Program Leadership
The OHSU Internal Medicine Residency Program leadership is comprised of faculty from both the OHSU Hospital and the Portland VA Medical Center.
Sima S. Desai, MD, MACP
Program Director
Vice Chair for Education
Professor of Medicine
Division of Hospital Medicine, OHSU
Dr. Sima Desai is currently the Program Director in Internal Medicine at Oregon Health & Science University, Vice Chair of Education in the Department of Medicine and Professor of Medicine. She graduated from the University of New Mexico (UNM) receiving her BS and BA in Biology and Chemistry respectively. She then graduated from UNM School of Medicine followed by Internal Medicine Residency and Chief Residency at Oregon Health & Science University. She was recruited along with her co-chiefs to start the hospitalist program at OHSU and has enjoyed a career in caring for patients and teaching residents and students since that time.
Her career path has ranged anywhere from being Section Chief of the Hospital Division to being an Associate Program Director before landing her dream job as a program director. She is currently the Chair of the ACGME Internal Medicine Review Committee. Sima’s most recent award is the ACGME Parker J. Palmer Courage To Teach Award. Her scholarly interests include residency and medical student education, diagnostic reasoning/cognitive bias and resiliency and well-being. Sima finds joy in being outside, bike commuting, watching her son play baseball and learning new things.
- MD: University of New Mexico School of Medicine, Albuquerque, NM, 1994
- BS: University of New Mexico, Biology (With Distinction), Albuquerque, NM, 1990
- BA: University of New Mexico, Chemistry, Albuquerque, NM, 1990
- Chief Residency: Oregon Health &Science University, Portland, OR, 1998
- Residency: Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 1997
- Internship: Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 1995
Research Interests
- Medical Education
- Diagnostic Reasoning
- Cognitive Bias
Clinical Interests
- Hospital Medicine
- Communication
- Palliative Care
Associate Program Directors
Alan J. Hunter, MD, FACP
Associate Program Director
Professor of Medicine
Division of Hospital Medicine, OHSU
Dr. Hunter has been an Associate Program Director for the Internal Medicine Residency Program since 1995. His current portfolio consists of serving as the Portfolio Director, for the Scholarship focus of the residency program. In that role, he is responsible for building, measuring and expanding the residency program's scholarly resources, mentoring relationships and scholarship productivity. Dr. Hunter is also the program liaison to the University MICU rotation, and responsible for oversight of the overall clinical and curriculum experiences offered to the medicine residents. Additionally, Dr. Hunter has a history of leadership in the Department, and served as founder and the prior long-standing Division Head, for the Division of Hospital Medicine. Finally, he has a long history of serving on, and chairing both the Department of Medicine and School of Medicine's Promotion & Tenure Committees.
- MD - University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, 1991
- BA - Economics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1982
- Internship - Internal Medicine, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, 1992
- Residency, Internal Medicine - Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, 1994
- Chief Resident - Internal Medicine, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, 1995
Research Interests
- Residency Education
- Student Education
- Mentorship/Faculty Development
- Medical History
Clinical Interests
- Hospital based medicine
- Infectious disease
- Bedside clinical exam
- Academic advancement
Emily Janetos, MD
Associate Program Director - Medical Education
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Portland VA Medical Center
Dr. Emily Janetos graduated from the University of California San Francisco School of Medicine and completed Internal Medicine-Pediatrics residency and chief residency in the University of Pennsylvania/Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia combined program. After her chief year, Dr. Janetos joined the faculty at the VA Portland Health Care System’s Department of Hospital and Specialty Medicine. Clinically, Dr. Janetos works as a primary care physician, precepts in the VA resident clinic, and attends on the inpatient wards. In her role as a clinician educator, Dr. Janetos has co-directed the Practice-Based Learning curriculum for VA clinic residents and co-chairs the Ambulatory Editorial Board which coordinates primary care didactics for residents during their +1 week. As associate program director for medical education, she coordinates educational events designed to help residents grow as physicians and professionals. Dr. Janetos has been recognized by residents and chief residents for her teaching and mentorship. When she’s not seeing patients or teaching, Dr. Janetos can be found riding bikes and reading books with her family or at the VA’s Patriot Store buying snacks.
