Name: Kelly Van Fossen, DO, Program Director
Hometown: Hilliard, Ohio
Undergrad: West Virginia Wesleyan College
Medical School: Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine
Why I chose surgery/surgical Interest: General surgery is the best! I am most interested in breast surgery and "bread and butter" surgery
Interest: Athletics (I was collegiate swimmer) and watching Law and Order reruns.
What makes this program special? The variety of interests and backgrounds amongst the residents and faculty make us special. Cape Fear Valley is a community hospital with all the cases and diversity of a large academic hospital.

Name: Ravinder Annamaneni, Md.
Hometown: Hyderbad, South India
Undergrad: India
Medical School: India with advanced training in England and Ireland
Why I chose surgery/surgical Interest: I like to be a complete doctor and to work with my hands and my brain.
Interest: Hunting and traveling.
What makes this program special? This residency is special due to diversity with high potential for becoming one of the most sought-after residencies in the country.

Name: Ijeoma Ejeh, MD
Hometown: Bronx, NY
Undergrad: Columbia University
Medical School: Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
Why I chose surgery/surgical Interest: I became a surgeon because I prefer to recognize a problem and fix it immediately and help make the patient feel better sooner.
What makes this program special? This residency is special because much of the pathology in the community comes to Cape Fear Valley Medical Center, thus increasing the breadth of knowledge the residents are exposed to. There is no nearby competing hospital to "water-down" patients. Also, the diversity of surgeons in terms of race, sex, age and training backgrounds is a big plus.

Name: David Goodman, MD
Hometown: London, England
Undergrad: England
Medical School: St. Thomas's Hospital Medical School, University of London
Why I chose surgery/surgical Interest: I went into surgery because it combines both intellectual and technical skills. General surgery, particularly acute care surgery, allows me the opportunity to treat patients with life threatening problems and usually allow them to return to normal. My surgical interests are trauma and acute care surgery, major abdominal surgery including laparoscopy, thyroid, and breast cancer.
What makes this program special? This residency is special because of the breadth of general surgical patients, not just the common things but also rare conditions, including the large number of patients with acute illnesses and trauma. Our residents have the great opportunity to be in the OR early. Our staff are very collegial and the residents friendly. Our faculty are made up of a good variety of well-trained subspecialists.

Name: Joel Horowitz, MD
Hometown: Philadelphia, Pa.
Undergrad: Gettysburg College
Medical School: University of Pittsburgh
Why I chose surgery/surgical Interest: I like any kind of general surgery, but my interest lies in surgical oncology.
Interest: Fishing and cooking
What makes this program special? The residents have the opportunity to work with and learn from surgeons from a variety of backgrounds. Residents also experience a tremendous assortment of surgical cases.

Name: Marsha Nelson, MD
Hometown: Olney, Md.
Undergrad: University of Maryland, College Park
Medical School: New York Medical College
Why I chose surgery/surgical Interest: I chose surgery because I loved being in the operating room and being able to make an immediate impact in someone's life. No other specialty came close to igniting the passion I felt when I was in the OR and almost 20 years later, I am happy I chose this field. I really like breast surgery and trauma surgery.
Interest: I dabble in gardening. I like to read a variety of different genre including non-fiction like nutrition and zombie fiction. I like making scrapbooks and have plans to finish the baby books for my boys this decade. I like to play the piano and force my children to practice their piano/musical instruments. I have been a Cub Scout leader for the past 5 years.
What makes this program special? The attending staff trained at different residency programs which gives the residents many different approaches/techniques to surgery as opposed to only learning the "Cape Fear Valley" way. Solid training in all aspects of general surgery which will allow them to be ready to practice as a bread and butter general surgeon. Exposure to wide variety of surgical disease and cases.

Name: Elizabeth Sawyer, MD
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