Meritus welcomes 16 new doctors to residency programs

Physicians will join General Surgery, Family Medicine and Psychiatry residency programs.

Meritus Health’s new General Surgery Residency Program has matched with its first class of three doctors, plus three transfers to the second program year of the five-year program.

They’ll be joining five doctors who matched with the Meritus Family Medicine Residency program and the five who matched with the Meritus Psychiatry Residency program.

The matches were announced Friday, Match Day for graduate medical education programs across the country. Each year, on the heels of graduation, medical students nationwide eagerly await announcement for where they “matched,” meaning where they will spend their next several years in residency.

“We are thrilled to welcome our new classes to the surgery residency program,” said program director Sylvester Paulasir, M.D. “With the shortage of general surgeons across the United States, Meritus is excited to be a part of shaping the next generation of physicians in the field.”

Residency programs serve as structured apprenticeships leading to board certification in a particular specialty and are highly selective. A resident is a physician who is enrolled in this apprenticeship or residency and is overseen by board-certified faculty physicians.

Residency programs last a certain number of years. Family Medicine, the first residency program at Meritus, is three years. Psychiatry is four years. Surgery is five years.

The Meritus Surgery Residency Program class of 2031 includes:

·        Alayna Nelson, D.O. - Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine

·        Susie Lim, M.D. - Eastern Virginia Medical school of Old Dominion

·        Thomas Decker, M.D. - Brody school of Medicine at East Carolina

The Meritus Surgery Residency Program class of 2030 includes:

·        Ashwin Ghadiyaram, M.D. - Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine

·        Vaishnavi Kavirayani, M.D. - Kasturba Medical College Manipal

·        Daisy Martinez, M.D. - University of Maryland School of Medicine

The Meritus Family Medicine Residency Program class of 2029 includes:

·        Rachel Cooper, M.D. - University of Kentucky College of Medicine

·        Janithra De Silva, D.O. - West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine

·        Helmson Louisdor, D.O. - Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine

·        Jimmy Orantes, D.O. - Lincoln Memorial University – DeBusk College of Osteopathic Medicine

·        Singiti Weerasuriya, M.D. - Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine

The Meritus Psychiatry Residency Program class of 2030 includes:

·        Chelsea Amaefuna, D.O. - Noorada College of Osteopathic Medicine

·        Oyinemi Iyebote, M.D. - Howard University College of Medicine

·        Mark Lichtenstein, D.O. - University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth - Texas COM

·        Shir Smith, D.O. - West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine

·        Matthew Troyer, D.O. - Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine

Meritus Health plans to expand the number of physicians in its residency programs in the coming years after opening the Meritus School of Osteopathic Medicine in July 2025. The school, the first to open in Maryland in more than 100 years, is meant to help close the gap in the number of physician openings regionally and nationwide.

To learn more about Meritus residency programs, visit gme.meritushealth.com. To learn more about the Meritus School of Osteopathic Medicine, visit msom.org.