GCSOM Journal - Summer 2017

Journal Summer 2017

The

For alumni, community and friends

This Community’s Medical College A partnership in, of and for the community

The New Yorker magazine’s April 3, 2017, cover featured artwork

by Malika Favre entitled “The Operating Theatre.” About her inspiration for the cover, the artist said, “I tried to capture that feeling of people watching you lose consciousness.” The cover sparked a worldwide social media phenomenon for a reason the artist never intended — the entire surgical team depicted was female. Women surgeons began staging photos of themselves in the cover pose and posting them online with the hashtag #ILookLikeASurgeon. Here is the photo Dr. Bashaw (top right, with glasses) and her Geisinger Medical Center colleagues posted.

Dr. Bashaw said that, as a female surgeon, she’s subject to a wide range of patient reactions, from praise to suspicion. Her favorite?

When there’s no reaction at all.

Alumni feature Sarah Bashaw, MD ’15 Residency: Geisinger Medical Center, Danville, PA Specialty: Surgery Hometown: Brownsville, VT

Sarah Bashaw, MD, a third-year surgical resident at Geisinger Medical Center (GMC) in Danville, said there was one thing for which she was eminently prepared on day one of the program.

As a 2015 graduate of Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine, she said her medical education laid a solid foundation in professional identity formation and it gave her a tremendous boost in residency. “I had a leg up on figuring out how to be a professional,” she said. “One of the most valuable lessons I learned at Geisinger Commonwealth was that I’d spend a long time training — during all the young years of my life — and that I couldn’t look at it as a pause. It’s not a pause. This is real life and you have to keep living it.”

This simple but powerful insight, coupled with time-management skills Dr. Bashaw attributes to Geisinger Commonwealth’s longitudinal integrated clerkship, resulted in her being named Intern of the Year at the end of her initial year in residency. She has also won an award for professionalism.

Her experiences in residency have been, she said, “wonderful so far.” She has grown close to her fellow residents and has high

praise for the surgeons teaching her. “The surgical attendings teach because they love it and that’s apparent,” she said. “They are very invested in making us great surgeons, but they also look out for us and try to create a family atmosphere. The faculty is committed to us all the time.” In this way, she said, her experiences at GMC mirror those she had at Geisinger Commonwealth. For this reason, she said, she was “thrilled” at the integration of medical school and health system.

As for her future, Dr. Bashaw said she is entirely open to staying in the region. She and her fiancé have a home in Bloomsburg and the Vermont native said that, in addition to her career in surgery, she hopes eventually to teach medical students or residents. She’s already begun honing her teaching skills. The newest cohort of surgical interns has just arrived at GMC, and she’s been chosen to mentor 2017 Geisinger Commonwealth graduate Joshua Cole, MD. “Surgery has a reputation for being hard on residents. Our program director is wonderful, inspiring — so I haven’t had that experience,” she said. “I’m happy now to have the chance to return the favor.”

tcmc.edu/AlumniSpotlight

A message from

the president and dean Ever since an influential Brookings Institution report first suggested “eds and meds” could build vibrant local economies, our region of Pennsylvania — so rich in both — has waited for its renaissance. Now, with the newly integrated Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine, all of the ingredients for powerful and lasting regional change have been brought together. I believe that as our vision unfolds for a medical university under the Geisinger Commonwealth banner, remarkable improvements in the health and well-being of our neighbors will follow. In the process, we’ll create a model of national significance that is deeply and substantially engaged in the communities we serve.

Consider all of the elements that have come together. Our community-based medical school is defined by our close collaboration with area healthcare systems and partnerships with community faculty. In turn, Geisinger has — for three decades — pioneered and embraced electronic health records. It also emphasizes person-centered care and boasts an unparalleled genomics program. In short, Geisinger has modeled for the nation what it means to be a truly integrated health system with caring as its core value. We expect our integration to result in doctors trained in a new culture that is the very definition of the future of medicine.