- MD: University of California San Francisco, 2014
- BA: University of Chicago, Biology with a specialization in Endocrinology, Chicago, IL, 2010
- Chief Residency: Internal Medicine/Pediatrics, University of Pennsylvania/Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, 2019
- Residency: Internal Medicine/Pediatrics, University of Pennsylvania/Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, 2018
- Internship: Internal Medicine/Pediatrics, University of Pennsylvania/Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, 2014
- Mentorship
- Curriculum development
- Career trajectories and career advising
Kyle Kent, MD
Associate Program Director - Curriculum and Evaluation
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Portland VA Medical Center
Dr. Kyle Kent graduated from the Oregon Health & Science University School of Medicine and was thrilled to stay at OHSU to complete his residency and Chief Residency. Dr. Kent joined the VA Portland Health Care System faculty in 2014, has served as the Site Director for the inpatient ward rotation, and prior to his current role was an Assistant Program Director focusing on curriculum and evaluation.
In addition, Dr. Kent has been a member of the residency program's Core Faculty, a coach for medical students through the College Portfolio Coaching Program, and has served on several planning committees for local and regional CME. As the co-founder of the Residency Curriculum Committee he has led continuous improvement efforts across rotations, directed the revamp of the noon conference curriculum, and spearheaded innovations in rotation evaluations. He has been recognized by medical students, residents, chief residents, and faculty for his humanism, mentorship, and teaching. His publications and presentations range from transitions of care and heart failure readmissions to curriculum design and evidence based medicine. Outside of work, he enjoys time outdoors and home cooked meals with his family.
- MD: Oregon Health & Science University, 2010
- BA: University of San Diego, Chemistry with an emphasis in Biochemistry, San Diego, CA, 2006
- Chief Residency: Oregon Health &Science University, Portland, OR, 2014
- Residency: Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, 2013
- Internship: Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, 2011
- Ward attending best practices
- Effective feedback
- Mentorship
- Curriculum design and assessment
- Evidence based medicine
- Transitions of care
Maureen Lyons, MD
Associate Program Director - Ambulatory Medicine & Primary Care
Assistant Professor of Medicine
General Internal Medicine, OHSU
Dr. Maureen Lyons is an academic internist, primary care physician, and clinician-educator serving as Associate Program Director for Ambulatory Medicine and Primary Care.
Dr. Maureen Lyons completed her medical training at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine and continued on at University of Chicago for Internal Medicine residency and chief residency. During her chief resident year, she completed the Medical Education Research, Innovation, Teaching, and Scholarship (MERITS) program, a fellowship with emphasis on innovative curriculum development, implementation, and evaluation.
She moved to St. Louis in 2016 where she joined faculty at St. Louis University Hospital, where she served for nearly four years as an Associate Program Director for the Internal Medicine Residency Program and with the medical school as the Ambulatory Internal Medicine Clerkship Director.
She was recruited to join faculty at Washington University in St. Louis in January 2020, where she developed and implemented a Leadership Pathway for the Internal Medicine residency program. She continued her work in undergraduate medical education as the Ambulatory Team Lead for the Immersions, an innovative curriculum of early clinical rotations designed to immerse students in a variety of clinical settings and focus on professional identity formation and learning how to learn in a clinical setting. Alongside these roles, she was the founding medical director of Washington University’s Long COVID clinic, a generalist-based multidisciplinary clinic.
Dr. Lyons loves being outdoors, reading novels, and enjoying delicious food and conversation with friends and family. You’re highly likely to find the Lyons family exploring new parks and playgrounds while enjoying the ever-evolving dynamics of three young kids.
- MD: University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, 2012
- B.S., Nursing, Villanova University, Villanova, PA, 2007
- Chief Residency: University of Chicago Medical Center, Chicago, IL, 2016
- Residency: University of Chicago Medical Center, Chicago, IL, 2015
Research Interests
- Trainee leadership development
- Curriculum development, implementation, and evaluation
- Outpatient medicine education
Clinical Interests
- Preventive health
- Patient centered care
- Mood disorders
- Long COVID
Claire Zeigler, MD, MPH
Associate Program Director - Global Health
Associate Professor of Medicine
Portland VA Medical Center
Dr. Claire Zeigler graduated from the University of Kansas School of Medicine and completed her residency and chief residency at OHSU. She is an Associate Program Director at OHSU and the director of the residency’s Global Health program.
