Start Year: 2020
Where is your hometown?
Beirut, Lebanon and Lee, Massachusetts
Education and Training
College/University: University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Other degree: MSc, McGill University
Medical School: University of Massachusetts Medical School
Residency: Duke University
Honors and Awards
2021/2022 Best GI Grand Rounds by a GI Fellow
Massachusetts Medical Society Scholars Award Finalist Poster Presentation at NEGEA Annual Retreat
Charles J. Hoff Scholarship McGill Provost’s Graduate Fellows Scholarship
McGill Biology Department Top-Up Award Graduate Teaching Assistantship
Summa Cum Laude
Phi Beta Kappa
Phi Kappa Phi
Commonwealth College Undergraduate Honors Research Grant
Fonseca Junior Life Sciences Fellows Scholarship Undergraduate Teaching Assistantship
Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship Shortlist Finalist Dean’s List Honors
Fellow Perspective
Tell us briefly about your background before embarking on your medical training:
I was born in Western Massachusetts to Lebanese parents and ended up growing up in Beirut, Lebanon. I came back to the U.S. and attended UMass Amherst for my undergraduate degree in biochemistry and molecular biology. I then spent a year working on the insulin resistance pathway in a HHMI lab at UMass Medical School before heading up further north to Montreal, Canada. There I attended McGill University and completed a graduate degree in biology with a focus on single-molecule biology. I then attended UMass Medical School, where in my second year a lecture highlighting the path a cheeseburger takes throughout the GI tract had me hooked on gastroenterology and I haven’t looked back since!
Please outline your career plans in gastroenterology (If you know it at this point in your training):
I see myself becoming a general gastroenterologist with small bowel endoscopic expertise. What were you looking for in a fellowship program? I was looking for a big academic center that could offer me the broadest possible exposure to the field of gastroenterology from general to IBD to liver to pancreaticobiliary. I also wanted to be part of a program where my attendings treated me as a colleague while training me to be the best gastroenterologist I can be. Other things I looked for were good work-life and good work-education balance. Duke was the only program I interviewed at where I really felt I found all of the things I was looking for in a GI fellowship.
What advice might you offer residents looking at fellowship programs?
You'll get excellent training at any big academic center, what mattered most to me when I was looking at fellowship programs were the people. Pay attention to how the fellows interact with each other and more importantly with their attendings. A big reason I stayed at Duke was the camaraderie that existed between the fellows and attendings and how easy it is to work with everyone, especially during the more stressful times.
From your experience in fellowship, what have you learned about training at Duke?
I honestly can't imagine being anywhere else to train to become a gastroenterologist. The faculty and upper level fellows are amazing, down-to-earth, and excellent teachers. You will become comfortable managing a wide array of GI issues and urgent/emergent procedures, especially while on call, within the first 1-2 weeks into fellowship all thanks to the support and guidance of our attendings and co-fellows.
How is your life in the Triangle area outside of work?
Living in the Triangle is absolutely amazing. It takes 15 minutes tops to get almost anywhere and there is never any traffic. The cost of living is unbeatable. There are a lot of museums, trails, and above all amazing restaurants, especially in Raleigh and Chapel Hill. The local coffee shops around Durham are one of the best things about this city. The multiple farmers markets that happen on the weekends are great with a plethora of locally grown, in-season fresh produce, cheese, and baked goods.
What is your favorite restaurant in Durham?
Parker and Otis and St. James Seafood
Please tell us about some of your hobbies and interests outside of work:
Playing basketball