In addition to creating a physician pipeline, the integration means educating everyone who will belong to the healthcare teams of the future — from physicians and nurses to scientists and even counselors. Our vision for Geisinger Commonwealth includes a thriving School of Graduate Studies that will leverage the health system’s unique capabilities in areas like information technology, population health and genomics to prepare students for careers — some yet to be imagined — across the vast spectrum of healthcare. There is also the special magic that occurs when research scientists are paired with academia with a mission to improve community health. I expect Geisinger Commonwealth to attract top scientists, but also to create the environment and synergy needed to translate scientific discovery into drugs, techniques, devices and technology that will spur entrepreneurial activity. To varying extents, both institutions previously engaged in such activity, but the integration should aid in a surge of new energy and ingenuity.

The Journal Managing editor: Heather M. Davis, MFA Contributors: Heather M. Davis Elizabeth Zygmunt Board of Directors Robert Dietz, Chair Earl Foura, Vice Chair David T. Feinberg, MD, MBA Pedro J. Greer Jr., MD V. Chris Holcombe, PE David H. Ledbetter, PhD, FACMG Virginia McGregor David B. Nash, MD, MBA Deborah E. Powell, MD Steven J. Scheinman, MD Office of Institutional Advancement Phone: 570-955-1310 Email: development@tcmc.edu Marise Garofalo Vice President for Institutional Advancement Andrea Mulrine Senior Director of Advancement Operations/ Campaign Manager Jane A. Kanyock, MBA Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations Kara L. Badyrka Director of Special Events and Special Projects Anthony A. Cernera, MEd Director of Annual Giving and Alumni Relations

The benefits of the integration’s impact will extend far beyond healthcare and the economy, reaching into the very foundations of our communities: families, neighborhoods, even attitudes and outlook. The School of Medicine has long held that physical well-being is impossible when emotional needs are neglected and communities fall into decay. In Geisinger we found a like-minded partner eager to address the social risk factors of health unique in our region.

Karen A. Stine Administrative Assistant to the Vice President for Institutional Advancement

I believe the integration has created an educational environment profoundly different and extraordinarily distinct from any other. Because our work is in, of and for the community, our school will be an instrument to build stronger families and neighborhoods, in addition to educating exceptional doctors and scientists. This is the future of healthcare.

This is the future of medical education. I am proud that Geisinger and Geisinger Commonwealth are leading the change on both fronts.

We remain "This Community’s Medical College."

Read more on page 2.

Lori Ann Kerrigan Advancement Services Data Entry Clerk On the cover:

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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This Community’s Medical College In an eerily prescient 1995 work, a SUNY Oneonta philosophy professor wrote an essay on what he believed to be a crisis in modern universities — they have become bastions for an elite who talk to each other but fail to connect to the wider community.

His essay compared today’s universities to the cloistered monasteries of the early middle ages when, in fact, they should resemble the community-oriented universities founded in the high middle ages.

Achim Köddermann, PhD, describes those universities, notably at Paris and Bologna, as places where people with a minimal set of academic credentials could argue points with the august administrators. Instead of defending a thesis to a group of academics, students were required to deliver a “summa” of their work in plain language the whole community could understand.

These universities were the vibrant centers of their cities, their doors thrown open to anyone who proposed a solution to the issues and problems of the community at large. In this sense, Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine can claim medieval kinship.

The medical school has always prized community. Its regional campus model and its community faculty, so instrumental to teaching students unparalleled patient care, have been the school’s hallmarks. Since its integration with Geisinger, however, Geisinger Commonwealth has embarked on an ambitious plan to grow and will create a medical university with community wellbeing at its beating heart.

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Steven J. Scheinman, MD, Geisinger Commonwealth president and dean, explains the idea, saying, “The medical university concept means that, in addition to the School of Medicine, there will be other schools under the Geisinger Commonwealth umbrella. Our vision is to educate not just doctors, but a wide array of other professionals who, as members of a team, will gain the skills necessary to discern the social risk factors of health distinctly prevalent in northeastern and central Pennsylvania — but relevant universally — and bring their unique expertise to bear on finding solutions.”

Moreover, Dr. Scheinman says, Geisinger Commonwealth will be a university that lives not in a hallowed hall, but everywhere in the community, from the clinic to social service agencies which have for years worked in the trenches on issues vital to population health.