She serves as the co-chair of the ACP Oregon Planning Committee and the national APDIM Program Planning Committee. Dr. Zeigler is a member of the ACGME Appeals Panel, a subcommittee under ACGME for Governance, Appeals, Policies and Procedures. As Director for Global Health, she develops clinical and non-clinical curriculum to allow residents exposure to underrepresented and vulnerable patient populations locally and internationally. Residents participate in a longitudinal curriculum that includes journal clubs, lectures and mentorship as well as clinical experiences at IHS sites in Alaska, California and Oregon and local experiences in Portland including correction medicine, care for homeless Veterans, and immigrant and refugee care. She also directs the Global Health Partnership in Botswana, where residents spend a month working on capacity building at a district hospital. She is a clinical educator at the Portland VA, where she works in both primary care and hospital medicine.
- MD: University of Kansas Medical School, 2010
- MPH: University of Kansas Medical School
- Chief Residency: Oregon Health &Science University, Portland, OR, 2014
- Residency: Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, 2013
- Internship: Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, 2011
- Global Health Education
- Curriculum Development
- Resident Wellness
- Ambulatory and Inpatient Internal Medicine Education
Assistant Program Directors
Zachary Jacobs, MD
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Assistant Program Director – Global Health
Division of Hospital Medicine, OHSU
Dr. Zachary Jacobs graduated from the OHSU School of Medicine and did his internal medicine residency at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in the Global Health and Underserved Populations Track. He completed an Academic Hospital Medicine Fellowship at the University of California, San Francisco, expanding his skills as an educator and researcher. He is an Assistant Program Director at OHSU for the Global Health program as well as the Program Director for the Transitional Year Residency Program at OHSU Hillsboro Medical Center.
Dr. Jacobs is a clinical and teaching hospitalist in the Division of Hospital Medicine. His academic interests include global health, medical education, and narrative medicine. He has experience working with underserved populations both locally and abroad, including in the Navajo Nation and Malawi, Africa. He publishes on a variety of topics, including social determinants of health, curriculum development, and medical humanities (poetry, graphic arts), and has received awards for his commitment to the underserved as well as his teaching. As the Assistant Program Director for Global Health, he helps to develop and deliver curricula, mentor residents, and maintain relationships with various clinical sites.
BS: University of Oregon, 2009
MD: Oregon Health & Science University, 2014
Internship: University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, 2014
Residency: University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, 2017
Fellowship: University of California, San Francisco, 2018
- Global health & underserved
- Medical education
- Narrative medicine
- Medical humanities
- Limited English proficiency
- Hypertension
Avital O'Glasser, MD, FACP
Medical Director - Pre-Operative Medicine Clinic
Associate Professor of Medicine
Assistant Program Director - Social Media and Scholarship
Dr. O'Glasser received her BA in Biology at the University of Chicago, where she discovered her passion for the practice of medicine. She then attended Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, earning her MD degree in 2007. She made the transcontinental trek to Portland, OR, for her residency at OHSU, and has been an enthusiastic citizen of the Pacific Northwest ever since.
Upon graduating from residency in 2010, Dr. O'Glasser joined the teaching faculty within OHSU's Division of Hospital Medicine, ultimately shifting her clinical practice from inpatient hospital medicine to outpatient preoperative medicine. She is now the Medical Director of OHSU's Pre-Operative Medicine Clinic. Clinical and research interests include peri-operative medicine, healthcare social media, encouraging use of non-traditional scholarship venues including digital scholarship, and exploring expanded use of the traditional CV to promote equity and diversity. She is also the honorary chief of Perioperative Medicine for Kashlak Memorial Hospital and The Curbsiders. When not at OHSU, Dr. O'Glasser enjoys genealogy research, cooking, gardening, knitting, hiking, and spending time with her husband and two children.
MD: Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, PA, 2007
BA: University of Chicago, Biological Sciences, Chicago, IL, 2003
Residency: Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, 2010
Internship: Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, 2008
- Peri-operative medicine
- Peri-operative medicine education for internal medicine residents
- Quality improvement
- Medical history
- History of medicine
- Resident scholarship and abstract writing
- Physician use of twitter (#hcsm)