Program Leadership

Dr. Sapna Kuehl is the Program Director for the Internal Medicine Residency program, at Ascension Saint Agnes Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. She is on faculty at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and an active Council member of the Governor’s Council of the American College of Physicians for the state of Maryland since 2004. She has held multiple leadership positions at the state level and currently co-chairs the Mulholland-Mohler Resident research meeting, which hosts over 250 clinical vignette and research posters as well as oral presentations and the women in medicine committee for Maryland. She is the current National Community Hospital Assembly co-chair for the Association of Program Directors in Internal Medicine. She is also on the Association of Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) Residency Review Committee RC-IM since 2020. She is on the board of the “Journal of Community Hospitals Internal Medicine Perspectives” and a reviewer for the journal.

Dr. Kuehl is board certified in Internal Medicine and received her undergraduate degree in Biophysics from Johns Hopkins University, and MD from the University of Maryland School of Medicine. She completed her Internal Medicine residency at the University of Maryland Medical System. She has worked as a hospitalist and been in private practice before moving into graduate medical education leadership. She was awarded the C. Lockard Conley Award in 2013 by ACP Maryland Chapter for her contributions to resident education and research and was inducted into the Healing Hands Society at Ascension  Saint Agnes in 2019. Dr. Kuehl’s interests lie in promoting evidence-based medicine, communication, emotional intelligence, reducing healthcare costs and disparities. She is married, has two children and enjoys painting, gardening, reading, and outdoor activities.

Dr. Morales joined Ascension Saint Agnes in July 2008 when she began her internal medicine residency training; she completed her residency in June 2011. She then spent a year as chief resident for the program and part time hospitalist. Upon completion of her chief resident year Dr. Morales joined the faculty at Ascension Saint Agnes as an Associate Program Director and Academic Hospitalist. Dr. Morales received her medical degree from Escuela Colombiana de Medicine/Universidad el Bosque in Bogota, Colombia and graduated in the summer of 2002. She then spent a year working with the navy in the rainforest of Colombia as a general practitioner. After completing her social duty with the navy she returned to her home town, Bogota, and worked in primary care and occupational health for several years before deciding to pursue residency training in internal medicine in the United States. Dr. Morales is board certified in internal medicine. She is a member of The American College of Physicians (ACP), the Society of Hospital Medicine (SHM), and the Association of Program Directors in Internal Medicine (APDIM), where she recently presented a workshop on integrating international medical graduates into residency training in the United States. She enjoys all aspects of general Internal Medicine but she particularly enjoys teaching and training residents. Her long term plans are to develop new programs to enhance graduate medical education at Ascension Saint Agnes and beyond, to pursue research in the field, and to foster a robust academic hospitalist program at Saint Agnes.

Dr. Deborah Som is the Director of Ambulatory Medicine and the Assistant Program Director for the Internal Medicine residency. Dedicated to Ascension Saint Agnes since 1998, she came to our hospital after completing her Internal Medicine residency at the University of Maryland Medical System. She is a member of the Association of Program Directors in Internal Medicine (APDIM) as well as a Fellow of the American College of Physicians (FACP). She has been a judge in the ACP Associates Meeting, a forum for residents to compete with clinical vignettes and research projects. As a member of the Ethics Committee, she has been interested in development of an Ethics Curriculum and case-based conference series for the medical residents. She is Board Certified in Internal Medicine and interested in outpatient quality improvement initiatives and care of under-served populations. She is married, has three children and lives in Annapolis. She also has a special interest in resident teaching and mentoring, including a focus on career counseling and work-life balance for residents.

Dr. George Lawrence graduated from Tufts University School of Medicine and did his post-graduate training at the University of Maryland and Johns Hopkins Hospital. He is a Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Maryland Medical School. He recently stepped down from being the Chief of Endocrinology at Ascension Saint Agnes Hospital (1971-2011) but still is active in the Division of Endocrinology. For the past 18 years he has been the Director of the Off-Shore Medical Student Program and is involved in the Internal Medicine CORE and elective program in Internal Medicine.

