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Faculty
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The physician faculty of the program includes 14 board-certified family physicians, including the program director. As a group, the faculty come from very diverse private practice backgrounds and have deep roots in the community. All faculty remain active in patient care in both inpatient and outpatient settings and share call equally. One non-physician faculty member is a psychotherapist who coordinates the behavioral medicine curriculum.
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Paul Aitken, Jr., MD, MPH
Program Director
Penn State University/The Good Samaritan Hospital
Family and Community Medicine Residency Program
Dr Aitken is originally from Massapequa L.I., New York. He attended the City College of New York where he received his Bachelor’s Degree. After graduating from the State University of New York at Buffalo School of Medicine, Dr. Aitken served an internship in obstetrics and gynecology at New York University Medical Center. He then completed his residency in Family Medicine at Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC. Afterward he completed training in General Preventive Medicine at the State University of New York at Stony Brook School of Medicine and received a Master of Public Health degree at the School of Public Health at Columbia University in New York City.
Prior coming to Lebanon, he was Assistant Professor of Family Medicine at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill and Assistant Director of the Family Medicine Residency Program at New Hanover Regional Medical Center in Wilmington, NC.
Dr. Aitken is now an Associate Professor of Family and Community Medicine at Penn State University’s Milton S. Hershey College of Medicine and Program Director of the Penn State / Good Samaritan Hospital Residency in Family & Community Medicine in Lebanon, PA. He is board-certified in Family Medicine and Preventive Medicine.
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Victoria A. Brown, MD
Dr. Brown is a native of Southern California. She graduated from U.C. San Diego with a B.A. in Animal Physiology and then received her M.D. from the UCLA School of Medicine. Dr. Brown completed her family practice residency at U.C. Irvine where she served as chief resident. She is board certified in Family Medicine. Before joining the Penn State/Good Samaritan faculty, Dr. Brown spent seven years in private practice in the Lebanon Valley. She enjoys all aspects of family medicine, particularly obstetrics.
In her leisure time, Dr. Brown likes to travel, read, and spend time with her husband, daughter, and son.
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Ellen A. Johnson, MD
Associate Program Director
Obstetrics Coordinator Procedural Medicine Coordinator
Dr. Johnson grew up on Long Island, New York. She attended New York University School of Medicine and then headed for the more rural climes of Hershey, Pennsylvania. She completed internship and residency at the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. This was followed by a one-year fellowship that combined Procedural Skills Training with Faculty Development, also at Hershey Medical Center. She is currently enrolled in the National Institute of Program Director Development Fellowship Program through the AFMRD.
Dr. Johnson is married and has one daughter. In her free time, she enjoys exercise, crossword puzzles and riding her Harley. She also plays bass guitar on the Worship Team at her church. Her clinical interests include office procedures and OB.
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Daria Kovarikova, MD
Medical Director, ELCO Family Health Center
Dr. Kovarikova was born and raised in the previous Czechoslovakia where she obtained her medical degree and specialization in Public Health and Community Medicine. After a long journey through Germany and New Zealand, she pursued residency in Family Medicine at the Penn State/Good Samaritan program. She served as Chief Resident in her final year and joined the faculty after graduation.
Dr. Kovarikova practices "cradle to grave medicine," delivering babies, seeing their siblings and parents, and attending patients at Manor Care Nursing Home. Her clinical interests include women's health issues, dermatology, obesity treatment, exercise, and teaching healthy lifestyle. As a faculty member, she coordinates conferences for the residents and is medical director
of the ELCO residency office.
Dr. Kovarikova is married to Jaromir and has two grown daughters. Her hobbies include any kind of sports and traveling. |
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Janette H. Kurie, M.Ed.
Director, Behavioral Medicine Education
Janette H. Kurie graduated with a B.A. in English and worked for seven years in publishing with The Saturday Evening Post and Sports Illustrated magazine in New York City. She eventually made a career change to work with people instead of words and received a M.Ed. in Psychology from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. She has also done additional work toward an M.A. in Personality and Research at the New School for Social Research in New York City. Prior to joining the residency program in 1993, she worked as a psychotherapist for 13 years in the offices of five family physicians.