The School of Medicine has already done this to great effect.

William F. Iobst, MD, FACP, vice president for academic and clinical affairs and vice dean, points to School of Medicine curricular requirements like the Longitudinal Community Health Intervention Project (L-CHIP). The L-CHIP gives students the opportunity to work in small groups with a course instructor and one or more community organizations and participate in a multisite, multiyear project aimed at improving the health of

“ Nothing more closely resembles a monastery — lost in the countryside, walled, and flanked by alien barbarian hordes, inhabited by monks who have nothing to do with the world and devote themselves to their private researches — than an American university campus.”

— Author and philosopher Umberto Eco in his book Travels in Hyperreality The Journal

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is one of the school’s earliest community outreach initiatives and among its most successful. Of her growing number of REACHHEI students, Ida L. Castro, vice president for community engagement and chief diversity officer, says, “We’re trying to enrich the educational experiences of our low-income and firstgeneration-to-college students and make them continue to fall in love with learning, and particularly with life sciences and careers in health and medicine.”

Geisinger Commonwealth’s new School of Graduate Studies is a good example of how community informs curriculum. Scott Koerwer, EdD, who now serves as vice president for strategy, planning and communication, will also serve as the school’s dean.

He says graduate students pursuing a degree in population health, for example, will be required to develop a workable program for solving an issue of direct concern to northeast and central Pennsylvanians. Once a student learns how to foster partnerships to effect community change, those skills transfer anywhere in the country or around the world. To help with the requirement, community stakeholders, including social service agencies, will play a central role in student instruction. “Our community is brimming with experts outside the realm of medicine — people who run homeless shelters, shelters for victims of domestic abuse, food pantries — who have unique and valuable insights. Bringing their depth and breadth of knowledge to our curriculum is a vital component in the way Geisinger Commonwealth will educate the healthcare teams of the future. Our new graduate programs will be grounded in the most pressing healthcare challenges in our communities, and they will serve as not only an arena for education, but also the foundation of workforce development.”

The philosopher, Dr. Köddermann, pointed out in his essay that the medieval university’s authority “was not founded solely on knowledge, but on the capacity of the university to build a bridge between knowledge and the needs of society.”

Geisinger Commonwealth recognizes its obligation, not just to be that bridge, but to encourage the community itself to actively construct and maintain it.

the local communities. Dr. Iobst also cites the Family-Centered Experience program, where students are matched with a family coping with a chronic illness. “Illness and disease don’t occur in a vacuum. In fact, many chronic diseases arise specifically from a confluence of genetics and social risk factors — things like where you live, your cultural influences and barriers to care. Our students get experiences that put them directly in contact with this reality,” Dr. Iobst says. “As we grow into a medical university, nurses and graduate students will be immersed in community this way, as well.”

Geisinger Commonwealth’s Regional Education Academy for Careers in Health – Higher Education Initiative (REACH-HEI)

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This community’s medical college takes the message of Dr. Köddermann quite seriously.

Founded by and for the community, the school is embarking upon the kind of changes in its program that will transform how student success is measured in traditional master's degree programs. By evolving from emphasis on test scores to assessment of impact on specific community health challenges, Geisinger Commonwealth is poised to change why students enroll in programs. When students can work within a community to find collaborative solutions, they can take what they’ve learned and apply those skills anywhere.

“ How can we assume equal responsibility in a society which bases its decisions on the findings of an elite of experts?”

— “ Why the Medieval Idea of a Community-Oriented University is Still Modern,” Achim Köddermann, Educational Change (Spring 1995)

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Community-based psychiatry Seers and mystics, divinely inspired or demonically possessed, morally weak and lacking in willpower — through the ages each of these labels, along with the awe, fear, stigma and misunderstanding they provoke, have been applied to people struggling with a mental illness.

Care and workforce fragmentation perpetuate such stigma.

Thanks to a large-scale collaborative effort in northeast Pennsylvania (NEPA), people facing behavioral and mental health challenges will be less likely to suffer such labels that mark them as “other.” Their health needs will be less bifurcated between physical and mental. Many will receive the mental and behavioral health support services they need in the same facility that addresses their blood pressure and cholesterol levels. Best of all, these patients will receive comprehensive healthcare from well-trained, cross-disciplinary healthcare teams prepared to view each patient as a whole person — a person whose diagnoses developed in a time and a place and a context that all have a bearing on health outcomes.

