Like all other national society meetings, the American College of Gastroenterology moved into a digital space this year. And while individual presentations and panels and even poster sessions may be more easily managed via video conferencing, the Doctor’s Dilemma / Jeopardy competitions posed some technological challenges.

This did not stop GI fellows Yazan Hasan, MBBS, and Divya Ashat, MBBS, from throwing Iowa’s hat in the ring this year. With expert coaching from Associate Program Director Arvind Murali, MBBS, the two continued the GI fellowship’s tradition of qualifying for the national competition for the third time in the last five years. Hasan and Ashat fended off competitors from other institutions including UCLA, Rutgers, and Penn. In the end, the pair fell short by just two points to the team from the Cleveland Clinic.

Randhir Jesudoss, MBBS, MD, clinical assistant professor in Gastroenterology and Hepatology was watching, grabbed some screenshots below and submitted a post-match report to the rest of the division (slightly edited):

Join Arvind and me in congratulating our stupendous team, Yazan and Divya, who were just 2 points away from bringing the cup to Iowa. They stood first in the qualifying, but being second in the nation in the final round is no joke. The online buzzer didn’t work well for our champs. With all this said, this is the closest we got to the cup so we are so proud of Divya and Yazan. Thanks to Arvind, who brings high tech and great energy into the preparation. 

Way to go, Hawkeyes!