Northwest
Regional
Elections

Kaleb Keyserling, MD

Bio-sketch

Kaleb Keyserling attended undergrad at Kenyon College and medical school at University of North Carolina. He completed residency at OHSU and is a graduate of the program’s Primary Care Track. After residency he decided to stay “on the hill” as a general internist and clinician educator at the Portland VA and Assistant Professor at OHSU. He currently serves as the Clinic Practice Manager for the Portland VA Faculty & Residency clinic. His interests include quality improvement and sharing his enthusiasm for outpatient medicine. He has also recently helped to start an outpatient procedure clinic and resident rotation. In his spare time, he enjoys running and exploring Oregon’s many natural wonders with his wife, Lauren, daughter, Jac, and two French bulldogs. They have a goal to visit every national park in the US.

Personal Statement

I am excited to apply for the president-elect position of SGIM’s Northwest Region. I have been a part of SGIM since I attended my first regional meeting as a resident in 2019 in Boise Idaho, and national meeting later that spring, where I was fortunate to receive a Young Scholars in GIM scholarship. Since then, I have been involved in regional meetings by serving as the clinic Vignette’s chair for the 2021 meeting and co-presented Outpatient Updates in 2023. I also completed the LEAD program through national SGIM in 2023-2024 prior to serving as co-meeting chair for this year’s regional meeting.

My SGIM membership was so important to me as a resident and now as a junior faculty at OHSU/Portland VA. In a world that often does not value the general practitioner or clinician educator, SGIM has created a community that embraces the role of the generalist and primary care physician. I have met so many incredible people through both regional and national SGIM. I always leave the meetings rejuvenated to do the important work we do. SGIM has provided me with the opportunity to network with fellow clinic managers, clinician educations, and quality improvement leaders. The strong VA presence at SGIM has helped me trouble shoot many issues I face daily at work and allowed for collaboration to help address these challenges.

For these reasons, I feel a strong commitment to SGIM and desire to continue being involved with the leadership team. Never more do we need a place to come together to discuss the challenges we face and support each other to see a path forward. Thank you for your consideration.

Stephen (Steve) Fuest, MD

Bio-sketch

Dr. Steve Fuest is a clinician educator, primary care physician, and Assistant Professor at the University of Colorado. In UME he is a small group facilitator for developing clinical skills with first year students and in GME he precepts in the resident clinic, and developed and facilitates the ambulatory journal club curriculum. For faculty education he recently began as divisional director of Grand Rounds, and has a completed numerous presentations with SGIM. Before the University of Colorado he completed medical school, residency, chief residency, and was on faculty at Washington University in St. Louis. He has attended SGIM meetings since 2020 and been an active member since 2021 at both the regional and national levels, including invited presentations, award-winning workshops, leadership in the Clinical Practice Committee, and volunteering on the Annual Meeting Planning Committee as Clinical Vignettes co-chair and chair. His scholarly work focuses on the intersection of ambulatory education and clinical operations.

Personal Statement

SGIM is my professional home and I am excited to further contribute to the Northwest region in the role of Secretary/Treasurer-Elect. My diverse SGIM experiences prepare me for organization with the Northwest, regional meetings, and collaboration with other regions.

Most recently I have contributed to the national meetings as co-chair in 2024 and chair in 2025 for clinical vignettes, evaluating hundreds of submissions, determining oral and poster presentations, coordinating schedules, and assuring smooth implementation the days of the meeting. In years past I have given oral presentations and invited talks, for example Updates in Medical Education, at the Mountain West and Midwest regional meetings. This year I am eager to co-present on Updates in Outpatient Medicine at the Northwest meeting. Since 2021 I have regularly reviewed abstract submissions for both regional and annual meetings. In 2022 I was the innovations co-chair for the Midwest region. Currently I am co-chair for the Clinical Practice Committee Practice Redesign subgroup, identifying topics of interest to the general internal medicine audience, selecting rising star speakers, and facilitating national webinars. Through SGIM collaborations I have also published numerous JGIM manuscripts and delivered workshops with members from four other regions. This broad network would assist me in the role of liaison to other regions.

With the recent realignment of SGIM regions I am new to the Northwest yet have a strong background with SGIM, and for years I have successfully delivered on short- and long-term organization projects. I actively participate in my respective regional meeting and always find it a wonderful opportunity to share scholarship and develop new professional relationships. Serving as Secretary/Treasurer-Elect would empower me to uniquely give back more by creating this positive environment for fellow members.

Ryan Abe, MD

Biosketch - CV attached

Personal Statement

I am interested in serving as the Membership Chair Elect and Membership Chair for the next two years. Over the past three years, I have had the privilege of serving as the DEI Chair Elect, Chair, and Past Chair, where I focused on laying the groundwork to build community and foster an inclusive environment for SGIM members in this newly created position. These experiences have equipped me with valuable skills that I believe will seamlessly translate to the role of Membership Chair, especially given the close collaboration between DEI and Membership Chairs to understand our members’ demographics and jointly recruit new members from diverse backgrounds and network with institutions across our region. I plan to continue this collaborative approach.

Membership is essential for SGIM’s success in advancing its goals to support general internists and expand programs. I am passionate about finding innovative ways to engage and understand potential members we have not yet reached, ensuring our regional offerings are aligned with their needs. I am excited about the opportunity to continue broadening SGIM’s reach and helping the organization grow to better serve a diverse and broad membership base.

Shiv Bhandari, MD, MS

Biosketch - CV attached

Personal Statement

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) are values paramount to the wellbeing of our community, particularly in today’s sociopolitical climate. Disparities in DEI negatively impact patients accessing care, as well as physicians in our ability to provide care. The opportunity to serve as SGIM-NW’s DEI Chair brings the potential to uplift our patients and colleagues – a responsibility that I am wholeheartedly committed to.

My interest in DEI launched earlier this year when I took on the role of Chair of the University of Washington Department of Medicine’s LGBTQ+ Council. As a gay man, I have felt the isolation that comes with being different. My focus as Council Chair has been to create community, increase visibility, and amplify voices of our diverse LGBTQ+ community. Through teamwork and collaboration, we now have a platform that celebrates our department’s LGBTQ+ individuals and allies, and welcomes ideas to promote workplace equity and inclusivity.

This is currently my second year of involvement with SGIM-NW. Last year, I served on the Planning Committee of SGIM-NW where I worked with leadership in organizing the 2024 SGIMNW Regional Meeting in Boise, ID. I served as Co-Chair of Research/Innovation with Dr. Brian Chan where we reviewed and scored scientific abstracts. Attending the regional meeting underscored the impact that SGIM-NW has on our broader community.

I recently met with the past-DEI chair Dr. Ryan Abe to learn more about this position. I am excited by the momentum put forth by the current DEI team in conducting a needs assessment to identify which populations should be prioritized (e.g. rural, BiPOC, LGBTQ+, indigenous) and how SGIM-NW can best serve these communities. My focus in the role of SGIM-NW’s DEI Chair will be to integrate this information and work with the DEI team to identify the most effective ways we can support our vibrant community.