Leadership

Dr. Gary W. Chien is the Regional Assistant Medical Director for Graduate Medical Education (GME) at Kaiser Permanente, Southern California (KPSC). As the regional director of KP residency and fellowship programs, he serves as KP’s Designated Institutional Official (DIO) for Southern California. He supports the distinguished program directors and managers who lead 35 KP-sponsored, ACGME-accredited programs, plus scores of affiliated programs, in numerous medical and surgical specialties. KP programs reside in Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange County, San Bernardino County, Riverside, and Woodland Hills, with more than 400 residents and fellows. Dr. Chien also oversees Undergraduate Medical Education for medical students who rotate with KP from eight affiliated schools of medicine and more than 100 other medical schools.

Dr. Chien received his BA in Biology from the University of California, Berkeley. He earned his MD degree from the State University of New York, Downstate Medical Center. He completed his urology residency at KP Los Angeles Medical Center and fellowship training in robotics oncology at the University of Chicago. He returned to KP Los Angeles, where he served as the Endourology Fellowship Director 2008-2014, Urology Residency Program Director 2010-2021, then as the Assistant Area Medical Director 2021-2022. During this time as an educator and leader, Dr. Chien oversaw 22 GME programs at Los Angeles Medical Center, as well as the Assistant Area Medical Director over Finance. He is a Certified Professional Coder. Further, he has supported the organization’s efforts in Physician Wellness and Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity.

Always seeking evidence-based medicine when treating patients, Dr. Chien is an active researcher at KPSC with numerous peer-reviewed publications, much of this work derived from the power of KPSC’s integrated healthcare and extensive electronic medical records.

Dr. Chien is certified by the American Board of Urology. He specializes in minimally invasive and robotic urologic surgery and enjoys managing and treating the most challenging tertiary cases. He continues to be an active faculty member of the Urology Department. Dr. Chien is a member of the American Urological Association, and has held numerous leadership positions, currently a Planning Committee Member of the Western Section, AUA.

Dr. Chien and his wife Yuri, who is an elementary school teacher, are parents to two young adults. Dr. Chien loves all endurance sports and is an avid road cyclist.

Dr. Lauren Peng is the program director for Diagnostic Radiology residency at Kaiser Permanente, Southern California.  She has served as associated program directors for four years prior. She is also a clinical associate professor at Bernard J Tyson School of Medicine.

Dr. Peng received her medical degree from the Peking University Health Science center (AKA Beijing University Medical School). She subsequently obtained M.SC. degree from University of Rochester Pathology-cell biology of disease.  She was an active stem cell researcher prior to return to clinical training.

Dr. Peng finished her diagnostic residency training in Kaiser Permanente Southern California followed by Pediatric Radiology Fellowship at Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles (CHLA). She served as teaching faculty and staff Diagnostic and Interventional radiologist at CHLA as well as Assistant Professor of Radiology, Keck School of Medicine (USC), prior to join Kaiser Permanente Southern California medical group.

Dr. Peng is an active member of Society of Pediatric Radiology curriculum committee.  She is passionate about education, may it be residents, medical students, college students or younger learner.  She is devoted to community building and inclusive culture of the work environment.

Dr. Peng is bilingual lifelong learner. She loves to read both English and Chinese literature.  She is also a mother of four boys and active yoga practitioner. She loves to travel and learn various culture through food and art.

A born, bred and raised New Yorker, Dr. Silver trained at Jacobi/Montefiore in the Bronx, served as Chief Resident, then Site Director and APD at Jacobi/Montefiore before moving to the west coast in 2009.

In 2014, along with a passionate team of educators, he helped start the first EM residency program within Kaiser Permanente and now serves as the founding Program Director for the KP Emergency Medicine Residency Program based in San Diego. He also serves as founding faculty for the KP School of Medicine, helping shape the curriculum for the school which opened in July 2020. He is an Associate Professor, Course Director for the “Early Immersive” orientation course, and Director of Educational Informatics for the KP School of Medicine. He creates curricula and will talk about anything that can’t be found in traditional textbooks (communication, patient experience, med mal, difficult conversations, well-being and resilience, process improvement, cognitive bias and diagnostic reasoning).

To balance out the work, he is the gushing dad of a musical 16-year-old and sporty 13-year-old. If he wasn’t a doctor, he’d be living in a camper van at the base of Mammoth Mountain and/or would be an aspiring chef.

