Gastroenterology Fellows Class of 2026:
The match this year was another step forward for the University of Cincinnati Gastroenterology Fellowship! With the size of our fellowship growing we were able to fill the incoming class with outstanding human beings. They represent some of our most accomplished fellows and come from diverse backgrounds which will surely contribute to this classes success. We cannot wait to see all of the amazing things they will bring to our program.
During the match we matched 5 fantastic candidates! Meet each of them below with a few words about each from Dr. Bongiovanni our program director!
Aoife (Efe) Feighery: We were so excited on MATCH Day to see that we had matched with Aoife (Efe) Feighery! From my first look at her application in July, until interview day, I was intrigued to meet this very accomplished young woman. Now I am given the honor of helping mentor her on her path to becoming a Gastroenterologist. How fortunate for me and for us.
Aoife is a graduate of Vassar College, she graduated, with first honors, from Medical School at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. She comes to us now from the Internal Medicine Residency at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Mn.
On interview day I shared with her that she had written one of the best, Personal Statements I had ever read. It was not only the humor she used but the humanness that came thru. She shared portions of a diary she kept during medical training. She did not recount the medical details of each memory, but rather, the personal emotion she felt with each experience. There was the fiasco on day one of residency training when she was stuck in an elevator for 30 minutes or the sheer personal exhaustion of the long nights in the ICU during the Delta wave of Covid. She writes” While time is scarce, spending just a few minutes to understand a person can tell me more than the highest resolution CT scan”. I knew when I was finished reading her personal comments that this was someone special, someone who shared my values and the values and focus of our program…I felt she was a must for us.
After reading her letters of recommendation I expected her to come to the Zoom interview “walking on water”! Instead, what I found was a fabulous, humble, warm, articulate and extremely intelligent young physician. She is dedicated to education, hers and those around her. She has a leaning toward Hepatology but wants to experience the entirety of our specialty before choosing her academic career path.
Aoife comes to Cincinnati, (having only been here 2 days in her entire life), and she brings a plus one who works in real-estate, She is an avid and accomplished marathoner, a top finisher in the Dublin Marathon and a Boston Marathon Qualifier in 2016,2018 and 2019. Just wait until she runs our very own Flying Pig Marathon!
We all welcome you to the University of Cincinnati Family. We have no doubt about your talents and personal strengths. We look forward to learning with you and from you in the coming years.
Askanda Osman: He may have won his green card in a lottery, but we won the lottery when we matched with Askanda Osman! Wow! I am so excited and honored to help train this young physician. He is one of the University of Cincinnati’s raising stars and a tribute to true grit, determination and humility. He is the embodiment of gratitude.
Askanda was born and raised in Ghana where his sole goal was to leave his village and be able to take advantage of what the rest of the world had to offer. But then again, not to be self-serving and selfish but to give back to his village and his people. He really did win his green card in a lottery, no joke. That was one of his many lucky days! But he is so much more than luck. He is the young man who makes the most of every opportunity he has had, who commits to excellence and hard work each step of the way, who is the definition of resilience, positivity and vision. He chooses to build on his skills and challenge himself.
His letters of recommendation describe a man who is tireless in his efforts, seamless in his collaboration with colleagues and compassionate in his interactions with patients and their families. He is resourceful, intellectually curious and responsive and sensitive to the needs of others. Life is never about him but about the gratitude he shows for those who have helped him on his way. One writer said that there is no way to describe his drive. He never complains and when the going gets tough, he always has a jovial smile on his face to lift those around him. His ability to boost morale is a gift. Finally, one writer said his work ethic alone should make him high on any training program’s rank list.
One of his hobbies is long road trips. No interstate for Dr. Osman. He is a backroads guy! His goal is to drive to every state in the USA. So far, he has seen 28 of them. He is an avid soccer fan and loves to cook. His wife is a nurse practitioner. Much of his family remains in Ghana.
Though he has been involved in research projects about drug induced liver disease, he is keeping his vision clear and open as he enters fellowship.
What was I to remember about this young man after interview? He said please, think of me and remember resilience; I can and will put forth the effort needed, gratitude; that keeps me grounded and appreciation and commitment to giving back to others tenfold.
I am humbled by this young physician, thrilled to have the opportunity to help train him and open to all that he will teach me. No doubt, I will be a better person for my association with him.
Jordan Voss: Welcome to Jordan Voss who joins us from Mayo Clinic Rochester. He went to medical school at the University of Kansas and during the third and fourth year of medical school obtained a master’s degree in clinical research. His undergraduate degree is in chemistry, magna cum laude, from Fort Hays State University in Kansas. After college he did a year as a research coordinator in transplant hepatology.
He is an academic powerhouse. He is AOA with numerous other awards and the recipient of the Presidential Poster Award from the American College of Gastroenterology in 2021.
All of his letters of recommendation describe him as at the top of his class and one of the most impressive residents that one writer had worked with in 22 years. He is described as being impeccable at the bedside and a most empathetic communicator with patients and families.
