Program Leadership
Amit J. Patel, MD, FASN, Program Director
Dr. Amit Patel is the founding program director for the internal medicine residency program at St. Joseph Medical Center – Kansas City. Dr. Patel’s dedication and expertise have been instrumental in shaping the program and nurturing the next generation of physicians. He is a 2005 graduate of the University of Missouri – Kansas City (UMKC) School of Medicine. He completed his internal medicine residency at the University of South Florida College of Medicine. He completed his nephrology fellowship at the same institution where he also served as chief nephrology fellow. With a passion for teaching and a commitment to excellence, Dr. Patel continues to inspire and lead by example in internal medicine.
Dr. Patel is a double-board-certified internist and fellowship-trained nephrologist with practice experience in various settings. He has committed most of his career to teaching the next generation of physicians in academic medicine. As a clinical physician faculty member at his alma mater (University of Missouri – Kansas City School of Medicine), he mentored medical students and residents and taught clinical internal medicine and nephrology in both inpatient and outpatient settings. Additionally, he provides expert specialty care in nephrology to critical access hospitals nationwide as a telemedicine nephrologist. He is an independent nephrologist consultant for the National Football League (NFL) Player Disability Benefits Association and an esteemed Fellow of the American Society of Nephrology (FASN). He provides expert witness evaluations/testimony in both internal medicine and nephrology for Juris Medicus, a reputable nationally recognized medical expert outsourcing firm. He has extensive academic and clinical teaching experience at all levels of medical education and has had faculty appointments at multiple university medical schools.
Dr. Patel grew up in the Kansas City area. He is an avid fan of the Kansas City Chiefs, Kansas City Royals, Kansas Jayhawks, and UMKC Roos. He lives in Overland Park, KS with his wife Neha and sons Kiaan and Krish. He enjoys working out, cycling, and gardening/landscaping.
Christopher Riffel, MD, Associate Program Director
Dr. Christopher Riffel is a Kansas City native, growing up in Overland Park, KS. He was a non-traditional student, going into the workforce in 2002 and working support services at University of Colorado Hospital after college at Kansas State and Case Western Reserve Universities. He then proceeded back to school in 2008 and earned his medical degree at Ross University in Dominica (now located in Barbados) in 2011. He completed residency in 2015 at The Jewish Hospital in Cincinnati affiliated with University of Cincinnati and was Chief resident. After graduating from residency he practiced as a “traditionalist” in primary care and rounding inpatient and post-acute on his own patients while working as clinical site director for The Jewish Hospital Internal Medicine residency program until 2018 when he moved back to Kansas City to be closer to family, and has been working as a hospitalist and teaching medical students and nurses.
He will be providing primary care education for residents and medical students on site in the residency continuity clinic located onsite in St. Joseph Medical Center and will also be teaching residents and medical students inpatient hospital medicine as well as didactics and morning report differential diagnoses, EKGs, and image interpretations. He will also instruct on procedures in primary care. His research interests included thrombophilia and advanced care planning.
Dr. Riffel in interested in resident and medical student teaching, curriculum development, and particularly resident wellness. He is full-time faculty in the Department of Medicine at St. Joseph Medical Center as Associate Program Director and a hospitalist at Providence Medical Center in Kansas City, KS and Saint John Hospital in Leavenworth, KS. He is on the charitable care committee in the Kansas City medical society, and is dedicated to supporting the arts in the Kansas City Symphony, KCUR radio, KTBG radio as well as local non-profit housing and community organizations Crosslines and Hope Faith among others.
On a personal note, Dr. Riffel lives in Olathe, KS with his wife, Sarah, and sons Quinn and Wyatt, who attend Olathe Public Schools. He enjoys being a husband and father, seeing live music frequently as well as trying to stay active by rowing, biking, swimming, climbing, hiking, skiing and snowboarding, and pickleball. He has a lifelong commitment to education. He is learning piano as an adult and actively practices yoga and meditation. He is excited to welcome you to his hometown of Kansas City.
Contact Us
For general information or questions on our programs, please call 816-943-7604, or email SJOMO-imresidencykc@primehealthcare.com