Fellow of the month

Name: Gulsen Ozen, MD

Medical school you attended/year you graduated: Marmara University School of Medicine, Istanbul, Turkey, 2006 

Residency/fellowship at UNMC: Rheumatology fellowship 

Program director: Amy Cannella, MD 

How long is your training program, and how long have you been at UNMC? 

Two years. I have been at UNMC since 2015. 

What do you like the most about your training program? 

What I love most about my program is people’s enthusiasm about teaching everything they know and supporting you in any way that you want to grow as a physician and researcher. 

What challenges do you foresee in graduate medical education in the future? 

One of the biggest challenges of graduate medical education is the mental and physical burden on trainees due to exponential growth in medical knowledge, the complexity of the U.S. health care system, and increasing patient load with the uncertainty of work schedules created by the ongoing pandemic.   

List some accomplishments that you are proud of: 

• Getting my ECFMG (Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates) certificate; and
• Completing an internal medicine residency in the U.S. following residency and fellowship training in my home country. 

Tell us three things about you that others may not know: 

• I enjoy playing and watching tennis. (I can’t say I am very good at playing, though.) 
• I love cooking Mediterranean/Turkish dishes, especially for people who have never tried them. 
• Bike riding and racing are two of my favorite outdoor activities.