Faculty Forward 2018

Faculty Forward Celebrating the achievements of Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine’s faculty from July 1, 2017, to June 30, 2018

Communitybased, patient centered, innovative education Mission statement

Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine educates aspiring

physicians and scientists to serve

society using a community-based,

patient-centered, interprofessional and evidence-based model of

education that is committed to

inclusion, promotes discovery and utilizes innovative techniques.

Faculty Forward

Table of contents

Message from Steven J. Scheinman, MD, president and dean................................1 Regional campus updates North Campus.....................................................................................................................................................4 South Campus....................................................................................................................................................6 Central Campus.................................................................................................................................................8 Guthrie Campus............................................................................................................................................... 10 Doylestown Campus...................................................................................................................................... 12

A message from the vice dean for Medical Education................................................ 15 A message from the vice dean for Graduate Studies................................................... 16 Leadership updates.................................................................................................................................17 Faculty milestones.................................................................................................................................. 18 Faculty awards..........................................................................................................................................20 Clinical Sciences faculty updates................................................................................................ 21 Basic Sciences faculty updates.................................................................................................... 32 News Curricular innovation for the future.......................................................................................................... 40 MBS curriculum redesign.............................................................................................................................. 41 Community Action Poverty Simulation.................................................................................................... 42 Longitudinal Community Health Intervention Projects...................................................................... 44 Students begin third-year rotations at Geisinger Holy Spirit.......................................................... 45 Harvard Macy Institute’s Program for Educators in Health Professions..................................... 46 Geisinger Commonwealth medical student receives AOA fellowship........................................ 48 Alumni coming home.................................................................................................................................... 49

Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine

A message from the president and dean The 2017–18 academic year can certainly be described as a year of growth. Some of our growth — like the rapid buildup of our Central Campus — were strategic, but were accelerated by unexpected circumstances and, as such, required some improvisation.

Other expansion, like the increase in MBS enrollment, was the fruit of long-held plans.

Whatever the impetus, the past year of growth has resulted in enhanced educational programs, new clinical venues and a significant increase in faculty appointments, particularly at Geisinger sites.

The Central Campus, which includes Geisinger Medical Center, Evangelical Community Hospital and Geisinger Holy Spirit, has quickly become an integral part of our school by virtue of the fact that almost all third-year medical students will have a pediatrics rotation at Geisinger Janet Weis Children’s Hospital.

Both Janet Townsend, MD, regional associate dean, and Bill Iobst, MD, vice president for Academic and Clinical Affairs and vice dean for Medical Education, have remarked upon the enthusiastic response our students have received at the Central Campus. They cite committed leadership at the clinical learning venues and from David Feinberg, MD, Geisinger president and CEO, and Jaewon Ryu, MD, Geisinger chief medical officer.

However, I must also credit our success to Janet’s and Bill’s own tireless efforts. Although circumstances required them to move quickly, they did so in a thoughtful, thorough manner that has quadrupled the number of Geisinger physicians engaged with our students. The work is not yet completed, but I am confident — given our track record to date — that we will achieve our goals At the School of Graduate Studies, Scott Koerwer, EdD, vice dean for Graduate Studies, and his team have increased MBS enrollment by more than 25 seats. Orientation for this enlarged group included packaging 10,000 meals for families in the Scranton School District, identified by nonprofit Here For A Reason as “food insecure.” The project was accomplished in partnership with Geisinger’s Springboard Health and demonstrates an important way the school can work with community to address social risk factors.

Awards • 2017 Pennsylvania American College of Physicians Laureate Award

Publications • Scheinman SJ, Fleming P, Niotis K. Oath Taking at U.S. and Canadian Medical School Ceremonies: Historical Perspectives, Current Practices, and Future Considerations. Academic Medicine.

Dec. 12, 2017 [epub ahead of print].

• Schurman SJ, Scheinman SJ. (2018) Inherited Magnesium Disorders, Chapter 42 in Genetics of Bone Biology and Skeletal Disease. 2nd ed. Eds. Thakker RV, Whyte MP, Eisman JA, Igarashi T, Elsevier/ Academic Press, pp. 801–817.

Presentations • Moderator, “Patient Safety Curriculum in Schools,” World Patient Safety, Science and Technology Summit, London, England. Feb. 23–25, 2018.

Our signature community initiatives, REACH-HEI and the Behavioral Health Initiative (BHI), are also growing. Most notably, the Center of Excellence, of which REACH-HEI is a part, recently convened the first meeting of its Health Equity Group. As for BHI, in March we welcomed Leighton Huey, MD, whose leadership we know will transform mental and behavioral healthcare in our region.

Sometimes the frenetic pace of activity at the school is overwhelming. The immediate demands we face often distract us from expressing gratitude for the dedication and determination of the people who make accomplishing the impossible look easy. This does not mean, however, that the extraordinary work of our faculty and staff goes unnoticed.

I thank you all for the success our school experienced in the last year and am eager to continue our work together in 2019.

Sincerely,

Steven J. Scheinman, MD President and Dean of Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine Geisinger Executive Vice President and Chief Academic Officer

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Faculty Forward

Proudest moments Steven J. Scheinman, MD President and Dean of Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine Geisinger Executive Vice President and Chief Academic Officer Geisinger Commonwealth’s reach, in terms of both educational programs and geography, is evolving. The past year has seen significant changes and enhancements in degree programs and clinical venues, including discussions about a potential presence in Atlantic City. The greatest success stories of 2018, however, are undoubtedly the rapid rollout of the Central Campus and the school’s revamped MBS curriculum.

We should all take pride in how quickly the Central Campus has become an essential part of virtually every third-year medical

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student’s experience. We now have 31 medical students in the Central Region who began their rotations in July. In addition, almost every third-year student will have a pediatrics rotation at Geisinger Janet Weis Hospital, the only children’s hospital among Geisinger Commonwealth’s clinical venues.

The staff and faculty who worked tirelessly to ready the campus in time for the Class of 2020 are to be commended.

As noted by Janet Townsend, MD, the Central Campus’s regional associate dean, the campus encompasses seven counties and several clinical venues, including Geisinger Medical Center, Evangelical Community Hospital in Lewisburg and Geisinger Holy Spirit in Camp Hill. At each site, the school has engaged with energized leadership, including nursing administration, who are excited to host our students. William Iobst, MD, vice president for Academic and Clinical Affairs and vice dean for Medical Education, reports that we’ve quadrupled the number of Geisinger physicians engaged with our students. The process was arduous, and

the work is not yet completed. However, with the indispensable buy-in of Geisinger leadership and a great deal of personal outreach, we’ve processed 600 academic appointments and trained new preceptors, especially in the concepts of the LIC — a training method most physicians did not experience in their own medical school years.

The medical school’s growth has been matched by our School of Graduate Studies. Dr. Scott Koerwer, EdD, vice dean for Graduate Studies, and his team have increased MBS enrollment by more than 25 seats — a significant achievement. The MBS curriculum also underwent a complete redesign this year. The changes were prompted by feedback from our graduate students, who said that while they valued the program’s rigor, they also wanted more time to devote to shadowing, volunteering, research and other activities that further burnish a professional school application.

The redesign provides greater flexibility and more choices and has been well received by the Class of 2018.

Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine

Celebrating Match Day 2018 with students who matched to residencies at Geisinger. Left to right: Joseph Seemiller; Alexandra Chop; David T. Feinberg, MD, MBA, Geisinger president and chief executive officer; Virginia McGregor, vice chair on the Geisinger Commonwealth board; Steven J. Scheinman, MD, Geisinger Commonwealth president and dean; Max Vogel; Ann-Marie Cittadino.

REACH-HEI and the Behavioral Health Initiative, the school’s signature community initiatives, have also had a year of growth and evolution. The Center of Excellence (COE), of which REACH-HEI is now a part, convened the first meeting of its Health Equity Group, attended by 11 Geisinger physicians, including chief medical officer Jaewon Ryu, MD, who expressed interest in mentoring underrepresented-in-medicine Geisinger Commonwealth students and generating research opportunities for them. COE also launched a health needs assessment of Scranton’s Latino population.

Initial data collected over the summer will provide the basis of a longitudinal study of this “hidden population.”

BHI will benefit immensely from the leadership of Leighton Huey, MD, a nationally renowned mental health expert, who joined us in March. Dr. Huey is leading curricular enhancements and working to advance BHI’s aim to integrate behavioral health services across our region.

Thanks and congratulations go to our faculty for making all of this happen!

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Faculty Forward

North Campus update

This has been a year of many changes for our medical school as the integration with Geisinger evolved. We have worked to involve many new providers and increased our collaboration with colleagues in the Geisinger system to provide clinical education to our students. We are grateful for the opportunity to work closely with our existing partners and are forging new relationships with providers and groups in the area.

I want to express my appreciation of the regional team for their hard work during the past year, and in launching the new academic year. I am especially impressed by our students.

They continue to enter their clinical years well-prepared and excited about the experience of working with patients.

The North Campus has 25 students for the upcoming third year. They will spend half the year in the longitudinal integrated clerkship model, and the other half in block rotations. I would like to take this opportunity to extend my gratitude to our dedicated clinical partners, including hospitals, clinics and volunteer clinical faculty, who train our students and serve as wonderful role models as the students embark on their journeys to forge their professional identities.

– Shubhra M. Shetty, MD, FACP Associate Regional Dean for North Campus Professor of Medicine

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Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine

North Campus leadership Spotlight

Regional assistant dean Lisa Thomas, MD

Awarded the MD Class of 2019’s 2017–2018 Professor of the Year for North Campus Regional clerkship directors Internal Medicine Wasique Mirza, MD

John Farrell, MD

OB-GYN

Assistant Professor of Medicine

Harold Davis, MD

“He is always so willing and enthusiastic to come in and give presentations. One time he did a session for STEP 1 preparation, and it was so helpful that the students have requested a second session, which he was eager to do in such short notice. He is able to make a hard concept interesting!”

– Katherine Chung MD Class of 2019 “He spins teaching with his love for medicine and humor that makes you reciprocate those emotions. In both the academic and clinical fields, Dr. Farrell excels at the art of student involvement and simply makes you love medicine all over again.”

– Jee Moon MD Class of 2019 “Dr. Farrell always goes above and beyond for the betterment of his students and GCSOM. He is truly passionate about his work, and this is reflected by his enthusiasm and willingness to teach. His expertise, knowledge and kindness inspired me to pursue radiology and his mentoring has been invaluable.”

Pediatrics April Troy, MD, MPH

Psychiatry Nelson Asante, MD

Surgery Timothy Farrell, MD

– Antonio Adiletta MD Class of 2019

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Faculty Forward

South Campus update

I am always impressed with the enthusiasm of our South Campus students and their insatiable thirst for their clinical education. The 2017–2018 academic year had clinical education resource challenges that did not dampen that enthusiasm.

My regional team and our students took the challenges head-on and as a result, the academic year was an amazing success. Our preceptors from our Geisinger and community-based pool stepped up to those challenges and provided excellent student mentoring.

It’s been a pleasure working with my associate regional dean colleagues, and especially with Shubhra Shetty, MD. Together we have built a collaborative educational structure that combines strengths of the North and South campuses to provide the best student clinical experience possible.

I would like to give special recognition to Melissa Ide, Kim Kovalick, DO, and George Valenta, MD, for their inexhaustible energies organizing our volunteer preceptor staff.

Finally, I am impressed with our new South Campus students’ excitement and eagerness to experience clinical medicine for the 2018–2019 academic year. This fact, combined with high-quality preceptors, can only lead to another successful academic year!

– Michael Ferraro, MD Associate Regional Dean for South Campus Assistant Professor of OB-GYN

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Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine

South Campus leadership Spotlight

Regional assistant deans Kimberly Kovalick, DO

Awarded the MD Class of 2019’s 2017–2018 Professor of the Year for South Campus

Northeast

Mary Elizabeth Sokach, DO

Michael Ferraro, MD

South Campus

Associate Regional Dean for South Campus Assistant Professor of OB-GYN

Regional clerkship directors Internal Medicine John Citti, MD

OB-GYN “Dr. Ferraro is one who goes above and beyond for students. He addresses any and all issues that are of a concern for us. One of Dr. Ferraro’s most respectable characteristics is his transparency and honesty. He always wants what is best for us and will do anything to ensure we receive the highest of quality clinical experiences and opportunities.”

– Kelley German MD Class of 2019 1. “He has consistently and genuinely been involved in the curriculum.

For example, he helped set up a phlebotomy course for students in need of meeting their requirement.

2. He has been a strong advocate for student well-being and engagement. For example, he sticks to his word on following up with administration on student concerns.

3. He has gone out of his way to make sure that students can rotate through his group practice.

4. He speaks to us like colleagues and respects our time and learning.”

– Laura E. Barna, MS MD Class of 2019

Joseph Narins, MD

Pediatrics Lisa Holtz, MD

Psychiatry Steve Kafrissen, MD

Surgery Mark Schiowitz, MD

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Faculty Forward

Central Campus update

On July 16, 11 medical students at Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine began their all-important third-year rotations at Geisinger Holy Spirit (GHS). Hospital leadership, including Joseph A. Torchia, MD, senior vice president and chief medical officer, expressed their excitement in educating this group of students, who will be exposed to the six major areas of medicine at GHS’s outstanding inpatient and outpatient clinical venues. Richard Schreiber, MD, will serve as regional assistant dean.

