Fellowship graduations celebrate physician trainee milestones

Thirty-nine fellows will graduate from fellowship programs within the Department of Medicine this summer, including 37 who have already capped off their advanced training at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson or will continue training in other fellowships by July 1.

Two more physicians will graduate from their programs by Labor Day.

As such, celebrations were held throughout the local community with fellows, faculty, staff and family beginning as early as May 9. See who graduated, where they’re going next, awards presented and a mini-photo gallery below of the various parties held to honor their accomplishments.

The DOM has the most fellowship programs of departments within the college and all U of A Health Sciences colleges with 17 ACGME-accredited fellowships as well as two additional ones. These programs include 80-90 fellows a year training in advanced therapies for medical subspecialties from cardiology to rheumatology. Each ranges from one to three years.

DOM Chair James K. Liao, MD, the Robert S. and Irene Flinn Endowed Professor in Medicine, member of the Sarver Heart Center, BIO5 Institute and the Graduate Faculty, offered his congratulations to graduating fellows and best wishes for the marvelous careers in their future.

Division of Cardiology

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The graduation event for the division’s four fellowship programs was hosted June 12 at Tucson’s Hacienda del Sol Guest Ranch.

Graduates of the Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship and where they’re going were:

• Joshua Epstein, MD: Electrophysiology (EP) fellowship, Washington University in St. Louis
• Dennis Fong, MD: EP fellowship, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee
• Bryant Hammershaimb, MD: Cardiology physician, Kaiser Permanente/Baldwin Park Medical Center, Baldwin Park, California
• Nathaniel Kim, MD: Interventional cardiology fellowship, Ascension St. Vincent Hospital, Indianapolis
• Christy Lougheed, MD: Interventional Cardiology Fellowship, University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson
• Abdulbaril Olagunju, MD: Cardiology physician, Banner North Colorado Medical Center, Greeley, Colorado

In the Interventional Cardiology Fellowship, graduates and their next stops were Muhammad Pervez, MBBS (interventional cardiology physician, Banner – University Medical Center Tucson) and Sanjay Polisetty, MBBS (interventional physician, Billings Clinic, Montana).

Jacob Klewer, MD, was this year’s graduate in the Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology Fellowship. His next stop is as an EP physician with Pima Heart & Vascular here in Tucson.

This year’s Advanced Cardiovascular Imaging Fellowship graduate is Khurram Butt, MBBS. He’s headed next to the University of Utah in Salt Lake City for an electrophysiology fellowship.

A number of awards were presented by both faculty to fellows and fellows to faculty. In the first category, Outstanding Performance in Electrophysiology honors went to Dr. Fong presented by that fellowship’s program director Julia Indik, MD, PhD.

The Outstanding Performance in Cardiac Imaging Award was presented by fellowship program director Tushar Acharya, MD, MPH, to second-year fellow Heidi Messiha, MD, who also received the Mark J. Friedman, MD, Outstanding Fellow Award, which was presented by Dr. Indik.

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Dr. Lougheed won three awards: Outstanding Performance in Interventional Cardiology (presented by Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship Director Madhan Sundaram, MD), Outstanding Graduating Fellow in Cardiology (presented by Division Chief and Sarver Heart Center Director Hesham Sadek, MD, PhD), and the 25-26 Cardiology Chief Award, which also went to second-year cardiovascular disease fellow Matthew Wu, MD. Both chief awards were presented by Dr. Sundaram.

And Dr. Sadek also presented the Excellence in Research Award to first-year cardiovascular disease fellow Song Peng Ang, MBBS.

Awards from fellows to faculty, included Best VA Attending to Krishan Patel, MD (presented by Drs. Hammershaimb and Kim); Best Cath Lab Attending to Dr. Sundaram (presented by Dr. Lougheed); Best Consult Attending to Talal Moukabary, MD (presented by Drs. Epstein and Olagunju); Best Imaging Attending to Dr. Tushar Acharya (presented by Dr. Butt); Best CCU Attending to Interventional Cardiology Fellowship Director Deepak Acharya, MD, MSPH (presented by Drs. Kim and Epstein); and Best EP Attending to Cardiac Electrophysiology Program Director Mathew Hutchinson, MD (presented by Drs. Fong and Klewer). Dr. Tushar Acharya also won Best Clinic Attending (presented by Drs. Olagunju and Hammershaimb).

Division of Endocrinology

The Endocrinology, Diabetes & Metabolism Fellowship’s graduation celebration was June 10 at The Union Public House restaurant. Graduating fellows included Cem Kigengil, MD, Valerie Martinez, MD, Saqib Shami, MD, and Kevin Woodhams, DO.