Dr. Robin Li joined Ascension Saint Agnes Hospital after completing her internship and residency at the University of Maryland Medical Center. She is a member of the American College of Physicians (ACP) as well as the National Alliance for Wound Care (NAWC). Dr. Li is dedicated to the medical education of the residents in the outpatient ambulatory clinic, where she has worked since joining Ascension Saint Agnes in 2003. As a member of the Continuing Medical Education Committee, she is active in promoting ongoing medical education to residents and practicing physicians within Ascension Saint Agnes and those throughout the medical community. She is interested in providing care to the medically under served of Baltimore, and is particularly interested in teaching and mentoring medicine residents, including counseling on career and life choices. She is Board Certified in Internal Medicine and is a Wound Care Certified Specialist, and has previously served on the Medical Executive Committee (MEC) at Ascension Saint Agnes Hospital. She is married, has three children, and lives in Columbia. She enjoys reading, exercising, and spending time with her family and friends.

Dr. Conti did his initial medical training in Brazil. His first internal medicine residency and his cardiology fellowship were completed in 1997 at the University of São Paulo, one of the most prestigious South American Universities. After his cardiology fellowship, Dr. Conti studied myocardial infarction in young patients and received a research doctorate degree/Ph.D. also from the University of São Paulo. Dr. Conti is board certified in Cardiology by the Brazilian Society of Cardiology and board certified in Intensive Care by the Brazilian Association of Intensive Medicine. He worked as a teaching cardiologist for eight years at the Heart Institute/University of São Paulo and also as a private cardiologist and intensive care physician. In 2007, Dr. Conti came to United States and initially interpreted echocardiogram studies at Yale University. In 2008 he came for the first time to Ascension Saint Agnes Hospital, where he did Internal Medicine Residency. Dr. Conti is board certified in Internal Medicine and worked as a hospitalist with intensive care privileges and then as the Intensive Care Director at Chester River Hospital/University of Maryland System. Dr. Conti came back to Ascension Saint Agnes in 2013 to work with previous friends and to continue teaching.

Dr. Selam Tewolde earned her medical degree from Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia where she had an extensive experience as a clinician and educator. She had been a weekly columnist in a local news letter in Ethiopia and has published a medical book in the local language to be used by the general public. She traveled to the US in 2010 and recently graduated from MedStar Good Samaritan Internal Medicine residency program here in Baltimore. As she always enjoyed teaching and being close to academic medicine, she joined the Ascension Saint Agnes Academic Hospitalist team. She aspires to mentor the residents and help them reach their own potential and more, along with serving the under-served community of Baltimore. She is married and has one daughter. She enjoys playing the piano, reading, and spending time with friends and family.

Dr. Ammer Bekele did his medical schooling at Addis Ababa University Medical Faculty in Ethiopia. He worked as a General Practitioner at the Ethiopian Air Force Hospital for a couple of years before moving to the United States. He completed his residency at Washington Hospital Center in Washington DC before joining Good Samaritan Hospital as a hospitalist. He came to Ascension Saint Agnes Hospital in 2003 as a clinical hospitalist and joined the full time teaching faculty in 2014.He has been involved in resident and medical student education since starting his practice. He enjoys teaching the fundamental arts of history taking, physical examination and clinical decision making. In his spare time he enjoys sports, especially soccer. He is a big fan of Barcelona FC. He is married, has four children and lives in Ellicott City, MD.

Dr. Martha Baker joined the Ascension Saint Agnes Academic Hospitalist team after working as a clinical hospitalist at Ascension Saint Agnes since 2014. She received her medical degree from Boston University School of Medicine. She then completed her residency training at University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore. She is Board Certified in Internal Medicine. She is excited to get back into teaching and working with residents and medical students.

Dr. Huong Nguyen obtained her medical degree from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland. She completed an Internal Medicine residency at the Naval Medical Center San Diego and Endocrinology fellowship at the National Capital Consortium (now Walter Reed National Military Medical Center). She proudly served as an active-duty physician in the US Navy for 12 years before coming to Ascension Saint Agnes Hospital in 2012.

Dr. Nguyen is board-certified in both Internal Medicine and Endocrinology. She has published several papers on various endocrine topics.

Dr. Nguyen transitioned to being a part-time academic hospitalist in July 2021. She enjoys working with residents and medical students and looks forward to spending more time with them.