Third year is a critical time for medical students. Their experiences rotating through family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics, surgery, psychiatry and obstetrics/gynecology in both block inpatient rotations and the outpatient longitudinal clerkship are the major influence on their choice of specialty.

“We are delighted that these 11 students will get their first in-depth exposure to each discipline under the direction of the caring preceptors at GHS, each of whom will provide a positive learning experience,” Dr. Schreiber said. “We have earned glowing reports from these students, and by closely collaborating with our clinicians and the Undergraduate Education Department, we will welcome our students and give generously of our time and attention. Given this fact and the smaller size of this group, we are confident these students will form close bonds with one another while building strong personal relationships throughout GHS.” Also of note is GCSOM’s Danville campus and how quickly leadership worked to establish it.

Janet Townsend, MD, regional associate dean for the Central Campus and professor of family medicine, says students at the Central Campus receive high-quality clinical experiences at Geisinger Medical Center (GMC) in Danville, as well as at Evangelical Community Hospital in Lewisburg and at GHS in Camp Hill. “The campus encompasses seven counties,” Dr. Townsend said. “At each site we have energized leadership, including nursing 8

administration, who are excited to host our students.”

William Iobst, MD, vice president for Academic and Clinical Affairs and vice dean for Medical Education, is grateful for the warm welcome throughout the Central Campus venues, particularly Geisinger sites. “We are proud to note that, in just one year, we’ve quadrupled the number of Geisinger physicians engaged with our students. This was only possible through the enthusiastic support the medical students received at all levels.”

Despite the rigors of the task of establishing the campus and the tight time constraints, GMC, for example, now hosts a large number of students. “We have 12 — soon to be 20 — medical students at the Central Campus who began their rotations in July,” said Dr. Townsend. “They’ve worked on resident teams in both block and LIC rotations and are having a great experience.”

“The progress has been remarkable,” Dr. Iobst said. “Providing these enriched learning venues would not have been possible without integration and the warm support of our new colleagues.”

Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine

Spotlight Awarded the Class of 2019’s 2017–2018 Professor of the Year for Central Campus Michele Neff-Bulger, DO, FAAP, FACOP Regional Clerkship Director of Pediatrics for the Central Campus Assistant Professor of Pediatrics Michele Neff-Bulger, DO, is a graduate of the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine and completed a pediatric residency at Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, Pa.

Dr. Neff-Bulger’s educational interest focuses on relationshipcentered communication and patient-focused interdisciplinary approach to teaching.

Her research interests include quality improvement, postpartum depression screening, long-term impact of early identification and intervention of postpartum depression, the benefits of breastfeeding and the risks and benefits of skin-to-skin contact.

Her clinical interests center on newborn medicine, breastfeeding management, ADHD, standardizing care across service lines and development of guidelines for standard care.

Central Campus leadership Regional associate dean Janet M. Townsend, MD

Regional assistant deans Mark Olaf, DO

Regional clerkship directors Family Medicine

Pediatrics

James Joseph, MD

Michele Neff-Bulger, DO

Internal Medicine

Psychiatry

Malachi Courtney, MD

Nicole Gurski, DO

Internal Medicine

Surgery

Lisa Schroeder, MD

Megan Rapp, MD

Central Campus

Richard Schreiber, MD Geisinger Holy Spirit

OB-GYN Paul Swanson, MD

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Faculty Forward

Guthrie Campus update

As The Guthrie Clinic begins the fourth year of our affiliation with Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine, we are grateful for the contributions that our entire organization has made to the education of our students and the betterment of the communities that we serve. Our regional team, regional clerkship directors and volunteer clinical faculty have established a multifaceted and diverse educational program for our students supported by the visionary leadership of Geisinger Commonwealth and The Guthrie Clinic. As an integrated delivery system, our students have ready access to the educational resources of the entire organization that facilitate the delivery of the School of Medicine’s rich curriculum.

This will be the first full academic year to welcome Andrea Worley, MD, as regional clerkship director for Pediatrics. As I begin my third year as regional associate dean, I am grateful to have the opportunity to work with so many talented and committed people at Guthrie and Geisinger Commonwealth. I am looking forward to the future as we realize the opportunities that the integration with Geisinger promises for the School of Medicine, our students and our communities.

– Thomas J. VanderMeer, MD, FACS Associate Regional Dean for Guthrie Campus Professor of Surgery

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Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine

Guthrie Campus leadership Spotlight Awarded the Class of 2019’s 2017–2018 Professor of the Year for Guthrie Campus Thomas VanderMeer, MD

Regional assistant dean James Walsh, MD, MSHA, FACP, FCCP

Regional clerkship directors

Associate Regional Dean for Guthrie Campus

Family Medicine

Professor of Surgery

Donald Phykitt, DO

Internal Medicine Maninder Singh, MD

OB-GYN James Scott, MD

“Dr. VanderMeer is not only a great leader, but a great surgeon. He allowed hands-on opportunities in the operating room and gave us reasonable autonomy with patients as third-year medical students. Would love to work with him someday.”

Pediatrics Andrea Worley, MD

– Rachel Lovely MD Class of 2019

“Dr. VanderMeer deserved the award because of his dedication to helping students. He has exceptional leadership skills and is one of the most professional physicians I had the opportunity to work with during my third year.

He is the kind of leader and physician I aspire to be in the future.”

Psychiatry Charles McGurk, MD

– Akindele Olagunju MD Class of 2019

Surgery Silviu Marica, MD

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Faculty Forward

Doylestown Campus update

Doylestown Campus faculty John Kulp, PhD Regional Assistant Dean for Doylestown Campus Associate Professor and Director of Academic Affairs, Baruch S. Blumberg Institute CEO, Conifer Point Pharmaceuticals

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Alexander Braun, PhD

Catherine Freeland, MPH

Aejaz Sayeed, PhD

Chari Cohen, PhD, MPH

Chris Moore, PhD

Darl Swartz, PhD

William Kinney, PhD

Sung Park, PhD

Dan Vader, MS

Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine

Proudest moments

Chari Cohen, DrPH Associate Professor of the Baruch S. Blumberg Institute Vice President for Public Health and Programs at the Hepatitis B Foundation Adjunct Assistant Professor, Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine

John Kulp, PhD Regional Assistant Dean for Doylestown Campus Associate Professor and Director of Academic Affairs, Baruch S. Blumberg Institute CEO, Conifer Point Pharmaceuticals The company I founded, called Conifer Point, accelerates early-stage drug discovery. The mission of the company is to provide easy access via the web to a vast array of data describing the binding of small chemical fragments to proteins, and to leverage these data to empower medicinal chemists in addressing the core challenges of drug discovery. Specificity, potency and mutation avoidance of drugs require that compounds bind to the target protein in a way that exploits the highly idiosyncratic details of the 3-D structure of that protein, which are uncovered by the binding of the chemical fragments. This provides chemists with a powerful new tool for generating ideas to resolve conflicting drug optimization goals, and can greatly expand the number of addressable disease targets, such as protein-protein interactions, as has been demonstrated. In March 2018, the National Institutes of Health awarded Conifer Point a Phase II Small Business Innovative Research Grant, worth $1.5 million, to commercialize the company’s technology. The project is titled “An Open Web Service for Fragment-based Design of Small Molecule Inhibitors.”

Publications • Kulp JL 3rd, Cloudsdale IS, Kulp JL Jr, Guarnieri F. Hot-spot identification on a broad class of proteins and RNA suggest unifying principles of molecular recognition. PLOS ONE. 2017 Aug 24;12(8):e0183327. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0183327. eCollection 2017. PubMed PMID: 28837642; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5570288.

• Liu B, Tang L, Zhang X, Ma J, Sehgal M, Cheng J, Zhang X, Zhou Y, Du Y, Kulp J, Guo JT, Chang J. A cell-based high throughput screening assay for the discovery of cGAS-STING pathway agonists.

Antiviral Res. 2017 Nov;147:37–46. doi: 10.1016/j. antiviral.2017.10.001. Epub 2017 Oct 2. PubMed PMID: 28982551; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5789800.

Grants • Dr. Kulp’s company, Conifer Point, was awarded a Phase II Small Business Innovative Research Grant from the National Institutes of Health. The project title is “An Open Web Service for Fragment-based Design of Small Molecule Inhibitors.”

Publications • Cohen C, Freeland C. (April 2018). Addressing Hepatitis B in Philadelphia. Philadelphia Medicine Magazine.

• Freeland C, Cohen C, Collier M. (2018). Public health response to hepatitis B exposure: A case study on gaps and opportunities to improve postexposure care. Infectious Diseases in Clinical Practice, in press.

• Cohen C, Alber JM, Bleakley A, Grossman S, Freeland C, Alarcon K, Merchant R. (2018). Social media for hep B awareness: Young adult and community leader perspectives. Health Promotion Practice. Advanced online publication.

• Block T, Alter H, Brown N, Brownstein A, Brosgart C, Chang K-M, Chen P-J, Cohen C, et al. (2017). Research priorities for the discovery of a cure for chronic hepatitis B: Report of a workshop.

Antiviral Res. 150:93-100.

• Alter H, Block T, Brown N, Brownstein A, Brosgart C, Chang K-M, Chen P-J, Chisari F, Cohen C, et al. (2018). A Research Agenda for Curing Chronic Hepatitis B Virus Infection. Hepatology.

67(3):1127-1131.

• Ataiants J, Cohen C, Riley AH, Tellez Lieberman J, Reidy MC, Chilton M. (2017). Unaccompanied Children at the United States Border, a Human Rights Crisis that can be Addressed with Policy Change. J Immigr Minor Health [Epub ahead of print].

Catherine Freeland, MPH Public Health Program Manager, Hepatitis B Foundation Clinical Instructor in Public Health, Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine

Publications • Cohen C, Freeland C. (April 2018). Addressing Hepatitis B in Philadelphia. Philadelphia Medicine Magazine.

• Freeland C, Cohen C, Collier M. (2018). Public health response to hepatitis B exposure: A case study on gaps and opportunities to improve postexposure care. Infectious Diseases in Clinical Practice, in press.

• Cohen C, Alber JM, Bleakley A, Grossman S, Freeland C, Alarcon K, Merchant R. (2018). Social media for hep B awareness: Young adult and community leader perspectives. Health Promotion Practice. Advanced online publication.

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Faculty Forward

Proudest moments Chris Moore, PhD Adjunct Associate Professor, Baruch S. Blumberg Institute Director of Immunology, Arbutus Biopharma Adjunct Associate Professor of Microbiology and Immunology, Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine

Publications • Zhou T, Block T, Liu F, Kondratowicz AS, Sun L, Rawat S, Branson J, Guo F, Steuer HM, Liang H, Bailey L, Moore C, Wang X, Cuconatti A, Gao M, Lee ACH, Harasym T, Chiu T, Gotchev D, Dorsey B, Rijnbrand R, Sofia MJ. HBsAg mRNA degradation induced by a dihydroquinolizinone compound depends on the HBV posttranscriptional regulatory element. Antiviral Res. 2018 Jan;149:191– 201. doi: 10.1016/j.antiviral.2017.11.009. Epub 2017 Nov 10. PubMed PMID: 29133129.

Why I teach When I was in college and graduate school, it became abundantly clear that not all professors are created equally. There were professors who worked incredibly hard to disseminate information in a way that any studious student could finish that class with a mastery of the subject material, and then there were professors who simply walked in, regurgitated the textbook and walked out. So, when I was given my first opportunity to teach during graduate school at an all-girls college in Raleigh, N.C., I knew that I wanted to strive to be the kind of teacher that would sincerely care about my students and the learning environment I was attempting to establish. Those early days were rough, as I was mostly inexperienced, and was substitute-teaching a class that previously was administered by the most popular professor on campus, who had suddenly become ill with cancer. Understandably, most of the students immediately resented me and did not believe in my skills as an educator. I wasn’t sure of my skills either, but nonetheless jumped in there and did the best I could. By the end of that semester, I felt I had gained the trust of the students, and thought I did a pretty good job distilling the difficult course material into a form that most students would be able to readily consume. At the same time, I had to help support my students emotionally with the news of the untimely loss of a beloved educator that many of them had grown to love

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as a friend and mentor. After this initial (somewhat terrifying) foray into teaching at the collegiate level, I learned that watching students thrive in a learning environment that you created is not only incredibly rewarding, but also as much a learning experience for the professor as it is for the students. Not every student learns in the same manner, so I feel that my lesson that year was to adapt to each individual and do my best to teach to the student and not the class. Seeing how my students were so impacted by the loss of their professor drove home the idea that teaching is about more than just regurgitating information — it is also about making a very real human connection with your students, which can be very personal and quite meaningful. I taught at this college for a few years, and have been fortunate to watch many of those students become highly successful doctors, lawyers, nurses and other great professionals. Some even became educators themselves, and have told me that they modeled their teaching style after mine, which was the biggest compliment.

So, why do I teach? Or better yet, why do I continue to teach, considering I have a full-time career in pharmaceutical sciences and my time has become quite compressed these days? Well, to be honest, while it is my life’s mission to discover a new medicine, being able to continue to work with students and contribute to their academic and future

career development is one of the most rewarding facets of my professional life. It keeps me young, on my toes and in touch with the latest breaking science — not to mention that I get the enjoyment every year of meeting some incredibly bright future leaders, who I hope will carry with them some small nugget of information they learned in my class. And who knows?