He is married. His wife works in banking. They have two dogs. He is an avid hiker and kayaker and loves homebrewing and creating new recipes. His hometown is Colby Kansas.
His personal statement was moving not only because of all that he has accomplished in his life but because he dealt with personal tragedy at a young age when his mother passed away suddenly. His mother was a nurse, and he has used the powerful impact of her loss as a steppingstone to build the principles of his own life. He shows love and respect to her by remembering, that for him, she represents the delicacy of life, the importance of resilience through tragedy and the value of service.
He has a unique and keen insight into medicine. What he wanted me to remember about him on interview day is that he is well-rounded and that he comes with the knowledge not only of the importance of the clinical work we do today to care for our patients but also the importance of our research in order to continue to care for our patients in the future. That concept is the essence of academic medicine. Jordan embodies the magic and caring at the bedside as well as the respect for the knowledge of new discovery generated by clinical bedside questions needing answers from the scientific bench.
Jordan is currently leaning toward transplant hepatology but is not hundred percent committed. We will see once he has experienced the thrill of endoscopy and luminal gastroenterology where his future goals will head.
We hope that you and your wife will find Cincinnati to be a wonderful new home and an exciting next step in your professional career.
Patrick Carey: Welcome to Patrick Carey as he moves northward on his journey to become a Gastroenterologist. We are delighted to have him join us. His hometown is Jackson, Tennessee. His undergraduate career was at University of Tennessee, Chattanooga and then medical school at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis. He is graduating Internal Medicine Residency from the University of Kentucky, Lexington. Now he makes his biggest geographic move yet and crosses the Ohio River to become a GI Fellow at the University of Cincinnati.
His path to join us includes a valuable year teaching chemistry and biology to undergrads and medical students. It was that gap experience that proved to him how much he loves teaching. While in residency he created “The Board of Destiny” for teaching and motivating medical learners of all levels. A magnetic dart board of possibilities; hit the bull’s eye and you might get to go home early, hit one of the inner rings and you might be asked to give a chalk talk, or get coffee for the team. The possibilities are limited only by Patrick’s creativity!
In teaching others, he learned how he needs to learn himself. He is realistic about himself and resilient in his endeavors.
His letters of recommendation describe him as a smart, motivated, highly intuitive clinician, and a consummate professional. He brings team building skills that will be invaluable to all learners, including your faculty. He has a wonderful sense of humor. Patrick shared with me on interview day that he likes to write jokes and fancies himself a standup comic. Putting him on the spot, I asked for a joke. He did great and did not miss a beat. Calm under pressure, a great trait for a Gastroenterologist!
He has been playing the drums since age 12 and is an avid Duke basketball fan. Wait until you see our Bearcats!
Patrick is interested in hepatology or possibly Advanced Endoscopy. He will have plenty of time to try it all and choose his calling.
When I asked him what he wanted me to remember about him he said what matters most to him is teamwork, 100% commitment to his responsibilities and fun.
As I welcome Patrick to our family at UC, I may be looking at the next Fellow of the Year, Board of Destiny and all. Welcome to your GI Fellowship.
Nathaniel Scarberry: Nathaniel Scarberry is finally coming back home! We were thrilled to see the results on MATCH Day to know that Nat had matched with us. Welcome back to the University of Cincinnati and to your GI Fellowship.
Nat did his undergraduate work at The Ohio State in Columbus and then matriculated to medical school at UC. He returns to us now after finishing his Internal Medicine Residency at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. He is AOA, magna cum laude and a powerhouse of ability about to be ignited.
Dr. Scarberry has fond memories of doing his Gi rotations at UC as a student. He was so impressed by the environment we create for learning and the camaraderie he enjoyed as a student that he thought this might be a great place to return to and do his fellowship. He wanted that joy, support and excitement he knew as a student to be his again for his advanced training.
Personal Statements say a lot about an applicant. Nat was raised on a family farm in rural Ohio with 5 siblings. His first job was at a local grocery store carrying out groceries to customer’s cars. He said the walk to the parking lot, in silence, was more than he could stand. It taught him to strike up a conversation, talk with all the customers and learn their stories. Those interpersonal connections became the best part of the day. In medicine too, there are personal stories to listen to, share and learn from. Nat is a natural at the bedside. His personal connection with others is why his goal is to positively impact the lives of others and bring quality change to their lives.
Nat has a strong interest in Nutrition and Obesity Medicine. He will be well suited to mentor with our own Dr. Zandvakili as he begins the foundation of Obesity Medicine in our Division.
Nat and his wife have a young son and they were both keen to come back to Cincy, a wonderful place to raise a family.
On interview day Nat told me that he would Rank us number 1. I asked how I knew that he would not say the same thing to Ohio State or other programs. He said, “we have to have trust and transparency”. He got me there. That is the foundation of the UC GI Fellowship. Nate, Welcome back home.