A new beginning in medicine
Dr. Pujita “Siri” Mallampalli, right, a medical assistant at The Wright Center for Community Health Clarks Summit, checks patient Kim Hempell’s blood pressure during a recent visit. In July, Dr. Mallampalli will join 45 other medical school graduates to begin a three-year Internal Medicine residency with The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education, a mandatory phase of postgraduate medical training following medical school.
Following a period of uncertainty, one physician resumes her training at The Wright Center, where the foundation for her return was built
Four years after graduating from medical school, Dr. Pujita “Siri” Mallampalli was at a crossroads.
The daughter and granddaughter of doctors, the medical assistant at The Wright Center for Community Health Clarks Summit initially harbored dreams of becoming a dermatologist or a cardiologist. After growing up in England and Southern India, she graduated from Maharajan’s Institute of Medical Sciences College in 2019. Then she paused her career plans to get married and relocate to Seattle, Washington, almost 8,000 miles away from her parents.
After leaving her emotionally abusive marriage in 2023, Mallampalli found herself at a standstill. Then her sister invited her to join her in Scranton, Pennsylvania, where she was relocating to complete a one-year Advanced Education in General Dentistry residency at The Wright Center through NYU Langone Health.
“I was emotionally drained, so when my sister said, ‘Come with me to Scranton,’ I thought, ‘Why not?’” Dr. Mallampalli said.
Dr. Mallampalli’s decision launched her on a career path she never anticipated. In July 2026, she will begin the next leg of her medical career journey as one of 46 new physician learners in The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education’s Internal Medicine Residency Program.
Residency is a mandatory phase of postgraduate medical training following medical school, usually lasting between three and seven years. Residents are qualified doctors who work full-time in hospitals or clinics, earning a salary while providing patient care under the supervision of senior attending physicians. Fifty years ago, The Wright Center launched an Internal Medicine Residency Program to address doctor shortages in Northeast Pennsylvania. Today, it offers five residency programs and three fellowship programs, training about 200 physician learners annually.
After moving to the United States from India, Dr. Pujita “Siri” Mallampalli worked as a medical assistant at The Wright Center for Community Health Clarks Summit while studying for the exam to become a medical resident.
I feel like I’m late to the party because so much has happened between when I graduated from medical school in 2019 and when I’m starting my residency,” Dr. Mallampalli said. “But I realized a lot of medical residents feel that way, even though they may not talk about it.”
After moving to Scranton, Dr. Mallampalli buckled down to study for the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE), a three-step test crucial for foreign medical school graduates seeking residency opportunities in the United States.
As she studied, Dr. Mallampalli needed a way to support herself. She had gotten to know employees at The Wright Center through her sister’s dental residency program and liked the culture and camaraderie. She decided to apply for a job at The Wright Center to remain involved in health care while working toward her ultimate goal of being a physician.
“Whether I was at the front desk or working as a medical assistant, I’d get to keep learning,” Dr. Mallampalli said. “So, I put in my application, and then I just started bugging the people in HR until eventually they interviewed me for a medical assistant position.”
The Wright Center trains more than 200 interprofessional learners each year, focusing on in-demand jobs ranging from medical assistants and community health workers to physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and other advanced practitioners. In that way, Dr. Mallampalli’s story is a perfect example of The Wright Center’s mission-driven focus, said Dr. William Dempsey, a longtime family physician at The Wright Center for Community Health Clarks Summit and the nonprofit’s chief population health value-based care officer.
Dr. Pujita “Siri” Mallampalli, a medical assistant at The Wright Center for Community Health Clarks Summit, discusses a case with the community health center’s medical director, Dr. William Dempsey.
“When I found out her story, I started saying, ‘we need to get her here as a resident,’” said Dr. Dempsey, who had become impressed by her drive while working closely with her at The Wright Center for Community Health Clarks Summit. “All clinicians build skills by working their way up, and with what she’s learning as a medical assistant, she is going to have a leg up on a lot of the new medical residents joining us in July.”
Medical assistants are often the second person a patient encounters at a doctor’s appointment. After patients check in with front-desk staff, medical assistants call them back to the examination room and record their weight, blood pressure, pulse, and other vital signs before the doctor comes in.
“It was hard to remember to stay in my lane,” Dr. Mallampalli said with a laugh. “I would meet a patient, and I’d want to know more about what brought them in and what happened after I left the room.”
As she sharpened her skills as a medical assistant, Dr. Mallampalli continued studying for her USMLE, taking the final portion in May 2025. After passing it, she could begin applying for medical residencies – finally taking a step six years in the making. There was only one place she wanted for her residency: The Wright Center.
“I really put all my eggs in one basket,” she said. “The Wright Center was my No. 1 from the start.”
All medical school graduates must go through a centralized process in which they are matched with residency programs across the country. It is one of the most important and competitive processes in the medical school experience, and all resident candidates nationwide and worldwide simultaneously learn which U.S. residency program they will train in on Match Day, held annually on the third Friday of March.
A few days before Match Day, however, candidates learn if they have successfully matched with a program. When Dr. Mallampalli received the email confirming a match, she immediately knew she matched with The Wright Center because it was the only place she had applied. She drove to the community health center in Clarks Summit to tell her coworkers – many of whom have become friends. When Dr. Dempsey found out the good news, he had the staff buy a cake and balloons to celebrate.
Dr. Mallampalli plans to continue her job as a medical assistant until she begins her residency in July, noting that what she is learning will help her become a better physician.
“The medical assistants, the nurses, the staff at the front desk, they all do a lot of unseen work to make everything go smoothly,” she said. “I’m going to truly miss being a medical assistant, but I can’t wait to start the next step in my career.”