Maybe one of these students will be teaching my children someday. To me, teaching is the ultimate “pay it forward” career, and one that keeps on giving.

“To me, teaching is the ultimate ‘pay it forward’ career, and one that keeps on giving.”

– Chris Moore, PhD

Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine

A message from the vice dean for Medical Education This has certainly been a year of change at the medical school. Change can be reactive or proactive, and I am pleased to say that we have been proactive and strategic. As a learning organization, we have redesigned and grown our regional campus network to ensure long-term, high-quality clinical education; we have completed our initial five-year curriculum review and established a strong foundation for the future work of curriculum renewal; we have reorganized our departmental structures by moving the concept of a single department of education to a reality; and we have explored and found ways to engage our new Geisinger colleagues in the delivery of undergraduate medical education. And we have done all of this while preparing for accreditation by both the Liaison Committee on Medical Education and the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. These accomplishments and the scholarship highlighted in this edition of Faculty Forward are amazing!

But if I stopped here, I would be remiss because I have not also acknowledged our students and staff. The resilience of our student body as they have negotiated shifting regional campus structures,

evolving clinical faculty and the overall transformation of TCMC to GCSOM is an example for us all. To our students, I thank you and congratulate you on modeling the resilience and resolve that will ensure the future of GCSOM. And last but certainly not least, I thank our staff. None of the successes I have mentioned would be possible without the profound support of the medical school staff. We are certainly a “can do and will do” community!

Proudest moments What has been my proudest moment of the past year? There have been many amazing moments, but as I reflect on this question, my proudest moment is being a member of this community.

Accomplishments • Caverzagie KJ, Nousiainen MT, Ferguson PC, Ten Cate O, Ross S, Harris KA, Busari J, Bould MD, Bouchard J, Iobst WF, Carraccio C, Frank JR. Overarching challenges to the implementation of competencybased medical education. Med Teach. 2017 Jun;39(6):588–593.

• Iobst W, Holmboe E. Evaluating Clinical Competence in Residents and Fellows. APDIM Toolkit Series: A Textbook for Internal Medicine Education Programs. 12th ed. 2017.

• Iobst W, Holmboe E. The Learner with a Problem or the Problem Learner? Working with Dyscompetent Learners. Practical Guide to the Evaluation of Clinical Competence. 2nd ed. Elsevier. 2017.

• Codirector, ACGME Regional Faculty Development Course. “Clinical Evaluation and Assessment of Residents and Fellows: An ACGME and Pennsylvania Research in Medical Education (PRIME) Collaborative Faculty Development Course.” February 2018. Philadelphia, PA. • Invited presenter, ACGME National Education Meeting. “The Problem Resident or the Resident with a Problem.” March 2018. Orlando, FL.

William F. Iobst, MD, FACP Vice President for Academic Affairs Vice Dean for Medical Education

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Faculty Forward

A message from the vice dean for Graduate Studies I am proud to note several major accomplishments at the School of Graduate Studies. Perhaps the most noteworthy is the complete redesign of the MBS curriculum. We made these changes in direct response to student feedback telling us that although they appreciated the rigor of the program, they needed greater flexibility. Students now have more choices regarding electives and pace of study. I am grateful to staff and faculty for making the transition smooth and effortless for our students.

The School of Graduate Studies has also embraced new technologies like streaming lectures from Scranton to Doylestown and vice versa, as well as recording

digital assets to build a library of online content with an eye toward distance learning. These technologies expand the reach of our faculty and early trials have been quite successful. In addition, we have implemented new lecture capture software, so faculty can better create and manage their video content. I thank all faculty involved in moving our curriculum into the virtual environment, which is indisputably an important arena for higher education.

Finally, I would like to commend all of the faculty and staff who worked so hard to make Orientation 2018 such a positive experience for our incoming MBS class.

The high point of orientation was, without

Venard Scott Koerwer, EdD Vice President for Strategy & Planning Vice Dean for Graduate Studies Professor of Organizational Systems & Innovation

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a doubt, the 10,000 meals service project completed on Aug. 23. Our students were exposed to a significant community problem and given the tools to think about solutions. Best of all, they were actively involved in feeding local families in need, which I believe was an incredible way for them to begin to learn about healthcare the Geisinger way — that is, focused on the whole person within the context of community.

Thanks to the School of Graduate Studies team. I look forward to more innovation and energy in the coming year.

Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine

Leadership updates New leadership Leighton Y. Huey, MD Associate Dean for Behavioral Health Integration and Community Care Transformation Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine is pleased to announce that Leighton Y. Huey, MD, has accepted the position of associate dean for Behavioral Health Integration and Community Care Transformation, a position in which he will work collaboratively with community partners to integrate behavioral healthcare — traditionally held separate from physical health — into primary care and population health initiatives.

A highly regarded national authority on how psychiatric systems function and how trainees learn within the larger behavioral healthcare spectrum, Dr. Huey advocates having behavioral health, physical health and public/ community efforts integrated along a true biopsychosocial continuum.

“Early identification of people at risk, education of and by communities, and improved, thoughtful, timely coordination of effort are components of a modern, efficient, effective system — one that individualizes care and strives to improve outcomes” he said. Dr. Huey is particularly focused on new approaches to care integration throughout health systems to help those having problems with mood, substance abuse, psychosis and anxiety disorders.

Dr. Huey, who will assume his role in March, will also have a faculty appointment as professor of psychiatry at Geisinger Commonwealth.

All One Foundation’s generous support of Geisinger Commonwealth’s Behavioral Health Initiative (BHI) helped recruit Dr. Huey. John Cosgrove, the foundation’s executive director, said, “Dr. Huey is a major figure in the effort to integrate behavioral health. We are pleased that a leader of his stature will now work to improve care delivery to our friends and neighbors in northeastern Pennsylvania,

and we are proud to support the work of the BHI.” Among Dr. Huey’s key tasks will be to collaborate with Ida Castro, JD, Geisinger Commonwealth’s vice president for community engagement, as well as the leadership of the Geisinger Springboard program, on initiatives that address behavioral issues in the community and the social determinants of health. He will also work closely with the School of Medicine’s faculty on integrating behavioral health education throughout the curriculum, and will be an active teacher and mentor for students and residents from all disciplines. In addition, Dr. Huey will see patients at The Wright Center and bear the title of codirector of Behavioral Health Integration, with responsibility for The Wright Center’s innovative programs on integrating

care. He will also oversee The Wright Center’s psychiatry residency program and engage in regional program development as director of Behavioral Health at Geisinger Northeast.

“Dr. Huey’s role is truly one of collaboration and synthesis,” said Steven J. Scheinman, MD, president and dean of Geisinger Commonwealth and Geisinger executive vice president. “His work will be emblematic of BHI’s core mission of convening community to address social and behavioral health issues that affect the well-being of the entire population of northeastern Pennsylvania. We look forward to helping him achieve his goals of creating new models of clinical delivery, particularly those that reinforce continuity of care.”

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Faculty Forward

Faculty milestones Faculty Council John Arnott, PhD 2017–2018: Chair 2018–2019: Vice Chair

Master of Biomedical Sciences (MBS) MBS-Scranton Class of 2018 Professor of the Year: Fall 2017 Pamela Lucchesi, PhD Professor of Physiology

Professor of the Year: Spring 2018 Anthony R. Gillott, MD 2017–2018: Vice Chair

Youngjin Cho, PhD Assistant Professor of Immunology

2018–2019: Chair

MBS-Doylestown Class of 2018 William McLaughlin, PhD

Distinguished Faculty Award

2017–2018: Secretary

Pamela Lucchesi, PhD

2018–2019: Secretary

Faculty promotions Jess Cunnick, PhD,

has been promoted to associate professor of cell biology in the Department of Basic Sciences.

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Professor of Physiology

Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine

Doctor of Medicine (MD) Class of 2018 Most Valuable Player Award

Beloved Tiger Mom Award

Brian Wilcox, MD, PhD

Associate Regional Dean for North Campus Professor of Medicine

Assistant Chair of OB-GYN Associate Professor of OB-GYN Awarded to a faculty member who has gone above and beyond in his or her clinical teaching, classroom teaching and advising skills to provide a strong example for other specialties in properly preparing their students.

Dissector Award Ying-Ju Sung, PhD Director of Anatomical Services Professor of Anatomy Awarded to a faculty member who found the most difficult anatomy structures to identify for practicals.

Grey’s Anatomy Award Abhishek Yadav, MBBS, MSc Associate Professor of Anatomy Netter’s Anatomy Award for the faculty member who sacrificed their lunchtime to hold anatomy review sessions in the cadaver lab.

Most Likely to Make You Laugh at a Funeral Award Patrick Coughlin, PhD Professor of Anatomy

Ed Lahart Registrar Even when the worst is happening they can make you smile. These faculty and staff members know how to (tastefully) lighten the mood.

Shubhra Shetty, MD, FACP

She’s there to push you to your best, expect more out of you than you do yourself and handle anyone who tries to get in the way of your success.

Phoenix Award Margrit Shoemaker, MD, FACP Assistant Chair of Internal Medicine Assistant Professor of Medicine She’s there when the sky is falling to pick up the pieces and bring things back from the beyond.

Clinical Skills Award Mary Lawhon Triano, MSN, CRNP-C Medical Director of the Clinical Skills and Simulation Center Director of Clinical Skills Awarded to a faculty member who exhibited patience and empathy while teaching us practical skills to best care for our patients.

Patch Adams Award Karen Arscott, DO, MSc, AOBNMM Associate Professor of Medicine

Carmine Cerra, MD Associate Professor of Pathology

Francis Dennis Dawgert, MD Associate Professor of Pediatrics

Jennifer Joyce, MD, FAAFP Professor of Family Medicine Awarded to faculty members who taught us the meaning of patient-centered medicine and reminded us that sometimes laughter really is the best medicine.

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Faculty Forward

Faculty awards Outstanding Faculty Mentor Awards North Campus and South Campus: Brian D. Wilcox, MD, PhD Assistant Chair of OB-GYN Associate Professor of OB-GYN

Central Campus: Margrit Shoemaker, MD, FACP Assistant Chair of Internal Medicine Assistant Professor of Medicine

Guthrie Campus: Thomas VanderMeer, MD Associate Regional Dean for Guthrie Campus Professor of Surgery Awarded to a Geisinger Commonwealth volunteer, communitybased faculty physician who exemplifies the qualities of a caring and compassionate mentor in the teaching and advising of medical students.

Mark Miller Faculty Award Margrit Shoemaker, MD, FACP Assistant Chair of Internal Medicine Assistant Professor of Medicine Awarded to a faculty member who has exhibited excellence in faculty/ student relations by connecting with students in and out of the classroom while being an excellent teacher.

Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Faculty Award Margrit Shoemaker, MD, FACP Assistant Chair of Internal Medicine Assistant Professor of Medicine Selected based on the rules of the Gold Humanism Society.

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Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine

Clinical Sciences faculty updates 2017–2018 Professor of the Year for the MD Class of 2020

Karen Arscott, DO, MSc, APBNMM Associate Professor of Medicine

Proudest moments My proudest moment is always at graduation — watching students that I saw as MD1 students develop into physicians.

I am also very proud that I have completed the waiver course for buprenorphine treatment and will be helping patients in our region with substance use disorder very soon. I serve on the Abington Substance Awareness Coalition. In the spring, I was invited to teach several sessions concerning the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program for the Pennsylvania Department of Health through a grant obtained by East Stroudsburg University. It is very important for students to see faculty taking part in the epidemic striking our country — especially since we are in an epicenter of the crisis.

Medical education publications • Module 3 Hidden Curriculum & Professional Formation. Orit KarnieliMiller O, Vu R. PFO Module 3 Hidden Curriculum & Professional Formation. Adonizio T, Agris J, Arscott K, Danoff D, Foote E, Malkemes S, Post S, Schmude M, Shumacher M, Szarek J, StranoPaul L, Trial J, reviewers. ProfessionalFormation.org. Philadelphia, PA: Drexel University; 2018. Available from ProfessionalFormation.org.

Brian D. Wilcox, MD, PhD Assistant Chair of OB-GYN Associate Professor of OB-GYN Brian D. Wilcox, MD, PhD, was voted 2017–2018 Professor of the Year for the MD Class of 2020. Dr. Wilcox is also a part-time practicing obstetrician/ gynecologist in Scranton and Clarks Summit, Pa. He holds a PhD in physiology and cell biology from Cornell University and an MD from Albany Medical College in Albany, N.Y. His research interests involve complications of pregnancy including mechanisms that underlie labor, preterm labor and recurrent pregnancy loss.

• Module 4 The Clinicians’ Role in Regulating Peers and the Profession.

Holmboe E. PFO Module 4 The Clinicians’ Role in Regulating Peers and the Profession. Adonizio T, Agris J, Arscott K, Danoff D, Foote E, Malkemes S, Post S, Schmude M, Shumacher M, Szarek J, StranoPaul L, Trial J, reviewers. ProfessionalFormation.org. Philadelphia, PA: Drexel University; 2018. Available from ProfessionalFormation.org.

