Applying for Hernia Fellowships
The Division of Abdominal Wall Surgery is excited to announce that we have begun our search for the 2026-2027 Advanced Abdominal Wall Surgery Fellow at Columbia University Irving Medical Center in New York City.
About the Abdominal Wall Fellowship
This fully funded training opportunity will encompass exposure to a wide range of Abdominal Wall surgery, including extensive experience with both routine and complex inguinal and ventral repairs, abdominal wall reconstructions, management of mesh complications and groin pain. The applicant will also have significant exposure to all aspects of modern robotic hernia and abdominal wall surgery. There will also be significant exposure to soft tissue reconstruction as well.
As of 2025, there are 2 fellowship positions available with a mix of mostly clinical but also research exposure with a full-time research assistant who works solely for our Division.
How to Apply
We are looking for driven individuals with track records of clinical excellence who are interested in a career in Hernia and Abdominal Wall Surgery.
Interested applicants should submit their CV, 2-3 letters of recommendation and a brief personal statement detailing their interest in the Fellowship and the Hernia field overall to: columbiahernia@gmail.com
The application process opens January 10th, 2025. Deadline for applications is March 1st, 2025 and we hope to complete our selection process by April 15th, 2025 (prior to the MIS match)
Unfortunately, we will not be able to consider H-1 or J-1 visa holders/applicants.
Fellowship Graduates
Below is a list of past fellows and their current clinical roles:
2024
Mike Turturro, MD
Overlook Medical Center, Summit, NJ
David Morrell, MD
Intermountain Health LDS Hospital, Salt Lake City, UT
2022
Artem Shmelev, MD
Assistant Professor of Surgery at Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY
2021
Kimberly Coughlin, MD
Ascension St. John Hospital, Detroit, MI
2020
Kelly Tunder, MD
Abdominal Wall Surgeon at Advocate Aurora Health, Milwaukee, WI
2019
Vagahn Nikolian, MD
Assistant Professor of Surgery at Oregon Health and Sciences University, Portland, OR
2018
Dina Podolsky, MD
Assistant Professor of Surgery at Columbia University, New York, NY
Research Fellows
Viemma Nwigwe, MD
Columbia University
Clinical Fellows
Katherine Hopkins, MD
University of Pittsburgh
Sarah Mohamedaly, MD
University of California, San Francisco