Transplant Surgery
About the Transplant Surgery Fellowship Program
The Division of Transplant Surgery at the Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine supports an abdominal organ transplant fellowship program that is accredited through the Transplant Accreditation & Certification Council (TACC) of the American Society of Transplant Surgeons (ASTS). It is a two-year training program, and it is set up to matriculate one new fellow annually.
The purpose of the fellowship training program is to develop proficiency in the medical and surgical care of patients with end-stage organ disease that is amenable to solid organ transplantation. The training is to take place in a properly accredited and supervised transplant surgery fellowship. The fellowship is a structured 24-month program for the study and treatment of these diseases and the patients whom they afflict. The program is responsible for providing adequate case volumes of transplant procedures so that the fellows can have sufficient opportunities to participate in the operations and to develop the practical and cognitive skills necessary to complete the operations. This includes gaining proficiency in multi-organ recoveries. The program is also responsible for providing a formal didactic and clinical experience for the fellows.
Our program at Montefiore Medical Center is designed as a multidisciplinary team that is dedicated to the highest quality and most comprehensive care experience for our patients. Members of many medical, surgical, and allied health professions work together to deliver transplant care: surgeons, nephrologists, hepatologists, anesthesiologists, dieticians, pharmacists, nurses, transplant coordinators, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, social workers, financial coordinators, and other transplant professionals. We take care of a predominantly racial minority and socioeconomically disenfranchised urban patient population, and it has become the mission of every team member to be the strongest, highest quality local transplant center located in the heart of the community that we serve.
In 2022, our center performed 66 liver transplants, 219 kidney transplants, and 20 simultaneous pancreas-kidney transplants, achieving center records in both liver and kidney transplant volumes. Our fellows have the opportunity to participate in living donor nephrectomies, living donor kidney transplants, living donor hepatectomies, and living donor liver transplants, as well as hepatopancreatobiliary and general surgery cases.
Qualifications
In order to qualify for the Montefiore Medical Center Transplant Surgery Fellowship Program, you must meet the following qualifications.
- Be a US citizen, lawful permanent resident, refugee, asylee, or possess the appropriate documentation to obtain a visa for professional medical training in the US. Our program can sponsor any visa for which you qualify. Of note, if you have not yet passed the USMLE Step 3 exam at the time of visa application, then you are only eligible for the J-1 visa.
- Have an MD degree from an LCME-accredited medical school within the US or Puerto Rico; have a DO degree from a COCA-accredited medical school within the US; or have an ECFMG certificate to certify medical education undertaken at schools outside the US. Graduates of Canadian Medical Schools must have an ECFMG certificate.
- Have passed USMLE Step 1, USMLE Step 2 CK, and USMLE Step 3 or COMLEX-USA Level 1, Level 2-CE, and Level 3. USMLE Step 3/COMLEX-USA Level 3 must be passed prior to entry into the fellowship program.
- Consent to and pass a background check.
How to Apply
Our program participates in the fellowship match via the SF Match centralized application service. All applicants must register with the SF Match. Application materials received outside of the SF Match will not be reviewed. For more information or to begin your application, please click on the link below.
Important application dates:
January 11, 2023 – Applicant registration begins. You can submit your application starting on this date.
April 3, 2023 – Application deadline to be considered for an interview at Montefiore Medical Center.
Mid-April through end of May 2023 – Montefiore Medical Center Transplant Surgery Fellowship Interviews
June 7, 2023 – Program and applicant rank list submission deadline
June 14, 2023 – Match results are available
June 15, 2023 – Post-match vacancies are posted
July 1, 2024 – Training position starts
Please review our Division’s website for more information about our center and our faculty.
Visit Montefiore Einstein Center for Transplantation
The American Society of Transplant Surgeons (ASTS) website contains comprehensive resources for transplant surgery fellowship applicants, and ultimately for fellows and surgeons at all levels of their careers. Please explore this information. Also, please register as a candidate member of the ASTS. You will need to do this for any fellowship program to which you apply.