Publications • Informing the Tolerability of Cancer Treatments Using PatientReported Outcome Measures: Summary of an FDA and Critical Path Institute Workshop. Kluetz PG, Kanapuru B, Lemery S, Johnson LL, Fiero MH, Arscott K, et al. Published by Elsevier Inc. ScienceDirect. com. VIH-2017-0226. 2017.

• Arscott K. Mirror. Pulse “More Voices” online. August 2017.

• Arscott K. Exploring the Mysteries of Addiction. NEPA Vital Signs.

Summer/Fall 2017. 19.

Presentations • Panelist for Health Equity Discussion, Keystone College, April 5, 2018.

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Faculty Forward

Clinical Sciences faculty updates Stanley Dudrick, MD Professor of Surgery

Proudest moments As I have always done, I help Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine medical students achieve their full potential as physicians, guided by mission and vision of the school. My primary strengths are my extensive experience in education, research and training, coupled with literally thousands of contacts accumulated throughout my 58 consecutive years of service as a practicing academic surgeon, plus familiarity with their institutions. This enables me to advise students specifically based on firsthand knowledge of the educators and/or institutions with whom they may seek to associate. I share with my contacts the missions and goals of GCSOM and the exceptional and unique quality of the medical students in this institution. In this way, I help our students acquire opportunities for extramural undergraduate elective rotations, as well as further postgraduate and other opportunities. The success of the students in the annual house staff matching program, and the quality of their matches, is a tangible measure of our success in this area of endeavor.

It is satisfying to me that, over the past five years, I have gained recognition as an ambassador for the school, even to a greater extent than my other attachments to my previous institutions, including the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Yale University, St. Mary’s Hospital, Pennsylvania Hospital

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and Franklin and Marshall College. Most recently, I have had the distinct pleasure to have visited with faculty of other institutions and have received unsolicited positive feedback from them regarding the high quality and work ethic of GCSOM graduates who are now members of their training programs, together with expressions of their appreciation of my having initially recommended them.

• Visiting professor of Nutrition and Surgery and Surgical Grand Rounds lecturer, Brown University Alpert Medical School, Rhode Island Hospital, Providence, RI. September 2017.

As the only full professor of surgery in residence at GCSOM — and currently as the senior professor of surgery together with Anthony Gillott, MD — I act as a liaison between the clinical surgical faculty, the Basic Sciences faculty and the students to help them understand and integrate what they are learning. I try my best to apply my extensive training and experience over the past half-century historically and meaningfully to their education and experience at GCSOM. Obviously, each individual student has different interests and goals, but I try to individualize my efforts on their behalf. I try to be a good role model and offer my services to each of them as a mentor. Indeed, I willingly share my cell phone number and home telephone number with any and all of the students, and I encourage them to contact me without hesitation at any time.

• Keynote speaker, “Pediatric Surgery Summit – Advances in Pediatric Surgery: Pediatric Nutrition and Intestinal Care,” The Bristol Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ. March 2018.

My philosophy regarding the success of clinical physicians is that they engage as much as possible in all aspects of patient care, research and teaching, so as to repay society for the opportunities received. Clinical care, education and research are all components of a continuum and research is the ultimate educational activity. Clinical research, especially, is not an intangible, but rather lies within the reach of every practitioner.

• Outstanding Medical Achievement Award, Lackawanna County Medical Society at Annual Presidential Reception, Clarks Summit, PA. February 2018.

• Guest lecturer and visiting professor, The Benjamin Rush, MD, Honor Society for Future Health Professionals, Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster, PA. April 2018.

• Featured speaker, Celebrating the 50th Annual Reunion of The Class of 1968, Franklin and Marshall College, The Alumni College, Stahr Auditorium, Stager Hall, Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster, PA. June 2018.

• Keynote speaker and panel participant, Celebrating 40 Consecutive Years of GANEPAO, VIII Brazilian Conference of Nutrition and Cancer, and International Conference of Nutrition Oncology, II International Conference of Nutrition, Exercise, and Health, Sao Paulo, Brazil.

June 2018.

Publications

Honors and awards

• Dudrick SJ. Foreword: Fistulas of the Digestive Tract. Walczak DA, Banasiewicz T, Bobkiewicz A, eds.

Termedia, Poznan, Poland. 2017.

• Keynote speaker, 32nd Annual Consumer/Clinician Conference, Oley Foundation, Old Greenwich, CT. July 2017.

• Dudrick SJ, Palesty JA, Pimiento JM. 60 Years of Nutritional Therapy from the Past to the Future. Chapter 1 in Oral, Enteral and Parenteral Nutrition

Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine

Silviu Marica, MD Regional Clerkship Director of Surgery, Guthrie Campus Associate Professor of Surgery in Clinical Practice, 5th ed., Waitzberg DL, ed. Atheneu, Sao Paulo. 2017.

• Dudrick SJ, Pimiento JM, Latifi R. Short Bowel Syndrome: A Clinical Update.

Chapter 25 in Surgery of Complex Abdominal Wall Defects, 2nd ed. Latifi R, ed., Springer Science, New York.

2017.

• Pertkiewicz M, Dudrick SJ, Klek S, Sobocki J. Central Parenteral Nutrition.

Chapter in Basics in Clinical Nutrition, 5th ed. Sobotka L, ed. Galen, Prague.

Chapter to be published, September 2018.

Publications • Ologun GO, Bohan C, Lau T, Sultany M, Trecartin A, Wolfe Z, Marica S, Sampson L. Acute Brachial Artery Occlusion in an Elderly Patient with Acute Myocardial Ischemia. Cureus. 2017 19;9(9): e1700 PMID: 29159007

• Pertkiewicz M, Dudrick SJ, Sobocki J. Different Systems for Parenteral Nutrition (AIO vs. MB). Chapter in Basics in Clinical Nutrition, 5th ed.

Sobotka L, ed. Galen, Prague. Chapter to be published, September 2018.

• Pertkiewicz M, Dudrick SJ, Sobocki J, Klek S. Peripheral Parenteral Nutrition (PPN). Chapter in Basics in Clinical Nutrition 5th ed. Sobotka L, ed. Galen, Prague. Chapter to be published, September 2018.

• Pertkiewicz M, Sitges-Serra A, Dudrick SJ, Sobocki J. Complications Associated with Central Catheter Insertion and Care. Chapter in Basics in Clinical Nutrition, 5th ed. Sobotka L, ed. Galen, Prague, Chapter to be published, September 2018.

• Pertkiewicz M, Manak J, Kunecki M, Dudrick SJ, Sobocki J. Nutritional Support During Pregnancy and Breastfeeding. Chapter in Basics in Clinical Nutrition 5th ed. Sobotka L, ed. Galen, Prague, Chapter to be published, September 2018.

• Dudrick SJ. Nutrition in Cardiothoracic Surgery. Chapter in Nutrition and the Surgical Patient. T. Jaksic, B.P. Modi, C. Van Way, III, eds. Chapter to be published, 2019.

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Faculty Forward

Clinical Sciences faculty updates Thomas Martin, MD

Wasique Mirza, MD, FACP

Assistant Chair of Pediatrics Professor of Pediatrics

Regional Education Coordinator of Medicine, North Campus Associate Professor of Medicine

Proudest moments

Publications

My proudest moment does not relate to me alone.

Moments of pride always reflect relationships and the accomplishments one is able to achieve within those relationships. With this understanding, I need to say my best moment was my marriage to my dear wife, Rev. Dr. Lois D. Martin. There were many accomplishments that were achieved during our partnership. One of the most outstanding highlights was the opening of the first children’s hospital that has ever been built in a rural area of the United States.

There were many hurdles to be overcome.

However, building a hospital to care for children in northeast and northcentral Pennsylvania for the sake of the children and their medical needs was the right thing to do.

We had a superb Department of Pediatrics who worked together for the good of the whole, and that teamwork prevailed to provide the hospital we have now. On the opening day, there was a parade of patients in beds, wheelchairs, isolettes and bassinets, as well as of caregivers and staff. It was truly an awesome event.

It is my hope that this children’s hospital continues to serve the community and the children, but also to provide the opportunity for teaching and learning for the Geisinger Commonwealth medical students.

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• Chaudhary A, Duvoor C, Reddy Dendi VS, Mirza W. Clinical Review of Antidiabetic Drugs: Implications for Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Management. Frontiers in Endocrinology (Lausanne).

2017 24(8):e6 PMID: 28167928

Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine

Felix Cyamatare Rwabukwisi, MD, MPH Assistant Professor of Public Health healing. I think that education is the only way to sustain that process and to give back. During my first year at Geisinger Commonwealth, I always felt that this is the goal everyone has, and it is always good to see how everyone tries to contribute with different types of skills, knowledge and talents — students included!

Published papers Felix C. Rwabukwisi, MD, MPH, joined the Department of Clinical Sciences as assistant professor of public health.

In the field of global public health, his specialty has been to harness knowledge generation and utilization to ensure that research and academic work are leveraged with service delivery. Dr. Rwabukwisi has dedicated the last eight years to global health delivery leadership and social activism for global healthcare equity with Partners in Health (PIH)/Inshuti Mu Buzima (IMB), in Rwanda. During his tenure at PIH, he also served as an advisor to the Rwandan Ministry of Health to develop and improve policies and processes geared toward comprehensive primary healthcare in the country using the World Health Organization’s six building blocks of a health system framework.

Dr. Rwabukwisi earned his master’s in public health/clinical effectiveness from Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, and his MD in general medicine from the National University of Rwanda. He is also earning a graduate certificate in conflict transformation and civil society initiatives from the School of International Training Graduate Institute in Vermont.

Why I teach The medical profession encompasses three pillars of my aspirational professional goals: healing the body, healing the mind/ spirit and healing society. In my life, I have needed all those types of healing daily, and the most impressive moments have always been to see people and society

• Thomson DR, Amoroso C, Atwood S, Bonds MH, Rwabukwisi FC, Drobac P, Finnegan KE, Farmer DB, Farmer PE, Habinshuti A, Hirschhorn LR, Manzi A, Niyigena P, Rich ML, Stulac S, Murray MB, Binagwaho A. 2018. Impact of a health system strengthening intervention on maternal and child health outputs and outcomes in rural Rwanda 2005–2010. BMJ Glob Health.

2018.

• Rwabukwisi FC, Bawah AA, Gimbel S, Phillips JF, Mutale W, Drobac P. Health System Strengthening: A qualitative evaluation of implementation experience and lessons learned across five African countries. BMC Health Services Research, 2017.

• Odhiambo J, Rwabukwisi FC, Rusangwa C, Rusanganwa V, Hirschhorn LR, Nahimana E, Ngamije P, Hedt-Gauthier BL. Health worker attrition rates and factors at a rural district hospital in Rwanda: a need for improved placement and retention strategies. International Journal of Health Policy Management. 2017.

Educational poster • Rwabukwisi FC, Ryczak K, Toole L, Tarafder M. Longitudinal Community Health Research Project: Colorectal Cancer Screening. Symposium on curriculum-based community health and quality improvement scholarship.

Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine. 2018

Invited academic oral presentations • Rwandan Public Health Evolution and Global Health Epidemiologic Transition Phenomenon. Global Health Society.

Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine, Scranton, PA. September 2017.

• Update on Community Collaborative Partnerships. National Public Health Week keynote presentation to Students Public Health Club. Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine, Scranton, PA. September 2017.

• Pre and Post Rwandan Genocide against Tutsis’ and public health work.

A panel discussion with the Minority Association of Pre-Medical Students at Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine. Scranton, PA. April 2018.

• Strengthening the Global Health System: Lessons Learned from Africa.

Presentation to The Schemel Forum World Affair Luncheon. The University of Scranton, Scranton, PA. April 2018.

• Rwabukwisi FC, Hedt-Gauthier BL, Ribakare M, Mukamana J, Gatesi Y, Stulac S, Drobac P, Amoroso CL, Gupta N. Five-year Outcomes among Children Receiving Antiretroviral Therapy in a Community-Based Accompaniment Program in Rural Rwanda. The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal. 2016.

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Faculty Forward

Clinical Sciences faculty updates Vicki T. Sapp, PhD

Michelle Schmude, EdD, MBA

Director of Student Engagement, Diversity and Inclusion, Department of Student Affairs Assistant Professor, Department of Clinical Sciences

Associate Dean for Admissions, Enrollment Management and Financial Aid Assistant Professor, Department of Clinical Sciences

Award • Distinguished Alumnus award from the Educational Opportunity Department at State University of New York College at Buffalo.

Presentations

Proudest moments Although I have 20 years of higher education experience, I have had to educate myself regarding the culture and climate of medical education. My commitment to devote time to explore what I do not know has allowed me to ignore less. My one-year tenure at Geisinger Commonwealth has allowed me to study the Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine mission and vision using a naïve lens. I decided to transform the essence of Geisinger Commonwealth mission and vision into programmatic initiatives. Two of the programmatic initiatives are the First-Generation Celebration of Achievement award ceremony and the First-Generation Student Support Committee. Here at Geisinger Commonwealth, we pride ourselves on providing opportunities for diversity and inclusion. I am proud to say the two inaugural initiatives mentioned here are concrete examples of our attempt to support, encourage, advocate for and provide resources and services to assist in the access, retention and success of first-generation students. As the Student Affairs director of Student Engagement, Diversity and Inclusion, and with the assistance of faculty, staff, students and community stakeholders, my goal is to widen our reach to provide programmatic initiatives that continue to address access, retention and success of other marginalized groups in medical education.

