Chair's Message
Welcome to the Department of Medicine at Olive View-UCLA Medical Center. As part of our commitment to medical education and residency training, we have been able to recruit outstanding, highly trained and very motivated faculty to the Department of Medicine. All of our faculty members are UCLA-appointed and are known for their clinical teaching, commitment and dedication to advancing the education of our trainees, from medical students to residents and fellows, and for providing the best care to our deserving underserved patient population. The residency program is the core of our educational mission, and it is my privilege to lend it my full support.
Soma Wali, MD, FACP
Chair of Medicine, Olive View-UCLA Medical Center
Executive Vice-Chair of Medicine for Affiliated Hospitals at UCLA
Professor of Clinical Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
Program Directors
Laxmi Suthar, MD, FACP
Program Director
UCLA-Olive View Categorical & Preliminary Internal Medicine Residency
Designated Institutional Official
Olive View-UCLA Medical Center
Associate Professor of Medicine
David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
General Internal Medicine
Since finishing a Teaching Fellowship at UCSF during her training, Dr. Suthar has been committed to the personal and professional growth of medical students and residents in a wide variety of practice settings.
Dr. Suthar received her medical degree at Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland, OR in 2002 after which she completed a residency in Internal Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. In 2006, she accepted a faculty position at the University of Southern California where she worked as an Academic Hospitalist and Ambulatory Care physician. She then went on to be a primary care physician in a group private practice for several years in Southern California,but returned to her passion of academic medicine in 2013 at the University of California, Irvine. There, she worked as the Associate Third Year Medicine Clerkship Director and Residency Core Clinical Faculty as well as an Academic Hospitalist.
Dr. Suthar came to Olive-View UCLA in 2015 as an Associate Program Director for the UCLA-Olive View Internal Medicine Residency and became the Program Director in June 2016. She was awarded Attending of the Year awards at both UCI and Olive View. While Program Director, Dr. Suthar has worked to increase the scholarship and academic standards of our program with expansion of curriculum, introduction of POCUS and increased elective opportunities both within and outside of the United States. As an active member of the American College of Physicians in Region I, Dr. Suthar was awarded the Laureate Award in 2018 for her contribution to resident education. Dr. Suthar has presented oral workshops at both the regional and national levels on Resident as Teacher curricula and was recently selected to be part of the Faculty Development workgroup for the national Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine. Dr. Suthar’s academic areas of interest include medical education, pre-operative medicine, and women’s health.
Dr. Suthar has been strategically working with residency, hospital, and regional leadership to ensure that Olive View residents and medical students receive the best evidence-based teaching while using advancing technological and educational methods to promote learning and wellness. She recognizes the wonderful mentors she has had in her career and fosters mentoring relationships between faculty and residents at Olive View. For her own wellness, Dr. Suthar likes to go on hikes with her two children and husband, explore new restaurants and travel the world.
Paul Salama, MD
Associate Program Director
UCLA-Olive View Internal Medicine Residency
General Internal Medicine
Dr. Paul Salama recently joined the Olive View-UCLA Medical Center. He serves as the Director of Quality Improvement for the Department of Medicine. In this role, he works to refine the Quality Improvement curriculum for the residency and to ensure that residents have the support and structure needed to complete their ACGME-mandated Quality Improvement project.
Dr. Salama came to Olive View from the Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center, where he served as an academic hospitalist for eleven years. While there, he founded and directed the Internal Medicine Residency’s Research Track. Prior to that, he completed Internal Medicine residency at LAC+USC Medical Center after earning his doctorate degree from the Emory University School of Medicine.
Besides his efforts revolving around Quality Improvement, Dr. Salama is also very interested in epidemiology and evidence-based medicine, and is currently completing a Master’s degree in that area at Harvard University. He also has special interest in enhancing and advancing methodologies related to undergraduate and graduate medical education.
