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Columbia University Abdominal Wall Surgery Fellowship Program

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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 2024 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.

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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 December 1, 2025. Deadline for applications is February 15th, 2026 and we hope to complete our selection process by April 10th, 2026 (prior to the MIS match)

Unfortunately, we will not be able to consider H-1 or J-1 visa holders/applicants.

Current Clinical Fellows

2026

Carolina Torres, MD

Ryan Chan, MD

Current Academic Fellow

2026

Viemma Nwigwe, MD

Fellowship Graduates

Below is a list of past fellows and their current clinical roles:

2025

Sarah Mohamedaly, MD

Abdominal Wall Surgeon at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN

Katherine Hopkins, MD

Assistant Professor of Surgery at Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY

2024

Michael Turturro, MD
Abdominal Wall Surgeon at Overlook Medical Center, Summit, NJ

David Morrell, MD
Abdominal Wall Surgeon at Intermountain Health, Salt Lake City, UT

2023

Artem Shmelev
Assistant Professor of Surgery at Stony Brook University Hospital, Stony Brook, NY

2022

Kimberly Coughlin
Abdominal Wall Surgeon at Ascension St. John Hospital, Detroit, MI

2021

Kelly Tunder
Abdominal Wall Surgeon at Advocate Aurora Health, Milwaukee, WI

2020

Vagahn Nikolian
Assistant Professor of Surgery at Oregon Health and Sciences University, Portland, OR

2019

Dina Podolsky
Assistant Professor of Surgery at Columbia University, New York, NY