Primary Care (Hope Drive)

• Christine Arnold, MSN, CPNP received her diploma in Nursing from Harrisburg Polyclinic Hospital School of Nursing, BSN from Thomas Jefferson University, MSN (Young Family Nurse Practitioner Track) in 1993, and has worked at Penn State’s Milton S. Hershey Medical Center for 13 years.  Areas of special interest include newborns/breastfeeding, pediatric weight management and adolescent health care.  She is a member of Dauphin County Safe Kids, and Capital Area Head Start where she is a on the Medical Advisory Board.  When not at work, she can be found taking Dressage lessons with her palomino gelding quarter horse or trying to train her rescued mixed breed dog named “Gracie.”
• Cheston M. Berlin, Jr., M.D. was born in Pittsburgh, PA.  He received his undergraduate degree (BA) in chemistry at Haverford College and M.D. degree from Harvard Medical School.  He served his residency at Boston Children’s Hospital and has been employed by PSHMC since 1971.  Dr. Berlin’s interests are in pediatric pharmacology, nutrition, lactation, neuromuscular disorders, phenylketonuria, Tourette Syndrome and general pediatrics.  He currently sees patients with Tourette Syndrome and PKU only.
• Kathryn Crowell, M.D. graduated from Georgetown University School of Medicine in 1998 and completed her residency here at Penn State Hershey Medical Center.  Areas of special interest include developmental pediatrics, medical education and child abuse.  She serves as an advisor for residents and students, and is involved in curriculum development for 3rd and 4th year medical students.  With Dr. Duda, Dr. Crowell is developing a consultative service for cases of suspected abuse.  She is married and has three children.
• Laura Duda, M.D. graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, School of Medicine in 1993 and served her residency at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.  She joined Penn State Hershey Pediatrics in 2005, where she has been teaching residents and medical students, and providing care for patients in our acute “sick child” clinic.  With Dr. Crowell, Dr. Duda is developing a consultative service for cases of suspected child abuse and is also seeing patients with tic disorders and Tourette Syndrome.  She is married and has three children.
• Nicole Hackman, M.D., is a native of Hershey, Pennsylvania.  She graduated from York College of Pennsylvania in 2003 and from Pennsylvania State College of Medicine in 2007.  She completed her residency and has worked in various capacities within the Medical Center for more than 12 years starting while still in high school.  Areas of special interest include breastfeeding, newborn care, allergy and asthma.  She is an attending physician in the newborn nursery, and she teaches residents and medical students.  Dr. Hackman is married and has children.
• Sarah Iriana, M.D. graduated from the University Of Vermont College Of Medicine in 1993.  She completed her pediatric residency at the Penn State M.S. Hershey Medical Center in 1996.  She is currently serving as the Medical Director of the Penn State Hershey Pediatrics practice where she practices general pediatrics and particularly enjoys newborn care and preventative medicine.  She enjoys teaching medical students and pediatric residents.  She is also interested in global health and has participated in multiple international medical mission trips.  She is married, has three children and enjoys bicycling in her free time.
• Kelly Kline, D.O. joined the practice in 2005.  She is a native of Lancaster County.  She graduated from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine and completed her pediatric residency at Penn State Children’s Hospital.  Dr. Kline has a special interest in children with special needs and adolescent medicine.  Dr. Kline is married, has three children of her own and currently resides in Lancaster.
• Kelly Leite, D.O., Director, Pediatric Residency Program
• Benjamin Levi, M.D. graduated from the University of Illinois, College of Medicine in 1995 and is a philosopher whose doctoral training is in the area of ethics.  He is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Humanities at Penn State HMC.  Dr. Levi is in clinic two days per week, and spends the remainder of his time at the College of Medicine conducting research in bioethics and teaching ethics to medical students, residents, and faculty.  His major areas of research include respecting patient autonomy, mandated reporting of suspected child abuse, parental resistance to childhood immunizations, and advance care planning.
• Laura Murphy, M.D. graduated from the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine in 1994. She did her residency at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children in Philadelphia where she stayed on as faculty until June 2009. While at St. Christopher's, she was the director of undergraduate medical education, the clerkship director and pathway director for Drexel University College of Medicine. She is actively involved in COMSEP and APA, national organizations involved in education. In her clinical work, Dr. Murphy was the medical director for the Special Needs program in Ambulatory Pediatrics at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children--a program providing care for children with complex medical problems. She moved to the Hershey area in July 2009 and lives here with her husband and daughter. She continues to have interest in medical education and children with special needs.
