Year 4. May 12.

Samuel “Sam” Bolivar, MD (he/him) 

Chief of Patient Safety and Quality Improvement 
VA Greater Los Angeles 

Sam grew up in Riverside, Calif. and has lived in Southern California his whole life. He completed his undergraduate studies at La Sierra University and attended Loma Linda University School of Medicine. In medical school he was involved in numerous medical education and mentorship initiatives that deepened his passion for service to underserved, Spanish-speaking communities. He has continued to pursue these interests in residency, where he became involved in clinical research in pulmonology and hospital medicine as well as joined the medical education pathway.

As chief resident, Sam is most looking forward to mentoring residents and students, building community within the residency program, and finding meaningful ways to improve care for underserved patients. He plans to pursue a career as a hospitalist with a strong focus on medical education and increasing healthcare access for vulnerable populations.

Outside of the hospital, Sam is an avid singer and musician — he has performed everywhere from Carnegie Hall to the illustrious Lake Arrowhead as a band member of the UCLA IM Residency band, The Ultrasounds. He also enjoys cooking, basketball, and playing with his highly energetic cat, Manchitas. 

Jenny Chen, MD (she/her) 

Chief Resident
Ronald Reagan Medical Center and Santa Monica 

Jenny Chen grew up in the Bay Area in Northern California. She attended Stanford University for her undergraduate studies and Johns Hopkins University for medical school. Between undergraduate and medical school, she took a gap year to work as a healthcare business analyst in Denver, Colo. She then returned to west coast internal medicine (IM) residency here at UCLA. 

Jenny is interested in mentorship and medical education, especially role transitions, point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) and procedural education. She is applying to the UCLA Pulmonary and Critical Care Fellowship Program this summer. As chief resident, Jenny looks forward to continuing to foster a strong sense of community within the internal medicine residency program and to learning with others through attending on the wards, facilitating morning reports, Case Club, and more.

Andrew Hong, MD (he/him) 

VA Inpatient Chief 
VA Greater Los Angeles 

Andrew was born and raised in Orange County, Calif., and has remained rooted in Southern California throughout his life. He completed his undergraduate studies at UC Santa Barbara and was fortunate to attend medical school at UCLA. From the start of medical school, Andrew developed a strong passion for teaching and building community — he served as an anatomy teaching assistant, peer tutor, and wellness chair for the medical student council.

Following his chief resident year, Andrew plans to pursue a fellowship in pulmonary and critical care medicine, a field closely aligned with his research interests during medical school and residency. Outside of the hospital, Andrew can often be found at concerts, spending time with his close-knit residency friends, or occasionally trying to rekindle his love for playing the electric guitar. 

Andrew is excited to foster a culture of camaraderie while providing excellence in clinical education as VA inpatient chief. He also looks forward to helping residents in need during a challenging period in their lives.

Esther H. Kang, MD (they/them) 

Chief Resident 
Ronald Reagan Medical Center and Santa Monica 

Esther was born in Seoul, Korea and raised in Chicago, Ill. and Torrance, Calif. Esther studied Neural Science at New York University and received their MD from UC Davis School of Medicine.

Medicine is Esther’s second career. Prior to medical school, Esther worked as a middle school science teacher and spearheaded sexual education initiatives in Oakland Unified School District. Esther’s loves for teaching, direct care, and advocacy led them to medicine and ultimately to a combined residency training in internal medicine-pediatrics at UCLA.

Esther is passionate about medical education, care of medically complex adolescents and young adults, palliative medicine, and gender affirming healthcare. Esther is excited to give back as one of the chiefs at Ronald Reagan Medical Center and Santa Monica and especially looks forward to building upon the program’s existing foundation of medical education, inclusive excellence initiatives, and resident community. 

Anige’r A.R. Oriol, MD 

Inclusive Excellence Chief 
Ronald Reagan Medical Center and Santa Monica

Anige’r Oriol is a true Angeleno, born and raised in Los Angeles. She chose to venture away to attend DePaul University in Chicago where she earned her undergraduate degree in biological sciences with a minor in art history. Anige’r remained in Chicago to study medicine at Rosalind Franklin University’s Chicago Medical School, where she had the opportunity to engage with global medicine for the first time outside of the U.S. in Shanghai, China. She was excited to match into UCLA’s internal medicine residency program to return home to family in Los Angeles. 

Throughout her time at UCLA, Anige’r has expanded her interest in global health to practicing in Lilongwe, Malawi, and has engaged in research surrounding standardized advocacy skills curricula within undergraduate medical education. After chief year, Anige’r plans to remain in academic medicine as a hospitalist. She holds special interests in practicing global health equity while also advancing advocacy and reducing health disparities — particularly for those often marginalized in our health system — and plans to incorporate both her advocacy and global medicine skills into her career. 

Anige’r is excited for the new challenge of learning how to manage administrative operations within a large residency program while expanding her medical education skills and facilitation of learners as a chief resident. She is also looking forward to ushering in a new class of interns in the incoming recruitment cycle. 

Outside of medicine, Anige’r loves to spend her weekends at various West LA farmer’s markets purchasing ingredients for next week’s dinners. 

