About the Rheumatology Fellowship Program
Welcome to the Rheumatology Fellowship Program! Our program has a cadre of bright, energetic, rheumatology faculty who place great emphasis on clinical teaching. The fellows educated here are well on their way to becoming excellent clinical rheumatologists, and many have become clinician educators in Virginia and across the world.
Vision Statement
Our rheumatology fellows aim to become proficient clinician practitioners and clinician educators with teaching skills and background to practice and teach evidence-based health care.
Mission Statement
We provide high-quality, compassionate medical care to a diverse population while fostering intellectual growth and contributions to medical education and scholarship.
Core Values
- Teamwork and Collegiality
- Optimal Evidence-Based Clinical Care
- Intellectual Drive and Scholarship
Welcome
Program Director: Huzaefah Syed, MD, MPH
Welcome from the Program Director
Learn
Program Curriculum & Conferences
Curriculum
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This is a four-fellow, two-year rheumatology fellowship, with two new fellows entering each year. We will interview and match to fill two positions starting 1 July 2025. Our aim is to produce extraordinarily proficient clinicians and clinician educators with skills and background to teach and practice evidence-based health care. The program is designed to satisfy the ABIM requirements for the rheumatology subspecialty examination.
In accordance with the observation of Joseph Joubert (French moralist and essayist), “To teach is to learn twice over,” we believe that that those destined to become clinicians will gain just as much from teaching experiences as future clinician educators. Thus, we have a single track for future rheumatology clinicians and future clinician educators.
Typical Schedule
VCUHS Inpatient Consult Rotation
(20% outpatient)
VAMC Outpatient Clinic and Inpatient Consult Rotation
(50% outpatient)
Elective, Research, and Faculty Practice Experiences
(20-80% outpatient)
Rotations
There are four rotations, each varying in length each year:
- VCUHS Inpatient Consult Rotation, where each fellow encounters a large variety of inpatient inflammatory rheumatic disorders and diagnostic problems.
- VAMC Outpatient Clinic and Inpatient Consult Rotation, where each fellow encounters common bread-and-butter rheumatology problems.
- Elective Experiences and Research Rotation, in which each fellow rotates among diverse experiences and participates in research and scholarly activity.
- The Faculty Practice Rotation, is based on participating in typical academic practice clinic primarily with VCUHS faculty. The clinics include a variety of opportunities to rotate in rheumatology attending clinics which include a wide range of cases including general rheumatology, severe/refractory gout, and sarcoidosis.
The rotations are the same for first- and second-year fellows, with the exception of slightly less consult time in the 2nd year. The expectation is that each fellow will assume more and more responsibility regarding patient care during the fellowship. Rheumatology fellows have reasonable work hours with a favorable balance between clinical service and education.
During all rotations, the fellows attend the half-day VCU Health System (VCUHS) outpatient Rheumatology continuity clinic staffed by five fulltime VCUHS-based faculty rheumatologists and includes residents in internal medicine and medical students. This clinic involves a team approach supported by nurses specialty pharmacists who help with prior authorizations, patient assistance forms and biologic teaching. The patient panel includes mostly inflammatory arthritis, lupus, sarcoidosis, scleroderma, and myositis but also an aggregation of rare conditions. Fellows also attend a half-day outpatient continuity clinic at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC), staffed by four full-time VAMC-based faculty rheumatologists. The VAMC also has a large variety of rheumatic diseases, with an increased concentration on crystalline and spondyloarthropathies. There is a strong support staff with a dedicated RN screening patient messages and an exceptional pharmacy department that obviates the need for prior-authorizations.
The VCUHS rotation is based on conducting a busy inpatient rheumatology consult service supervised by a rheumatology faculty attending. The consults are typically diagnostic and management problems involving inflammatory rheumatic disorders like SLE or vasculitis, or diagnostic problems ranging from gouty arthritis to obscure conditions like focal isolated aortitis or fever of unknown origin. This is also a time when fellows study about diverse inflammatory rheumatic disorders.
