Message from Program Director
Welcome to the Westchester Medical Center Gastroenterology Fellowship Program website.
I am the Gastroenterology Fellowship Program Director at Westchester Medical Center/New York Medical College, a tertiary and quaternary referral center set on a beautiful wooded campus in the suburbs of New York City. The Valhalla campus comprises the University Hospital, the Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital, the new Ambulatory Care Pavilion, the Behavioral Health Center and New York Medical College. The Westchester Medical Center Health Network includes nine hospitals on seven campuses throughout the Hudson Valley. Patients come from the Hudson Valley and New York City and are attracted to the outstanding services at WMC.
Our Fellowship is a three-year ACGME-accredited general Gastroenterology Program with a total of seven fellows all on the Valhalla campus. Fellows manage a diverse population of inpatients and outpatients with a full spectrum of gastrointestinal and liver diseases. We offer our fellows evidence-based clinical training in a multi-disciplinary environment, clinical research opportunities, exposure to cutting edge complex endoscopic procedures as well as training and proficiency in a large volume of routine endoscopic procedures. Recent graduates have entered private or academic practice or have pursued an additional year of fellowship in Liver, IBD or Advanced Endoscopy.
We offer accessible and supportive faculty in a highly collegial and close-knit environment with three dedicated advanced endoscopists, a motility expert, IBD specialist, general gastroenterologists, and three transplant hepatologists. We greatly value our fellows’ contributions to our Division, and are very proud of their consistent accomplishments in clinical care, research, and education during fellowship and beyond. Our fellows are committed to lifelong learning and most remain in close contact with us personally and professionally for years after completing their fellowship.
I hope that the information on this website provides you with a helpful overview of our training program, details about our current curriculum and objectives for our fellows, the application process, and an appreciation of the many opportunities for professional and personal growth here at Westchester Medical Center. As you consider your choice of gastroenterology fellowship programs, we hope that your individual goals and priorities will find a good fit here at Westchester. If you have any questions about our program please feel free to contact me or our Program Coordinator, Denise Abreu ([email protected]) at 914.493.3554.
Sincerely,
Beth Schorr-Lesnick, MD, FACP, FACG
Fellowship Program Director, Gastroenterology and Hepatobiliary Diseases
Associate Professor of Medicine, New York Medical College
Westchester Medical Center/New York Medical College
[email protected]
Gastroenterology Hepatobiliary Fellowship
Westchester Medical Center is a 415-bed academic hospital and the flagship of WMCHealth Network in Valhalla, New York. It is the Hudson Valley region’s tertiary and quaternary care and referral hospital, serving more than 2.4 million people. Each year, more than 120,000 patients receive care at Westchester Medical Center in every clinical specialty through the University Hospital, the Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital, the Ambulatory Care Pavilion (ACP) and the Behavioral Health Center. The Westchester Medical Center Health Network comprises nine hospitals on seven campuses throughout the Hudson Valley. Many residents of New York City, northern New Jersey and southern Connecticut are also attracted to the outstanding services at WMC. As the only Liver Transplant Center between New York City and Rochester, WMC provides care to most of the region’s patients with end-stage liver disease and hepatocellular carcinoma. Facilities for the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatobiliary disease include a spacious five-room endoscopy unit, fellows’ work room within the endoscopy unit, conference room adjacent to the endoscopy unit, and an outpatient faculty practice office in the Ambulatory Care Pavilion
Edward Lebovics, MD
A Message from the Chief of the Section of Gastroenterology and Hepatobiliary Diseases, Westchester Medical Center and Upham Professor and Division Director, New York Medical College
Program Overview
The Gastroenterology Fellowship Program at Westchester Medical College is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) and offers exceptional training in Gastroenterology and Hepatology.
