Meet Our Team

Dr. Thomas completed his medical school at the University of Madras in India. He completed a residency in internal medicine at Illinois Masonic Medical Center, Chicago. He then served as a chief resident in internal medicine at Illinois Masonic Medical Center, Chicago. He is board certified in internal medicine. He currently serves as the Program Director for the MacNeal Internal Medicine Residency Program. He has interests in the area of Hypertension and Diabetes and believes it is important to provide personalized care for each patient. He is dedicated in the area of resident education and with a focus on teaching residents to provide patient-centered care. 

Residency: Illinois Masonic Medical Center
Board Certification: Internal Medicine
Languages Spoken: English

Dr. Joseph joined MacNeal Hospital as an Associate Program Director for the Internal Medicine Residency Program in 2014, and has focused on residency program innovation and development since that time. She works closely with resident physicians to foster a patient-centered, compassionate, positive, and well balanced approach to patient care.

Residency: University of Texas at Houston
Board Certification: Internal Medicine
Languages Spoken: English

Dr. Farah Ciftci Olsen graduated from medical school in Turkey and trained in Neurology before moving to the United States in 2006 to start her Internal Medicine residency at the John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County. After residency graduation, she was asked to stay on as chief medicine resident and then as faculty member at Cook County, working as an attending physician for five years in the Division of Hospital Medicine and later the Division of General Internal Medicine.

During her time at Cook County, Dr. Ciftci served as a member of the core faculty and as Associate Firm Chief of the Internal Medicine Residency Program. She played a pivotal role in numerous educational initiatives in both the inpatient and ambulatory settings, serving as co-director of a resident research mentoring program, director of educational activities of the Division of Hospital Medicine, and Chair of the faculty development program for the Division of General Internal Medicine. She also created and implemented several innovative educational programs for residents including an ambulatory intern immersion rotation and addiction medicine rotation. In addition, her research work and clinical case presentations have been awarded various honors and published in several peer-reviewed journals such as BMJ, Seizure, and Journal of Neurology.

Dr. Ciftci joined MacNeal Hospital in 2016 as the Associate Program Director of the Transitional Year Residency Program and core faculty member of the Internal Medicine Residency Program. Her focus is primarily in medical education innovation and faculty development to improve clinical teaching of housestaff.

As she has worked with all stages of learners in clinical medicine from medical students up to faculty, Dr. Ciftci believes in learner-centered teaching and every learner has the ability to improve and reach their goals with reflection, proper feedback, encouragement, and mentorship, regardless of whether the learner is a resident or a brand-new attending.

Dr. Arredondo was born and raised in Illinois and attended medical school at the University of Chicago.  She enjoys working with the residents in clinic to teach them the management of chronic diseases in the outpatient setting.  Teaching the residents about the outpatient care of complex adolescents and young adult patients is another area that is important to Dr. Arredondo.  At home she enjoys cooking with her husband and tending to her many plants.  

Special Clinical Interests:  Adolescent Medicine, care of individuals with developmental delays, diabetes management. 

Residency: University of Chicago, Internal Medicine & Pediatrics
Board Certification(s): Internal Medicine, board eligible Pediatrics
Languages spoken: English and Spanish

Dr. Canelas was born and raised in the Chicago-land area and attended Loyola University for her undergraduate studies and the completed medical school at University of Illinois Medical School in Chicago.  She finished her training on the east coast and has practiced internal medicine on both coasts.  She is happy to be back in her hometown working for the diverse community that she knows and loves.  She is especially sensitive to the struggles of underserved patient populations.  Education also being a love of Dr. Canelas’, is privileged to be able to incorporate cultural sensitivity into the multifaceted residency training experience for our Internal Medicine Residents in our training program.  She also enjoys her immediate and extended family, her faith, biking, and walks along some of our beautiful preserves.

Special Clinical Interests: General Internal Medicine, cardiology, endocrinology, and critical care.
Board Certification: Internal Medicine
Language Spoken: English and Spanish

Dr. Junia was born and raised in the Philippines and attended the Philippines’ oldest medical school- the University of Santo Tomas. She moved to the United States to pursue her training in adult internal medicine. Having practiced in different countries, she enjoys learning from her patients about their diverse cultures and enjoys working with them in individualizing their care. She is a firm believer of staying active for a person’s physical and mental well-being and is an avid runner.

Special clinical interests: General medicine, endocrinology, nephrology, preventive medicine

Residency: John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County
Board Certification: Board eligible Internal Medicine
Language Spoken: English, Filipino/Tagalog

Dr. Sardone grew up in Ohio, attended Ohio State University for medical school. She moved to Denver for residency and worked in primary care until moving to Chicago.  She has been working at MCIM since 2012 when it opened. She enjoys working with the residents to teach them about ongoing relationships with patients, and to tailor treatment to the individual.  At home she enjoys spending time with her husband and two kids, and painting.  

Special Clinical Interests:   A tough decision! She enjoys all ages (of adults!) and the variety of conditions that are seen in general practice, as well as helping to identify and overcome barriers to compliance.

Residency: St. Joseph Hospital; Denver, Colorado
Board Certification: Internal Medicine
Languages Spoken: English

Dr. Sullivan is a native of the Chicagoland area. When seeing patients with the residents she encourages them to work with the patient to create a shared plan of care. In her free time she enjoys spending time with her family and her dogs.  

Special clinical interests:  Preventive Medicine, Women’s Health

Residency: John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital and Rush University Medical Center Primary Care Internal Medicine, MacNeal Hospital Chief Residency
Board Certification: Internal Medicine
Languages Spoken: English 

Dr. Kligman is originally from Russia but moved to the United States when he was two years old. He grew up in the northwest suburbs of Chicago where he graduated from Adlai E. Stevenson High School. He attended college at the University of Michigan (Go Blue!) and Loyola University Chicago. In the clinic, Dr. Kligman enjoys working with residents and helping patients with a variety of medical problems. Outside of work, he enjoys running, watching Chicago sports, and spending time downtown.

Special clinical interests: Gastroenterology and Hepatology

Residency: Indiana University
Board certification(s): Internal Medicine
Languages spoken: English and Russian