Dr. Christi Wiley is a Southern California native and a graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles. She earned her medical degree from the Keck School of Medicine at USC, becoming the first physician in her family. After graduating from the Northridge Family Medicine residency program, she left the hustle and bustle of Los Angeles to join a small group practice in the Inland Empire.  Missing the variety of pathology, academic rigor and sense of purpose that teaching provided, she left private practice and found her home at Kaiser Permanente SBC in 2011.

Dr. Wiley has completed fellowships in both Faculty Development and the National Institute for Program Director Development. In addition to being the Program Director at the highly regarded Kaiser Permanente Fontana Family Medicine Residency program, she also serves as the chair for the IGMEC Equity, Inclusion and Diversity Subcommittee, is an inaugural member of the ACGME Equity Matters Leadership Learning Community and is a department chair in the Professional Education Committee at her medical center.

She and her husband have 3 children, ages 14, 11, and 8 and they enjoy taking them on new adventures.

Dr. Kara Cummins is the Program Director of the Kaiser Permanente Orange County Family Medicine Residency Program.  She leads a program of 24 residents, 14 core faculty members as well and 35 adjunct Family Medicine and specialty faculty.  Dr. Cummins also serves as Chairperson of the Orange County Graduate Medical Education Committee.  She is a volunteer associate professor of clinical medicine at University of California, Irvine (UCI), University of California, Riverside (UCR), and the Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine.

Dr. Cummins received her BA in Biology from DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana.  She earned her medical degree from the Saint Louis University School of Medicine.  She completed residency training in family medicine at The University of Illinois / St. Joseph Hospital in Chicago Illinois, where she served from 2003-2008 as a member of the core faculty.  She then worked in a group practice for five years before moving her family to California to become a Kaiser Permanente physician.

An avid lifelong learner, Dr. Cummins has completed a fellowship in the National Institute of Program Director Development through the Association of Family Medicine Residency Directors in 2019 and a Fellowship in Emerging Leaders through the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine in 2017.

Dr. Cummins is certified by the American Board of Family Medicine.  She maintains a full panel of patients at Kaiser Permanente Orange County where she specializes in women’s health and behavioral medicine.  She is an active volunteer in the local community where she donates her time to the care of uninsured patients at Lestonnac Free Clinic.

Dr. Cummins is a mother to two young children and a very active Labradoodle puppy.  In her free time, she enjoys long-distance running and has completed several marathons and half-marathons.

Dr. Lance Fuchs is the residency program director for the Kaiser Permanente San Diego Residency and co-director for Graduate Medical Education (GME) for Kaiser Permanente in San Diego.

Dr. Fuchs received his BS in Biology from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).  He earned his medical degree from Penn State University College of Medicine. He completed residency training in Family Medicine at the Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center.  He has served as volunteer faculty at the UCSD School of Medicine since 2005.

Dr. Fuchs is certified by the American Board of Family Medicine. His passions within Family Medicine include doctor-patient communication, preventive care, population-based care and care of underserved populations. In addition to caring for his patient panel at Kaiser Permanente, Dr. Fuchs volunteers his time to provide medical care at La Maestra Community Health Center. He volunteers with the UCSD Flying Samaritans on medical trips to Ensenada, Mexico and leads a program called the Summer Urban Fellowship, where high school students from underserved communities are encouraged to attend college and pursue science-related careers. He serves as one of the San Diego delegates to the California of Family Physicians and has met with numerous elected leaders to advocate for expanded funding for primary care residency training as well as improving access to care for underserved populations.

Dr. Fuchs has been recognized with the Elizabeth Schilling Award for Compassionate Care. He received the California Academy of Family Physicians Educator of Year Award in 2017.  He was selected as partner of the year for Kaiser Permanente in San Diego in 2018 out of over 1400 physicians.  He served on the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine (STFM) National Telemedicine Task Force from 2020 to 2022, creating a national on-line telehealth curriculum for physicians. This project was recognized with the STFM President’s Award at the 2022 STFM Annual Spring Conference.

Dr. Fuchs and his wife, Samme, are parents to two young adults, Ryan and Julia.  Dr. Fuchs enjoys skiing, travel and cheering for the San Diego Padres in his free time.

Dr. Kathleen Dor is the Program Director for the Kaiser Permanente Woodland Hills Family Medicine Residency. Dr. Dor attended Chatsworth High School, just a few miles away from the Woodland Hills medical center. Dr. Dor completed her undergraduate, medical school, and residency training at UCLA. She then came back to the San Fernando Valley, with its mix of urban and suburban living, wonderful diversity, and beautiful surrounding mountains to practice full spectrum Family Medicine at Kaiser Permanente in Woodland Hills. At Kaiser Permanente in Woodland Hills, she fell in love with teaching, as well as guiding and supporting residents to be well-rounded and happy family physicians.