The VAMC rotation is based on conducting outpatient clinics with infrequent inpatient consults, all supervised by VAMC staff rheumatologists. The clinics include a new patient clinic, a fellows' continuity clinic, a follow-up clinic for less severe rheumatic disorders, and a procedures clinic. This is also a time when fellows learn about common outpatient rheumatic disorders including soft-tissue rheumatism and managing medications and biological products.
The Elective Experiences-Research/Scholarly Activity Rotation is a time in which the fellow is scheduled to rotate on different clinical experiences outside of Rheumatology, as well as some Specialty Clinics within Rheumatology. The elective experiences portion is based on these activities:
- Bone density rotation with training in DEXA reading
- Clinical Immunology
- Dermatology
- Orthopedics
- PT/OT
- ILD Clinic
- Multidisciplinary Sarcoid Clinic
- Gout Clinic
- Pediatric Rheumatology
- Ultrasound
- Research
- Physical Medicine and Rehab
For the Research/Scholarly Activity part of the rotation, we expect that each fellow will participate actively in generating at least one publishable product. Research and scholarly activity might include projects based on active research in the Division and elsewhere in the School of Medicine, such as the following topics:
- Practice-based quality improvement project, with a new project added annually and continued as appropriate.
- Curriculum development for internal medicine residency and medical students with Rheumatology-specific case-based modules
- Projects related to sarcoidosis, including inflammatory rheumatic disorders with sarcoidosis, cardiac sarcoidosis, and small fiber neuropathy.
Unique Learning Opportunities
This rheumatology fellowship program has various opportunities aiming to prepare its fellows for subsequent first jobs as clinical practitioners and clinician educators.
Mentoring and career guidance is provided through interaction with the fulltime faculty members. The Division has placed particular emphasis on developing mentoring skills through faculty development sessions and retreats emphasizing expectations, communication, understanding, independence, ethics, and diversity.
Development of fellow clinical teaching skills. The Division’s faculty have participated in a Stanford Clinical Teaching Course, a curriculum aimed toward developing clinician educator skills in order to enhance versatility as teachers, to develop ability to analyze clinical teaching using an educational framework, and to provide a forum for collegial exchange. The instruction has been in the form of an intensive workshop to learn the basics of how to facilitate small group learning, deliver feedback, engage the learners in deliberate practice, and use micro-skills for teaching as a preceptor. The fellows also participated in faculty development sessions on evidence-based learning strategies, feedback, teaching clinical reasoning, and bedside teaching. The fellows participate in bedside teaching through outpatient and inpatient experiences. We expect our fellows to learn and carry on this tradition so that our fellows not only benefit from great teaching but also learn to teach well as clinician educators.
Musculoskeletal Curriculum for medical students. Dr. Rubinstein is course director for the VCU School of Medicine Movement (Musculoskeletal) course. She has been involved in the transition of the VCU School of Medicine curriculum to a more active learning environment for the students. She has involved the rheumatology fellows in writing new teaching modules, including small-group, case-based exercises as well as team-based learning modules for use during this comprehensive course. This provides a unique opportunity for rheumatology fellows to be involved in the education of medical students, starting with inception of a module and continuing through with the leading the module during class. Such activity is aimed to help prepare rheumatology fellows to become clinician educators.
Attendance at outside meetings, such as the introductory course for first-year fellows at University of Pennsylvania, the Virginia Society of Rheumatologists, the ACR state-of-the-art clinical course, and the national ACR meeting, is highly encouraged and supported. Financial support is provided by the VSR for its meeting, and the Rheumatology Research Foundation supports ACR attendance through Fellows-in-Training scholarships. There is also additional funding available through the GME and the DOIM for fellows who wish to attend conferences. The aim is to provide our fellows with the best possible preparation for future clinical care and to develop a network of rheumatology associates.
Musculoskeletal Ultrasound (MSK US) Curriculum. VCU and the VAMC have a total of four faculty who are MSK US certified (Drs. Shah, Nandan, Ford, and Long). The fellows participate in an extensive MSK US curriculum, consisting of two monthly conferences (outlined below), an injection clinic with ultrasound emphasis at the VAMC and at VCU, and two yearly cadaver sessions. There is ultrasound availability at both sites specifically and exclusively for fellow use during their clinics and in-patient consult blocks. The fellows have the option of enrolling in the USSONAR course. A dedicated ultrasound elective is also available and recommended to all fellows for rigorous clinical ultrasound practice.