This is the bold vision of the Behavioral Health Initiative (BHI), a collaborative venture with more than 100 community partners launched in 2014 by the Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine. With Terri Lacey, RN, serving as executive director, BHI envisions a multipronged approach to the region's behavioral health needs, especially its workforce problem.

Proposed solutions include a behavioral health certificate program for primary care providers. The greatest need, however, has undeniably been for psychiatrists. BHI partners agreed that developing a community-based residency that encourages psychiatrists to plant their roots right here in NEPA could be an incredible catalyst to transformational redesign and integration of mental and behavioral healthcare services.

With well-established primary care graduate medical education (GME) programs in family medicine and internal medicine, The Wright Center, the largest national Teaching Health Center GME Consortium, was the logical partner to seek program accreditation and funding for a psychiatry residency. Scranton psychiatrist Sanjay Chandragiri, MD, stepped up to be the residency’s founding program director. Dr. Chandragiri worked with BHI to create a unique training program, one in which the community is the classroom and psychiatry residents learn alongside their primary care peers in family and internal medicine to converge these disciplines around shared concern for the overall health and well-being of every patient served.

“Our program is a bit unique, as most psychiatry residencies are located in large academic medical centers,” said Dr. Chandragiri.

“We are community-based — we are one of only 10 such programs in the nation. In community settings, our residents will treat patients in the primary medical and mental health trenches, seeing a wide variety of conditions, while developing longitudinal relationships with patients with serious, persistent mental illness in more traditional settings.”

Dr. Chandragiri also noted that the community setting means residents will work cooperatively with community-based

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case managers and healthcare resource providers who don’t necessarily have a large presence in hospitals. “This is truly integrated, comprehensive primary healthcare,” he said.

“It’s where psychiatry is going, but few training programs currently reflect this future.”

Among the incoming residents is Alex Slaby, MD, a 2017 graduate of Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine. He represents a Geisinger Commonwealth trend — its students choose psychiatry as their specialty at higher rates than the national norm. In the 2017 Match, just 3 percent of U.S. fourth-year medical students chose psychiatry residencies. At Geisinger Commonwealth, the rate was double that, at 6 percent.

Dr. Slaby said he chose to pursue psychiatry because of the impact it has on the lives of the patients he has encountered. He said he chose The Wright Center because he had an exceptional experience at Geisinger Commonwealth as a medical student and the community-immersion aspect of the new program inspired him. “I am motivated to build deeper connections to my patients and my community. I find the severe pathology you see in inpatient settings fascinating. It keeps you on your toes. But I am really looking forward to longer-term relationships with my patients across community-based venues.”

Our thanks to the following for providing funding for BHI priorities: AllOne Foundation First Federal Charitable Foundation The Luzerne Foundation Margaret Briggs Foundation William G. McGowan Charitable Fund Inc. Moses Taylor Foundation

Alex Slaby, MD ’17 (left) and Sanjay Chandragiri, MD, director of the Psychiatry Residency Training Program at The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education (TWC), celebrate at Geisinger Commonwealth’s Match Day on March 17. Dr. Slaby matched to TWC’s psychiatry residency program.

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Journey to

professional identity “ To promote burnout among physicians, it is only necessary to subvert their professional and personal priorities, so that they spend all their time on little things and suffer continually from a growing sense that they are neglecting the ones that really matter.”

—T he Atlantic magazine paraphrasing Sir William Osler, one of the four founding professors of Johns Hopkins Hospital (“The Root of Physician Burnout” by Richard Gunderman, The Atlantic, Aug. 27, 2012)

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“Burnout at its deepest level is not the result of some train wreck of examinations, long call shifts, or poor clinical evaluations. It is the sum total of hundreds and thousands of tiny betrayals of purpose, each one so minute that it hardly attracts notice.” (“For the Young Doctor About to Burn Out” by Richard Gunderman, The Atlantic, Feb. 21, 2014) Burnout, characterized by cynicism, emotional exhaustion and loss of personal fulfillment, is a dangerous and growing problem in medicine.