Gezman Abdullahi, MD
Associate Program Director
UCLA-Olive View Internal Medicine Residency Program
MS1/2 Preceptorship Site Director
Olive View-UCLA Medical Center
Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine
David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
Primary Care
Dr. Abdullahi obtained her Bachelors of Science degree from UC Irvine and went to UCLA-CDU for medical school. She was immediately drawn to Olive View after her third-year medical school rotations. Therefore, she continued her training in Internal Medicine at Olive View, followed by a year of Chief Residency from 2015-2016. Dr. Abdullahi currently holds a hybrid position, working both in the outpatient and inpatient setting. She is passionate about medical education and is active in running the outpatient curriculum and primary care elective. She is additionally the preceptorship director for first- and second-year UCLA medical students. Recently, she has joined the Power Initiative to address diversity and inclusion in Internal Medicine at Olive View. She stepped into the role of Associate Program Director in 2022, continuing to take a lead in outpatient clinical training.
Daniel Georgie, MD
Associate Program Director
UCLA-Olive View Internal Medicine Residency
Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine
David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
Primary Care
Dr. Georgie received a Bachelor of Science degree at Loyola Marymount University and a Master of Science degree at the Institute of Human Nutrition at Columbia University. He later received his Medical Degree from George Washington University and completed Internal Medicine Residency at Highland Hospital in Oakland, CA, where he also completed Chief Residency.
Dr. Georgie joined the Olive View-UCLA Primary Care Division in 2019. In 2021, he completed Medical Education Fellowship at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, focusing on anti-racism initiatives for residency programs. In conjunction with the POWER Initiative, he implemented an anti-racism curriculum for the UCLA-Olive View Residency Program later that year. Dr. Georgie’s professional interests include training future medical educators and addressing racial disparities in healthcare.
Core Faculty
Michael Rotblatt, MD, PharmD, FACP
Core Clinical Faculty
UCLA-Olive View Internal Medicine Residency Program
Vice-Chair of General Medicine Operations
Department of Medicine
Olive View-UCLA Medical Center
Clinical Professor of Medicine
David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
Dr. Rotblatt has been involved with our Internal Medicine Residency Program for over 25 years and is intimately engaged in the educational curricula of the program. With a degree in Pharmacy (UC San Francisco) as well as Medicine (UC Irvine), Dr. Rotblatt brings a unique knowledge of Pharmacology and Therapeutics to our trainees.
Dr. Rotblatt is a former resident and chief resident from our program and completed a UCLA fellowship in Medical Education in 1996-1997. His medical career started as an academic primary care internist at the Sepulveda VA. He joined the Olive View faculty as an Associate Program Director in 2003 and carried this position through 2022. He was Chief of the Division of General Internal Medicine (GIM) for several years and is currently Vice-Chair of General Medicine Operations. Dr. Rotblatt is active in the Southern California ACP Region 1 chapter, chairing the annual Poster competition in 2011, 2012 and 2013. He received the ACP Laureate award for professional accomplishments in 2012.
As a former hospital pharmacist, Dr. Rotblatt has a special interest in pharmacology and therapeutics, and chairs the hospital’s Pharmacy & Therapeutics Committee. He also has a particular interest in herbal medicines, dietary supplements and other CAM disciplines. He co-authored the 2002 book “Evidence-Based Herbal Medicine” and has lectured widely on this subject.
Dr. Rotblatt is an active educator for the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine, teaching medical students at UCLA and at Olive View. He is currently site director for the Ambulatory Medicine Clerkship at Olive View. His academic interests and areas of didactic teaching for students and residents include, among others, preoperative medicine, pain management, drug interactions, herbal medicines, dyslipidemia, diabetes, hypertension, and the art of “teaching and feedback.”
Siamak Basiratmand, MD
Assistant Medical Director
Mid-Valley Comprehensive Health Center
Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine
David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
Dr. Basiratmand’s graduation from this Program coincided with the growth of the County’s community clinic system. His direct contribution and commitment to this development has helped bring about an effective patient-care facility where housestaff and medical students gain valuable experience. Additionally, he is a sympathetic patient advocate who has willingly volunteered his time to work with the emotionally demanding County Refugee Assistance Program. His availability, commitment to teaching, desire to help, and loyalty to the practice of medicine makes him a role model to our students and residents.
