Neill Ramos, MD
Residency Program Director
Medical School: University of Toledo
Dr. Ramos was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. He stayed in the Midwest for his undergraduate training at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois where he completed his Bachelors of Science in Chemical Engineering. Prior to entering medicine, Neill worked for SC Johnson in Racine, Wisconsin in the co-op program in engineering on products such as OFF!, Glade candles, and Scrubbing Bubbles. He also worked 2 years after graduating from college at Degussa Construction Chemicals in Beachwood, Ohio just prior to entering medical school. Neill attended medical school at the Medical College of Ohio (now the University of Toledo). He went on to complete residency here at St. Mary Medical Center. He enjoys teaching the residents both in clinic and on the wards. Outside of work, Neill enjoys sports like basketball and golf, and he also enjoys living a couple blocks from the beach after living in the Midwest and spending time with friends and family especially singing karaoke.
Rima Gharibjanyan, MD
Residency Assistant Program Director
Medical School: Yerevan State Medical University, Armenia
Dr. Gharibjanyan was born and raised in Armenia. She received her MD from the Yerevan State Medical University and started Anesthesia and Critical Care residency program in 1999. During her training had opportunity to do several clinical rotations at UC Davis Medical Center in 2000 which played a major role in changing her life and goals. She moved to United States and completed her Internal Medicine residency at St. Mary Medical Center in 2012. Dr. Gharibjanyan really enjoys working on inpatient wards, teaching residents and students in adding to their medical knowledge while providing excellent medical care to patients. Outside of work she enjoys cooking, music, nature, and taking care of her family and raising her sons.
Wafa Mohammed, MD
Residency Assistant Program Director
Medical School: University of Khartoum, College of Medical Sciences
Dr. Wafa Mohammed was born and raised in Khartoum, Sudan and received her MBBS from the University of Khartoum. Alongside that, she also did a year of horsemanship. Dr. Mohammed officially moved to the U.S. in 2010, where she started working as a volunteer in St. Mary Medical Center. It was at this time where she fell in love with the hospital and its programs. As time progressed, Dr. Mohammed worked as a research assistant at the Huntington Medical Research Institute, focusing on liver disease. Soon after, she engaged in her internship at the University of Nevada and transferred as a R2 to St. Mary Medical Center. Dr. Mohammed finds that she kept coming back due to the warm environment that she can only experience within a small community hospital. Outside of work, her hobbies include cooking, reading fiction books, watching movies, and spending time with her family consisting of her daughters and her husband.
Chester Choi, MD, MHA, MACP
Chief of Academic Medicine
Medical School: UC Davis
Chester Choi received his MD from the University of California, Davis School of Medicine and completed his Internal Medicine residency at St. Mary Medical Center in 1976 and his Chief Residency in 1977. Following a fellowship in Infectious Disease at Harbor – UCLA, he returned to join the faculty at St. Mary in 1980. He is currently a Professor of Medicine at the UCLA School of Medicine. He served as the Southern California Region I Governor for the American College of Physicians and also as the President of the California Chapter. His areas of expertise include the rational use of antibiotics, meningitis, tuberculosis, sexually transmitted diseases, travel medicine and vaccinations, community acquired pneumonia, urinary tract infections and infections in the elderly. Other professional activities include serving as a consultant in the Division of Infectious Disease at Harbor – UCLA Medical Center, directing the St. Mary Medical Center Travelers’ Clinic and serving on the Language Access Leadership Council for the California Endowment. His hobbies include woodworking, computers, and gardening. He enjoys traveling and hiking in Yosemite with his wife Lynn.
Sarah Jean Strube, DO, FACP
Academic Hospitalist
Medical School: Western University of Health Sciences
Dr. Strube was raised in Huntington Beach, California and completed her undergraduate degree at California Polytechnic University Pomona and graduate studies at California State University, Fullerton. Prior to entering medical school, she worked for Pioneer Service and Engineering as an Electronics Technician and at Hewlett Packard as a Customer Service Engineer and later attained licensure as a Certified Physician Assistant. She was eventually able to pursue her life-long dream of becoming a physician and attended medical school at Western University of Health Sciences in Pomona. She graduated with academic honors and was the recipient of numerous awards including the National Dean’s List, Medical Women’s Award, and Who’s Who Among American Universities and Colleges. She completed her Internal Medicine residency here at St. Mary Medical Center. Additionally, she has attained certification through the American Board of Internal Medicine, focused practice in Hospital Medicine.
Dr. Strube now enjoys teaching and interacting with the Internal Medicine residents and strives to provide exceptional medical care to her patients. Her academic activities include mentor and advisor for journal club, quality improvement projects and written and oral case presentations. Her other interests include environmental exercise physiology and preventive cardiology.
Dr. Strube previously competed at the national level in fastpitch softball, including three appearances at the college national championships. She has attained athletic recognition for all-league, all-region and most valuable player at third base.” She remains very active in cycling and functional weight training to maintain her conditioning. She is an audiophile and enjoys golfing, reading and spending time at the beach playing with Rennie, her Doberman.
Brian Rayhanabad, MD
Academic Staff Physician
Medical School: Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science
Dr. Rayhanabad was raised in Southern California and completed his undergraduate studies in biology at the University of California, Irvine before heading to North Chicago for medical school. After completing his medicine internship in New Jersey he returned to Los Angeles and to St. Mary Medical Center to continue his internal medicine residency. In his final year of training, his leadership skills were recognized and he was selected as Chief Resident. He was also an active participant at the Solomon Scholars Research Day held annually at the UCLA School of Medicine. He completed his residency training in 2013, and he is board-certificated by the American Board of Internal Medicine. Dr. Rayhanabad excels as a teacher and takes great pride in structuring and moderating several didactic educational sessions each week for housestaff and medical students.