![Abdul Swied with patient](https://www.siumed.edu/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_1120/public/2021-09/Swied_Gastro-web.jpg?h=b3660f0d&itok=xOi0g__1)
Gastroenterology adds Fellowship program
The SIU Division of Gastroenterology has obtained ACGME accreditation for a new Fellowship program. The achievement has been reached after decades of development.
A fellowship is advanced training a physician can pursue following his/her residency. Individuals receive the opportunity to spend 2-3 years studying a specific branch of medicine in depth. These additional years of education allow them to specialize and become an expert in a particular field.
Abdul Swied, MD, will serve as program director for the new fellowship. Shaylee Sullivan, APRN, will be its coordinator. Division Chief Zafar Quader, MD, thanked the duo for “countless hours and hundreds of pages of applications and revisions in the process,” as well as the efforts of many others that led to the successful accreditation.
Dr. Quader expressed gratitude on behalf of the Gastroenterology team. “This could not have been accomplished without the assistance of Dr. Karen Broquet, GME; Dean and Provost Dr. Jerry Kruse; Ed Curtis at Memorial Health Systems; and Dr. John Flack, chair of the Department of Internal Medicine, who provided administrative and financial support, and has stood with the division in challenging times,” he said.
The Gastro fellowship application process begins this fall. The division is participating in the Fellowship matching program and will accept its first pair of fellows into the 3-year training program in July 2022.