Richard Tennant, MD, FACP
Chief, Division of Hospital Medicine
Olive View-UCLA Medical Center
Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine
David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
Dr. Tennant achieved his Doctorate of Medicine from Drexel University College of Medicine in Philadelphia, PA. He completed his internship and residency in Internal Medicine here at Olive View-UCLA and stayed an extra year as Chief Resident in 2013. After completing Chief Residency he joined us as a full time primary care attending physician, ultimately being appointed the Director of the resident Outpatient Primary Care Clinic and Associate Program Director, while also serving as the Ambulatory Medicine clerkship site director for the UCLA 3rd year medical students at Olive View. After two years of running the primary care clinic, Dr. Tennant transitioned back to the inpatient world, joining the Hospitalist Division. In 2016 he assumed the title of Chief of Hospital Medicine while continuing in his role as Associate Program Director. Dr. Tennant is the recipient of multiple teaching awards as a former resident and attending.
In addition to teaching students and residents on the wards at Olive View, he participates in didactic sessions throughout the year on various inpatient general medicine topics. He other interests are in medical education and quality improvement in the inpatient setting. He is an active fellow of the American College of Physicians, participating as a judge of poster competitions in regional meetings and attending both state and national efforts for promotion of health policy.
Vinhfield Ta, MD, FACP
Core Clinical Faculty
UCLA-Olive View Internal Medicine Residency Program
Chief Medical Information Officer
Olive View-UCLA Medical Center
Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine
David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
Hospital Medicine
Dr. Ta was first drawn to the Program by its excitement for clinical education and service to an underserved population. Serving as Chief Resident during 2014-2015 solidified his personal dedication to make Olive View a place for learning, excellence, and advancement. He served as Associate Program Director for the residency from 2016 to 2023, and was heavily involved in recruitment and clinical curriculum for residents. He enjoys teaching clinical reasoning in the Medical Education Track. He continues as a hospitalist practitioner, and now serves as the CMIO for Olive View-UCLA Medical Center. Dr. Ta is a graduate of the Honors Program in Medical Education at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. He is an active member of the American College of Physicians. His outside interests include graphic and web design, as can be appreciated by this website and in the Department of Medicine and Hospitalist offices.
Matthew McCullough, MD
MS3 Inpatient Medicine Clerkship Site Co-Director
Olive View-UCLA Medical Center
Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine
David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
Hospital Medicine
Dr. McCullough grew up in Colorado and graduated medical school at the University of Colorado. Since then, he has settled in Los Angeles, completing residency at Olive View, electing an additional year as Chief Resident in 2015-2016, and staying on as a hospitalist attending. Dr. McCullough takes an active lead in evidence-based medicine curricula, organizing the Landmark Research Series and Journal Club. He is the recipient of teaching awards as a resident and attending.
Vincent Chan, MD
Director of Medicine Procedure Service
Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine
David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
Pulmonary & Critical Care
Dr. Chan is a Pulmonary & Critical Care specialist who joined the Olive View-UCLA faculty in 2018. He obtained his medical degree at Case Western Reserve University and completed his Internal Medicine residency and served as Chief Resident at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. He went on to complete his fellowship in Pulmonary & Critical Care at Cedars Sinai Medical Center.
After completing fellowship, he worked in the Procedure Center at Cedars Sinai Medical Center for two years before joining Olive View-UCLA as the Director of the Medicine Procedure Service. Dr. Chan’s clinical and academic interests include point of care ultrasonography and medical simulation, and he hopes to further integrate these interests into the program as Core Clinical Faculty.
Lakshmi Sadasivam, MD
Core Clinical Faculty
UCLA-Olive View Internal Medicine
Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine
David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
Hospital Medicine
Dr. Sadasivam grew up in Chennai in South India and earned her medical degree from Stanley Medical College in India. She completed internal medicine residency at the NYU Downtown Program in 2005. She practiced as a hospitalist in a private medical group in Orange County. Then in 2017, Dr. Sadasivam joined Olive View to direct her career toward the underserved patient population and medical education. Her teaching interests include clinical reasoning. Outside of work, Dr. Sadasivam enjoys gardening.