those residents who have built a life in the surrounding area over their last 3 years of training and wish to stay.

Mission and Goals Statements
Mission: Our program is a "Bridge to the Your Lifetime in Family Medicine." in family medicine, by providing outstanding clinical training to all residents that results in high quality care to patients in the community.

We will accomplish this by the following:

• Exceeding the standards set by the ACGME and ABFM
• Creating an environment of inquiry where there is an atmosphere of self-reflection, in which everyone can look for ways to improve clinically and academically
• Providing outstanding clinical training to all residents that results in high-quality care to patients in the community
• Developing physicians who, with the patient, stand at the core of lifelong health by integrating the physical, emotional, and family needs of patients
• Developing physicians who practice evidence-based medicine, adeptly applying it to the unique needs of their patients

A family physician trained in our program will show excellence in the provision of continuity of care in the office, hospital, nursing home and home, to the whole family, and at all stages of the life cycle.

What Makes Us Unique?
Education Balance/Career Opportunities

Virtua Family Medicine Residency highly values the concept of balancing your inpatient and outpatient education. Our residents get extensive education and experience on the hospital floors, ICU, ER, and in the office. By the time our PGY1s have completed their first year, they have already exceeded the 750 required inpatient encounters. PGY2 residents spend 2 months in the ICU, run code blue, and lead the rapid response team. PGY3 residents spend 2 more months in inpatient care, supervising interns and running the service. All residents successfully manage a range of chronic conditions, acute care, and health maintenance in the diverse patients in our FPC.

Given the extensive experience in so many areas, several of our residents go on to continue in diverse fields of family medicine, including ambulatory care, hospitalist medicine and urgent care. As of 2020, the last 3 years of graduates have done the following: 25% ambulatory care, 25% hospital medicine, 30% urgent care, and 20% faculty.

Community Involvement

As part of our commitment to the community, our residents participate in several aspects of community service. Our residents provide underserved children with care through Virtua’s Pediatric Mobile Services Program, participate in MedFest Special Olympics health screenings, provide smoking education to adolescents (Tar Wars), conduct skin cancer screenings, and participate in various other activities that model our commitment to the community.

Longitudinal Training

Due to the importance of “continued learning” in several areas, many aspects of the program are longitudinal, and experience in these areas occur over the 3 years of training.

Diverse Population/Multidisciplinary Team Approach

Our practice treats a wide variety of patients from a variety of socio-economic backgrounds, cultures, and age groups. Diversity in our staff, faculty, and residents is an important factor for us to ensure our team is reflective of the community we serve. To help us manage such a diverse population, we are proud to have a community based health manager to aid in care coordination of patients with certain chronic conditions, a social worker to help manage those with resource needs, RN’s who aid in on-site care coordination, and a behavioral health team (including our faculty behaviorist, and an APN with prescription capability). All of these disciplines come together to aid our residents and faculty as we strive to provide the very best care for such a diverse group of patients.

Residency News/Major Accomplishments:

• In 2017 then PGY3 Bhavika Patel, MD (now a current faculty), won the Michael J. Doyle, MD, FAAFP, New Jersey Family Medicine Resident of the Year Award
• In 2018, our PGY3 class won the NJAFP Knowledge Bowl
• 2019 – FPC gets major renovations
• As of our 2019 graduating class, we have achieved a 5 year pass rate of 100% on the ABFM Initial Certification Exam
• Present research at multiple national medical conferences, including FMEC, STFM, Women’s Health Congress, AMSSM
• 2019 in-training exam scores above the national mean for each of our PGY classe

Our Modern Residency Facility

Tatem-Brown Family Practice
2225 Evesham Road, Suite 101 Center
Voorhees, NJ 08043
856-795-4330

Located in Voorhees, New Jersey near the campus of Virtua Voorhees, Tatem-Brown averages 1,200 monthly visits, with approximately 35% of the practice being children under age 19 and 25% over age 60. This site has been involved with multiple managed care contracts since 1985 and has maintained quality ratings in the top 20% of practices. Newly renovated in 2019, we have a spacious facility, with more than 20 exam rooms and a large procedure room with modern equipment for our residents to learn the common ambulatory procedures they will perform throughout their professional careers.