Our mission is to prepare fellows for their chosen path in their future career in Gastroenterology. Fellows graduate with the knowledge and skills needed to pursue advanced endoscopy, hepatology, functional GI disease, inflammatory bowel disease or general gastroenterology as a focus. While we endeavor to instill in all our fellows a love for life-long learning and innovation, we are supportive of their career choices in either an academic or private setting. We support a diverse and inclusive learning environment.
Program Curriculum
Faculty
- Beth Schorr-Lesnick MD Fellowship Program Director
- Edward Lebovics MD Division Chief, Gastroenterology
- Shireen Pais MD Attending
- Brad Dworkin MD Attending
- Dana Berg MD Attending
- David Wolf MD Attending
- Costica Aloman MD Attending
- Cynthia Cohen MD Attending and Fellowship Associate Program Director
- Nicholas Costable MD Attending
- Tsipora Huisman MD Attending
- Bernard Partiula DO Attending
- Jonathan Potack MD Attending
- Frederick Yick MD Attending
Current Fellows
- Gabriel Heering, MD
Medical School: Sackler School of Medicine
Residency: Westchester Medical Center, including Chief Resident -
Tianbo Jiang, MD
Medical School: New York Medical College
Residency: New York University -
Trevor Plumer, MD
Medical School: New York Medical College
Residency: Montefiore Medical Center
- Makeda Marisha Dawkins, MD
Medical School: SUNY Downstate Medical Center College of Medicine-Sophie Davis
Residency: Westchester Medical Center, including Chief Resident - Menasche Krupka, MD
Medical School: New York Medical College
Residency: Westchester Medical Center - Naveena Parvathy Sunkara, MD
Medical School: New York Medical Colleg
Residency: Brown University
- Aaron H. Lit, MD
Medical School: New York Medical College
Residency: University of Southern California - Aaron Schluger, MD
Medical School: Columbia P&S
Residency: Westchester Medical Center, including Chief Resident
Program Alumni
Aaron Lit, MD Class of 2026
Northeast Medical Group Gastroenterology
Trumbull, CT
Aaron Schluger, MD Class of 2026
Transplant Hepatology Fellowship
Mt. Sinai Hospital New York, NY
- Agnieszka Nagorna, MD – Manhattan Gastroenterology, New York, NY
- Zilan Lin, MD – Brooklyn Gastroenterology and Endoscopy, Brooklyn, NY
- Anila Kumar – DO Attending, Hackensack Medical Center, NJ
- Amanda Alison Rupert, MD – Attending, Rutgers Newark, NJ
- Jakob Hy Saidman, MD – IBD Fellowship, Lenox Hill Hospital, IBD Attending Lenox Hill, New York City / Phelp’s, Tarrytown, NY
- Cynthia E. Cohen, MD – Attending and APD, Westchester Medical Center, Valhalla, NY
- Michael S. Rosman, MD – Manhattan Gastroenterology, New York, NY
- Aaron Weiss, MD – GastroHealth Delray Beach, FL
- Zahava Farkas, DO – Gastroenterology Associates of New Jersey, Clifton, NJ
- Mehtap Canastar, MD – Hanover Gastroenterology Wilmington, NC
- Sarah Olivier, MD – Attending Griffin Faculty Physicians, Griffin Hospital Derby, CT
- Frederick Yick, MD – Advanced Endoscopy Fellowship, Rutgers-New Jersey Medical School, NJ, Advanced Endoscopy Attending, Westchester Medical center, Valhalla, NY
How to Apply
Applications are accepted through Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS).
Fellowship positions are offered through the National Residency Matching Program (NRMP).
Selected candidates will be invited for a virtual fellowship interview, which includes Grand Rounds, a welcome from the Chief of Service and the Program Director, and a virtual tour of Westchester Medical Center.
We wish you the best in the application process.
Contact Us
Please contact with any questions:
Denise Abreu
Fellowship Program Manager
Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatobiliary Disease
Ambulatory Care Pavilion, 3rd Floor
100 Woods Road
Valhalla, NY 10595
Main Office Number: 914.493.3554
[email protected]