Mrs. Kurie is currently the Director of Behavioral Medicine Education for the residency. She is married to George, a school psychologist. They have two grown sons, Ted and Pete. She enjoys her cello, oil painting, growing roses and biking. Mrs. Kurie also still enjoys working with words and finds the experience she gained in her first career very useful for grant writing. Mrs. Kurie has a particular interest in the early identification of children at-risk for behavioral and developmental problems and the prevention of child abuse. |
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Aaron B. Lane, MD
Medical Director of Family Support
Dr. Lane is originally from Kansas and lived there until he went to Grinnell College in Iowa where he was a Comparative World Religions major. He has always been fascinated by the human condition as well as the sciences. For him, medicine was a natural bridging of these two interests.
Ever since he first entertained the idea of being a doctor, family medicine was the only specialty that integrated his vision of the ideal physician. He is happy to say that all of the expectations and idealism he had for family medicine were met and surpassed by his experiences at the PSU-GSH Family and Community Medicine residency. He felt lucky to have found a residency where the faculty, administration and co-residents were not only committed to the quality of his education, but also to his personal growth and well-being. In fact, he loved the program so much that he joined the faculty after his graduation!
Dr. Lane’s professional areas of interest include primary care research, evidence based medicine, and preventive medicine. He is actively involved in the outpatient clinic, and labor & delivery. His administrative work includes residency recruitment and serving as the Medical Director of our Family Support & Medical Home program.
Outside of work, He enjoys trying his hand at ethnic cuisine & building computers. He genuinely enjoys the Central PA area is always discovering new things to do and places to visit both close to home and within a short, scenic drive. |
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Peter R. Lewis, MD
Assistant Professor, Family & Community Medicine
Penn State College of Medicine, Hershey
Director of Research
Dr. Lewis graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Religion from Princeton University. Following his undergraduate education, he spent four years teaching and living at a boarding school--Blair Academy--in Blairstown, New Jersey. During this time he married his wife, Jennifer, and their first son Kyle was born. Dr. Lewis received his medical degree from Jefferson Medical College and completed his residency in family medicine at the University of Washington. During this time period his second son, Tyler, was born. Dr. Lewis completed a fellowship in faculty development and served as chief resident at the University of Washington prior to joining the Department of Family & Community Medicine at Penn State College of Medicine in 1997. He is board certified in Family Medicine.
Dr. Lewis enjoys the breadth of family medical care and the related depth of relationships with patients and their families. He finds it rewarding to work with patients of all ages, in any of life's stages, at times of wellness and illness. He also enjoys opportunities to work with and learn from medical students and family medicine residents. Dr. Lewis has particular interests in care to under served populations, doctor-patient communication, and resident research and scholarly activity. In the company of family and friends he enjoys cycling, travel, cinema, and used bookstores. |
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William Lovett, MD
Medical Director of Good Samaritan Family Practice Center
Dr. Lovett joined the residency faculty in July 2008. For 22 years he practiced rural family medicine in Lebanon County and for 3 years prior to that, he served a National Health Service Corps obligation on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Dr. Lovett has a BSA degree from the University of Delaware and did his medical training at Jefferson Medical College. His family medicine residency was done at Chestnut Hill Hospital in Philadelphia and he has a CAQ in geriatrics. His particular medical interests include international medicine, caring for Hispanic patients, and geriatrics.
Dr. Lovett is married to Debbie and has 3 grown children living far afield in Louisiana, China, and Philadelphia. In his spare time, he enjoys gardening, raising Boer goats and playing the French horn with the Auscultation Brass.
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James McGeary, MD
James E. McGeary, MD is originally from the Pittsburgh area and graduated from Dickinson College in Carlisle, and Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. After completing his family practice residency at Sacred Heart Hospital in Allentown, he started a group practice in Warren County in rural northwestern Pennsylvania where he practiced hospital and outpatient medicine, including 10 years as the medical director of Hospice of Warren County. He enjoys geriatrics, teaching preventive medicine and good self care, gardening, and laughter. He and his wife, who grew up in Lititz returned to the area in the last few years with their current family of two golden retrievers, Riley and Cooper. Their son Pete, a Penn State graduate, is in the Lehigh Valley in management at Wegmen’s and their daughter, a pediatrician, and son-in-law, a researcher who would like to teach, hope to move back to the area from Charlottesville, Virginia. His wife Shelly, originally an elementary teacher and counselor trained at Millersville University has an interest and training as a spiritual director/companion, helping Christians deepen their ongoing conversation with God. They both enjoy the quiet, small town atmosphere of the area.
