Medical Alumni Auditorium may not be as picturesque as the rolling hills and woods surrounding Rapid Creek Cidery and Wilson’s Orchard north of Iowa City where the Division of Nephrology and Hypertension celebrated its graduates last year. Program Director Lisa Antes, MD, and Program Coordinator Sara Murph still transformed the well with flowers and other decorations to give this year’s graduates a backdrop befitting their hard work and great success.
A week or so before, the graduates of both the Nephrology Fellowship and the Transplant Nephrology Fellowship gathered in the empty space for some brief individual photographs and one quick group shot for posterity.
Over the noon hour on the day of the event itself, a handful of colleagues gathered to offer their congratulations and to mark the end of the academic year, one in which the division had overcome significant challenges and grown stronger as a team. Antes spoke both of those challenges and how these particular fellows had shown that the future of medicine and this subspecialty was in strong and well-prepared hands.
Antes recognized (now) second-year fellow Maria Story, MD, on a recent receipt of a You Make a Difference award. Though she was unable to attend Rebecca Hegeman, MD, was called out as the winner of this year’s Exceptional Citizenship Award. Christie Thomas, MD, however, was on hand to receive his Teacher of the Year award, as selected by the fellows.
A short video played for the assembled guests featuring some memories and interviews with the fellows.
After some words of congratulations from Division Director Chou-Long Huang, MD, PhD, the certificates were then presented to the fellows. Antes extolled their strengths before offering them a chance to say speak as well. Each of them expressed their gratitude for the mentoring they received and how much they learned in such a brief, intense period of time. After that, some posed for more properly shielded group photos and then shared individually prepared delicious boxed lunch from local Mediterranean favorite Oasis.
Congratulations to this year’s nephrology graduates! You know where you will always have a home.
Prerna Kumar, MBBS (Transplant Nephrology)
Swe Zin Mar Win Htut Oo, MBBS
Jayesh Patel, MBBS
Meenakshi Sambharia, MBBS
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