In addition to serving as the Program Director, Dr. Dor is  the physician lead for Hippocrates Circle. Hippocrates Circle is a pipeline program for junior high students from underserved communities in the San Fernando Valley whose purpose is to inspire these students to pursue medical careers. She is also the physician CME planner for Kaiser Permanente Woodland Hills’ Family Medicine and Internal Medicine departments.

In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her husband, daughter, dogs, and friends.

Dr. Thomas J. Chen is the Program Director for the Kaiser Permanente, Inland Empire Internal Medicine Residency.   He has led and served the multi-centered Internal Medicine program hosted by both the KP San Bernardino and Riverside service areas.  He currently serves as chair of the Graduate Medical Education Committee at San Bernardino County, and as co-chair for the San Bernardino County Research Fair.  Dr. Chen also supports Undergraduate Medical Rotations for the KP School of Medicine and visiting rotators.  He also serves as a Longitudinal Integrated Clerkship mentor for the KP School of Medicine.

Dr. Chen received his BS in Bioengineering from the University of California, Berkeley.  He earned his Masters of Public Health, and medical degree from Loma Linda University.  He completed residency training in Internal Medicine / Pediatrics at Loma Linda University Medical Center, where he served from 2006-2010 as Assistant Professor in both departments.    Currently, he holds the rank of clinical Assistant Professor at Loma Linda University, UC Riverside, and Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine.

Dr. Chen is certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine.  He practices in General Internal Medicine and has a particular interest in Medical Education and Clinical Reasoning.   He is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians and remains an active member, promoting research and medical education in the local Southern California Region 2.

Dr. Chen and his wife Glendy are parents to a kindhearted daughter Serena.  Dr. Chen plays classical violin with the Redlands Community Orchestra and enjoys gardening and cycling in his free time.

“I announced to the world that I was going to be an OBGYN in 9th grade, before I really knew what that meant.  All I knew is that OBGYNs had the privilege of caring for female patients in their happiest AND in their saddest moments.  I know a lot more than that now, and it seems like a long trek from those days, but everything I have done since has made me who I am today.

I am an OBGYN because I believe in the power of women.  I believe that women are the center of the universe and deserve physicians who understand their specific needs, physicians that listen and can proficiently act on both a medical and surgical level.  My privilege has been being there for patients through issues in adolescence and reproduction and into menopause and aging.  I am constantly reminded of how lucky I am to be an OBGYN.

I like to say that everyone has a story.  That is why I work at Kaiser Permanente.  I have actively chosen to surround myself with people who feel as passionate about being a doctor as I am, physicians from various different backgrounds who teach me about who they are.  Physicians who try to be the best they can be, practicing evidenced based medicine, knowing their patients, and deeply caring for their wellbeing no matter what situations arise.  Kaiser Permanente allows me to work in a system that values a preventative approach at the same time facilitating the delivery of needed care to any given patient.

I became involved with resident education about 13 years ago.  Having been a middle school math and science teacher before medical school, education was always important to me.  After residency I completed a Clinical Research Fellowship that included a medical education component and thought I would like to be a residency program director someday.  I honed my skills and worked on family before taking on residents.  In 2014 I moved to KP Los Angeles Medical Center to work as the OBGYN Residency Program Director and have not seen a dull moment since.  I believe in always striving to move into a better future.  Working with faculty and residents is my way of doing that.  Every year I welcome a group of new interns and every year I say goodbye to a group of new attendings.   My hope is that they too will carry on with lifelong learning while providing proficient and compassionate care to the women they will serve.”

Upon completion of his undergraduate studies at Stanford University and medical training at Harvard Medical School, Dr. Ming Zhi returned to California to pursue his residency training in Radiation Oncology at the Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center. Dr. Zhi joined our faculty after graduation in 2018, owing to his belief in the high-quality and evidence-based medicine practiced at Kaiser Permanente. Having trained in our program, he was a natural fit to become the Program Director in 2022. Dr. Zhi is passionate about medical education and resident wellness. He is heavily invested in ensuring a supportive and healthy program for our future clinicians.

He lives in Pasadena, California with his wife. He loves basketball, travel, and food. He is Roger Federer’s biggest fan.

Dr. Louise Yeung is the Program Director of the General Surgery Residency Program at Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center. After growing up internationally on 3 different continents, she received her BA in Biology from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH and her medical degree from Washington University in St. Louis, MO. She then went on to complete residency training in surgery and two years of research at University of California, San Francisco – East Bay, followed by a fellowship in Minimally Invasive Surgery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA. She was then fortunate enough to land her very first “real job” at Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center, in the fantastic and supportive Surgery Department. She is also a Clinical Associate Professor at the Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine.

