Colleagues, friends, and family gathered in the McCord Club of Kinnick Stadium Friday evening to celebrate the achievements of nine remarkable cardiologists and the instructors who mentored them. After a cocktail and hors d’oeuvres hour, guests settled in for the evening’s presentation of annual awards and to learn more about the graduating fellows.
Dr. Paul Lindower, Director of the Cardiovascular Medicine Fellowship Program, welcomed everyone and introduced former cardiology fellow Dr. Kirk Spencer, Professor of Medicine at the University of Chicago and recipient of this year’s Distinguished Alumnus Award. Dr. Spencer gave a few pieces of advice to the graduates, particularly on finding the necessary work-life balance.
The Paul Neuhauser Award, recognizing an outstanding presentation by a cardiology fellow, was presented to second-year fellow Dr. Bria Giacomino by Dr. Rajan Sah. The Dr. Lyle A. and Mable R. Baker Award for outstanding research was presented by Dr. Chris Benson to postdoctoral associate Dr. Lee Joseph. The Dr. George Irving Pesek Humanitarian Award, presented by his daughter Dr. Catherine Pesek Bird, was awarded to cardiothroracic surgeon Dr. Mohammad Bashir. Next came the presentation of the Lewis E. January Memorial Clinical Teaching Award by second-year fellow Dr. Rami Kafa to Dr. Lindower himself, a fine recognition from a grateful fellowship program for all he does for them.
Dr. Lindower presented the Chief Fellow Award to Dr. Nicole Worden, who joked upon seeing the list of responsibilities listed behind her that perhaps she might have thought it over a bit more before accepting the position last year. Division Director Dr. Barry London presented the Kanu A. Chatterjee Award for Clinical Excellence with a moving description of the award’s namesake and his passion for medicine. This year’s recipient, Dr. London said, embodied those ideals and more, when he announced the winner, Dr. Yohannes Bayissa.
The UIHC Heart and Vascular 2017 Corn Roast was hosted, for the last time, by graduating fellow Dr. Hazim El-Haddad. This fellows-prepared roast took as much affectionate aim at each other as it did their mentors and other faculty. When the laughter subsided it was time to say formal farewell to each fellow individually, some of whom will stay on in new roles, others we will always hope to see return.
Congratulations from the Department of Internal Medicine to this year’s graduating class!
Cardiovascular Medicine Fellowship
Nicole Worden, MD
Yohannes Bayissa, MD
Andrew Behunin, DO
Hazim El-Haddad, MD
Electrophysiology Fellowship
Hardik Doshi, MBBS
Siva Krothapalli, MBBS
Heart Failure Fellowship
Mohammad El Baba, MD
Interventional Fellowship
Andres Vargas Estrada, MD
Jayasheel Eshcol, MD