Teaching is part of the core mission at PSVMC. Our program is richly staffed with clinicians of exceptional skill from many of the nation's most renowned institutions. We stress a collegial and friendly relationship between residents and faculty, with the highest quality educational experience as our common goal.
Jeffrey Youker, M.D., FACP
Program Director
Shahana Baig-Lewis, M.D.
Associate Program Director
Michael Goldstein, M.D.
Associate Program Director
Internal Medicine Hospitalist
Tom Chau, M.D., MBA, FACP
Medical Director, PMG at St. Vincent
Stephanie Griffith, MD
Internal Medicine Hospitalist
Core Faculty
Jason Heino, DO
Internal Medicine
Emily Hitchcock, M.D., FACP
Internal Medicine
Claudia Leonard, M.D., FACP
Internal Medicine
Laura Loertscher, M.D., FACP
Internal Medicine
Shelley Sanders, M.D., FACP
Internal Medicine
Alexander Schafir, M.D., FACP
Internal Medicine
Jeffrey Youker, M.D., MS, FACP
Internal Medicine
Personal Statement: I am excited to have the opportunity to be the Program Director at such an innovative, academically-focused community residency program because of the opportunity it provides me to prepare early physicians for the changing future of medicine. As a former high school teacher, I feel at home with the wide range of opportunities for teaching within this program; whether it is mentoring and teaching in the clinic setting, working with a team on the inpatient wards, or leading discussions and giving lectures at conferences. The innovative focus of this residency program continues to inspire me to find and offer what is best for residents and our patients.
Undergraduate: Bachelor of Arts, history, Walla Walla College,
cum laude
Graduate school: Master of Science, science education, Montana State University
Medical school: Loma Linda University
Internship and Residency: Providence St. Vincent Internal Medicine Residency Program
Chief residency: Providence St. Vincent Internal Medicine Residency
Awards: Most Outstanding Intern 2011, Community Preceptor Teacher of the Year
for OHSU 2020
Areas of academic focus:
National/Regional responsibilities:
Recent presentations/workshops:
Teaching responsibilities:
Personal interests:
Spending time outdoors with my wife and three sons enjoying Portland by hiking, biking, camping and running.
Michael Goldstein, M.D. FHM FACP
Internal Medicine Hospitalist
Personal Statement: As the academic hospitalist faculty, I hope to bring my enthusiasm and experience for the clinical practice of hospital medicine to our residents and provide them with the education that prepares them for real world hospitalist practice. Our residency is fortunate to have such a strong, diverse and supportive hospitalist group working alongside our residents to provide a variety of perspectives and clinical experience, preparing them for the fast paced and rapidly evolving field of hospital medicine. In addition, the many changes occurring within US health care today have created numerous opportunities within hospitals and healthcare systems for physicians to be leaders of change and improvement. I want to encourage residents to discover the satisfaction of not only being able to ease the way of patients at the bedside, but change the system to improve the experience and outcomes for all patients. As hospitalists, our knowledge and experience in the acute care setting makes us uniquely qualified to lead these innovation efforts. I hope to provide residents the tools and career development opportunities to become the next generation of physician leaders in the hospital or whichever clinical setting they choose to practice.
Undergraduate: Cornell University Bachelor of Science, Computational Biology
Medical School: Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California
Residency: Providence Portland Medical Center
Area of academic focus:
Regional/Local responsibilities:
Recent Awards:
Teaching Responsibilities:
Personal Interests:
Spending time with my wife and daughters, biking, hiking and enjoying the
Pacific Northwest.
Tom Chau, M.D., MBA, FACP
Medical Director, Resident Ambulatory Clinic
Clinical Assistant Professor, Oregon Health & Science University
Personal statement: I have enjoyed being part of Providence St Vincent’s efforts to build healthier communities. Empowering people to make positive changes in their lives leads to healthier patients while addressing the causes of worrying and frustration leads to healthier physicians.