As a resident in the Virtua Family Medicine Residency program, you will have the unique opportunity to work at two of the Virtua hospitals:

• Virtua Voorhees, Voorhees, NJ
• Virtua Mount Holly, Mount Holly, NJ

Learn More about Virtua Voorhees Hospital

Virtua Voorhees Hospital focuses on the emergency, surgical, and medical needs of adults, with a separate adults-only emergency room and a wing exclusively for complex adult surgery performed in state-of-the-art operating suites. All hospital rooms are private and family friendly with an area for someone to stay comfortably overnight. There is a wing devoted to women and children. The hospital provides a warm, welcoming, and healing environment while promoting personalized service and enhanced healing through the use of light, space, and technology. The hospital is entirely digital via our sophisticated EMR system, EPIC, which includes computerized order entry and physician documentation.

PGY1

PGY2

PGY3

*Night float: On all night float rotations, our residents' only duty is in the hospital from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. Sunday through Thursday evening.

Conferences:

One half day per week (Tuesday afternoon) is dedicated to didactic lectures and simulated learning to all residents not on critical rotations. Residents also present Family Medicine Grand Rounds monthly.

At Virtua Family Medicine Residency we are proud of our longitudinal focus and have included examples of some of our unique core experiences:

Practice Management: One of our residency goals is to teach residents how to manage and operate a family practice office and learn the business of medicine. This training is completed by a weekly longitudinal experience of practice management during the PGY 2 year.

Home Visits: Second and third-year residents are expected to care for a selected number of homebound patients under faculty direction. Residents learn to work closely with ancillary providers in the community to provide their patients with optimal care.

Simulated Learning: Our residency has incorporated the use of simulated learning into the curriculum. Residents learn the basic and critical care procedures they will need to excel in the hospital setting.

Ultrasound Curriculum: The Virtua FMR uses hands-on training incorporated into didactics for residents to learn the many applications of ultrasound in primary care.

Research: Dr. Robert Post, who completed a faculty development in research, has incorporated research into our longitudinal residency experience. Dr. Post has been published in many peer-reviewed journals, and has brought research to a new level at the Virtua Family Medicine Residency. Past resident research projects have included: health literacy, correlation of Precept Assist (one of our most valuable teaching tools) with in-training exam scores, infant nutrition, analysis of diabetes education websites for our Spanish-speaking population, as well as a host of others.

Behavioral Medicine Training: From the first day of residency, our residents receive extensive training in behavioral health, and this continues throughout residency training. From basic interview skills to diagnosis and treatment of more complex mental health issues, our residents become skilled in managing many mental health disorders that they will encounter throughout their career. Our program has a full-time clinical behaviorist who leads the development of this longitudinal curriculum, teaches basics of cognitive behavioral therapy and motivational interviewing, and is available for warm patient hand-offs for consultation and short-term therapy.

Leadership Training: Our program places high value on leadership skills, for this reason we have a leadership curriculum to help develop these skills. From workshops, educational sessions, and extensive experience in committee work, our residents graduate with excellent leadership skills. Our resident-led committees, allow our residents to get engaged and promotes leadership skills. Some of our committees include: wellness, women’s health, safety, outpatient, recruitment, and procedures.

Salaries:

• PGY1 $64,000.00
• PGY2 $66,560.00
• PGY3 $69,222.40
• Chief Resident $70,606.85

Other benefits include:

Vacation: 3 weeks (all years) + 5 sick days = 20 PTO days

Please note that time away from the program (vacation and sick time) must be in accordance with the ABFM rules governing absence.

CME: $1,500 & 5 days (all years)

Health: Medical, dental, and vision coverage for resident and dependents with minimal employee contribution. This medical plan is designed to meet the needs of employees and their families. It provides an opportunity for reduced administrative costs.

Professional Liability Insurance: Coverage for resident rotations (occurrence plus policy).

Miscellaneous:

• Lab coats (with optional laundry services)
• On-call meals
• Free parking at all Virtua facilities
• Permit fees
• Up to $1,000 in one-time moving expenses
• On-site child daycare facility on the Voorhees campus (all residents eligible)
• ALSO (Advanced Life Support in Obstetrics), BLS, ACLS and PALS training
• Step 3 and board review materials
• Stipends to cover reference materials: Up-To-Date, Essential Evidence, Lexicomp, AAFP, and NJAFP fees, subscriptions, and dues all covered
• Every resident is issued a laptop to be used during their 3 years of training
• Teambuilding events and annual retreats

Meet the Faculty & Residents

Faculty:

Mario Maffei, MD, is a graduate of Temple University School of Medicine. After he completed his Family Medicine residency at Virtua in 1999, he accepted a position as a faculty member. Dr. Maffei became program director for the residency in 2010. He is very enthusiastic about residency education, and he believes one of his most important tasks as an educator is to teach residents to be lifelong learners and to prepare them for their future careers in Family Medicine. His special interests include practice management, pediatrics, and leadership development.