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Elizabeth Muhiire-Igbanol, MD
Dr Muhiire-Igbanol was born and raised in Uganda. She completed last year of high school
in Malvern, Great Britain, then went to medical school in Prague, Czech Republic.
She completed Family Medicine residency at Indiana University in Indianapolis before
joining the faculty at Penn State/Good Samaritan Hospital in Lebanon, PA.
She enjoys the wide scope that comes with family medicine and especially enjoys obstetrics.
In her spare time Dr Muhiire-Igbanol enjoys cooking with husband, Ryan; traveling,
reading, and is an avid Colts fan.
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Roberta “Bobbi” Scherr, MD
Dr. Bobbi Scherr was born in Philadelphia and raised in Bucks County, PA. She attended Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut majoring in biology and computer science, and studying in the Guided Studies in the Humanities Program. She then attended Hahnemann Medical University (now Drexel Medical School) in Philadelphia, PA. She completed her residency at Hunterdon Medical Center in Flemington, NJ and rounded out her training with a Faculty Development Fellowship at Duke University, Durham, NC.
Dr. Scherr has had experience teaching in two other Family Medicine Residency Programs on the east coast, as well as 6 years of private practice experience. She enjoys both the science and art of family medicine, and enjoys teaching learners at all levels. Her clinical interests are broad, as she enjoys pediatric and adolescent care, as well as the care of adults. She has extensive experience in the care of the elderly in the office, their homes, and in nursing homes and rehabilitation facilities. Dr. Scherr also has a special interest in the care of patients with chronic and/or terminal diseases, emphasizing palliative care of symptoms, maximizing quality of life, and preserving the dignity of the patient.
Bobbi enjoys spending time outside of work with her son Robbie and their four dogs. She enjoys reading, solving puzzles, doing needle crafts and crocheting. Staying connected with extended family is also very high priority.
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John C. Sheffield, MD
Associate Program Director
Director of Pre-doctoral Education
A native New Englander, Dr. Sheffield joined the residency faculty in 2005 after nearly ten years in private practice.
Dr. Sheffield received his undergraduate education at the University of Pennsylvania followed by medical training at the Medical College of Virginia. Since his family medicine residency days at the St. Margaret Memorial Hospital in Pittsburgh, PA, he never lost his love for medical education and is now happily devoted to resident and medical student learning. He brings a wealth of clinical experience from his days working on an American Indian reservation, university group practice and his small private practice in New Hampshire. Areas of particular interest include sports medicine, inpatient internal medicine, and primary care procedures.
On a personal note, Dr. Sheffield resides in the Lebanon community with his wife, three sons, and a large, hungry calico cat. Given a free moment, he enjoys gardening, physical fitness, and rooting for his countless professional sports teams.
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Daniel Schlegel, MD
Associate Program Director
Dr. Schlegel was born and raised in Lebanon, Pennsylvania. He enjoyed his liberal arts education at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, PA before attending and graduating from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. His completed his residency at Lancaster General Hospital before joining the faculty at Penn State Hershey Medical Center where he teaches residents and medical students. As Associate Program Director for the residency, Dr. Schlegel focuses on helping the residency take advantage of the educational and clinical opportunities available at Hershey Medical Center.
Dr. Schlegel is very interested in the administrative, economic, and policy aspects of healthcare in the United States and in teaching this to residents. He is working on a Master’s Degree in Health Administration to enhance his understanding of those fields and to share his knowledge with the residents. Dr. Schlegel has enjoyed backpacking through Europe, skydiving, and rotating through electives in Edinburgh, Scotland and Antigua, Guatemala to learn about other nations and their health care systems. He also enjoys time with his daughter and his wife who is also a Family Physician.
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Byard Yoder, MD
Dr. Yoder graduated from the Medical College of Virginia after completing a B.S. in chemistry at Eastern Mennonite College in Harrisonburg, Virginia. He trained in Family and Community Medicine, eventually serving as chief resident, at Roanoke Memorial Hospital in Virginia. Prior to joining the Penn State/Good Samaritan program, he was in private practice for 8 years and worked for a private psychiatric hospital.
Dr. Yoder is board certified by the American Board of Family Practice and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians. He enjoys all aspects of family medicine with special interest in office procedures.
Dr. Yoder and his wife Judy are parents to two adult sons and a large golden retriever. He spends his non-work time gardening, biking, hiking and occasionally dancing.
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