Pediatric Rheumatology. The fellows are exposed to both inpatient and outpatient pediatric Rheumatology throughout their fellowship. VCU has a boardcertified pediatric Rheumatologist, Dr. Hoffmann, as well as a board-certified med-peds Rheumatologist, Dr. Long, with whom the fellows the rotate in an outpatient setting and see inpatient consults. This is a distinct opportunity provided to fellows at VCU, allowing them to be more comfortable with pediatric diseases and teaching them how to help patients transition from pediatric to adult medicine.
Virginia Commonwealth University also offers graduate courses in basic sciences like immunology and public health like epidemiology. The Master of Science in Clinical and Translational Sciences program provides training and mentoring for future investigators who, regardless of primary area of interest, will be able to understand the methods and techniques used along the pathway from the bench to the bedside. The program offers a broad foundation of core courses and emphasizes the importance of interdisciplinary approaches to research. The program provides a sound foundation in clinical and translational research principles and thereby prepares the student to engage in many components of investigative processes. Details are at http://www.cctr.vcu.edu/education/masters.html
Institutional environment. High-quality child care is available on the medical campus near VCU Hospital. The VCUHS currently uses EPIC electronic medical record system for inpatient and outpatient recordkeeping, and all notes, labs, images, and prescribing capabilities are available remotely. VCUHS has been designated thrice by the American Nurses Credentialing Center as a Magnet hospital, the most prestigious honor and level of recognition awarded for nursing excellence in national and international health care. In 2023, VCUHS was recognized by the US News and World reports as one of the Best Children's Hospitals, Best Hospitals for Maternity Care and Maternity Care Access. It was designated as a Comprehensive Cancer Center by the National Cancer Institute. VCUHS has several designations for Centers of Excellence: Cardio-Oncology, Sarcoidosis, and Parkinsons Disease.
Conferences
Conferences
- Fellow-driven rheumatology board review (weekly at VAMC and by video-conference). At the current time, this alternates between rheumatology text reading and online clinical questions and answers with directed readings of supportive evidence.
- Evidence-based clinical practice journal club (weekly at VAMC and by video-conference) fosters skills in appraising evidence in rheumatology context about diagnostic tests, harms, prognosis, therapy, systematic reviews, practice guidelines, qualitative research, and quality improvement. The aim is to help future clinicians practice and teach evidence-based medicine. Presentations are done by fellows and faculty.
- Zebra conference (monthly at VAMC and by video-conference) aims to achieve familiarity with clinical reasoning based on uncommon rheumatic conditions not typically encountered in routine rheumatology practice. The format is to present cases as unknowns and then review pertinent features. This is presented by fellows with faculty input.
- Basic science journal club (bi-weekly by video-conference). All Division members attend, and the conference based on journal articles relevant to rheumatology and clinical immunology from selected high-quality journals. The aim is to understand basic science investigation and methods, with preparation by precepted one-on-one tutorials. Both faculty and fellows present.
- Division grand rounds (bi-weekly by video-conference): This is a conference presented by faculty or fellows with topics relevant to rheumatic disorders or allergy-clinical immunology.
- Hard cases conference (weekly at VCU and by video-conference) is an informal conference held over lunch at the end of continuity clinic. This is a time when faculty and fellows may present unusual or instructive clinical management problems and discuss them.
- Radiology conferences (monthly at the VCUHS and monthly at the VAMC) include a conference conducted by an attending musculoskeletal radiologist who reviews studies submitted by fellows and faculty. Both fellows and faculty attend. There is an additional structured radiology plain-film curriculum that occurs once monthly at the VAMC.
- Ultrasound Conferences (twice monthly) is a formal ultrasound curriculum that is in place for our rheumatology fellowship. Didactics occur approximately twice monthly (once monthly at the VAMC and once monthly at the Short Pump Pavilion). Hands-on application of ultrasound techniques on patients with pathology is a core component of the VA rotation.