Alexander T. Pham, MD (he/him) 

Inpatient Chief
Ronald Reagan Medical Center and Santa Monica 

Alex was born and raised in San Jose, Calif. He moved to LA for both undergrad and medical school at UCLA and fell in love with the city and community. A triple Bruin, he stayed at UCLA for his internal medicine residency training after working with the wonderful residents and faculty within the program.

Alex has always known he is passionate about medical education, and during residency participated in the Medical Education Pathway to further develop his skills as a clinician educator. He is especially interested in curricular innovation, and as chief resident hopes to continue developing projects focused on supporting the transition from intern to senior. He also enjoys mentorship and loves telling prospective applicants during recruitment why UCLA is an outstanding place to train. He hopes to become an academic hospitalist after chief year.

Outside the hospital, Alex enjoys baseball (go Dodgers!), reading mystery novels, and exploring all the food LA has to offer with friends.

Sophie J. Rosenmoss, MD (she/her) 

Primary Care Chief
Ronald Reagan Medical Center and Santa Monica; VA Greater Los Angeles; UCLA-Olive View 

Sophie grew up in San Francisco and completed her undergraduate studies at New York University, where she studied anthropology and public health. She spent a few years conducting research and program development focused on food insecurity prior to attending medical school at Boston University. She is passionate about addiction medicine, policy-relevant research, advocacy, program implementation, and medical education.

As primary care chief, Sophie looks forward to supporting residents and wants residents to know they can turn to her during challenging times. She is excited to help build the primary care curriculum, with a particular focus on foregrounding health disparities and their social and historical contexts, highlighting opportunities for advocacy, and supporting residents’ efforts to build inclusive and equitable health systems. Sophie hopes to nurture residents’ excitement for primary care and help residents find their niches in the field.

After chief year, Sophie plans to complete fellowship training in addiction medicine and health services and policy research. She plans to practice primary care in both brick-and-mortar and street medicine settings. Outside of work, Sophie enjoys thrifting, exploring LA’s fabulous museums, and getting involved in the local LGBTQ+ community.

Laura A. Santangelo, MD (she/her) 

Ambulatory Chief 
VA Greater Los Angeles 
 
Laura is originally from St. Louis and completed her undergraduate studies at Emory University. She went on to earn her medical degree from the University of Chicago. Drawn by its strong commitment to both academic excellence and humanistic medicine, she ventured west to join the UCLA Internal Medicine Program in the primary care track. 

As a chief resident, Laura is excited to further strengthen the ambulatory curriculum and to mentor residents considering careers in outpatient medicine. She is particularly passionate about the intersection of primary care and palliative care, and she looks forward to a career that blends longitudinal relationships with patients and holistic, compassionate care for those with serious illness. Laura especially excited to take on the year alongside her partner, Jay A. Shah, MD, who is also serving as a chief resident.

Outside of medicine, Laura finds joy in cooking new vegetarian recipes, curling up with a good novel, exploring her new city of Los Angeles, and feeding her wanderlust through travel.

Sammy Sayed, MD (he/him) 

Chief Resident for Quality and Patient Safety 
VA Greater Los Angeles 

Sammy grew up in both France and Dubai before moving to Los Angeles, which has been home for nearly 12 years. He studied psychobiology at UCLA and completed medical school at the Keck School of Medicine of USC. He returned to UCLA for residency. 

During residency, Sammy developed a strong interest in quality improvement, health equity, and systems-based innovation in care delivery. As part of the health systems management pathway, he led a multidisciplinary project focused on remote hypertension monitoring to reduce disparities in care. Sammy is also passionate about cardiology and will be applying for fellowship this coming cycle, with specific interests in preventive cardiology, digital health, healthcare innovation, and the integration of AI into cardiovascular care.

As chief resident, Sammy is excited to continue supporting residents in their growth as clinicians, teachers, and systems thinkers. He looks forward to supporting resident-led quality improvement projects, fostering collaboration across disciplines, and helping to integrate equity into systems improvement. He also looks forward to continuing to build his own skills in leadership and healthcare innovation — and to learn from the diverse strengths of his co-chiefs. 

Outside of work, Sammy plays tennis and is an avid supporter of the French national soccer team — he even had the chance to watch them in the World Cup final during intern year! He is also excited about the growing popularity of padel in Los Angeles and is looking forward to getting co-residents into the sport. 

Jay A. Shah, MD (he/him) 

Inpatient Chief 
Greater Los Angeles VA 

Originally from the Kansas City area, Jay completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Kansas with a BS in Biochemistry and earned his medical degree from the University of Chicago. He was ecstatic to match at UCLA for residency and to fulfill his dream of moving to the West Coast! 

Jay’s clinical and academic interests lie in cardiology, with a focus on advanced heart failure, critical care, and addressing disparities in cardiovascular disease among South Asian populations. He plans to pursue a career in academic medicine that blends clinical care, research, and education. As chief resident, he looks forward to continuing to foster the supportive, collaborative and fun environment that he has experienced within the internal medicine residency program; to growing as an educator and a leader; and, most of all, to sharing his chief year with his co-chiefs and friends.

Outside the hospital, Jay enjoys beach walks, bike rides, photography, exploring LA’s food scene, and playing fun and competitive games of pickleball with his co-residents. He loves spending time with his fiancée — and co-chief! — Laura, and their dog, Cosmo, who has become the unwitting subject of most of his camera roll.