Visit the American Society of Transplant Surgeons (ASTS)
If you have any additional questions regarding the application process or our program, please e-mail our administrator, Diane McClary-Nichols, and she will direct your inquiry: dmcclary@montefiore.org.
Hillary Yaffe, MD
Assistant Professor of Surgery
Director of the Transplant Surgery Fellowship Program
Montefiore Einstein
Past Fellows
Ahmet Korkut Belli, MD (2020-2022)
Dr. Ahmet Korkut Belli completed his medical school education at Cerrahpasa Medical School, one of the top-ranked medical schools in Turkey. He continued his time at Cerrahpasa Medical School, completing his general surgery residency in 2008. Interestingly, Dr. Rudolph Nissen, distinguished professor of surgery, was the Chief of the Department there in 1933. After completing his residency, Ahmet wanted to gain experience in medicine in the United States and became a breast surgical oncology research fellow at the Massachusetts General Hospital. He learned the fundamentals of clinical research; data collection and analysis; and advanced surgical oncology concepts. Following this experience, he returned to Turkey to complete his government service obligation. While practicing as a general surgeon, Ahmet noticed that surgery is a balance of theoretical and practical knowledge, and having stronger technical skills provides more success, which in turn motivated him to become a transplant surgeon. Ahmet completed training in liver transplantation at Memorial Atasehir Hospital in Istanbul, Turkey. Then he started to dream of a surgical career in the US and was accepted as a transplant surgery fellow at Montefiore in 2020. He graduated from the fellowship training program in 2022 and started a general surgery residency at Montefiore in his quest for American Board of Surgery board eligibility.
Nidal Abdel Muhdi, MD (2019-2022)
Dr. Nidal Abdel Muhdi completed his medical school education at Jordan University of Science and Technology in 2006. He then trained in general surgery at the King Abdullah University Hospital for 5 years. He attained certification from the Jordanian Board of Surgery in 2012, and worked as a general surgeon in the Ministry of Health in Kuwait before matching into transplant surgery fellowship at Montefiore in 2019. The highlights of his fellowship experience at Montefiore included the acquisition of surgical skills, meeting new people, and advancing his career to the next chapter. Nidal completed his transplant surgical fellowship in 2021, and continued for an additional year as a superfellow. He joined the surgical faculty of the Montefiore Einstein Center for Transplantation as a Clinical Instructor in 2022.
Current Fellows
Daniel Barbash, MD (2022-2024)
Dr. Daniel Barbash graduated from the University of Rochester with a bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Engineering. He went on to obtain his Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine from Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine in Harlem, New York. He completed his general surgery residency at St Joseph’s University Medical Center in Paterson, New Jersey. He is currently one of the abdominal transplant fellows at Montefiore Medical Center with interests in all aspects of transplant as well as HPB.
Daniel spends his free time with his wife and daughter. He is an avid runner and tennis player, having played in high school and college. Since graduating college, he has completed 3 marathons and continues to enjoy activities such as hiking, yoga, running, and biking. He follows many of the major sporting events and local teams, but his favorite teams are the Mets and the Jets.
Juan Malo, MD (2022-2023)
Dr. Juan Malo was born and raised in Cuenca, Ecuador. He attended and completed medical school at Universidad de Cuenca. After medical school, he completed a Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary/Harvard Medical School where he joined the efforts of the facial nerve regeneration laboratory focusing on various techniques for facial nerve regeneration and facial reanimation surgery. This was followed by completing a Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston, where he worked on a Department of Defense project focused on developing a large animal model for penetrating ballistic brain injury.
Juan’s surgical training began at the University of Illinois at Chicago/Metropolitan Group Hospitals where he completed two years of general surgery. He then transitioned to complete his General and Digestive surgery degree at Complejo Hospitalario Universitario in Toledo, Spain. He is currently an abdominal transplant surgery fellow at Montefiore Medical center.
His interests are creating equity in and accessibility to surgical care, as well as focusing on developing surgical education in Latin America.