Medscape’s 2017 lifestyle report on physicians, released in January, shows burnout rates in some medical specialties approaching 60 percent. A 1996 study published in the British Journal of Psychiatry found physicians are twice as likely to commit suicide as non-physicians. Because burnout is dangerous to both the disillusioned doctor and to the people he or she treats, this level of dissatisfaction has galvanized the medical community and prompted action in a number of areas, including efforts to address burnout where it often begins — in medical school.

At Geisinger Commonwealth, students learn about external tools, like healthy eating and exercise, to help combat stress.

More importantly, however, carefully crafted components of the curriculum are designed to build and strengthen students’ internal resources, and none is more important than professional identity formation. As Brown University’s Hedy Wald explains, “More than just inspiration, professional identity formation is increasingly seen as a crucible in which doctors become tempered against burnout, cynicism and ethical decay.”

William F. Iobst, MD, FACP, vice president for academic and clinical affairs and vice dean at Geisinger Commonwealth, agrees. He notes that professional identity formation — or more simply, professionalism — is considered so important that it is one of the six “core competencies” required of all residency training programs by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. “People often think burnout has to do with having too much work. In reality, it’s finding fulfillment in work that’s important,” he says. “Burnout can be prevented in new doctors if they have developed a clear sense of their own identity and purpose and can continually reconnect to it and find that fulfillment.”

Jaewon Ryu, MD, JD, executive vice president and chief medical officer of Geisinger, believes medical education’s focus on the values and attitudes of professionalism is vital. “Every clinician is familiar with Dr. George Miller’s pyramid, where doctors ascend four steps: ‘knows,’ ‘knows how,’ ‘shows how’ and ‘does.’ I agree with those who have proposed amending or adding a fifth level, ‘is,’ to reflect the importance of professional identity and its alignment with professional ambition. Who you are is far more important than what you do.

Medical education that inspires future doctors to attain this insight can help insulate them from the exhaustion and cynicism that results when they’ve lost their purpose. Most importantly, it motivates aspiring physicians to focus on our guiding principle of providing great patient care.”

How can a curriculum help form professional identity?

For one thing, educators must realize their students learn more than just things contained in a lesson plan. “We assign value to everything we say, do or don’t do. Even when something is left out — that’s a message about its value.

This is the hidden curriculum. Faculty, staff — anyone who interacts with students — must keep this in mind in every interaction,” says Tanja Adonizio, MD, associate dean for student affairs and assistant professor of medicine.

A brusque preceptor or even an impatient staff member imparts a lesson. As an example, Dr. Adonizio notes a friendly, always-smiling food-service worker, not a professor

“ Burnout can be prevented in new doctors if they have developed a clear sense of their own identity and purpose and can continually reconnect to it and find that fulfillment.”

— William F. Iobst, MD, FACP

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writes, “Reflective practitioners can identify and interpret their own emotional responses to patients, can make sense of their own life journeys, and so can grant what is called for — and called forth — in facing sick and dying patients.”

As a way to ensure that students are gaining competence in professional development, Dr. Adonizio and Michelle Schmude, EdD, associate dean for admissions, enrollment management and financial aid, as well as assistant professor, have developed a means to support the developmental nature of this socialization and monitor student progress.

The ePortfolio project, to be introduced to the Class of 2021, will digitally collect 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 says.

The ePortfolio will also use surveys like the Maslach Burnout Scale — a leading measure of hard-to-define qualities like emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and an individual’s sense of personal accomplishment. The student and advisor will be able to use this to establish a baseline for each student’s attitudes and track variations over time. or administrator, won the 2016 learning environment commendation award from Geisinger Commonwealth students.

In addition to faculty development and other training programs designed to create a positive learning environment, Geisinger Commonwealth students exercise their ability to reflect, both orally and in writing.

“The purpose of ePortfolio is to enable students to reflect, to gain self-awareness and to continually ask themselves what it means to be a doctor,” Dr. Adonizio says. In short, ePortfolio will document students’ incremental “tempering” and create a narrative of their journey to professional identity and to the sense of purpose that will illuminate and sustain them throughout their future careers.