• Jennifer Miller, M.D. graduated from Upstate Medical University in 1998 and served her residency at PSHMC, finishing in 2001.  She spends the majority of her time seeing patients at Penn State Hershey Pediatrics and has special interest in newborn medicine, behavior and development, and caring for children with chronic medical conditions.  In addition, Dr. Miller is the Medical Director of the Newborn Nursery at Penn State Hershey Children’s Hospital, and is the Associate Director of the Pediatric Residency Program.  Dr. Miller is married and currently resides near Mt. Gretna. 
• Ian M. Paul, M.D. M.Sc. graduated from Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine in 1998, and completed his residency training at Duke University Medical Center in 2001.  In addition to his responsibilities as a general pediatrician in clinic and in the newborn nursery, Dr. Paul spends much of his time working on a variety of research projects and clinical trials that seek to improve healthcare for children and families.  His current research interests include models of care for mothers and babies after childbirth, factors associated with weight gain during early life and treatment for childhood cough due to colds.  Dr. Paul lives in Lancaster with his wife and children.
• Jody Ross, M.D., a Harrisburg native, graduated from Wright State University School of Medicine in 1994.  Areas of special interest include travel medicine and caring for international adoptees and children in foster care.  She has been a pediatrician here for the past 9 years where, in addition to her responsibilities as a general pediatrician, she teaches third year medical students and supervises residents for continuity clinic.  She considers her greatest accomplishments managing her career and raising her four children with her husband.
• Deepa Sekhar, M.D. completed medical school at Brown University in Providence, RI in 2003.  She subsequently went on to her pediatric residency at New York Presbyterian Hospital-Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York, NY.  After a chief resident year at the Brooklyn Hospital Center in Brooklyn, NY she relocated to Dallas, TX in 2007.  Dr. Sekhar worked in Dallas as a pediatric hospitalist, caring for patients admitted to the general pediatrics service.  In July 2008 she and her family moved to Hershey, PA.  Dr. Sekhar is fluent in both Spanish and English.
• Adam Spanier, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H. graduated from Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in New Orleans, LA in 2000 with an M.D. and an MPH. He completed a Pediatric residency program at Case Western Reserve University/Rainbow Babies' and Children's Hospital in Cleveland, OH in 2003. He completed a Pediatric Research Fellowship in 2006 at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center in Cincinnati, OH in 2006, and he remained there as a faculty member for three years. He joined our faculty in the summer of 2009. In additional to caring for patients, Dr. Spanier performs pediatric clinical research. Dr. Spanier has a special interest in pediatric environmental health and asthma. He is married and has two children.
• Alawia Suliman, M.D. graduated from the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Khartoum, Sudan, an affiliate of Cambridge University.  She served her residency here at Penn State Hershey Medical Center.  Her interests include breastfeeding, growth and development, as well as medical student and resident education.  Research interests involve development of new vaccines.  She has served on the medical students’ selection committee, and the Dean’s council for diversity.  She is the Board Secretary for the Arthritis Foundation of Central Pennsylvania.  Dr. Suliman has practiced pediatrics internationally in Sudan, England and America.  She is married, the mother of three children and is fluent in Arabic.
• Mark Widome, M.D. is a general pediatrician,who has been at Penn State and Hershey Medical Center since 1977.  His major interests include medical education, health supervision, public health, and prevention of injuries.  He completed his pediatric training at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh and public health training at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.  Most of his time is spent seeing patients, supervising pediatric residents and teaching medical students.  His other responsibilities include providing care for newborns at the Medical Center and recruiting new pediatric faculty.  Dr. Widome serves as the chief of the Division of General Pediatrics.  He and his wife live in Hershey and have two grown children.