- Pathology Conference (twice yearly at VCU) is conducted by pathology faculty, with cases submitted by Rheumatology faculty and fellows to review interesting cases.
Scholarship
Our recent publications, presentations and abstracts
Keith Burwell, DO
- Burwell, Keith. “A case of a swollen leg.” Presentation to Virginia Society of Rheumatology, 2015. (Occult lymphoma discovered after viscosupplement injection)
Evan Dombrosky, MD
- Dombrosky E, Danielides S, Nandan A, Rubinstein B, Monoarthritis Virtual Teaching Module for Rheumatology Learners. American College of Rheumatology 2022 Convergence Annual Meeting. November 2022.
Joshua Gavin, DO
- Fadel K, Gavin J, Nandan A, KC Y, Johnson S, Dombrosky E, Rubinstein B, Danielides S, Syed H. Musculoskeletal Sarcoidosis Learning Module for Internal Medicine Trainees: Developing a Rheumatology Curriculum. American College of Rheumatology 2020 Convergence Annual Meeting. November 2020.
- Gavin J, KC Y, Dombrosky E, Shah N, Roman Y. Surveying Practicing Rheumatologists Regarding Gout Management and Barriers in Gout Care [abstract]. Arthritis Rheumatol. 2020; 72 (suppl 10).
- Gavin J, Fadel K, KC Y, Dombrosky E, Johnson S, Syed H, Rubinstein B, Danielides S, Nandan A. Teaching Clinical Application of Bayesian Reasoning in Rheumatology to Internal Medicine Residents and Medical Students [abstract]. Arthritis Rheumatol. 2020; 72 (suppl 10)
- Gavin, J., Roman, Y., Shah, N. A Surveying Comparing Gout Management Practice Patterns of G-CAN members to other Rheumatologists G-CAN Sixth Annual Research Symposium 2020
Rabia Gill, MD
- Gill R, Syed H. Trend of Treatment Plans, and Outcomes of Therapy in Cardiac Sarcoidosis via Analysis of Standardized UptakeValues Score and Ejection Fraction Using a Cardiac PET-CT. American College of Rheumatology 2020 Convergence Annual Meeting. November 2020.
Neha Gupta, MD
- Gupta N, Ford S, Scheiber L, Rao T, Nandan A. “Evaluation and Management of the ‘False Positive’ ANA and Undifferentiated Connective Tissue Disease Amongst Rheumatologists [abstract].” Arthritis Rheumatol. 2023; 75 (suppl 9).
- Allcott N, Gupta N, Raghavan N, Syed H, Danielides S. “Uncovering the Relationship Between COVID-19 Outcome Severity and Rheumatic Disease [abstract].” Arthritis Rheumatol. 2022; 74 (suppl 9).
- Carolyn Zin, Langbein J, Gupta N, Pedram K. “What else can go wrong? The varying symptoms of vasculitis.” [Poster at Virginica Commonwealth University Resident Research Day], 2023.
- Jonathan Stewart, Alexander M, Gupta N, Wise C. “More to Dermatomyositis than Rash and Myalgias” [Poster at American College of Physicians Conference], 2022.
Nima Madanchi
- Madanchi N, Shoemaker D, Gavin J, Shah H, Syed H. Possible association between covid-19 infection and ANCA-associated vasculitis? Poster presentation in 19th Annual Fellows forum, Rheumatology Society of the District of Columbia. May 2021.
- Madanchi N, Bou Darghm B, Satkowiak K, Syed H, Gwathmey K. Diagnostic approach to identifying small fiber neuropathy in patients with sarcoidosis. Poster presentation in 19th Annual Fellows forum, Rheumatology Society of the District of Columbia. May 2021.
- Bou Dargham, Madanchi N, Satkowiak K, Syed H, Gwathmey K. Diagnostic approach to identifying small fiber neuropathy in patients with sarcoidosis. Arthritis Rheumatol 2021; 73 (suppl 10).
- Abbate A, Gavin J, Madanchi N, Kim C, Shah PR, Klein K, Boatman J, Roberts Ch, Patel S, Danielides S. Fulminant myocarditis and systemic hyperinflammation temporally associated with BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 vaccination in two patients. International Journal of Cardiology 340; 119-21.