Division of Gastroenterology & Hepatology

The Gastroenterology Fellowship’s graduation celebration was May 9 at the Arizona Sands Club in the Casino del Sol Stadium. Graduates were Jaime Scott, MD, Malini Chauhan, MD, and John Azizian, MD, with a non-ACGME Interventional GI Training Fellowship graduate Shivanad Bomman, MBBS. Among next stops, Dr. Scott has moved on to Legacy Health in Portland, Oregon; Dr. Chauhan is at Kaiser Permanente in Colorado Springs, Colorado; and Dr. Azizian is at Promise Health in Lancaster, California. Dr. Bomman remains on faculty here with the division and Banner – University Medicine Tucson.

Division of General Internal Medicine, Geriatrics & Palliative Medicine

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The Hospice & Palliative Medicine Fellowship graduation party was held at El Postino restaurant in Tucson on June 10. Graduating was Arian Deonarain, MD, who also earned his medical degree and completed his internal medicine residency training at the College of Medicine – Tucson.

Dr. Deonarain is staying in Tucson and heading to Tucson Medical Center as a palliative medicine physician. Owls have been a theme this year, as Dr. Deonarain shared a story of rescuing an owl — thus, the owl masks in the photo here.

There was no Geriatric Medicine Fellowship graduate for the 2025-26 academic year.

Division of Hematology & Oncology

The Hematology & Medical Oncology Fellowship Training Program graduation event was held at the Arizona Sands Club in the at Casino del Sol Stadium on June 6.

Graduating were Ulyana Dashkevych, DO, this year’s chief fellow, who is moving to Monument Health Cancer Center in Rapid City, South Dakota; Alexander Schlitt, DO, who’s headed for the St. Charles Medical Group in Oregon; and Chirag Kapadia, MD, who’ll be practicing with Arizona Blood & Cancer Specialists here in Tucson.

Krishna Moturi, MD (pictured to right of Dr. Dashkevych in the gallery photo below), an assistant professor in the division, was presented with the Education Excellence Award by the fellows.

Division of Infectious Diseases

The Infectious Diseases Fellowship graduation party was May 16 at the home of Danielle Avila, MD, the division’s principal investigator for HIV programs and clinical care as well as the Pacific AIDS Education & Training Center – Arizona. Graduates included Amira Attya, MD, who’s headed next to HonorHealth in Phoenix, and Nicholas Bowman, DO, who’ll be an infectious diseases specialist at Tucson Medical Center post-graduation. The fellow’s Infectious Diseases Faculty Teaching Award was presented to Saman Nematollahi, MD, MEHP, the fellowship program director.

Division of Nephrology

The Nephrology Fellowship graduation was held May 29 at The Eddy Hotel Tucson. Graduating fellows were Muhammad Azhar, MBBS, and Muzammeel Hada, MBBS. Dr. Hada will continue his education in Transplant Nephrology at Northwestern University in Chicago. Dr. Azhar will be joining the Mayo Clinic Health System in La Crosse, Wisconsin, as an attending nephrologist.

Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care & Sleep Medicine

The Pulmonary division’s fellowship graduation event was hosted June 11 at the Hacienda del Sol Guest Ranch. Graduates in the Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine Fellowship included Matthew Borchart, MD, Steven Colby, DO, Scott Mayer, MD, MS, Eric Salomon, MD, Rachel Tan, MD, and Nathan Zvejnieks, MD. Two more from the Critical Care Medicine Track of the PCCM Fellowship also graduated: Daniel Gebreili, MD, and Varun Kaushal, MD.

The PACCS division’s Outstanding Research Fellow Award was presented to Dr. Borchart by Interventional Pulmonology Program director Billie Bixby, MD.

Among PCCM fellows’ next stops, Drs. Tan and Meyer are headed to the Southern Arizona VA Health Care System where they’ll be attending physicians. Dr. Colby will be in private practice with Erlanger Health Systems of Chattanooga, Tennessee. Dr. Borchart is off to the University of Chicago and an interventional pulmonology fellowship. Dr. Soloman is joining Cleveland, Ohio’s University Hospitals Medical Group in pulmonary and critical care medicine. And Dr. Zvejnieks will be in private practice in pulmonary and critical care medicine in Beaverton, Oregon.

For CCM fellows, Dr. Gebreili will stay in Tucson with the PACCS Division and Banner – University Medicine.

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Two Pulmonary Division fellows Anjali Jain, DO, with the Allergy & Immunology Fellowship Program, and Oluwafunmilola “Funmi” T. Alabi, MBChB, with the Sleep Medicine Fellowship Program, will graduate off cycle at the end of August. 

Division of Rheumatology

The Arizona Sands Club at the Casino del Sol Stadium also hosted the Rheumatology Fellowship Training Program graduation celebration May 28. Graduating fellows included Riyasha Daulat, MD, Osahon Nekpen Idolor, MBBS, and Jessica Wong, MD. Next up, Dr. Osahon Idolor will be working at Banner Health in Phoenix, Dr. Daulat was hired by the University of California, San Francisco, and Dr. Wong, who was chief fellow this past year, also has a private practice job with PIH Health in Whittier, California.

Congratulations to you all.

MINI-PHOTO GALLERY
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