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• Beyond the Bachelor’s Degree: Striving Toward Excellence.

Student Professional Development Conference, State University of New York College at Buffalo. Oct. 19, 2017.

• First Generation College Graduate Struggles are Real: Membership in Black Women Organizations Assist with Navigating White Spaces. Sixth Annual Black Doctoral Network Conference/Theme: Theory, Knowledge, and Practice, Charlotte, NC. Oct. 25 – 27, 2018.

“I don’t study to know more, but to ignore less.”

– Unknown

Proudest moments This past January and May, Tanja Adonizio, MD, and I were invited to be faculty members in the Harvard Macy Institute’s Program for Educators in Health Professions.

Collaborating with world-renowned faculty and scholars is a true honor and it has helped me to advance my teaching, research and mentoring skills.

In addition, I was overwhelmed and humbled when Darina Lazarova, PhD, asked me to be the keynote speaker for the 2018 Alpha Epsilon Lambda Honor Society induction ceremony. After working with the amazing students in the master of biomedical sciences program over the last year, it was an honor and privilege to be a part of their special day celebrating their academic achievements at the graduate level.

Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine

Faculty awards and accomplishments • Faculty member, Harvard Macy Institute Program for Educators in Health Professions, 2018.

• Keynote speaker, Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine Alpha Epsilon Lambda Honor Society Ceremony, 2018.

• Applications/Promotions Committee and Curriculum Development Committee member, Pennsylvania AHEC Scholars program, 2018 – present.

• Board of Directors, Northeast PA Area Health Education Center, 2017 – present.

• Invited reviewer, Elsevier Medical User Research Pool, 2018 – present.

• Macy Grant, “A Multi-Institution Effort to Advance Professionalism and Interprofessional Education with ProfessionalFormation.org” Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine team member (funded).

• Health Resources and Services Administration, Bureau of Health Workforce Centers of Excellence program, Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine team member (funded).

• Board of Directors, Meals on Wheels, 2014 – present.

• Board member, Northeast Pennsylvania Employment Consortium, Career Services Division, 2015 – present.

Publications • Karnieli-Miller O, Vu R. PFO Module 3 Hidden Curriculum & Professional Formation. Adonizio T, Agris J, Arscott K, Danoff D, Foote E, Malkemes S, Post S, Schmude M, Shumacher M, Szarek J, Strano-Paul L, Trial J, reviewers. ProfessionalFormation. org. Philadelphia, PA: Drexel University; 2018. Available from ProfessionalFormation.org.

• Holmboe E. PFO Module 4 The Clinicians’ Role in Regulating Peers and the Profession. Adonizio T, Agris J,

Arscott K, Danoff D, Foote E, Malkemes S, Post S, Schmude M, Shumacher M, Szarek J, Strano-Paul L, Trial J, reviewers. ProfessionalFormation. org. Philadelphia, PA: Drexel University; 2018. Available from ProfessionalFormation.org.

• Schmude, M. Holistic Review: Fad or Future of Medical School Admissions?

HarvardMacy.org/index.php/hmi/ holistic-review-fad-or-future-of-medicalschool-admissions. 2017.

Presentations • Sharp B, Schmude M. “Communication Styles: How to Better Understand and Effectively Communicate with Others.”

Harvard Macy Program for Educators in Health Professions. May 16, 2018.

• Adonizio T, Schmude M, Joyce J. “Creation of an ePortfolio to Promote Professionalism and Explore the Intersection with Resiliency.” The 2018 Academy for Professionalism in Health Care National Conference. April 27, 2018.

• Schmude M, Adonizio T, Joyce J. “Design Thinking as a Framework for the Creation of an ePortfolio to Promote and Assess the Professionalism Competency.”

Association of American Colleges and Universities Annual Meeting. Jan. 27, 2018.

• Schmude, M. “Technical Standards and the Medical School Curriculum” tabletop session. Association of American Colleges and Universities National General Meeting. Nov. 4, 2017.

Other presentations and proceedings • Constructing Meaningful Personal Statements – Workshop presenter, Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine’s HRSA Center of Excellent Undergraduate and Prematriculation Program, 2018.

of Excellent Undergraduate and Prematriculation Program, 2018.

• Effective Design for Poster Presentations – Workshop presenter, Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine’s HRSA Center of Excellent Undergraduate and Prematriculation Program, 2018.

• Developing Your Curriculum Vitae – Workshop presenter, Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine’s HRSA Center of Excellent Undergraduate and Prematriculation Program, 2018.

• Effective Design for PowerPoint Presentations – Workshop presenter, Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine’s HRSA Center of Excellent Undergraduate and Prematriculation Program, 2018.

• Healthcare Careers and an Overview of the Medical School Application Process – Presenter, Pennsylvania Association of College Admission Counselors Northeast College Fair, 2018.

• Interprofessional Case Study: Opioid Overdose – Facilitator, Northeast/ central Pennsylvanian Interprofessional Education Coalition Annual Summit, 2018.

• How to Become a Competitive Medical School Applicant – Presenter, Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine’s Jan Plan, 2018.

• How to Become a Competitive Medical School Applicant – Presenter, Drexel University’s Master of Biomedical Sciences, 2017.

• Overview of the Medical School Application Process – Presenter, Drexel University’s Master of Biomedical Sciences, 2017.

• How to Become a Competitive Medical School Applicant – Workshop presenter, Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine’s HRSA Center

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Faculty Forward

Clinical Sciences faculty updates Margrit Shoemaker, MD, FACP Assistant Chair of Internal Medicine Assistant Professor of Medicine

Projects

Honors and awards • 2018 Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Award • Induction into Gold Humanism Society • 2018 Mark Miller Faculty Teaching Award • 2018 Central Campus Outstanding Faculty Mentor Award

Posters • Shoemaker M, Glunk D, Callender D. Addressing Systems-Based Practice Competency Using Quality Improvement Projects in a Longitudinal Integrated Clerkship/ Block Hybrid M3 Curriculum.

International Association of Medical Science Educators. 2018.

Olapeju Simoyan, MD, MPH, BDS, FAAFP Associate Professor of Family Medicine and Epidemiology

• P atient Safety (PS) curriculum development – Selected

by Dr. Scheinman to lead interprofessional work group of GCSOM and Geisinger members in PS curriculum development in partnership with the Patient Safety Movement Foundation, Irvine, CA.

Collaboration

Publications

• American Journal of Medical Quality – invited to join editorial board

• Piper BJ, Shah DT, Simoyan OM, McCall KL, Nichols SD. (2018). Trends in Medical Use of Opioids in the U.S., 2006–2016. American Journal of Preventive Medicine. 54, 652– 660.

• Drexel Professional Identity Formation Module (editorial team member): • Module 3 Professional Formation: Empathy, Compassion & Hidden Curriculum • Module 4 The Clinician’s Role in Regulating Peers and the Profession ProfessionalFormation. org. Philadelphia, PA: Drexel University; 2018. Available from ProfessionalFormation.org.

• Piper BJ, Suarez MJ, Piserchio JP, Shah DT, Simoyan OM, McCall KL, Desrosiers CE, Nichols SD. (2018). Illicit and prescription drug misuse as reported to the Maine Diversion Alert Program. Forensic Science International. 285, 65–71.

Other accomplishments • Appointed the associate medical director of Geisinger Marworth and the program director for the Addiction Medicine fellowship

• Shoemaker M, Callender D, Cornacchione M, Gillott A, Martin T, Wilcox B, Chandragiri S. Clerkship Education Day 2.0: Modifications to Improve Assessment. International Association of Medical Science Educators. 2018.

• Shoemaker M, Callender D. Using Clerkship Education Days to Standardize Learning in a Community-Based Longitudinal Integrated Clerkship/Block Hybrid. Association for Medical Education in Europe. 2018.

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Dr. Simoyan serves as editor in chief of Black Diamonds, Geisinger Commonwealth’s arts and literary magazine.

Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine

Gerald P. Tracy, MD

Mark V. White, MD, MPH

Professor of Medicine

Vice Chair, Department of Clinical Sciences Associate Professor of Epidemiology

Gerald P. Tracy, MD, one of the seven founders of our School of Medicine, is not only a physician and a scientist, but he’s also an historian. Prompted by his interest in preserving our region’s medical history, he asked the local medical societies in Luzerne and Lackawanna counties to let him study and catalog their archives. That request touched off a project that has grown far beyond his initial plans.

As the Scranton Times noted in an October 2017 news story that unleashed a deluge of artifact donations, the medical societies ended up loaning Dr. Tracy a treasure trove, “Most of the items have been locked away for the last six years,” the paper wrote. “They reveal a primitive time in health care, one not too long ago, when medical devices made a doctor’s bag look more like a presentday mechanic’s road kit. The collection contains a leather medicine pouch that unfolds to reveal corked glass vials secured by leather loops. The vials hold tiny pills of gelsemium and phenacetin, both painkillers, and strychnine, now mostly used as poison but once used to treat a number of ailments. A velvetlined wooden case holds a Civil Warera dissection kit with about a dozen glistening, macabre instruments — blades, tourniquets and a saw — used to sever limbs and leave them behind on the battlefield.”

From the original collections of the medical societies, Dr. Tracy’s historical collection has grown with numerous donations from people who read about Dr. Tracy’s efforts. The resulting display, contained in numerous lighted cases lining the School of Medicine’s second floor, effectively retrieves our region’s rich medical history from the shadows and puts it where it belongs: in a place of prominence in an institution that is itself already part of the story these artifacts tell.

Presentations/publications • White MV. Dual Degree Program via Collaboration of Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine MD program and East Stroudsburg University Graduate School Public Health Degree Programs. Panel presentation at Association for Prevention Teaching and Research annual conference, Philadelphia, PA. April 2018.

Honors/awards/ achievements • Applied for and awarded a second no-cost extension through July 2019 as PI on HRSA Grant T86HP24484-06-06: Training in Primary Care Medicine – Interdisciplinary and Interprofessional Graduate Joint Degree Program, June 2018. This will be the seventh consecutive year of funding as PI on this grant.

“That’s the thing I’m most excited about,” Dr. Tracy told the Scranton Times. “That we’re drawing a straight line, really, all the way back to Civil War times with this display.”

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Faculty Forward

Clinical Sciences faculty updates Brian Wilcox, MD, PhD Assistant Chair of OB-GYN Associate Professor of OB-GYN • Radin RS, Mumford SL, Sjaarda LA, Silver RM, Wactawski-Wende J, Lynch AM, Perkins NJ, Lesher LL, Wilcox BD, Hinkle SN, Plowden TC, Kim K, Schisterman EF. (2017) Recent attempted and actual weight change in relation to pregnancy loss: a prospective cohort study. BJOG. 2018 May;125(6):676-684.

Peer-reviewed papers published in 2017–2018 • Kim K, Browne RW, Nobles CJ, Radin RG, Holland TL, Omosigho UR, Connell MT, Plowden TC, Wilcox BD, Silver RM, Perkins NJ, Schisterman EF, Nichols CM, Kuhr DL, Sjaarda LA, Mumford SL. (2018) Associations between preconception plasma fatty acids and pregnancy outcomes. Epidemiology. In press.

• Kim K, Schisterman EF, Silver RM, Wilcox BD, Lynch AM, Perkins NJ, Browne RW, Lesher LL, Stanford JB, Ye A, Wactawski-Wende J, Mumford.

(2018) Shorter time to pregnancy with increasing preconception carotene concentrations among women with 1 to 2 previous pregnancy losses. Am J Epidemiol. 2018 May 14. doi: 10.1093/ aje/kwy101. [Epub ahead of print].

• Nobles CJ, Mendola P, Mumford SL, Naimi AI, Yeung EH, Kim K, Park H, Wilcox B, Silver RM, Perkins NJ, Sjaarda L, Schisterman EF. (2018) Preconception Blood Pressure Levels and Reproductive Outcomes in a Prospective Cohort of Women Attempting Pregnancy. Hypertension.

2018 May;71(5):904-910.

• Radin RG, Sjaarda LA, Silver RM, Mumford SL, Perkins NJ, Wilcox BD, Pollack AZ, Schliep KC, Nobles CJ, Plowden TC, Schisterman EF. (2018) C-reactive protein in relation to fecundability and anovulation among eumenorrheic women. Fertil Steril. 2018 Feb;109(2):232-239.

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• Sjaarda LA, Radin RG, Silver RM, Mitchell E, Mumford SL, Wilcox B, Galai N, Perkins NJ, WactawskiWende J, Stanford JB, Schisterman EF. Preconception low-dose aspirin restores diminished pregnancy and live birth rates in women with low grade inflammation: a secondary analysis of a randomized trial. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2017, 102(5), 1495.

• Pugh SJ, Schisterman EF, Browne RW, Lynch AM, Mumford SL, Perkins NJ, Silver R, Sjaarda L, Stanford JB, Wactawski-Wende J, Wilcox B, Grantz KL. Preconception maternal lipoprotein levels in relation to fecundability. Hum Reprod. 2017 May 1;32(5):1055-1063 • Kim K, Pugh SJ, Nobles CJ, Connell MT, Plowden TC, Bloom MS, Silver RM, Schisterman EF, Perkins NJ, Wilcox BD, Sjaarda LA, Mumford SL. Associations of serum fat-soluble micronutrients with live birth, pregnancy loss, and pregnancy complications among women with prior pregnancy losses.