Reflection is an ancient practice, honed to perfection in practices like Buddhist meditation and the spiritual exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola, and it has been proven beneficial to both physical and mental health. Herbert Benson, MD, a pioneer of mind-body medicine at Harvard Medical School, in the 1970s first described what he called the relaxation response to prayer and meditation: “[T]he body’s metabolism decreases… a physiological state correlated with slower brain waves, and feelings of control, tranquil alertness and peace of mind.” In addition to the physical response, Columbia University’s Rita Charon, MD, PhD, Tanja Adonizio

Michelle Schmude

“ The purpose of ePortfolio is to enable students to reflect, to gain selfawareness and to continually ask themselves what it means to be a doctor.”

— Tanja Adonizio, MD

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March 17

Match Day

“We are proud of the success of our MD Class of 2017,” says Steven J. Scheinman, MD, president and dean of Geisinger Commonwealth. “Again this year, our students matched into both excellent local residency programs, as well as some of the most competitive programs and specialties in the nation.” He adds, “I am also glad that, once again, our students chose primary care in large numbers.” Fifty percent of Geisinger Commonwealth’s Class of 2017 matched into a primary care specialty (family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics or obstetrics/gynecology), which is above the national average of 47 percent.

“ Our students chose primary care in large numbers.”

— Steven J. Scheinman, MD

Additionally, more than one-third of the members of the Class of 2017 matched into a Pennsylvania-based program. “Matching into a Pennsylvania-based residency is an encouraging indicator, because physicians tend to end up practicing in areas close to where they trained,” Dr. Scheinman says.

From left: Steven J. Scheinman, MD, president and dean of Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine, executive vice president and chief academic officer of Geisinger; Kaitlyn Sweeney, MD ’17, matched to obstetrics-gynecology at Geisinger; David T. Feinberg, MD, MBA, president and chief executive officer of Geisinger; Joshua Cole, MD ’17, matched to general surgery at Geisinger; Carling Cheung, MD ‘17, matched to surgery–preliminary/urology at Geisinger

To see the complete 2017 Match listing, visit tcmc.edu/match.

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Class notes James M. Ackerman, MD ’14 was recently chosen as a podium speaker at the 30th Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma Annual Scientific Assembly, held in January in Florida.

Dr. Ackerman’s presentation was entitled “Beware of the Interval Cholecystectomy.” Surgery News, the official newspaper of the American College of Surgeons, also covered Dr. Ackerman’s presentation. Moreover, the presentation manuscript was recently accepted for publication in the Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery. Dr. Ackerman is currently completing his residency in general surgery at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

Mark Ayzenberg, MD ’13 is becoming chief resident physician for orthopaedic surgery at Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia, Pa. He also matched in an orthopaedic sports fellowship to start in Los Angeles, Calif., in August 2018. His photography business continues to grow: PhillyPhotoArt.com.

Catherine Bradshaw, MD ’14 achieved the rank of Shodan (firstdegree black belt) in karate after three years of steady training.

This past year, she also got engaged to her boyfriend of 11 years, and she is planning a wedding for October 2017.

Carly Elston, MD ’14 was named chief resident for her final year of Cleveland Clinic dermatology training.

Mike Faretta, MD ’14 graduated as chief resident of the Emergency Medicine Residency Program and Penn State Hershey Medical Center. Dr. Faretta will be working at Chambersburg Hospital in Chambersburg, Pa. Ryan Franz, MBS ’16 is finishing up his first year at Ross University School of Medicine. He will be co-presenting with colleagues from the Mayo Clinic at the National Association of

Hannah Canty, MD ’15 (right) gave a platform presentation in the mental health section at the Pediatric Academic Societies' annual meeting titled “Women’s Perspectives on Follow-Up for Postpartum Depression Screening in Primary Care.”

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Frank Fetterolf, MD ’13 and wife Jia Yee gave birth to a son, Gabriel Franklin, in May 2017.

Dr. Fetterolf has graduated from his residency program and has opened a private practice in Pittsburgh, Pa. More information: FrankFetterolfMD.com.