The close, supportive environment of our community-based residency program has allowed me to foster careful information gathering and critical thinking with my residents so they learn how to think through their patients rather than worry about them. Similarly, residents learn first-hand how the healthcare system works and how to care for patients efficiently within that system rather than trip over multiple stumbling blocks. Watching nervous, green interns blossom into confident, adept physicians has been the greatest reward of practicing and teaching at Providence St Vincent.
Undergraduate: Bachelor of Science, biomedical engineering, Johns Hopkins University,
Baltimore, Md., recipient of Richard Johns Award for Academic Excellence
in Biomedical Engineering, 2000
Graduate school: Master of Business Administration, University of Colorado Denver, Denver,
Co., recipient of Dean’s Super Merit Scholarship, 2003
Medical school: M.D., University of Colorado Denver, Denver, CO, elected to AOA
Residency: Internal medicine (categorical), UCSD Medical Center, San Diego, CA
Chief residency: UCSD Internal Medicine Residency Program – San Diego VA Medical Center
Areas of professional focus:
Selected bibliography:
Regional responsibilities:
Personal interests: Hiking, healthy cooking, world travel, Board of Directors of Portland Columbia Symphony Orchestra
Jason Heino, DO
Faculty Instructor, Providence Medical Group at St. Vincent
Personal statement: A previous resident and chief resident, I rejoined the program as faculty in 2023. I was quickly reminded why I chose this program for my own training with its culture of connection and dedication to teaching life-long learning. After a few years working in hospital medicine, I now work as a general internist with extra attention to practicing and teaching the prevention of chronic diseases, particularly atherosclerotic disease. I enjoy practicing evidence-based medicine by staying up to date with the latest studies, listening to medical podcasts, and utilizing artificial intelligence. I am passionate about preserving the doctor-patient relationship in a quickly changing healthcare system.
Undergraduate: University of Puget Sound
Medical School: Michigan State University of Osteopathic Medicine
Residency: Providence St. Vincent Medical Center, Portland, Ore.
Chief Residency: Providence St. Vincent Medical Center, Portland, Ore.
Personal interests: Spending time in Portland and exploring the PNW with husband and daughter. Backpacking, camping, hiking, skiing. Pushing the climate boundaries in my garden.
Areas of academic focus:
Notable Presentations
Heino J. “Personalizing Risk Assessment and Primary Prevention of ASCVD” Providence
St. Vincent Medical Center and Providence Portland Medical Center Grand
Rounds. April 2024
Heino J, Youker J “Podcast-based Learning: An Innovative, Flipped-Classroom Instructional Model for Internal Medicine Residents” Workshop. Academic Internal Medicine Week. Charlotte NC. April 2022.
Youker J, Heino J, Griffith S “Creating a sustainable team-based learning model for an internal medicine residency program” Oregon Health Science University Education Symposium. 2018.
Griffith S, Youker J, Heino J “Successful implementation of a mock code blue curriculum focused on competency-based evaluation of residency” Oregon Health Science University Education Symposium. 2018.
Heino, J. “Contact Isolation” Providence St. Vincent Medical Center Grand Rounds. 2017.
Heino J. "N20 sensation: Two cases of nitrous oxide induced spinal cord demyelination" American College of Physicians Oregon Chapter Meeting 2014. Salem OR. Oregon Chapter semifinalist.
Heino J. "Not your average mononucleosis: A case of Epstein-Barr Virus induced severe Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome" American College of Physicians Annual Scientific Meeting 2014. Orlando Florida. National abstract winner.
Emily E. Hitchcock, M.D., FACP
Faculty Physician, Providence St. Vincent Medical Center
Clinical Assistant Professor, Oregon Health & Science University
Personal statement: As a clinician educator, Dr. Hitchcock finds fulfillment in both her physician-patient relationships and her mentor-resident relationships. Much as she enjoys helping patients find the right road to lead them to a healthier, better quality of life, so she enjoys helping her residents develop from enthusiastic but tentative young physicians into mature, confident and competent clinicians ready for independent practice. With patients, she focuses on creating a personalized health care program that can really work in an individual's life. With residents she identifies each resident’s strengths to support and areas of growth potential, helping guide her residents’ learning and experiences to best prepare them for a happy and successful future in medicine.