- Madanchi N, FE Stingo, Patrick KC, Muthusamy S, Gupta N, Fatani YI, Shah N. Possible association between COVID-19 infection and de novo antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated vasculitis. Cureus 2021; 13(12):e20331.
Abhi Nandan, MD
- Nandan A, Syed H, Puri P, Gill R, Maniscalco D, Haritha J, Rodriguez V. DMARD Hepatotoxicity in RA and its Association with the Surrogates of Metabolic Syndrome. American College of Rheumatology Annual Conference; 2018, October; Chicago, IL.
- Nandan A, Syed H, Vagts C, Kidd J. Lupus Nephritis: An Exploration of Management Style. American College of Rheumatology Annual Conference; 2015, November; San Francisco, CA.
- Nandan A, Moxley G. “Jaws! An atypical presentation of CPPD arthropathy.” Virginia Society of Rheumatologists Annual Conference. 2016, September; Virginia Beach, VA.
- Haritha, J. Nandan, A. Grinnan, G. Syed, H. “The Jack of All Trades: Rituximab Use in MCTD-associated PAH.” The Rheumatologist. April 2018.
Madeline Petty, MD
- Petty, Madeline. "A Dermatologic Dilemma." Presentation to the Virginia Society of Rheumatology, Sept 2016.
David Shoemaker
- Madanchi N, Shoemaker D, Gavin J, Shah H, Syed H. Possible association between covid-19 infection and ANCA-associated vasculitis? Poster presentation in 19th Annual Fellows forum, Rheumatology Society of the District of Columbia. May 2021.
- Shoemaker D, Danielides S, Nandan A, Syed H, Rubinstein B, Patel S. A Module on Large Vessel Vasculitis for Learners in Rheumatology. American College of Rheumatology 2021 Convergence Annual Meeting. November 2021.
Life During Fellowship
Rheumatology Fellowship Program
Vacation Time
Each fellow is allowed three weeks of vacation per year.
Night Coverage
Rheumatology fellows do not take in-house call. Fellows take night call and urgent clinical care questions from home.
Weekend Coverage
When on call over the weekend, fellows will see new consults at VCU and VAMC--with growing responsibility during fellowship. Each consult is precepted by an attending rheumotologist on service.
GME Resident & Fellow Well-Being
Graduate Medical Education training is not easy. With the GME Physician Well-being program, we first and foremost assert our commitment to your well-being, resilience and all aspects of a healthy lifestyle. VCU and VCUHealth are dedicated to ensuring that you have the tools you need to be your best. (Learn more)
All About VCU, VCUHealth, and RVA
First things first. We fondly refer to Richmond as RVA. People love this city because it’s awesome. And Virginia Commonwealth University is in the middle of it all. Learn more about VCU, VCUHealth, and RVA!
