Meet the Chief Residents | Internal Medicine Residency

Five residents serve as chief residents for the 2026-2027 academic year. They were selected through a three-phase process: application screening, stakeholder interviews with faculty and the outgoing chiefs, and leadership interviews with the program director and associate program directors. All five began full chief responsibilities on July 1, 2026, and all five carry the complete chief portfolio, including the administrative rotation.

Chief Residents:

Sophia Elortegui, DO - Chief Resident

Kansas City University College of Osteopathic Medicine (Joplin)

Academic Interests: Endocrinology, cardiometabolic disease, diabetes care, obesity medicine, heart failure

LRH Leadership Excellence:

Chair, Academic Curriculum Committee (didactics, simulation, and point-of-care ultrasound): redesigned the residency didactic curriculum to the ABIM blueprint and built a progressive hands-on POCUS curriculum
Vice Chair, Medical Student Academic Excellence Committee: co-led clerkship onboarding and a resident-mentored case-presentation model
Founder, Clinic Improvement Committee: implemented the continuity-clinic “Doctor of the Day” walk-in model to expand same-day access; co-founded the Transition-to-Residency Bootcamp for incoming interns

Research & Scholarly Achievement:

Author of “Oral PCSK9 inhibitors for hypercholesterolemia: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized trials,” presented at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2025 and published as an abstract in a Circulation supplement
Two accepted poster presentations at ENDO 2026 in Chicago, on basal ganglia calcifications in long-standing type 2 diabetes and on hypothyroidism as a clue to inadequate diuretic response
Abstracts in the Journal of Hospital Medicine and presentations at ACP Florida, SHM Converge, SGIM, and ACC; quality-improvement work in hospital-initiated continuous glucose monitoring and in HFpEF detection

Personal: Beach and park explorer, botanical garden and art museum regular, adventurous eater working her way through new restaurants and cuisines

Why LRH: “The combination of strong clinical training, innovative educational experiences, and meaningful patient relationships has made my time at LRH incredibly rewarding and has reinforced my passion for community-based medicine.”

Zoya Khan, DO - Chief Resident

Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine

Academic Interests: Hospital medicine, point-of-care ultrasound, medical education, quality improvement

LRH Leadership Excellence:

Chair, Internal Medicine Mentorship and Wellness Committee: pairs interns with senior residents and faculty, runs retreats and community events, and carries resident feedback to GME leadership
Internal Medicine representative to the institutional GME Committee
Former Vice-Chair, Resident Recruitment Committee, co-leading interview day and second-look planning; authored the program’s 2026-2027 mentorship workbook covering all 60 residents

Research & Scholarly Achievement:

Outstanding Abstract Award, ENDO 2026 (Endocrine Society Annual Meeting)
Contributing author, Intern Mastery: PGY-1 Excellence (2025)
Co-author on systematic reviews and meta-analyses in Life and Infectious Diseases and Therapy, with additional peer-reviewed work in American Heart Journal Plus, the Journal of Hospital Medicine, and Cureus; quality-improvement work on reducing NPO duration and on delirium precautions

Personal: Gastronomy and mixology, sketching and acrylic painting, cosplay; fluent in Urdu and Hindi

Why LRH: “It offered the ideal balance of strong clinical training, supportive leadership, approachable faculty and a culture genuinely invested in each resident’s success.”

Juan O. Rodriguez Padilla, MD - Chief Resident

University of Medicine and Health Sciences, St. Kitts

Academic Interests: Cardiovascular medicine, medical education, quality improvement

LRH Leadership Excellence:

Former Vice President, Graduate Medical Education Research Committee
Resident mentor for intern posters and case reports, giving feedback on content, structure, and presentation
Leads structured Tuesday intern teaching sessions and bedside instruction in ECG interpretation, cardiac axis determination, and guideline-directed medical therapy

Research & Scholarly Achievement:

First author on systematic reviews and meta-analyses of multivessel revascularization timing in STEMI and of dual antiplatelet therapy after percutaneous coronary intervention
Published case reports in Cureus (2026): “Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor-Induced Scleroderma-Like Pulmonary Fibrosis in a Patient With Advanced Lung Cancer” and “Ascending Aortic Graft Anastomotic Thrombosis Mimicking Prosthetic Graft Endocarditis”
National presentations at ACC, SGIM, and CHEST; quality-improvement work in ambulatory no-show reduction and in iron-deficiency screening for heart failure with reduced ejection fraction

Personal: Reader of fiction and dystopian literature, mechanical-watch enthusiast and repairer, freshwater and saltwater angler, cook and baker

Why LRH: “I was drawn to Lakeland Regional Health because of its strong culture of mentorship, academic growth, and resident leadership, as well as the opportunity to develop as a clinician, teacher, and future cardiologist in a program that truly invests in its residents.”