County & City Health Officials Preparedness Summit, presenting information on simulation and learning.

Robert Gessman, MD ’13 has started an interventional pain fellowship at Cooper University Hospital. Dr. Gessman recently won the Cooper Medical School of Rowan University Humanism in Medicine Award. Additionally, he has published a textbook chapter in Urogenital Pain: A Clinicians Guide to Diagnosis and Interventional Treatments titled “Complementary and Alternative Medicine” and a journal article in the Journal of Anesthesia and Patient Care titled “Update on the Importance of Medical Education in the Changing Field of Pain Medicine.”

Michelle Junker, MD ’14 matched into a surgical critical care fellowship at the Mayo Clinic. Dr. Junker will complete the fellowship, then finish her last two years of general surgery training at Mayo.

Matthew Kongkatong, MD ’14 will be doing an emergency medicine ultrasound fellowship at the University of Virginia. Dr. Kongkatong and his wife Keri Stevenson, MD ’14 are expecting their first baby in fall 2017.

Jennifer O’Loughlin Langstengel, MD ’15 was named chief resident of University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in internal medicine for 2018–2019. After that she will pursue a pulmonary and critical care fellowship. Dr. Langstengel gave birth to Cora Anne Langstengel on May 23, 2017.

Matthew Mullen, MD ’13 was accepted into the joint general surgery and cardiothoracic track at the University of Virginia for his cardiac surgery fellowship.

Shrut Patel, MD ’16 will be going to Rutgers–Robert Wood Johnson/JFK Edison for his residency training in physical medicine and rehabilitation starting this year.

Since graduating, Dr. Patel got married on June 18, 2016, in Mahwah, N.J.

Melissa Rader Buck, MD ’13 is starting a neonatology fellowship at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. Dr. Rader Buck and her husband Albert welcomed a baby girl named Violet in September 2016.

Linda Sanders, MD ’13 graduated from her fellowship in wilderness medicine at the Medical College of Georgia. Dr. Sanders has accepted a position as an attending emergency medicine physician at Swedish Edmonds in Seattle, Wash., and has moved there with her boyfriend Mario. This summer she worked as a staff physician at the first-ever ultramarathon in Hawaii — a six-day multi-stage footrace called the Mauna to Mauna.

Patrick Schofield, MD ’14 is starting a critical care fellowship at the University of Michigan in July 2018. He recently welcomed the Class of 2017 to the Geisinger Commonwealth Alumni Society with remarks during commencement.

Avashkar Woompath, MBS ’13 is in his second year at Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine. He and his wife had twin boys in June 2016.

Allison Young, MD ’14 has been named an internal medicine and pediatrics chief resident for the upcoming year at Virginia Commonwealth University Health System. She has also been named a pediatric chief resident for the following year.

Tell us your latest news! tcmc.edu/AlumniUpdate

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May 7

Commencement Geisinger Commonwealth conferred 87 doctor of medicine (MD) and 69 master of biomedical sciences (MBS) degrees upon students who composed our graduating Class of 2017. Deborah E. Powell, MD, board member for Geisinger Commonwealth and dean emerita and professor of laboratory medicine and pathology at the University of Minnesota, delivered the commencement address and received an honorary doctor of medical arts degree.

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Spotlight on

Nabeela Z. Mian, MD Central Campus leadership “ The students create an atmosphere of curiosity, and in the end, that benefits our patients.”

Nabeela Z. Mian, MD, has always loved a good puzzle.

Even as a child growing up in Pakistan, she enjoyed exercising her intellect. “I was always interested in science — and good at it,” she said. She attended medical school in Pakistan and headed to the U.S. when it was time to complete her residency.

It was during this time that she came to love rheumatology, the diagnosis and treatment of musculoskeletal disease and systemic autoimmune conditions. It attracted her in large part because rheumatology allowed her to solve complex problems, for the most part relying on her knowledge, rather than diagnostic tests. “While I was doing my internal medicine residency at Muhlenberg Regional Medical Center in New Jersey, we saw such interesting rheumatology cases,” she said. “No two cases were alike, and your diagnosis is guided almost entirely by clinical judgment. It’s a lot of mental work.”