Undergraduate: Swarthmore College, Bachelor of Arts philosophy, with distinction.
Medical school: University of Pennsylvania
Residency: University of Rochester
Chief Resident: University of Rochester
Areas of academic focus:
Regional responsibilities:
Teaching responsibilities:
Personal interests:
Spending time with my family, gardening, cooking, jogging, cycling and
yoga. Teaching mindfulness meditation in the community.
Claudia Leonard, M.D., FACP
Faculty Instructor, Internal Medicine
Undergraduate: Harvard University, A.B.
cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa
Medical school: Harvard Medical School
Residency: Internal medicine, Beth Israel Hospital, Boston
Awards:
American College of Physicians, Oregon Chapter, Laureate Award 2019
American College of Physicians, Oregon Chapter Howard P. Lewis Distinguished
Teacher Award 2015
Spirit of Emile Award Mission Inspiration Award Recipient 2008
Top Doctor in
Portland Monthly magazine five times
Areas of academic focus:
Regional and National responsibilities:
Personal interests:
Traveling, hiking and skiing with my husband and three children. Gardening,
camping, reading and virtual visits with friends have sustained me during
the pandemic.
Laura Loertscher, M.D., FACP
Internal Medicine
Affiliate Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, Division of General
Internal Medicine and Geriatrics, Oregon Health & Science University
School of Medicine
Personal statement: I am fortunate to have found joy, passion and balance in my career due to the relationships, innovative flexibility, and academic rigor of a community program. This setting provides the ideal environment to cultivate our learners’ intrinsic drive and curiosity while coaching and role modeling outstanding, patient-centered, high-value medical care. Each learner brings their unique strengths and personality; my role as an educator is to help them reach their greatest potential by revealing value in their learning and meaning in their work.
Undergraduate: Bachelor of Science human biology, Marquette University,
summa cum laude
Graduate: Master of Public Health, University of Minnesota
Medical school: Mayo Medical School, Rochester, Minn.
Residency: Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn.
Chief residency: Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn.
Awards:
Areas of academic focus:
Selected recent publications:
Loertscher LL, Wang L, Schoepflin Sanders S (2021) The Impact of an Accountable Care Unit on Mortality: An Observational Study, Journal of Community Hospital Internal Medicine Perspectives, Volume 11, Issue 4, 554-7.
Grant L, Loertscher L, Mohamedy I, One Man, Three Tick-borne Illnesses, BMJ Case Rep 2021 Apr 16;14(4).
Tom Chau & Laura Loertscher (2018) A multimodal high-value curriculum affects drivers of utilization and performance on the high-value care component of the internal medicine in-training exam, Journal of Community Hospital Internal Medicine Perspectives, 8:1, 23-25
Patel MS, Reed DA, Loertscher LL, McDonald, FS, Arora, VM. Teaching Residents to Provide Cost-Conscious Care: A National Survey of Residency Program Directors. JAMA Internal Medicine. 2014 March: 174 (3): 470-2.
Sanders SS, Loertscher L, Bayley B. (2013) Building a real-world quality improvement curriculum. Academic Internal Medicine Insight. 10(4): 4-7
Szostek JH, Wieland, ML, Loertscher LL, Duncan DR, McDonald FS, Reed DA. A systems approach to morbidity and mortality conference. Amer J Med 123(7): 663-668.
Loertscher LL, Halvorsen AJ, Beasley BW, Holmboe ES, Kolars JC, McDonald FS. (2010). Pharmaceutical Industry Support and Residency Education: A Survey of Internal Medicine Program Directors. Arch Int Med 170(4) 356-362.