(Hum Reprod, in 2nd review, May 2018).

• Schliep KC, Mumford SL, Silver RM, Wilcox BD, Radin RG, Perkins NJ, Galai N, Park J, Kim K, Sjaarda LA, Plowden T, Schisterman EF. The effects of preconception perceived stress on reproductive hormones, ovulatory function, and time to pregnancy.

(Epidemiology, in 2nd review, May 2018).

Peer-reviewed conference workshops: 2017–2018 • Wilson-Delfosse A, Fall L, Dell M, Pozanski A, Wilcox B, Harris D, Fulton T, Nixon J, Radcliffe T. (2018) Integrate now: Evidence-Based Tools to Advance Cognitive Integration of Basic and Clinical Sciences. 22nd Annual Meeting of the International Association of Medical Science Educators (IAMSE), Henderson, NV. (6-hour workshop) • Fall L, Wilcox B. (2018) Using Integrated Illness Scripts to Facilitate Meaningful Transfer of Core Basic Science Understanding into Common Clinical Decision-Making. AAMC Northeast Group on Educational Affairs (NEGEA), Hofstra University, Zucker School of Medicine. (90-minute workshop) • Fall L, Fulton T, Nixon J, Pozanski A, Wilcox B, Wilson-Delfosse A. (2017) In Science We Trust: Evidence-Based Methods for Cognitive Integration of Basic and Clinical Sciences. Annual Meeting of the International Association of Medical Science Educators (IAMSE), Burlington, VT. (6-hour workshop)

Abstracts (oral or poster presentations): 2017–2018 • Brunozzi S, Wilcox BD. (2018) Investigating Appropriate Antibiotic Usage in Patients Undergoing Gynecologic Surgery. Poster: Annual Clinical and Scientific Meeting of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), Austin, TX. April 2018.

• Wilcox BD, Grezzo L, Prezkop G. (2018) Barriers to Care for Pregnant Mothers with Opiate Addiction. 2018 Pennsylvania Pain and Addiction Summit, Wilkes-Barre, PA. April 2018.

• Wilcox B, Wilson-Delfosse A, Pozanski A, Fall L, Harris D, Nixon J, Fulton T. (2018) Don’t Re-invent the Wheel, Re-purpose It: Using Existing Cases to Integrate Basic Science Content

Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine

Nicole Woll, PhD, MEd Associate Dean and Vice President, Faculty and Continuing Professional Development and Differential Diagnosis Using Integrated Illness Scripts. Oral: 22nd Annual Meeting of the International Association of Medical Science Educators (IAMSE), Henderson, NV. • Harris D, Paganini A, Wilcox B, Sheridan L, Schwartz J, Radcliffe T, Fall L, Wilson-Delfosse A. (2018) Development of a Physiology Core Concept Framework to Facilitate Integration with Clinical Decision Making. Oral: 22nd Annual Meeting of the International Association of Medical Science Educators (IAMSE), Henderson, NV. • Fulton T, Fall L, Pozanski A, Dell M, Nixon J, Wilcox B, Wilson-Delfosse A, Harris D, Radcliffe T. (2018) Use of a Curriculum Database to Drive Development of Cases That Foster Cognitive Integration of Foundational Science Knowledge and Clinical Decision-Making. Oral: 22nd Annual Meeting of the International Association of Medical Science Educators (IAMSE), Henderson, NV. • Shoemaker M, Callender D, Cornacchione M, Gillott A, Martin T, Wilcox B, Chadragiri S. (2018) Clerkship education Day 2.0: Modifications to improve Assessment. Poster: 22nd Annual Meeting of the International Association of Medical Science Educators (IAMSE), Henderson, NV.

SL, Connell MT, Wilcox BD, White MV, Schisterman EF. (2018) The association between preconception fasting glucose and insulin with anovulation or time to pregnancy (TTP). Poster: 31st Annual Meeting of the Society for Pediatric and Perinatal Epidemiologic Research (SPER), Baltimore, MD. June 2018.

• Mumford SL, Kim K, Browne RW, Sjaarda LA, Connell MT, Omosigho UR, Kuhr DL, Wilcox BD, Silver RM, Perkins NJ, Holland T, Schisterman EF. (2017) Plasma fatty acids and ovulation in women with proven fecundity. Poster: American Society for Reproductive Medicine. October 2017.

• Plowden TC, Connell MT, Mendola P, Kim K, Nobles C, Wilcox B, Kuhr DL, Galai N, Gibbins K, Silver RM, Schisterman EF, Mumford SL. (2017) Association of a family history of autoimmune disease with time to pregnancy, pregnancy loss, and live birth rate. American Society for Reproductive Medicine. October 2017.

Our Mission to Teach

• Callender D, Triano M, Cornacchione M, Gillott A, Martin T, Powell K, Shoemaker M, Wilcox B, Chadragiri S. (2018) Towards CompetencyBased Education: A Developmentally Appropriate Clinical Skills Assessment and Feedback Program for Third year Medical Students.

Poster: 22nd Annual Meeting of the International Association of Medical Science Educators (IAMSE), Henderson, NV.

“Education can only be enhanced by community; education is not a building, but a lifestyle and an environment.”

• Holland TL, Radin RG, Sjaarda LA, Hinkle SN, Kim K, Mumford

– Robert John Meehan

Proudest moments Each year, I can honestly say that the Our Mission to Teach conference is one of my proudest moments. More recently we have been able to expand our audience in providing this course on two separate dates in different locations.

The past two years, our faculty and resources have come together to make this possible in the northeast and in Danville. The 10th Annual Our Mission to Teach has already surpassed my expectations and ambitions, and I am excited to say this may be our best year yet. Members of our education community, including our Medical Education Certificate Course scholars, have come together to plan an exciting event for all of our faculty interested in advancing their skills in feedback and assessment.

This year marks the 10th year for Our Mission to Teach conference. Our Mission to Teach is a daylong interactive course intended for faculty across the continuum of medical education. This event brings together our education community in a collaborative setting and strives to advance our goals of facilitating a leaner-centered clinical learning environment.

This year’s focus is back to the basics of foundational teaching skills, with a tighter focus on feedback and assessment strategies.

The agenda includes three plenary sessions incorporating a broad introduction of the culture of feedback, competency-based medical education and the assessment of the systems-based practice and practice-based learning competencies, coupled with breakout workshops.

Our Mission to Teach topics of the past include “The Diagnosis and Treatment of the Struggling Learner” and “The Hidden Curriculum.”

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Faculty Forward

Basic Sciences faculty updates 2017–2018 Professor of the Year for the MD Class of 2021 Abhishek Yadav, MBBS, MSc Associate Professor of Anatomy

“Dr. Yadav is a human textbook.

However, that’s not the main reason we all loved him in Human Structure and Function (HSF). His patience and clarity both in the lab and the classroom made him a truly special teacher. His group sessions in the lab during exam week were so valuable and made every student feel so prepared for the anatomy practicals. Additionally, his enthusiasm to work with student leaders to adjust the course as we went along demonstrated his strong desire to do whatever it takes to help us through HSF.” – Jordan Alter MD Class of 2021

Abhishek Yadav, MBBS, MSc, was voted 2017–2018 Professor of the Year for the MD Class of 2021 — and he has been chosen by the first-year students for the past four years. He teaches Anatomy and Embryology at Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine, as well as Case-based Learning. He is course director of Human Structure and Function, a 22-credit course required of all first-year medical students.

Dr. Yadav said he loves to teach and it is his students who “keep him moving.” He works in the school’s Center for Learning Excellence to help students review material for the USMLE Step 1 exam. He has also taught the Marywood University physician assistant program. Prior to teaching at Geisinger Commonwealth, Dr. Yadav taught at St. George’s University in Grenada. He is married and has a daughter and a son.

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“Dr. Yadav put careful consideration into planning his lectures and was able to break down the information in a way that promoted understanding, curiosity and engagement. He meets with small groups of students in the gross anatomy lab several times per week outside of class (sacrificing his own time) to help us better understand gross anatomy.”

– Daniel Caredeo MD Class of 2021

Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine

Patrick Boyd, PhD

Diana Callender, MBSS, DM

Professor of Biochemistry

Associate Dean for Undergraduate Medical Education Simulation Professor of Pathology

Poster presentation

Accomplishments

• Doane K, Sung Y-J, Boyd P. A Flipped Classroom Model for Teaching Histology Results in Better Assessment Scores on Higher Order Questions as Compared to Lectures. Poster Presentation. International Association of Medical Science Educators Annual Meeting. Las Vegas, NV. June 2018.

• Designing simulation-based interprofessional education for novice to experienced teams. Szarek JL, Reed T, Horsley TL, Callender D. Workshop. International Meeting on Simulation in Healthcare, San Diego, CA. January 2018.

• Strategies for Implementing Simulation in Preclinical Medical Education. Callender D, Szarek JL. Focused session. International Meeting on Simulation in Healthcare, San Diego, CA. January 2018.

• Professor, Professor Rounds International Meeting on Simulation in Healthcare, San Diego, CA. January 2018.

• Callender D, Triano M, Cornacchione M, Gillott A, Martin T, Powell K, Shoemaker M, Wilcox B, Iobst W. Towards Competency-based Education – A Developmentally Appropriate Clinical Skills Assessment and Feedback Program for Third Year Medical Students. Poster presentation. International Association of Medical Science Educators Annual Conference, Las Vegas, NV June 2018 • Waite GN, Callender D, Piper BJ, Doane K, Averill DB, Wilcox C, Szarek, JL. Longitudinal Assessment of Problem Solving in Medical School, A Feasibility Study of Voluntary Quizzes.

Poster presentation. International Association of Medical Science Educators Annual Conference, Las Vegas, NV. June 2018.

• Moderator, panel discussion “Changing the Face of Medicine: Women of Color in Medicine.”

Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine, Scranton, PA. March 2018.

• Shoemaker M, Callender D, Cornacchione M, Gillott A, Martin T, Wilcox B, Chandragiri S. Clerkship Education Day 2.0 Modifications to Improve Assessment. Poster presentation. Association of International Association of Medical Sciences Educators, Annual Conference, June 2018.

• Shoemaker M; Glunk D, Callender D. Addressing Systems-based Practice Competency Using Quality Improvement Projects in a Longitudinal Integrated Clerkship/ Block Hybrid M3 Curriculum. Poster presentation, International Association of Medical Science Educators Annual Conference, Las Vegas, NV. June 2018.

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Faculty Forward

Basic Sciences faculty updates Carmine Cerra, MD

Kathleen Doane, PhD

Raj Kumar, PhD

Associate Professor of Pathology

Professor of Anatomy

Director of Research Professor of Biochemistry

Proudest moments I received three teaching environment commendations this year, including the Patch Adams Award from the MD Class of 2018 for “the faculty mentor who taught us the meaning of patient-centered medicine and reminded us that sometimes laughter really is the best medicine.”

I was most gratified to be asked by the graduating class to participate with Margrit Shoemaker, MD, in the “hooding” of graduates.

Finally, I received the faculty STAR award (Service, Teamwork, Accountability and Resourcefulness) as part of employee recognition day.

I am here for one reason: student success!

Poster presentations

Publications

• Doane K, Sung Y-J, Boyd P. A Flipped Classroom Model for Teaching Histology Results in Better Assessment Scores on Higher Order Questions as Compared to Lectures. Poster Presentation. International Association of Medical Science Educators Annual Meeting. Las Vegas, NV. June 2018.

• Khan SH, McLaughlin WA, Kumar R. Site-specific phosphorylation regulates the structure and function of an intrinsically disordered domain of the glucocorticoid receptor. Scientific Reports. 7, 15440, 2017.

• Waite GN, Callender D, Piper BJ, Doane K, Averill DB, Wilcox C, Szarek JL. Longitudinal Assessment of Problem Solving in Medical School, A Feasibility Study of Voluntary Quizzes.

Poster Presentation. International Association of Medical Science Educators Annual Meeting. Las Vegas, NV. June 2018.

• Kumar R. Spinal bulbar muscular atrophy, an inherited neurodegenerative disease: Potential mechanisms and therapeutic targets.

J Syst Integ Neurosci. 3(5), 1–3, 2017.

• Kumar R. Abstract: Role of sitespecific phosphorylation in the action of glucocorticoid receptor. Drug Discovery & Therapy World Congress, Boston, MA. 2017.

Invited talks/seminars • “Role of site-specific phosphorylation in the action of glucocorticoid receptor.”

Drug Discovery & Therapy World Congress, Boston, MA. 2017.

• “Structure and functions of the intrinsically disordered activation domain of the steroid receptors.”

Biacore User Day, The Wistar Institute, Philadelphia, PA. 2017.

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Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine

Jung Ling, PhD

Pamela A. Lucchesi, PhD, FAHA

Associate Professor of Molecular Biology

Professor of Physiology • Chavda B, Ling J*, Majernick T, Planey SL*. (2017) Antiproliferative factor (APF) binds specifically to sites within the cytoskeletonassociated protein 4 (CKAP4) extracellular domain. BMC Biochem.