Anne Ibay, MD - During her medical school training at Temple University, Dr. Ibay did her family medicine rotation at Virtua and immediately knew that she wanted to stay here for residency, and remain here as faculty. She continues to enjoy her tenure at Virtua as the lead physician of the practice and associate program director of the residency. Her particular interests include fitness (but not running), eating, watching Hamilton on Disney+, and lifelong learning.

Kathleen Bradley, MD, is a graduate of Temple University School of Medicine. She completed her family medicine residency program at Memorial Hospital of Burlington County in 1996. Since then she has had a wide range of experiences including academic medicine as a faculty member of her former residency program, private practice of family medicine and urgent care medicine. She is excited that her career has brought her back to academic medicine where she uses her experiences to educate the residents in the outpatient setting. Her special interests are preventative medicine, pediatrics and practice management.

James Gamble, MD, graduated from St. Louis University School of Medicine in 1982, and completed a residency in internal medicine there in 1985. He has been a member of the faculty of the Virtua Family Medicine Residency since 1992. He is also board-certified in clinical informatics, and is the Virtua medical director of informatics. He continues to provide primary care at the residency practice, and rounds with the residents on the inpatient service on his assigned weekends.

Sylvester (Sutton) Hamilton, MD, is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. After graduating residency at Franklin Square Hospital, he completed a faculty development fellowship at the University of Cincinnati where he focused on developmental/behavioral pediatrics and adolescent medicine. Areas of interest include developmental and behavioral problems in children, addiction medicine, and clinical reasoning. He has a passion for developing critical thinking skills in medical students and residents. Outside of medicine, his interests include organic gardening, home brewing, classical guitar, bread baking, and chess.

Robert Post, II, MD, is a graduate of the Rutgers-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. He completed his residency in family medicine in 2005 at the Medical University of South Carolina. He then completed a faculty development fellowship at MUSC that included earning a Master of Clinical Research. Dr. Post is the research director of the Virtua Family Medicine Residency, where he has guided residents to more than 30 national presentations and peer reviewed publications. Dr. Post also serves as the chair of the department of family medicine at Virtua and as the physician scientist for the Virtua Center for Learning. Per Google Scholar, Dr. Post's publications have been cited more than 1,200 times. His clinical interests are in cardiovascular health and inpatient medicine.

Bhavika Patel, MD, is a graduate of American University of Antigua. She completed her family medicine residency at Virtua in 2017. Dr. Patel’s dream was to be a teacher, but she never thought it would be in academic medicine. She is the residency medical student liaison. She has a passion to be a lifelong educator and her special residency interests are in women’s health, feedback, didactics, and procedures. Outside of work, she enjoys designing Indian clothing, she is a huge foodie, and she loves to cook.

Chelsea Shmuel, MD, is a graduate of Ross University School of Medicine. She completed her family medicine residency at Virtua in 2019 and has continued to be part of the Virtua Residency Program as faculty. She is very passionate about teaching and education. Her special interests include health care safety and the development of the family medicine physician's role in critical care. She loves traveling and working on home improvement projects.

Lauren Lucente, PsyD, LPC, MS, MA, is a graduate from the clinical psychology program at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. Dr. Lucente completed her postdoctoral fellowship at Virtua, as the family medicine residency’s behavioral medicine faculty. She is very enthusiastic about resident wellness and education. She enjoys teaching residents the biopsychosocial model and the fundamentals of mental health disorders and evidence-based treatments. Dr. Lucente’s special interests are in behavioral medicine, women’s health, and resident wellness.

Residents:

PGY3: 

Geet Amin, MD
Undergraduate: New York Institute of Technology
Medical School: St. George's University School of Medicine
Interests: reading, hanging out with niece and nephew, dancing, making people laugh, recreating my grandma's recipes, hiking (only for the views!), watching Friends for the thousandth time
Hometown: Old Bridge, N.J.