Program Leadership
Rheumatology Fellowship Program
Huzaefah Syed, MD, MPH
Program Director
Huzaefah Syed, MD, MPH
Program Director
Internal Medicine
Division of Rheumatology, Allergy and Immunology
Email: huzaefah.syed@vcuhealth.org
Beth Rubinstein, MD
Division Chief
Beth Rubinstein, MD
Division Chief
Internal Medicine
Division of Rheumatology, Allergy & Immunology
Abhishek Nandan, MD
VA Site Director/Associate Program Director
Abhishek Nandan, MD
VA Site Director/Associate Program Director
Division of Rheumatology, Allergy and Immunology
Faculty
Rheumatology Fellowship Program
VCU Faculty
- Rabia Gill, MD
- Neha Gupta, MD
- Andrew Long, MD - Med/Peds
- Beth K. Rubinstein, MD - Division Chief
- Nehal R. Shah, MD
- Huzaefah Syed, MD, MPH - Fellowship Program Director
- Christopher M. Wise, MD
Non-Core Faculty
- Sarah E. Hoffmann, MD - VCU Pediatrics
VAMC Faculty
- Evan Dombrosky, MD
- Sarah Ford, DO
- Abhi Nandan, MD - Rheumatology Section Chief
- Lane B. Scheiber, MD
Fellows
Rheumatology Fellowship Program
Class of 2026
Justin Amato, DO
Medical School: Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine
Residency: Virginia Tech-Carilion Internal Medicine
Riddhi Gandhi, MD
Medical School: Cooper Medical School of Rowan University
Residency: Inspira Health Network - Mullica Hill
Class of 2025
Philip Bucur, DO
Medical School: Ohio University Heritage College Osteopathic Medicine
Residency: Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University
Soleille Everest, MD
Medical School: Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine
Residency: Virginia Commonwealth University Health System
Alumni
Class of 2024
Neeti Goel, MD
Medical School: Florida International University Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine
Residency: University of Central Florida
Neha Gupta, MD
Medical School: Medical College of Georgia at Augusta Univeristy, Augusta, GA
Residency: Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA
Class of 2023
Evan Dombrosky, MD
Medical School: Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk, VA
Residency: Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA
Class of 2022
Nima Madanchi, MD
Medical School: Tehran University of Medical Sciences
Residency: Georgetown University Hospital
W. David Shoemaker, MD
Medical School: Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine
Residency: Medical College of Wisconsin affiliated Hospital Program
Class of 2021
Joshua Gavin, DO
Medical School: Kansas City University Medicine & Biosciences College of Osteopathic Medicine
Residency: University of Texas Medical Branch Hospital Program
Class of 2020
Nishant Desai, MD
Medical School: Dr. D.Y. Patil Medical College
Residency: Detroit Medical Center – Wayne State University
Rabia Gill, MD
Medical School: Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College – Belgaum
Residency: Virginia Commonwealth University
Class of 2019
Medical School: Touro University College of Osteopathic Medicine–California
Residency: Virginia Tech - Carilion Clinic, Roanoke, VA
Class of 2018
Abhishek Nandan, MD
Medical School: Michigan State University College of Human Medicine - Grand Rapids, MI
Residency: VCU Internal Medicine, Richmond, VA
Madeline Petty, MD
Medical School: Mercer University School of Medicine
Residency: Carolinas Medical Center — Charlotte, NC
Where Are Our Fellows Are From
Our fellows typically have attended U.S. medical schools and U.S. residency programs. Many come from our own Department's excellent Internal Medicine Residency Program, but others come from select U.S. and international medical schools with further education in U.S. internal medicine training programs.
Where Our Fellows Go
Our fellows typically go into clinical practice, often as academically based clinical educators.
- Sumeja Zahirovic, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar
- Faizah Siddique, MD, Asscoiate Professor of Medicine, Loyola University (Chicago) Stritch School of Medicine
- Sarah Ford, DO, Assistant Professor of Medicine, VCU
- Abhishek Nandan, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine, VCU
- Rabia Gill, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, VCU
- Evan Dombrosky, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, VCU
- Neha Gupta, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, VCU
Apply
Rheumatology Fellowship Program
Eligibility Requirements
All applicants to this subspecialty training program must be graduates of an ACGME-accredited internal medicine training program. VCUHS can only support J-1 visas.
How To Apply
The Rheumatology Fellowship Training Program at VCU is a participant in the NRMP match. All applications will be accepted through ERAS and follow ERAS deadlines.
Interview Dates - 2024
- September 6, 13, 20
- October 4, 11
Interview Day
At this time, we anticipate conducting interviews virtually in 2024. Our day typically starts at 10:30am EST, and wraps up around 3:45pm EST.
Contacts
Rheumatology Fellowship Program
Program Director
Huzaefah J. Syed, MD, MPH
Email: huzaefah.syed@vcuhealth.org
VA Site Director
Abhishek Nandan, MD
Email: abhishek.nandan@vcuhealth.org
Fellowship Coordinator
Syad Hashami
VCU School of Medicine
Department of Internal Medicine
Box 980509
Richmond, Virginia 23298-0509
Phone: (804) 828-9726
Fax: (804) 828-4926
Email: imfellowships@vcuhealth.org
For training verification requests, please visit us at https://intmed.vcu.edu/education/verification/