18(1):13. doi: 10.1186/s12858-0170088-y. (*co-corresponding author)

Proudest moments The proudest moment of my academic activities is to integrate research into education. As the course lead for Laboratory Techniques, I was able to develop a new course for our Master of Biomedical Sciences program to broaden the students’ learning abilities and their future career choices. Three MD students are involved in research under my advising to better prepare for their future residence program. With my mentoring, one undergraduate student was also accepted to the master’s program of public health genetics at the University of Pittsburgh.

Scholarly activities • Mentoring a MD2 student to obtain a nationally competitive Alpha Omega Alpha Carolyn L. Kuckein Student Research Fellowship.

The project, entitled “Mapping glucocorticoid receptor variants with clinical outcomes of breast cancer patients in the Geisinger MyCode electronic health record-linked biobank,” is now under investigation with my guidance. This is the first time in our school’s history.

• Singhal A+, Agrawal A, Ling J*. (2018) Regulation of insulin resistance and type II diabetes by hepatitis C virus infection: A driver function of circulating miRNAs. J Cell Mol Med. 2018; 00:1–15. doi.org/10.1111/ jcmm.13553 (*corresponding author, +MD2 student)

• Singhal Aa, +, Lopez-Dee ZP+, Porreca Bb, Sprague Tc, Ling J*.

Snai2 is a new target to mediate glucocorticoid signaling on breast cancer cell migration. AACR Annual Meeting, Chicago. April 2018. (*co-corresponding author; +equal contribution; aMD2 student; bMBS student; cundergraduate student from Misericordia University) • Huang J, Huang A, Ling J*. Loss of function of eukaryotic initiation factor eIF4A3 significantly inhibits the growth of breast cancer. EMBO Conference: Protein Synthesis and Translational Control. Heidelberg, Germany. September 2017. (*cocorresponding author)

Awards and honors • Professor of the Year, MBS-Scranton, fall semester 2017 • Professor of the Year, MBS-Doylestown 2017–2018

Workshops/symposia/ publications • 2018 Organizer Susan G. Komen/ GCSOM Second Annual Metastatic Breast Cancer Symposium • Harvard University Extension Professional Development Program – Strategic Leadership • Zhang X, Lewis K, Wang Q, Kim JY, Lucchesi PA, Zhao Y. Microengineered assessment of intercellular mechanical transduction in adult cardiac myocytes from rats with volume overload heart.

Submitted: Lab on a Chip.

• Childers, RC, Sunyecz I, West TA, Cismowski MJ, Lucchesi PA, Gooch KJ. Role of cytoskeleton in the development of a hypofibrotic cardiac fibroblast phenotype in volume overload heart failure. In revision: Amer J Physiol: Heart Circul Physiol.

• Rezk PM, Lucchesi PA. Hyperhomocysteinemia and alcoholism: a double hit. Toxicol Forensic Med Open J. 2:84–87, 2017.

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Faculty Forward

Basic Sciences faculty updates William McLaughlin, PhD

Brian Piper, PhD

Associate Professor of Computational Biology

Assistant Professor of Neuroscience DT, Simoyan OM, McCall KL, Desrosiers CE, Nichols SD. (2018). Illicit and prescription drug misuse as reported to the Maine Diversion Alert Program.

Forensic Science International. 285, 65-71.

Proudest moments

Proudest moments

In translational bioinformatics, my laboratory continues to elucidate the overlapping genetic etiologies of comorbid diseases with a focus on conditions which are present at a significantly high rate with Alzheimer’s disease. With the goal of potentially improving the corresponding treatment strategies, my laboratory is building clinical information into existing online bioinformatics tools which include the KB-Rank search engine protein.som.geisinger.edu.

I very much enjoyed being part of the Summer Research Immersion Program again this year. It is rewarding to contribute to the transition among the summer research students from information consumers to information producers.

Experience in designing a study, analyzing data and crafting a manuscript greatly develops one’s appreciation for the nuances of evidence-based medicine.

Poster • tecBRIDGE conference, Scranton, PA. “A Stand-Alone Integration Platform for the Annotations of Protein Structures That Enables Disease to Medication Searches.” For more information, visit tecBridgePa.org/bioinformatics-track.

Publication • Khan SH, McLaughlin WA, Kumar R. “Site-specific phosphorylation regulates the structure and function of an intrinsically disordered domain of the glucocorticoid receptor.” Scientific Reports. 7.1 (2017): 15440.

Publications • Wang J, Nichols SD, McCall KL, Piper BJ. Pharmacoepidemiology and public policy regarding opioid retail distribution in Washington state from 2006–2016. Scholarly Communication Research in Progress, 2018. In press.

• Ogden C, Piper BJ. A regional analysis of stimulant retail drug sales throughout the United States from 2006–2016 and ADHD diagnostic trends. Scholarly Communication Research in Progress, 2018. In press.

• Chopra AC, Nichols SD, Piper BJ. “Nothing to disclose”: Quantification of conflicts of interest in Medscape.

Scholarly Communication Research in Progress, 2018. In press.

• Piper BJ, Shah DT, Simoyan OM, McCall KL, Nichols SD. (2018). Trends in Medical Use of Opioids in the U.S., 2006–2016. American Journal of Preventive Medicine. 54, 652-660.

• Piper BJ, Suarez MJ, Piserchio JP, Shah

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• Piper BJ, Lambert DA, Keefe RC, Smukler PU, Selemon NA, Duperry ZR. (2018). Undisclosed conflicts of interest among biomedical textbook authors. American Journal of Bioethics: Empirical Bioethics. 9, 59-68.

• Piper BJ. (2018). Mother of Berries, ACDC, or Chocolope: Examination of the Strains Used by Medical Cannabis Patients in New England. Journal of Psychoactive Drugs. 50, 95-104.

Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine

Sonia Lobo Planey, PhD

Ying-Ju Sung, PhD

Associate Dean for Research and Scholarship Associate Professor of Biochemistry

Director of Anatomical Services Professor of Anatomy

Publication

Awards

• Chavda B, Ling J, Majernick T, Planey SL. Antiproliferative Factor (APF) Binds Specifically to Sites Within the Cytoskeleton-Associated Protein 4 (CKAP4) Extracellular Domain. BMC Biochem. 2017 Sep 11;18(1):13. doi: 10.1186/s12858-017-0088-y PMID: 28893174

• Learning Environment Commendation 2017–2018, Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine • Dissector Award, Class 2018, Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine, awarded to the faculty member who found the most difficult anatomy structures to identify for practicals.

• Certificate of Appreciation, Marywood University’s Institutional Review Board, 2018

Presentation • Doane K, Sung Y-J, Boyd P. A Flipped Classroom Model for Teaching Histology Results in Better Assessment Scores on Higher Order Questions as Compared to Lectures. International Association of Medical Science Educator Meeting, Las Vegas, NV. June 2018.

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Faculty Forward

Basic Sciences faculty updates John L. Szarek, PhD, CHSE Education Director for Simulation Professor and Director of Clinical Pharmacology Formation. Adonizio T, Agris J, Arscott K, Danoff D, Foote E, Malkemes S, Post S, Schmude M, Shumacher M, Szarek JL, Strano-Paul L, Trial J, reviewers. ProfessionalFormation. org [Internet]. Philadelphia, PA: Drexel University; 2018. Available from ProfessionalFormation.org.

Honors/awards • AAMC Council of Faculty and Academic Societies Spring Meeting.

Szarek JL. Society Representative representing the American Association for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics.

• WCP2018 IUPHAR Pharmacology Education Section Satellite conference, Educating scientists and healthcare professionals for 21st century pharmacology, Kyoto Japan, June 2017 (member of steering committee)

Publications/book chapter • Jeffries WB, Huggett KN, Szarek, JL. Lectures. In A Practical Guide for Medical Teachers. 5th ed. Dent JA, Harden RM, and Hunt D, eds. Elsevier, Canada. 2017.

Research accomplishments • A Macy Collaborative: A MultiInstitution Effort to Advance Professionalism and Interprofessional Education with ProfessionalFormation. org (PFO) awarded to Drexel University.

Grant from Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation to pilot test and enhance PFO with 14 institutions nationally within an IPE framework. Dennis Novack and Kymberlee Montgomery, PIs.

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• Holmboe E. PFO Module 4 The Clinicians’ Role in Regulating Peers and the Profession. Adonizio T, Agris J, Arscott K, Danoff D, Foote E, Malkemes S, Post S, Schmude M, Shumacher M, Szarek JL, Strano-Paul L, Trial J, reviewers. ProfessionalFormation. org [Internet]. Philadelphia, PA: Drexel University; 2018. Available from ProfessionalFormation.org.

Presentations • Reed T, Horsley L, Quinones D, Szarek J, Dong C. Applying the flipped classroom model to interprofessional simulation. Collaborating Across Borders VI, Banff, Alberta, Canada.

October 2017.

• Szarek JL, Swiderski D, Kuszajewski M. Society for Simulation in Healthcare: CHSE Readiness Review Course. Los Angeles, CA. January 2018.

• Szarek JL, Reed T, Horsley TL, Callender D. Designing simulationbased interprofessional education for novice to experienced teams.

Workshop, IMSH 2018, Los Angeles CA, January 2018.

• Callender D, Sheakley M, Szarek JL. Strategies for implementing simulation in preclinical medical education.

Society for Simulation in Healthcare IMSH2018, Los Angeles, CA. January 2018.

• Invited speaker, Josiah Macy Collaborative kickoff meeting, IPE @ Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine 24 July, Philadelphia, PA.

• Invited speaker, IUPHAR Pharmacology Education Project. Association of Medical School Pharmacology Chairs, Panama. February 2018.

• Orit Karnieli-Miller O, Vu R. PFO Module 3 Hidden Curriculum & Professional

• Foote E, Szarek JL, Bolesta S, Arscott K, Malkemes S. A Required

Longitudinal Interprofessional Education Program in Teamwork (LIPET) for Medicine, Nursing and Pharmacy Students. Podium presentation at National Academies of Practice. Annual Meeting. Atlanta, GA. April 2018.

• Plenary speaker, Introducing the IUPHAR Pharmacology Education Project – PharmacologyEducation.org.

IUPHAR Education Section satellite conference WCP2018, Kyoto, Japan.

June 2018.

Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine

Gabi Waite, PhD Professor of Physiology and Immunology Medical Science Educators, Las Vegas, NV. June 2018.

• Ilya Frid I, Waite GN, Piper B. Conflicts of interest: How commonly do authors disclose their compensation for neurostimulation devices? Ninth annual summer research symposium.

Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine. July 2018.

Proudest moments What a great honor it has been to be an integral part of a group of young, aspiring physicians’ lives, and to have a role in the development of a new health education model that emphasizes synergy between clinical, research and educational activities and aims at providing a new clinical culture for the community. Geisinger Commonwealth has provided me with that opportunity — the opportunity to teach and direct courses as part of an educational continuum that starts on day one of the academic calendar and ends by working with our brightest and most promising future physicians to bring health and wellness to our community. I am also proud to have been able to contribute to the Thieme medical physiology book, a book that has the best interests of aspiring physicians at its core.

Honors/awards/ achievements

Leadership, June 2018.

• Board of Directors, Rocky Mountain Bioengineering Society • Research Ambassador, German Academic Exchange Service • Learning environment commendation, GCSOM class of 2020 • Learning environment commendation, GCSOM class of 2021

• Harvard Professional Development Programs, Harvard Division of Continuing Education, Strategic

“What a great honor it has been to be an integral part of a group of young, aspiring physicians’ lives.”

– Gabi Waite, PhD

Publications/presentations • Waite GN, Sheakley MS. Thieme Test Prep for the USMLE®: Medical Physiology Q&A. Thieme Medical Publishers. New York, Stuttgart. Dec. 14, 2017.

• Danek R, Berlin K, Waite GN, Geib R. Perceptions of nutrition education in the current medical school curriculum.

Family Medicine. 49(10): 801-4, 2017.

• Waite GN, Callender D, Piper BJ, Doane K, Averill DB, Wilcox C, Szarek JL. Longitudinal assessment of problem solving in medical school, a feasibility of voluntary quizzes. 22nd annual meeting, International Association of

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Faculty Forward

News

Curricular innovation for the future The faculty and leadership of Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine are critically assessing the current curriculum with the goal of ensuring that graduates are prepared to enter the next phase of their education equipped with the foundational knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary to meet the healthcare needs of the patients, populations and healthcare delivery systems they serve. The targeted completion date is the 2020–21 academic year.

As a member of the curriculum redesign team, John Arnott, PhD, associate professor of cell biology, reports that “the curriculum review is a great demonstration of how critical the partnership is between the faculty, staff and administration at GCSOM for improving our students’ educational experience and ultimately helping their future patients.”

The guiding principles for this redesign include a curriculum designed with a developmental approach that will assure that graduates achieve the outcomes and competencies that will be identified at the outset and will guide the process. Emphasis will be on the six general competencies of medical knowledge, patient care, professionalism and professional identity formation, systems-based practice and safety, practice-based learning and interpersonal and communication skills. Content within the curriculum will emphasize applied knowledge that is focused on the content needed to prepare future physicians to work effectively within the healthcare systems of the future.