Tervicine Delva-Noel, MD
Undergraduate: Nova Southeastern University
Medical School: Ross University School of Medicine
Interests: fitness, traveling, makeup/skin care, and spending time with family
Hometown: Hollywood, Fla.

Sohil Doshi, MD
Undergraduate: Rutgers University
Medical School: Medical University of the Americas (Nevis)
Interests: basketball, exercising, cooking, hiking, reading, writing, painting, volunteering, photography, and teaching
Hometown: Washington Township, N.J.

Madhura Karajgikar, MD
Undergraduate: Rutgers University
Medical School: St. George's University School of Medicine
Interests: dancing, traveling, swimming, gardening, going to the beach, working out, and women's health
Hometown: Freehold, N.J.

Darien Seidman, DO
Undergraduate: Rowan University
Medical School: Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine
Interests: basketball, football, lacrosse, amateur astronomy, mobile application and website development, technology, DJing, music production, raising Koi fish and frogs, working on car restoration projects, and playing musical instruments such as ukulele, drums, piano, and turntables;
Hometown: Medford, N.J.

Terri Zachos, MD, PhD, DVM
Undergraduate: Cornell University
Medical School: Michigan State University College of Human Medicine
Interests: playing, coaching, and watching lacrosse; playing and watching ice hockey, weightlifting, NFL scouting combine and draft statistics, watching football at any level, collecting sneakers, collecting mechanical keyboards
Hometown: Marlboro, N.J.

PGY2:

Lolade Kolade, MD
Undergraduate: University of Buffalo
Medical School: St. George’s University School of Medicine
Interests: hiking, music, decorating, and spending time with family
Hometown: Staten Island, N.Y.

Jay Singh, MD
Undergraduate: Drexel University
Medical School: St. George's University School of Medicine
Interests: running, traveling, reading, spending time with friends and family, and dancing bhangra
Hometown: Byram, N.J.

Salvatore Spadaro, MD
Undergraduate: University at Buffalo (SUNY)
Medical School: St. George's University School of Medicine
Interests: camping, comics, dancing, and trying new foods
Hometown: Melville,N.Y.

William Spivey, DO
Undergraduate: Soka University of America
Medical School: Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine
Interests: cooking, baseball, riding my bicycle, learning new languages, playing Taiko (traditional Japanese drums)
Hometown: Antioch, Calif. 

Thomas Tessitore, MD
Undergraduate: Ursinus College
Medical School: Cooper Medical School of Rowan University
Interests: video games, football, lacrosse, gardening, camping, Marvel movies, Dungeons & Dragons
Hometown: Medford Lakes, N.J.

PGY1:

Janessa Bell, MD
Undergraduate: University of Connecticut (UConn)
Medical School: American University of the Caribbean (AUC)
Interests: reading, Love Island UK, and spending time with family/friends
Hometown: Queens, N.Y. 

Bhaven Murji, MD
Undergraduate: University of Nottingham
Medical School: St George’s University of London
Interests: endurance and extreme sports, Women’s health, training therapy dogs, teaching and tinkering with technology, and biking
Hometown: London, UK

Jacob Nathanson, MD
Undergraduate: Brandeis University
Medical School: American University of the Caribbean (AUC) 
Interests: cooking, baking, ping pong, frisbee, kayaking, gaming, and Magic: The Gathering
Hometown: Needham Mass.

John Ni, MD
Undergraduate: University of California, Berkeley
Medical School: St. George’s University School of Medicine
Interests: tennis, K-pop, watching crime shows, going to concerts, and foreign travel
Hometown: East Hanover, N.J. 

Kateryna Poliashov, MD
Undergraduate: Washington State University 
Medical School: St. George’s School of Medicine
Interests: spending time with family, tennis, and European baking
Hometown: Port Orchard, Wash.

Philosophy of the Program

The Virtua Family Medicine Residency offers a unique training opportunity for residents in Southern New Jersey. As the only allopathic residency sponsored by Virtua, our residency program has an educational history dating back to 1979. You will train in the best of our hospital rotations at both Virtua Voorhees Hospital and Virtua Memorial Hospital and be assigned to our family practice center in Voorhees. Our focus is to offer each of our residents the ability to become the best family physician they can be with a practice commitment to care that evolves along with proven methodologies.

