Puja Chitkara MD Center for Arthritis and Rheumatologic Excellence operates from Chula Vista's Medical Center Court, where Dr. Chitkara — board-certified in both rheumatology (2006) and internal medicine by the American Board of Internal Medicine — treats autoimmune and inflammatory conditions following her fellowship in rheumatology at the National Institutes of Health. Systemic autoimmune diseases including lupus and rheumatoid arthritis carry a heightened risk of inflammatory eye involvement such as uveitis and scleritis, making coordination with ophthalmology groups such as American Eye Associates and California Retina Associates a clinical necessity for comprehensive disease monitoring. She earned her MD from Assam Medical College (1996) and completed internal-medicine residencies at St. Luke's Hospital and UCSF before establishing the CARE practice in 2014, with affiliations across Sharp Chula Vista Medical Center, Sharp Coronado Hospital, Sharp Grossmont Hospital, and Scripps Mercy Hospital. Chronic pain and joint-degeneration cases often benefit from integrative approaches that pair biologic-therapy infusions with wellness coordination through providers such as SoCal Wellness for anti-inflammatory lifestyle and exercise programming. The highest-acuity treatment protocols involve biologic infusion therapy with agents such as rituximab for refractory lupus nephritis and tocilizumab for giant-cell arteritis, administered under in-office monitoring with pre-infusion laboratory verification of hepatic and renal function.