Jennifer Trube, DO - Chief Resident for Point-of-Care Ultrasonography

Nova Southeastern University, Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine

Academic Interests: Point-of-care ultrasound, cardiovascular medicine, EKG interpretation, medical education

LRH Leadership Excellence:

Leads expansion of the point-of-care ultrasound curriculum across all years of the residency, alongside the full chief portfolio
Chair, Resident Recruitment and Selection Committee (2025-2026); Co-Chair, POCUS Division of the Academic Curriculum Committee
Taught hands-on POCUS at the ACP Florida Chapter Regional Conference and at Orlando College of Medicine POCUS Day; created the “POCUS of the Month” teaching series and co-founded “EKGenius of the Week”; co-presented “Chiefs Unite” at the AAIM Chief Resident Workshop (2026)

Research & Scholarly Achievement:

First author, “Colchicine therapy in cardiovascular medicine: A literature review,” American Heart Journal Plus (2025)
First author on two abstracts presented at the American College of Cardiology Annual Scientific Session 2026 and published in a Journal of the American College of Cardiology supplement: “Lightning Strikes Twice: Recurrent Reverse Takotsubo Syndrome,” and “Cardiac Glycosides in Heart Failure with Reduced Ejection Fraction: A Pooled Analysis”
Contributing author, Intern Mastery: PGY-1 Excellence, and co-author, AI Literacy for Physicians: A Practical Curriculum (2026); posters at SGIM, ACP, SHM, SCAI Shock, and Heart Rhythm Society 2026; quality-improvement work in admission order-set redesign and an ICU ARDS protocol

Personal: Crafter, avid reader, dedicated food enthusiast

Why LRH: “I was drawn to the resident-centered family culture that they represented and passionate about continuing to pursue the innovation and academic excellence that leadership had to offer.”

Omar Zuhdi, MD - Chief Resident

Central Michigan University College of Medicine

Academic Interests: Gastroenterology, hepatology, inflammatory bowel disease, quality improvement and research

LRH Leadership Excellence:

Chair, Research and Quality Improvement Committee (2025-2026): matches residents to projects and provides mentorship, abstract review, poster printing, and conference-deadline tracking
Member, Resident Selection and Recruitment Committee, serving as a program ambassador at virtual open houses, interview days, and second-look visits; named Best Medical Student Teaching Resident (2025)

Research & Scholarly Achievement:

American College of Gastroenterology Presidential Award (2025) and ACP Florida Clinical Research Award (2025)
Lead and co-author on peer-reviewed abstracts in The American Journal of Gastroenterology, Blood, and the Journal of Hospital Medicine, spanning gastroenterology, hepatology, and inflammatory bowel disease
Oral and poster presentations at the American College of Gastroenterology, the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, SGIM, Advances in IBD, and Mayo Clinic conferences

Personal: Traveler, kayaker, and reader; native English speaker, fluent in Arabic; co-founder of the USF chapter of Students Organize for Syria

Why LRH: “I interviewed at Lakeland and realized that this program was different than any other program in the nation. I was excited by the idea of training at the hospital with the 2nd busiest emergency department in the United States, the access to diverse patient pathologies and research opportunities, and the chance to train at a program where the residents seemed very happy. I had ranked Lakeland #1 on my rank list. I had not known it at the time, but this was one of the greatest decisions I had ever made.”

Collective Impact

Our Chief Residents and Leadership Track Chiefs represent the future of academic medicine, combining:

100+ combined peer-reviewed publications
National and international conference presentations
Award-winning research and quality improvement initiatives
Innovative educational program development
Strong commitment to mentorship and community service

This exceptional leadership team exemplifies LRH’s commitment to developing physician-leaders who will shape the future of internal medicine through clinical excellence, research innovation, and educational advancement.