Dr. Yeung is certified by the American Board of Surgery and specializes in minimally invasive and robotic surgery of the abdomen. She is currently the Young Surgeons Representative for the Southern California Chapter of the American College of Surgeons. She is also on the KP-LAMC Committees for Faculty Development and Physician Wellness.

Some of her proudest highlights are: her 29 surgery resident “kids”, The John Winkley Teaching Award, her ElevateMed URM mentee who started surgical internship this year, and ditching her Chemistry major for a Jazz class senior year of college.

Dr. Yeung and her husband Nathan enjoy exploring new recipes and restaurants, traveling to fun locations, and generally experiencing life with a sense of humor. They didn’t quite make it to the upper echelons of “brain surgery” and “rocket science”, but happily settled for “gut surgeon” and “rocket engineer”.

Dr. Stacey Carter is the Program Director for the Urology Residency Program at Kaiser Permanente, Los Angeles. As the Program Director she oversees the Urology residents throughout their tenure here at Kaiser Permanente and is dedicated to creating world class training opportunities and career mentorship and guidance.

Dr. Carter received her BA in Sociology with a focus on Health and Medicine from the University of Pennsylvania.  She earned her medical degree from the University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio (UTHSCSA) where she graduated at the top of her class.  She completed residency training in Urologic Surgery at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and completed a 1-year fellowship in Endourology also at UCLA.  She joined Kaiser Permanente in 2016.

Dr. Carter is certified by the American Board of Urology and specializes in Endourology. Her clinical and academic interests include surgical and medical management of complex renal stone disease.  She serves as the department liaison to the Quality department and has a special interest in Quality improvement. She serves as the department’s Enhanced Recovery after Surgery (ERAS) Champion as well as the Perioperative Utilization (PUAT) committee champion.  She has an invested interest in improving and maximizing resident educational opportunities and works closely with all faculty to enhance resident education and experience.

Dr. Carter and her husband Brian are parents to two young children and two rambunctious dogs.  On the weekend Dr. Carter spends time playing beach volleyball with her friends, or swimming with her family.

Dr. Mingsum Lee serves as the Program Director for the Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship program. She received her undergraduate degree from Yale University, and went on to earn her Ph.D. at Harvard University and MD at Columbia University. She completed Internal Medicine residency training at New York Presbyterian Hospital (Columbia University) and Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship training at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital (Harvard University).

Dr. Lee’s clinical interests include coronary artery disease, heart failure, cardiomyopathy, valvular heart disease, heart rhythm management, and cardiac imaging. She is board-certified in Internal Medicine, Cardiovascular Disease, Echocardiography, Cardiac Computed Tomography, and Nuclear Cardiology.

In addition to her clinical work, Dr. Lee is a clinician-researcher, having published in peer-reviewed journals including Nature, Science, Circulation, Circulation Research, Heart Rhythm, JACC Cardiovascular Imaging, JACC, JAMA Internal Medicine, Heart, and others.

Dr Nageh received his medical degree from Cairo University Faculty of Medicine, Egypt. He completed his Internal Medicine training at Baylor College of Medicine, TX in 1996, and

Cardiovascular disease fellowship training also at Baylor College of Medicine, TX, 1999. This was followed by Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology fellowship training at Medical College of Pennsylvania/Hahnemann University, PA, from 1999- 2001.

He was awarded National Institute of Health (NIH) grant support for research in molecular genetics during the cardiology fellowship training and received the North American Society of Pacing and Electrophysiology research award in 2001.

He currently holds the rank of assistant clinical professor of medicine at UCLA David Geffen school of Medicine.

He is certified by the American Board of Medicine in Internal Medicine, Cardiology and Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology and by the European Heart Rhythm Association for invasive cardiac electrophysiology, cardiac pacing, and implantable cardioverter defibrillators.

He has served as an examination consultant to the American Board of Internal Medicine Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology subspecialty.  He is active in clinical research and is also a reviewer for different Cardiology and clinical cardiac electrophysiology scientific journals.

Dr. Jeegar Rana is the Program Director for the Geriatric Medicine fellowship at Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center. As a physician in the Geriatrics, Palliative Medicine and Continuing Care department, Dr. Rana has a diverse clinical practice, providing care to patients in the nursing home, clinic, home hospice/home palliative care and hospital setting.