• Penn State Hershey Pediatrics

Penn State Hershey Pediatrics strive to partner with parents to provide quality medical care for patients. We care for children from birth through adolescence and provide routine health supervision as well as urgent evaluations for illnesses. We care for healthy patients as well as those with complex medical needs. We work closely with the subspecialists and hospitalists at Penn State Children’s Hospital, facilitate referrals and otherwise coordinate care when necessary.

All of the pediatricians at Penn State Hershey Pediatrics carry professional responsibilities outside of the pediatric office. Hence, your child’s pediatrician may not be available every day of the week. We encourage parents to schedule appointments well in advance, increasing the likelihood that they will see the provider of their choice. We understand, however, that urgent problems arise. If your child’s pediatrician is unavailable, we have additional urgent appointments set aside each day. These appointments are staffed by pediatric residents with direct supervision from one of the faculty pediatricians. In addition, evening and weekend appointments are available for urgent needs. 

Clinical Research
Our faculty pediatricians conduct approved research studies within the office. From time to time, you or your child may be asked to participate in these opportunities. Participation is completely optional. To find out more about past and current or upcoming studies click here. 

Pediatric Residents
Pediatric residents at Penn State Children’s Hospital care for patients at Penn State Hershey Pediatrics during their three year training. Your child may be scheduled directly with one of the resident doctors working under direct supervision of a faculty pediatrician. Residents review and discuss each patient with a supervising faculty member. You can be confident that your child will receive comprehensive care. 

Medical Students
Penn State College of Medicine medical students rotate with pediatricians in our office. You may be asked to have a medical student participate in your child’s evaluation and care. Medical students are closely supervised by faculty pediatricians, and no patient will be seen by a medical student alone. 

Telephone Advice and After Hours Care
During daytime office hours, our office pediatric nurses are available to advise you about the care of your child, and contact your physician if needed. Overnight and on weekends, pediatric nurses are also available to provide advice. In addition, a resident and a faculty pediatrician are available for consultation.

E-mail
Some patients and pediatricians communicate non-urgent issues through e-mail. You may wish to speak to your child’s physician about e-mail communication. 

Office Fees
We make every attempt to keep our fees reasonable and fair. Professional fees are based on the care given and the time needed to provide health care for your child. Immunizations, diagnostic tests, administration of injections, and procedures are charged separately. Due to the high cost of sending bills, we expect you to pay any co-payment and fees during the visit. Financial and billing service coordinators are available to assist with billing questions and insurance issues. They can also assist you in applying for Pennsylvania’s Child Health Insurance Plan or Medicaid Insurance (low cost or free medical insurance for qualifying families). Our billing service coordinators can be reached at (717) 531-1814. 

Referrals
Many insurance companies require referral forms or special approval before a patient can see a specialist or have a special test. Please ask your doctor to help make sure you have the appropriate papers before going to a specialist. Our insurance coordinators can be reached at (717) 531-2075 during daytime office hours to answer any of your questions. 

Suggestions and Problems
We are always trying to improve the pediatric care and service we provide to our patients and families. If you have any suggestions, please let us know. Likewise, if you are dissatisfied with an experience with our office, please tell us so that we may correct the problem. We welcome your input, including that from patient satisfaction surveys that you may receive. When calling with your concerns or suggestions, please ask to speak with our office manager.

• Daycare Physical form
• Guardian Authorization for Treatment of Minor form
• PIAA Pre-Participation Sports Physical form
• School Physical form
• Vanderbilt Assessment Scales for ADHD - Parent and Teacher forms