Evidence-based care has become a popular phrase in medical education. However, at our residency we have lived this approach since the beginning, through our precepting program and our approach to clinical care. Precepting has become for us a mechanism to enable each resident to achieve their personal best through continual constructive feedback on clinical management, behavioral attitudes, and techniques for improvement. By insisting on use of evidence-based care, our residents set the pattern for their long-term learning in the delivery of patient care. Combining this approach with a focus on the skills essential to the development of family physicians has allowed us to create a progressive residency focused on the future.

In our family practice center, we model real-world medicine. You will learn the critical elements of the business of medicine and the success of practice development throughout your residency. You will learn to balance the resources of medicine not only through your own managed care patients, but also through the struggle to identify the resources necessary for your under-served patients.

The Precepting Process

Precept-Assist™ is a computerized, data-based feedback system, developed at Virtua Family Practice Residency, and used as the principal office evaluation system since 1995. When you are a resident here, preceptors will use the system to enter data about your performance immediately after the precept session. The areas in which feedback is given are structured into three categories:

• Knowledge: Preceptors assess your knowledge about each of the diagnoses/problems discussed during the precept session.
• Procedures: Preceptors assess your performance on procedures supervised in the office.
• Competencies: Based on your individual needs, Precept-Assist presents to the preceptor a set of behavioral and attitudinal competencies unique to family practice.

One of the important results of entering formative data after each precepting session is that the feedback is available to you immediately. This means that, instead of waiting for the monthly or quarterly evaluation session to find out "how I am doing," you, as a resident at Virtua Family Practice Residency, can see your growth on a day-to-day basis. The feedback provided online allows you to see your strengths and weaknesses, enables you to focus your learning on areas of deficit, and assists you in concentrating on those attitudinal and behavioral competencies that you need to become the best possible family physician.

Serving a diverse population of patients and learning how to best care for patients under one “medical roof” is an important teaching principal at our program. Our multidisciplinary team approach will help guide you to provide comprehensive care for patients across the continuum.

Top 10 Procedures at the Tatem Brown Family Practice Center

• Joint aspiration/injections
• Destruction of skin lesion
• Cerumen disimpaction
• Skin tag removal
• IUD insertion/removal
• Skin biopsies (punch/shave)
• Pap test
• Nexplanon insertion/ emoval
• I&D abscess, skin
• Colposcopy

What is Virtua Health?

Please visit our website at www.virtua.org to learn more about Virtua.

What are Virtua Family Medicine Residency academic affiliations?

The Virtua Family Medicine Residency participates in the Network of Affiliated Family Practice Residencies with the Rutgers RWJMS Department of Family Practice. Through this affiliation, faculty and residents are offered unique educational experiences such as annual faculty development lectures and the ALSO (Advanced Life Support in Obstetrics) course for all PGY1 residents. Additionally, the Department provides resources for resident and faculty research both within and between programs. All these activities are facilitated through regularly scheduled resident meetings and lectures, which the programs jointly support

What does the interview day look like?

Please note, due to COVID-19 restrictions, eligibility requirements, and the interview process are subject to change.

• Interviews are conducted weekly from 8 a.m. - 1 p.m. (approx.)
• Program overview
• Hospital tour
• Interview with faculty, staff, residents, and program director
• Tour of family practice
• Lunch with current residents

What should I do to prepare for my interview?

• Please ensure that all documentation is uploaded to ERAS (i.e. 3 letters of recommendation, deans letter, medical school transcripts, USMLE scores, CAF, personal statement, ECFMG certificate, CV, etc.)
• Make sure you visit the residency webpage
• The interviews are conducted on the premise that you took the time to read about the program on our website
• While visiting the residency website, please take the time to visit the faculty and resident page where you can get details on each of our faculty members - you may have similar clinical interests

What should I do the day of my interview?

Interviews begin promptly at 8 a.m., so plan to arrive 15 minutes early. You will be provided the location and address at the time you book your interview.

Are walk-ins welcome on the day of interview?

Walk-ins will NOT be interviewed. The residency program requires that documents be submitted in full through ERAS. Careful consideration is applied to each candidate's documentation packet prior to their invitation and arrival for their interview. If you are interested in the program, please take the proper steps to apply through ERAS, as this will be the only way that your candidacy will be considered.