Faculty

Arash Heidari, MD, FACP, FIDSA

Program Director
Infectious Disease
Bakersfield Memorial Hospital and Dignity Health Foundation of Bakersfield

Medical School: Azad University Tehran, Iran
Residency: Kern Medical Center
Fellowship: Infectious Disease, Cedars-Sinai/UCLA Multicampus Program
Clinical Interests: Understanding the pathophysiology of complicated internal medicine cases and discovering the correlation of comorbidities. Known for expertise in coccidioidomycosis and have pursued this fungus for decades.
Fun Facts/Interests: I enjoy family time, basketball, sightseeing, music, dancing, and topics in astrophysics and mechanical engineering.

Nosheen Hasan, MD

Associate Program Director
Internal Medicine
Inpatient Hospital Medicine

Medical School: American University of Caribbean, St. Maarten
Residency: Kern Medical Center, served as Chief Resident 3rd year
Clinical Interests: Inpatient Medicine and QI Projects
Fun Facts/Interests: Love traveling, have been to over 15 countries and counting. Love trying different cuisines and eating at fine culinary restaurants. Recently became a mother- so learning to navigate motherhood has been the most recent challenge!

Harsukh Dhillon, MD

Core Faculty
Internal Medicine
Inpatient Hospital Medicine

Medical School: China Medical University, Shenyang
Residency: Michigan State University/Hurley Medical Center (PGY1-3)
Fun Facts/Interests: Grew up in Bakersfield, completed my medical training and decided to move back to serve the local community. I enjoy traveling, exploring different cultures and histories during my time off. 

Marsha Cheng, MD

Core Faculty, Outpatient Clinica Sierra Vista Site Director
Primary Care Provider, Internal Medicine
Outpatient Clinica Sierra Vista (Large FQHC in California)

Medical School: Keck School of Medicine at USC
Residency: Olive View-UCLA
Clinical Interests: Medical education and clinical informatics
Fun Facts/Interests: California native, born and raised in Los Angeles and completing all of her training in Los Angeles. In her free time, she likes baking and trying out new recipes and spending time with family. 

Akhil Puskoor, MD

Core Faculty
Internal Medicine
Inpatient Hospital Medicine

Medical School: MediCiti Institute of Medical Sciences
Residency: Loyola MacNeal Hospital
Clinical Interests: Hospital Medicine, Quality Assurance & Utilization management. 
Fun Facts/Interests: The word doctor is derived from the Latin verb “docere” meaning "to teach" and this has always been something I enjoy. I enjoy playing Cricket, trying new foods, and spending time with my wife and daughters.

Albert Peinado, MD

Core Faculty
Primary Care Provider, Internal Medicine
Dignity Health Medical Group

Medical School: USC School of Medicine
Residency: Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center
Clinical Interests: Primary disease prevention and health care maintenance.
Fun Facts/Interests: Enjoys teaching the next generation of physicians.

Muhammad Ashraf Alim, MD

Core Faculty
Internal Medicine, Critical Care, Pulmonary, Sleep Medicine

Medical School: Dow Medical College University of Karachi
Residency: Wayne University School of Medicine/Detroit Medical Center
Fellowships: Pulmonary, Critical Care, Sleep Disorder, UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles
Clinical Interests: Pulmonary hypertension, sleep disorders
Fun Facts/Interests: Traveling

Ramanjeet Sidhu, MD

Core Faculty
Internal Medicine
Inpatient Hospital Medicine

Medical School: Government Medical College, Patiala, Punjab, India
Residency: Kern Medical Center
Clinical Interests: Hospital Medicine
Fun Facts/Interests: I would love to travel a lot more than I have done yet. I like to fix things around the house myself or anything that intrigues me.

Greti Petersen, MD, FACP

Core Faculty
Internal Medicine
Clinica Sierra Vista (Comprehensive Care Center) FQHC

Medical School: Romania, Faculty of Medicine University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova
Residency: Kern Medical Center
Clinical Interests: I have always been interested in medical education, in teaching new generations of internists and excited to join a new program that will address the community needs in providing more exceptionally trained physicians to take care of our community. I have spent all my professional life in graduate medical education, caring for vulnerable populations in inpatient and outpatient internal medicine and obesity medicine (diplomate in Obesity Medicine since 2023).
Fun Facts/Interests: Traveling, avid reader, spending time with family and friends (some of them being my former residents), volunteering

Atul Aggarwal, MD

Faculty
Cardiology
Subspecialty Education Coordinator of Cardiovascular Rotation

Medical School: DMCH, Panjab University, India
Residency: Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY
Fellowship: University of Vermont, Burlington 
Clinical Interests: Everything Interventional in the Cardiac Catheterization Lab
Fun Facts/Interests: Watching Cricket, Reading Medical Journals

Franco Felizarta, MD

Faculty
Infectious Disease
Subspecialty Education Coordinator of Infectious Diseases Rotation

Medical School: University of the Philippines College of Medicine, Manila
Residency: State University of New York Health Science Center at Brooklyn
Fellowship: State University of New York Health Science Center at Brooklyn
Clinical Interests: Principal Investigator in 200 clinical trials related to the treatment of patients with HIV, chronic viral hepatitis, and COVID-19. 
Fun Facts/Interests: Billiards, Basketball, Boxing, Physics

Tariq Mubin, MD

Faculty
Nephrology
Subspecialty Education Coordinator of Nephrology Rotation

Medical School: Aga Khan University 
Residency: Hahnemann University Hospital, Philadelphia 
Fellowship: Allegheny General Hospital, Pittsburgh 
Clinical Interests: Chronic Kidney Disease, Hypertension 
Fun Facts/Interests: Running, Traveling