Loertscher LL, Reed DA, Mueller PS. (2010). Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Do-Not-Resuscitate Orders: A Guide for Clinicians. Am J Med 123 (1): 4-9.
Loertscher LL. (2018) Enough. Hektoen International Volume 10, Issue 2 – Spring 2018.
Taylor L, Loertscher LL. A Rash Decision. Oregon ACP Regional Meeting, Salem, OR, October 26,2023.
Schue A, Loertscher LL. Advance Care Planning at Medicare Annual Wellness Visits – Empowering Patients to Have Meaningful Goals of Care Discussions in Primary Care. Oregon ACP Regional Meeting, Salem, OR, October 26,2023.
Regional and national responsibilities:
Teaching responsibilities:
Personal interests:
Running, soccer, quilting and spending time in the beautiful Oregon outdoors
with my husband and two sons.
Shelley Schoepflin Sanders, M.D., FACP
Program Lead, Sepsis Focus Group, Providence St. Joseph Health
Affiliate Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, Oregon Health &
Science University
Faculty Instructor, Internal Medicine
Personal statement: I chose Providence St. Vincent for residency because the program philosophy and structure create academic rigor while the faculty embody what it means to be somebody’s doctor. I’ve stayed on as faculty because I thrive in our environment of continuous innovation.
I love being part of the future of medicine, both as a mentor for residents and as a health systems innovator.
In my PSJH system role as program lead for the Sepsis Focus Group across our 51 hospitals, and in my local role as faculty at Providence St. Vincent, I have the opportunity to connect residents with diverse projects that have robust data and analytic support:
Education:
Undergraduate: Bachelor of Science, Walla Walla College,
summa cum laude
Graduate: Master of Theological Studies, Vanderbilt Divinity School, Brandon Honor
Scholarship
Medical school: Doctor of Medicine with distinction in research, University of Rochester
School of Medicine and Dentistry, Alpha Omega Alpha
Residency: Providence St. Vincent Internal Medicine Residency
Chief residency: Providence St. Vincent Internal Medicine Residency
Teaching responsibilities:
Personal interests:
Spending time with family, windsurfing, triathlon, photography, gardening, piano
Regional responsibilities:
Alexander D. Schafir, M.D., FACP
Faculty Instructor, Providence St. Vincent Medical Center
Clin. Asst. Professor of Medicine, Oregon Health and Sciences University
Personal statement: Humans have always sought healing. It is a privilege and joy to answer that call; to be, everyday, somebody’s doctor. I became a clinician-educator in order to share that enthusiasm with you. I have a particular interest in teaching students and residents about “agendas” during clinic visits: the challenge of discovering our patients’ deep concerns and reconciling those with our own vision of their health needs. In addition, I hope to help you develop your own skills as an educator of students and interns during your residency. I am proud to be part of an energetic faculty with high standards for ourselves and our residents—a group that views physicians, including residents, as obligate leaders in our rapidly changing field.
Undergraduate school: Princeton University, Bachelor of Arts, cum laude, biology, Sigma Psi Scientific Research Society
Medical school: UCLA School of Medicine, Alpha Omega Alpha, Aesculapians Award for Outstanding
Leadership
Residency: University of Washington, Seattle
Chief residency: University of Washington, Providence Seattle Hospital
Scholar: Harvard Macy Program for Clinician Educators
Areas of academic focus:
Regional responsibilities:
Teaching responsibilities:
Personal interests:
My family sea-kayaks, travels to far corners, and builds community in our
neighborhood. I run; I bike-commute; and I seek out Portland’s jazz.
Stephanie Griffith, M.D.
Teaching responsibilities:
Leadership Responsibilities:
Scholarly Work:
Awards:
Personal Interests:
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Shahana Baig-Lewis, M.D.
