Program Leadership
Samuel Baz, MD, FACP welcome 
Program Director
Dr. Baz graduated from Yale University in 1990. He attended medical school at the University of Southern California (USC) from 1993 – 1997. He completed residency in Internal Medicine at Loma Linda University in 2000 and served as Chief Medical Resident at Riverside County Regional Medical Center in the 2000 – 2001 academic year. He worked in Illinois as an attending physician before he returned to Loma Linda as an attending at Veteran’s Administration Medical Center (VAMC). Since then, he has served the program as Key Clinical Faculty, Associate Program Director and currently, as Program Director.
We have six incredibly talented Associate Program Directors with a passion for resident education: Dr. Gary Thompson, Dr. Ingrid Blomquist, Dr. Leah Hans, Dr. Amy Schill-Depew, Dr. Sonny Lee and Dr. Chad Vercio.
Leah TudTud-Hans, MD, FACP
Associate Program Director (LLUMC)
Dr. Hans completed her undergraduate work and medical school at the University of the Philippines. She came to the United States and did a post-doctoral fellowship in Mineral Metabolism. Here, she completed an internship year at the University of Southern California and residency at Loma Linda University. Dr. Hans was Chief Medical Resident at Riverside County General Hospital. She has been an Assistant Professor of Medicine since 1997 and was a member of the Institutional Review Board at LLUMC from 2003 – 2008.
Gary Thompson, DO
Associate Program Director (RCRMC)
Dr. Thompson graduated from Western University of Health Sciences College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific in 2001. He completed his residency in Internal Medicine at Loma Linda University in 2004 and served as Chief Medical Resident at Riverside County Regional Medical Center from 2004 – 2005. Dr. Thompson is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Loma Linda University, Chief of Ambulatory Medicine and hospitalist at RCRMC. He is also director of RCRMC’s continuity clinic.
Amy Schill-Depew, MD
Associate Program Director (VAMC)
Dr. Schill-Depew graduated from Southwestern Adventist University in 2000 with a degree in biology and received her MD from Loma Linda University. She was Chief Medical Resident at Jerry L. Pettis Memorial VA Medical Center after completing residency in 2007. Dr. Schill-Depew has been quite active in resident education, recruiting and the Redlands-based Outpatient Clinic, the VA’s continuity clinic.
Ingrid Blomquist, MD, FACP
Associate Program Director ~ Mission, Fellowship & Research
Dr. Blomquist graduated from Loma Linda University School of Medicine after completing her undergraduate work at Pacific Union College. She completed residency in Internal Medicine at Loma Linda in 1984 and went on to Harbor/UCLA Medical Center for a Fellowship in Infectious Disease. Dr. Blomquist was on medical staff at RCRMC from 1989 – 1996 and has been on staff here at LLUMC since 1986. She is an Associate Professor of Medicine and is a past recipient of the Outstanding Teacher Award at Loma Linda University School of Medicine. Dr. Blomquist specializes in infectious disease and serves as an attending at LLUMC as well as on a number of administrative committees for both the medical center and university. Most recently, Dr. Blomquist was recognized as a “Top Doctor” by US News & World Report.
Sonny Lee, MD, FACP
Program Director – combined Medicine-Pediatrics Residency Program
Associate Program director – Internal Medicine Residency Program
After graduating from New York Medical College in 1999, Dr. Lee completed his residency in the combined internal medicine and pediatrics residency program (Med-Peds) at Loma Linda University Medical Center and Children’s Hospital in 2003. He took on the role of Associate Program Director of the Med-Peds program in 2004. He assumed his current role as Program Director of the Med-Peds residency program at Loma Linda in 2008. He graduated from UC Berkeley in 1993 with a degree in chemistry.
Chad Vercio, MD
Associate Program Director – combined Medicine-Pediatrics Residency Program
Faculty
Over 100 full-time faculty in the Department of Medicine are involved in the teaching program. All faculty members at each of our three training facilities have faculty appointments at Loma Linda University School of Medicine. The staff includes general internists and internists in the subspecialties of adolescent medicine, allergy, cardiology, clinical pharmacology, critical care, endocrinology, gastroenterology, geriatrics, hematology, infectious disease, intensive care medicine, nephrology, oncology, pulmonary medicine and rheumatology.