Dr. Rana received his BA in Economics from the Johns Hopkins University. He then went on to pursue a master’s in health administration at the University of Southern California (USC). After working in the business side of healthcare for a few years, Dr. Rana realized he needed a change in his career path. After reading the book The Art of Happiness by the Dalai Lama, Dr. Rana realized making other people happy is what made him happy. He decided to pursue a career in medicine, hoping to provide holistic care and create meaningful relationships with those he cared for.

After completing his pre-medical courses at Los Angeles Community College and USC, Dr. Rana was accepted into the College of Osteopathic Medicine at Touro University. He then completed his residency training in family medicine at the Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center (KP LAMC). During residency training, Dr. Rana decided to further his training in Geriatric Medicine after realizing the skillsets and tools he would gain in fellowship would allow him to provide effective and meaningful care to this vulnerable population and build the connections he desired for himself and his patients. Dr. Rana stayed on at KP LAMC to complete his geriatric medicine fellowship and has been at the medical center ever since.

In addition to his role as PD, Dr. Rana enjoys having a diverse clinical practice which allows him to provide care to patients in many settings, integrating both geriatric and palliative medicine. Dr. Rana is also proud to be a part of the Clinician-Patient Communication team at KP LAMC, helping physicians realize the importance of effective communication, providing the training to build their communication toolbox, and showing how improved communication can help bring back the meaning in medicine that can be lost with the demands as a physician.

Dr. Rana lives with his wife and daughter in the Los Feliz area. He can be seen hiking around Griffith Park, walking to work, and as an avid foodie, he enjoys the many eateries in the surrounding neighborhoods around KP LAMC.

Dr. Andre Cipta serves as the Program Director of the Kaiser Permanente Palliative Medicine Fellowship, Founding Director of the Kaiser Permanente Palliative Medicine Mid-Career Fellowship, Palliative Medicine Clerkship Director at the Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine, and Associate Medical Director of the Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Hospice Agency. He is board-certified in Family Medicine and Hospice and Palliative Medicine. He is a recipient of the 2022 American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine Leadership Scholar Award and holds the rank of Assistant Clinical Professor at the Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine.

His interest in serving those in need led him to study Social Welfare at the University of California at Berkeley, spend a year at the Master’s Seminary, and complete a Palliative Medicine Fellowship at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). As a palliative medicine physician, he finds profound meaning in supporting those living with advanced illness and is passionate about training future generations of clinicians to further optimize the care of the seriously ill.

Dr. Cipta has a particular interest in innovation. As Fellowship Director, he created an innovative mid-career fellowship track in collaboration with the University of Pennsylvania through the ACGME Advancing Innovation in Residency Education (AIRE) program and expanded the program from two to four fellowship positions (two traditional, two mid-career), which is embedded in a unique, longitudinal curriculum spanning across palliative care settings. He created the Palliative Extubation Simulation-Based Formative Activity for both graduate and undergraduate medical learners, and co-created a novel wellness curriculum entitled, “iRISE (Initiative for Resiliency, Introspection, Self-care, and Empathy),” which was awarded an innovations grant and presented at numerous national conferences.

His research interests lie primarily in exploring the role of spirituality in optimizing whole-person, patient-centered care, which led him to train at Loma Linda University Medical Center and Glendale Adventist Medical Center for medical school and residency, respectively. He was awarded the Christian Academic Physicians and Scientists Faith and Medicine Research Fellowship Award and most recently published on the topic of spiritual distress in serious illness in the BMJ Supportive and Palliative Care.

Dr. Bob Sallis is a family medicine and sports medicine physician practicing at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Fontana, California, where serves as Director of the Sports Medicine Fellowship program.  He is a Clinical Professor of Family Medicine at both the Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine and the University of California, Riverside (UCR) School of Medicine. He is Board Certified in Family Medicine and holds a Certificate of Added Qualifications (CAQ) in Sports Medicine.

Dr. Sallis received his Bachelor of Science degree from the U.S. Air Force Academy (where he played intercollegiate basketball) and his Medical Degree from Texas A&M University.  He completed his residency training in Family Medicine at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Fontana, where he served as chief resident.

Dr. Sallis is a Past-President of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and currently chairs the Advisory Board for Exercise is Medicine™ Global Health Initiative that he started as a joint initiative of ACSM and the American Medical Association.  He also chaired the Healthcare Sector for the U.S. Physical Activity Plan.

Dr. Sallis has also served for many years as the head team physician at Pomona College, in Claremont, CA. He is also the Chief Medical Officer for the Los Angeles Football Club (Major League Soccer – MLS) and Chairs the Ironman Sports Medicine Conference in Kona, Hawaii.