With the integration of the medical school and Geisinger, the medical school has the unique opportunity of reshaping the MD curriculum to actualize the academic health center’s shared vision. The new curriculum will provide foundational learning in a continuum of professional development that includes undergraduate medical education, graduate medical education and unsupervised practice. It will anticipate the knowledge, skills and attitudes/behaviors required to meet the healthcare needs of the patient, the population and the healthcare delivery systems of the future.

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John Arnott, PhD Chair of Faculty Council Associate Professor of Cell Biology

Anthony Gillott, MD, FACS Vice Chair of Faculty Council Assistant Chair of Surgery

Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine

MBS curriculum redesign 2017–18 marked a new curriculum for the Master of Biomedical Sciences (MBS) program. The fall term for each cohort of students on the Scranton campus consists of two eightweek sessions, with Biochemistry and Cell Biology in the first session and Physiology and Human Genetics in the second session. Professional Development, the fifth core course, runs in both the fall and spring terms. In the spring and summer terms, MBS students take elective courses. Students expressed increased satisfaction with the curricular redesign.

Changes for 2018–2019, including electives in cancer research and emergency medical technician training, will provide additional options for students. Additionally, the School of Graduate Studies hired a director of Career Engagement to assist students with internships, research and gap year opportunities.

The placement rate for MBS graduates for the past two years to health professional schools, including MD, DO, PhD, veterinary and dental schools, has been greater than 70 percent.

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Faculty Forward

News

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Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine

Community Action Poverty Simulation Because poverty is the single best predictor of poor heath, Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine organizes a Community Action Poverty Simulation (CAPS) as the first simulation of the MD1 curriculum. This learning tool has been created help people understand the realities of poverty.

During a simulation, students role-play the lives of low-income families. Some are financial assistance recipients, some are disabled and some are senior citizens on Social Security. They have the stressful task of providing for basic necessities and shelter on a limited budget during the course of four 15-minute “weeks.� They interact with human service agencies, grocers, pawnbrokers, bill collectors, job interviewers, police officers and others.

Although play money is used, CAPS is not a game. The simulation uses the experience of real people. It enables participants to look at poverty from a variety of angles. Participation sensitizes our students to the realities of poverty and its impact on health.

Geisinger Commonwealth partners with local service providers.

The United Neighborhood Centers and Community Intervention Center facilitate the simulation to help improve the fidelity and feel of the simulation. After the simulation, all participants reflect on their experiences and brainstorm community change.

At Geisinger Commonwealth, we seek to train the physicians who recognize the importance of collaboration to improve the health and well-being in their communities. Addressing poverty is complex and takes a team. From their very first year, students are seeing how other dedicated professionals work to improve the lives of those they serve. Collaboration with these service leaders allows the School of Medicine to be part of the solution.

Jennifer Joyce, MD, professor of family medicine, and Betsy Mead, RN, clinical research associate, are trained facilitators for the CAPS programs developed by the Missouri Association for Community Action.

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Faculty Forward

News Longitudinal Community Health Intervention Projects MD1 students at Geisinger Commonwealth School of medicine experience the community as both classroom and laboratory as part of the Longitudinal Community Health Intervention Projects (L-CHIPs).

Under the direction of Mushfiq Tarafder, PhD, MPH, director of Preventative Health and Community Studies and associate professor of epidemiology, L-CHIP is intended to provide students with the opportunity to learn about a particular community, principles of community engagement and the complexity of community health/public health interventions through active participation in group projects.

In L-CHIP, first-year medical students work in small groups with a course instructor and one or more community organizations and participate in a multi-site, multi-year project aimed at improving the health of the local communities. This experience is also expected to increase students’ understanding of social and environmental determinants of health.

In addition, L-CHIP is designed to meet service learning goals by engaging students with the communities, public health and nonprofit organizations, and healthcare delivery systems in the regions served by Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine. The project objectives are directly informed by communityidentified concerns, and by participating in

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these projects, students will take an active role in responding to the health needs of northeast and north-central Pennsylvania.

Over the next few years, MD1 classes will be implementing projects focused on hypertension management, screening for colorectal and lung cancers and the impact of adverse childhood events.

“In L-CHIP, our medical students learn hands-on how they, as future practicing physicians, can play an important role in improving health and well-being in their communities through collaborations and their involvement in community-level health interventions,” said Dr. Tarafder.

The faculty team responsible for designing and overseeing L-CHIPs consists of Mark White, MD, director of Physician and Society Course, Elizabeth Kuchinski, MPH, Felix Rwabukwisi, MD, MPH, and Mushfiq Tarafder, PhD, MPH.

Learning objectives • Describe the community in terms of key demographics, health indicators and health-related infrastructure.

• Discuss the purpose and core functions of pertinent community organization(s) and how they relate to behavioral, social and/or environmental determinants of health.

• Apply knowledge of epidemiological, biostatistical and public health principles in the critical evaluation of health literature.

• Describe, and where possible, apply the principal components of a community/public health intervention project and disseminate project protocol and findings through presentations.

• Discuss the complexity of public health intervention programs and importance of community engagement as a means of improving the health of populations.

• Meet service learning curricular requirements by participating in the above activities.

Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine

Students begin third-year rotations at Geisinger Holy Spirit

On July 16, 11 medical students at Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine began their third-year rotations at Geisinger Holy Spirit (GHS).

Joseph Torchia, MD, chief medical officer at GHS, said, “We are excited that this group of students will be exposed to the six major areas of medicine at GHS’s outstanding inpatient and outpatient clinical venues, and we are pleased that Richard Schreiber, MD, will serve as regional assistant dean.”

“We are delighted that these 11 students will get their first in-depth exposure to each discipline under the direction of the caring preceptors at GHS, each of whom will provide a positive learning experience,” said Janet Townsend, MD, regional associate dean for the Central Campus. “A number of Geisinger Commonwealth students have rotated through GHS this past year, with at least one student completing her entire third year at GHS.”

Dr. Torchia noted that GHS earned glowing reports from these students, adding, “By closely collaborating with our clinicians and the Undergraduate Education Department, we will welcome our students and give generously of our time and attention. Given this fact and the smaller size of this group, we are confident these students will form close bonds with one another while building strong personal relationships throughout GHS.”

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Faculty Forward

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Harvard Macy Institute’s Program for Educators in Health Professions Tanja Adonizio, MD (standing), associate dean for Student Affairs, and Michelle Schmude, EdD (sitting), associate dean for Admissions, Enrollment Management and Financial Aid and assistant professor

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Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine

Two members of Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine’s leadership team, alumni of the Harvard Macy Institute’s Program for Educators in Health Professions, have been invited to return to Harvard as faculty for the next offering of the educational program. Harvard Macy’s Program for Educators in Health Professions is designed to enhance the professional development of physicians, basic scientists and other healthcare professionals as educators.

Tanja Adonizio, MD, associate dean for Student Affairs, will serve as a faculty facilitator of a portion of the program called Journal Club. Michelle Schmude, EdD, associate dean for Admissions, Enrollment Management and Financial Aid, and assistant professor in the School of Graduate Studies, will facilitate a Journal Club group and a project group. Finally, Drs. Adonizio and Schmude will each “micro teach” a group of five to six attendees to help them hone their teaching skills.

“Being invited to return to Harvard Macy as faculty is a distinct honor for me and for Dr. Adonizio,” Dr. Schmude said. “It is the direct result of our participation in the program last year, when we presented our e-Portfolio project.”

Dr. Schmude explained that learners’ acceptance to the program is highly competitive and dependent in part upon the quality of the project proposal potential students are required to submit with their application. The ePortfolio project was developed as a means to create a baseline and then promote and assess medical students’ progress in the crucial area of professionalism.

Considered one of the six “core competencies” required of all residents by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, professionalism refers to the ability of the clinician to stay connected to the altruism and idealism that initially motivates students to choose medicine as a

career. A well-developed professional identity is believed to not only result in excellent patient care, but also helps physicians avoid emotional exhaustion and loss of personal fulfillment.

The ePortfolio project, introduced to the Class of 2021, will digitally collect Geisinger Commonwealth students’ reflections and provide tools to develop self-directed learning. It will also log periodic assessments of each student from faculty, peers and advisors.

“This will give us a 360-degree view of the student and get a sense of his or her progress from a variety of perspectives,” Dr. Adonizio said.

“For Harvard Macy, the project was very timely,” Dr. Schmude said.

“There is a great focus on professionalism and it’s something that is very difficult to assess, so having such a tool is invaluable. Also, ePortfolio can be used to track and assess core competencies and entrustable professional activities for medical students. It also has applications for developing competencies in other members of an interprofessional healthcare team. We see a wide range of ways it can be deployed.”

“The purpose of ePortfolio is to enable students to assess their own learning and to continually ask themselves what it means to be a doctor,” Dr. Adonizio said. “What we learned at Harvard Macy will greatly improve our plan. The tremendous ideas and feedback we received from the other attendees was almost overwhelming. In addition, listening to other projects helped us identify gaps in our own.”

In addition to being accepted as faculty in 2018, Dr. Schmude was also asked to write for Harvard Macy’s community blog.

Her first entry, “Holistic Review: Fad or Future of Medical School Admissions?” is available at HarvardMacy.org/index.php/hmi/ holistic-review-fad-or-future-of-medical-school-admissions.

The power of the e-Portfolio story won’t end with Harvard Macy.

Dr. Schmude said she and Dr. Adonizio will lead a session with Jennifer Joyce, MD, Professor of Family Medicine, on e-Portfolio at the Association of American Colleges and Universities annual conference in January. The meeting, entitled “Can Higher Education Recapture the Elusive American Dream?,” will take place in Washington, D.C. Based upon their acceptance as conference presenters, the Geisinger Commonwealth colleagues are also at work on an article that will be submitted to AAC&U’s journal, International Journal of ePortfolios.

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Faculty Forward

News Geisinger Commonwealth medical student receives AOA fellowship Ongoing research conducted in the lab of faculty member Jun Ling, PhD, has resulted in a highly competitive research fellowship award for student Adit Singhal, a member of Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine’s MD class of 2020.

Dr. Ling’s research is focused on the molecular heterogeneity of breast cancers in response to glucocorticoid as a co-treatment during chemotherapy, aiming to improve chemotherapy efficacy for the personalized medicine of breast cancers. Dr. Ling is studying the use of synthetic glucocorticoids like prednisone during chemotherapy for patients with four different subtypes of breast cancer, namely luminal A, luminal B, triple negative and HER2-enriched breast cancers.

Breast cancer cell lines and patient tissue specimens are the major system for him to address this complicated topic. Dr. Ling’s study will help doctors to tailor chemotherapy protocols for patients with

different subtypes of breast cancer.

Working with Dr. Ling, Adit submitted a proposal and was awarded an Alpha Omega Alpha (AOA) Carolyn L. Kuckein Research Fellowship. After a highly competitive application process, about 50 awards are made annually “to foster the development of the next generation of medical researchers.” AOA is the national medical honor society.

Adit’s winning proposal is entitled “Mapping Glucocorticoid Receptor Variants with Clinical Outcomes of Breast Cancer Patients in the Geisinger MyCode Electronic Health Record-linked Biobank.”

As part of the award, Adit will present his research findings at AOA’s national conference in 2019. “Our school is still relatively young,” Adit said, “but I believe awards like this and the many other thoughtful basic and clinical science

Adit Singhal (right), MD Class of 2020, with his mentor Jun Ling, PhD, associate professor of molecular biology

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research projects in which my peers are engaged is a testament to how strongly GCSOM encourages and nurtures students in the basic research process of asking and answering questions.”

According to AOA, the fellowships are extremely competitive and are meant to provide support for clinical investigation, basic laboratory research, epidemiology, social science/health services research, leadership or professionalism. Funds from the fellowship are expected to be the major source of support for the student.

Only one candidate from each school may be nominated. A student may only receive one fellowship during medical school.

The fellowship program honors Carolyn L. Kuckein, long-time administrator of AOA and an honorary member of the society, who died in 2004.

Adit Singhal (left), MD Class of 2020, with Margrit Shoemaker, MD, councilor of the Theta of Pennsylvania chapter of the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society

Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine

Alumni coming home Daniel Benyo, MD ’14

Patrick Connors, MD ’14

Afghani Roshan, MD ’13

Geriatrics and internal medicine in private practice associated with Lehigh Valley Health Network

Internal medicine at PrimeMed affiliated with Geisinger

Emergency medicine at Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center

Scranton, PA

Wilkes-Barre, PA

Jeremy Celestine, MD ’13

Jason Dinko, MD ’14

Daniel R. Shust, MD ’15

OB-GYN at OB/GYN Associates

Family medicine at Geisinger Woodbine Lane Danville, PA

Currently at The Wright Center and will be joining Commonwealth Health

Thomas Churilla, MD ’13

Kevin Musto, MD ’14

Maxwell Tolan, MD ’15

Radiation oncology at Northeast Radiation Oncology Centers

Family medicine at Commonwealth Health

Scranton, PA

West Pittston, PA

Currently at The Wright Center and will be joining Commonwealth Health

Drums, PA

Wilkes-Barre, PA

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570-504-7000 geisinger.edu/gcsom

Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine is committed to non-discrimination in all employment and educational opportunities.

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