Changing venues for graduation for the first time in a few years, the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine selected a spot with open-air views of UI Health Care campus as well as Kinnick Stadium. The pleasant weather and patio allowed guests to move between indoors and out during the first hour of the event celebrating their graduating fellows.
As the awards portion of the evening began, Ferhaan Ahmad, MD, PhD, director of the Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship Program, told the audience that an old tradition was finally being restored. First up, the Distinguished Alumnus Award was presented to Saket Girotra, MD. Though Girotra is now on faculty at University of Texas, Southwestern, he was not only a former member of the division faculty, but a graduate of Iowa’s fellowship program and a Chief Fellow, as well. Girotra spoke briefly about the lessons he learned during his fellowship and encouraged the graduates to stay curious and compassionate as they embarked on their careers.
After Girotra’s address, a series of other awards were presented, interspersed with baby photos and “two truths & a lie” about the cardiovascular disease fellows. The audience got a chance to guess which fellow was which and learned interesting facts about the graduates. Faculty members took turns presenting the Dr. Lyle A. and Mabel R. Baker Award, the Paul Neuhauser Award, the Dr. Irving George Pesek Humanitarian Award, the Lewis E. January Memorial Clinical Teaching Award, the Co-Chief Fellow Award, the Kanu A. Chatterjee Award for Clinical Excellence, and the John Chase, MD, VA Service Award of Clinical Excellence.
And then it was time to recognize this year’s graduates of four of the five fellowship programs within the division. Their names are listed at the bottom of this post. Each graduate was given the opportunity to say a few words of thanks, many of them recognizing the support of family, particularly spouses, and friends, without whom their success would not have been possible.
The speeches concluded, the diplomas and frames delivered, there was still plenty of celebrating left to go around. Smiles, group photos, and a few more hugs as the graduates savored their moment.
Congratulations to this year’s graduates and thanks to Cari Harland, Malory Ruden, and the rest of their team for organizing the successful event.
Cardiovascular Disease
Mostafa Abohelwa, MB, BCh
Ashraf Alzahrani, MB, BCh
Christian Anderson, MD, PhD
Ghazaleh Goldar, MD
Brett Johnson, MD
Guan Ting Liu, MD
Aaron Sifuentes, MD
Colton Stewart, MD
Interventional Cardiology
Jared Robl, MD
Connor Young, MD
Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology
Sean Byrnes, MD
Eric Heller, MD
Advanced Noninvasive Cardiac Imaging
Bilal Saeed, MBBS