Personal Statement:
I am honored to be part of the core faculty of the internal medicine residency program at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center. Our residency is an innovative academically rigorous community training program that emphasizes outstanding patient care, educational excellence, service to our community, and physician wellbeing. I am excited to be part of this outstanding group of physician educators who understand the privilege of being someone’s doctor and who are inspired to share their love of medicine with future generations. As a faculty member I am here to advocate for, coach, mentor, teach, and sponsor our residents to be the best physicians they can be, and in turn to provide our patients and our community with the best care possible.
Undergraduate: Mount Holyoke College, B.A. Biochemistry, Magna Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa,
Sigma Psi Scientific Research Society
Graduate: Portland State University, Master of Public Health, Health Administration
Policy, Academic Excellence
Medical School: Oregon Health & Science University, Academic Scholar Student Fellow,
Department of Pathology, Oregon Health & Science University
Internship and Residency: Oregon Health & Science University, Internal Medicine Residency Program
Chief Resident: Oregon Health & Science University, Internal Medicine Residency Program
Professional Development:
Areas of academic focus:
National/Regional Responsibilities:
ACP abstract reviewer
SGIM 2019 planning committee member
Curriculum Development:
Presentations/Publications/Workshops:
Baig-Lewis S, Chesteen K, Liu P and Wurzburger R. Minding the gap between UME and GME by restructuring an intern report curriculum. Innovations in medicine poster presentation. NW Regional SGIM annual meeting. Portland, OR. Jan 2020.
Baig-Lewis S, and Saedi T. Fever and Rash: The perplexing presentation of a common disease; a case of EBV viremia. Poster presentation. Oregon ACP Conference. Salem, OR. November 2018.
Baig-Lewis S, Morrison L, Troxell M, and Mansoor A, MD. An Uncommon Cause of Hematuria in an Elderly Man. Poster presentation. Oregon ACP Conference. Salem OR. November 2015.
Baig-Lewis S, Stanley N, Hacker F, Hanifin J, and Morgan T.Atopic Dermatitis is Associated with Obstetric Complications of Placental Insufficiency. Poster presentation. Society for Reproductive Investigation 62nd Annual Meeting. San Francisco, CA. March 2015.
Weese K, Hanifin J, Mahmood M, Larson B,Baig-Lewis S, Long T, Lim J, Berlin M, Morgan T. Atopic dermatitis is associated with high risk human papillomavirus infection. J Low Genit Tract Dis. 2015 Oct:19(4):345-9.
Slifka MK, Leung DYM, Hammarlund E, Raué H-P, Simpson EL, Tofte S,Baig-Lewis S, David G, Lynn H, Woolson R, Hata T, Milgrom H, Hanifin J. Transcutaneous yellow fever vaccination of subjects with or without atopic dermatitis. J Allergy Clin Inmmunol. 2014 Feb 133(2):439-447.
Rendell M, Baig-Lewis S, Berry T, Denny M, Simpson B, Brown P, Simpson E. Do early skin care practices alter the risk of atopic dermatitis? A case-control study. Pediatric Dermatol. 2011 Sep-Oct;28 (5):593-5.
Peterson-Nedry W, Erdeniz N, Kremer S, Yu JA, Baig-Lewis S, Wehrli M. Unexpectedly robust assembly of the Axin destruction complex regulates Wnt/Wg signaling in Drosophila as revealed by analysis in vivo. Developmental biology. 2008 Aug: 320(1):226-241.
Baig-Lewis S, Peterson-Nedry W, Wehrli M. Wingless/Wnt signal transduction requires distinct initiation and amplification steps that both depend on Arrow/LRP. Developmental Biology. 2007 June: 306(1):94-111.
Teaching Responsibilities:
Clinical instructor – Accountable Care Unit and SIBR
Clinical preceptor – medical home attending
Medical student teaching (OHSU third year medical students)
Personal interests:
Spending time with my family including my spouse, a local plastic surgeon,and our two children, distance running, traveling, cooking, and trying new cuisines, as well as reading and binge-watching British competitions such as the Great British Baking Show.
