Erin Philpott, DO, Program Director
Dr. Philpott received her undergraduate degree in Biology with a minor in Spanish from Colorado College in Colorado Springs. While completing her studies, she spent a semester abroad in Cuba and one in Ecuador. She completed her prerequisites for nursing school at Fort Lewis College in Durango then received an Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing at Loyola University Chicago. Dr. Philpott earned her Doctor of Osteopathy from Rocky Vista University College of Osteopathic Medicine in Parker, Colorado. She completed an Internal Medicine residency at the University of Washington in Seattle and is board certified in Internal Medicine.
Dr. Philpott joined San Juan Regional Medical Center in 2017 where she served in many leadership roles, including the Chair of Medicine and Assistant Medical Director of the Internal Medicine Service. Dr. Philpott was also instrumental as a physician leader during the COVID-19 pandemic, serving on SJRMC’s incident command team to develop policies and coordinate the hospital’s response with the local emergency response, as well as serving as Chairman of the COVID-19 Therapeutics Committee. She shared her expertise with our community, providing weekly updates via radio.
Dr. Philpott speaks Spanish and is an avid traveler. She spent time abroad working as a Medical Consultant at Whakatane Hospital in New Zealand. In her free time, Dr. Philpott enjoys spending time with her family, gardening, Alpine and Nordic skiing, mountain biking, running, backpacking and rafting.
Michelle Martin-Thompson, MD, Associate Program Director
Dr. Martin-Thompson holds an undergraduate degree in Biology from the University of Kentucky in Lexington. She earned her Doctor of Medicine from the University of Louisville School of Medicine, followed by a residency in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at the same university. Her areas of expertise include outpatient internal medicine, preventative care and chronic disease management services.
Dr. Martin-Thompson enjoys backpacking, hiking and camping with her husband, daughter and two dogs.
Desiree Kenneth, Program Coordinator
Core Faculty
Choijie Chen
David Devitre
Michael Ting, MD
Dr. Ting attended the University of California at Berkeley where he received a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering. He worked as a mechanical engineer before going to medical school at Texas Tech University Health Science Center’s Paul L. Foster School of Medicine in El Paso. Dr. Ting went on to complete his Internal Medicine internship and residency at the University of Nevada at Reno. He is a member of the American College of Physicians.
Dr. Ting enjoys mountain biking and hiking in his free time.
Tanuja Yalamarti, MD
Dr. Yalamarti holds a Bachelor of Medicine and a Bachelor of Surgery from Prathima Institute of Medical Sciences in India. She completed a residency in Internal Medicine at Pennsylvania Hospital of UPenn in Philadelphia, followed by a fellowship in Nephrology at Stanford Hospital in Palo Alto, California. Dr. Yalamarti also completed a Critical Care fellowship at Stanford. She is board certified in Internal Medicine, Nephrology and Critical Care Medicine.
Dr. Yalamarti is from the United Kingdom. She’s a self-professed coffee enthusiast and her hobbies outside of work include travel, hiking and yoga.
Additional Faculty Members
Ben Amire, MD
Dr. Amire completed his Bachelor of Science in Chemistry at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. He received his Doctor of Medicine at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in New Orleans. Dr. Amire completed his medical residency at Banner University Medical Center, University of Arizona, in Tucson.
Dr. Amire is an avid cyclist. He was the bicycling team vice president and a competitive cyclist during medical school and averaged over 3,000 miles a year during his medical residency. He enjoys exploring the many cycling trails here in the Four Corners.
Angela Miller, DO
Dr. Miller earned her Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine from Oklahoma State College of Osteopathic Medicine in Tulsa. She also holds a Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences from Oklahoma State University as well as an associate degree in Liberal Arts from Tulsa Community College. She completed her internship and residency in Internal Medicine at Oklahoma State University/Tulsa Regional Medical Center. Medicine is Dr. Miller’s second career. She designed flight simulators for 11 years.
In her free time, Dr. Miller loves to read, travel and spend time with her husband and three grandsons.
Chandan Singh Sapkota, MD
Dr. Sapkota completed his undergraduate degree as well as medical school at KIST Medical College in Nepal, followed by an internship at KIST Medical College and Teaching Hospital. He then spent several years working in critical care in Nepal, both in the Emergency Department and the ICU. Dr. Sapkota became an instructor for the National Institute of Health Science in Kathmandu, teaching for the Department of Medicine, before moving to the United States to complete an Internal Medicine residency at Weiss Memorial Hospital in Chicago. While in Chicago, he served as a frontline healthcare worker during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dr. Sapkota describes himself as an outdoor person. He loves trekking mountains. One of his biggest achievements was climbing the Tsergo Ri mountain peak in Nepal, which has an altitude of 4,884 meters. Sports are also an important part of his life. He is passionate about football and basketball and was a member of his medical college’s basketball and football teams. One of Dr. Sapkota’s newfound interests is playing guitar and learning new songs. He also enjoys reading novels and cooking and is fluent in English, Nepali, Hindi and Bengali.
Joshua Turner, DO