Our newest regional campus — Central Campus — is located at Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, Pa. Janet Townsend, MD Senior Associate Dean for Regional Campuses, Community and Educational Affairs Interim Associate Dean for Central Regional Campus

Mark Olaf, DO

Jill Taggart Regional Educational Specialist

Tammy Button

Assistant Regional Dean

Office Manager

Regional clerkship directors James Joseph, MD

Lisa Schroeder, MD

The satisfaction she experienced in the field prompted Dr. Mian to pursue a fellowship in rheumatology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx. Dr. Mian said she loved taking care of her patients and they kept her engaged and concerned. Yet as a practicing rheumatologist, she still felt that there was one piece missing. “Ever since my residency and fellowship, I’ve been involved in academics. I really enjoy teaching and observing how my students’ minds absorb knowledge,” she said, adding that working in the Veterans Administration (VA) in WilkesBarre allows her to take care of the patients she loves and to indulge her passion for teaching. “I very strongly believe doctors have a duty to transfer their knowledge. The VA has the same mission and it really works for me,” she said.

Megan Rapp, MD

When she joined the VA, Dr. Mian was chief of rheumatology. Today, she is chief of medicine and associate chief of staff for education. “I am responsible for all undergraduate and graduate medical education at the VA,” she said, noting with pride that the VA has been training Geisinger Commonwealth medical students since the very beginning of the school. “We enjoy a strong, continuing partnership. The students create an atmosphere of curiosity, and in the end, that benefits our patients.”

Welcome!

Nicole Gurski, DO

Internal Medicine

Family Medicine

Psychiatry

Paul Swanson, MD

General Surgery

Obstetrics and Gynecology

Stan Russin, MD

Michele Neff-Bulger, DO

Internal Medicine

Pediatrics

Vicki T. Sapp, PhD Director of Diversity Inclusion and Student Engagement for Student Affairs The Journal

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Living well with breast cancer and beyond Susan G. Komen NEPA and Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine together brought information and awareness to local patients facing a metastatic breast cancer (MBC) diagnosis and to the healthcare providers who care for them.

According to organizers of the April 29 event — including two local women coping with MBC — people with Stage IV breast cancer are an often-overlooked patient group. People diagnosed with MBC have specific needs typically not addressed by the many events geared toward an early-stage diagnosis, where the emphasis is placed upon overcoming the disease. The symposium was funded by a grant from the Moses Taylor Foundation.

The symposium, titled Living Well with Breast Cancer and Beyond, provided patients diagnosed with Stage IV MBC information on current research and clinical trials with lectures by several nationally known researchers, including two Komen Scholars. The Komen Scholars are a group of 60 distinguished scholars and leaders in breast cancer research and advocacy. The scholars who attended the symposium were Adrian Lee, PhD, from the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute and David A. Mankoff, MD, PhD, from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. One goal of Dr. Lee’s lab is to identify novel changes in metastatic cells that may offer therapeutic insight. He discussed the present gaps in MBC research. Dr. Mankoff’s research focuses on new imaging techniques that he believes have the ability to improve progression-free survival and quality of life.

Other speakers included Michael Murray, MD, and Craig Piso, PhD. Dr. Murray is director of Geisinger’s clinical genomics and

the MyCode® data project. He discussed how genomics is changing the detection and treatment of cancer. Dr. Piso is a psychologist whose presentation was entitled “Finding Courage and Strength During Life’s Biggest Challenges.”

Pamela Lucchesi, PhD, FAHA, professor of physiology at Geisinger Commonwealth, was a key member of the planning committee for the symposium. Her research examines breast cancer chemotherapy and its potential cardiac toxicity. “This event shows how outreach and communication from researchers and clinicians can provide tangible benefits for the community,” said Dr. Lucchesi.

The symposium was well attended, and based upon attendee feedback, Dolly Woody, executive director of Susan G. Komen NEPA, plans to work with Geisinger Commonwealth to present the symposium again in 2018.

First row, from left: Jane Kanyock, director of corporate & foundation relations, Geisinger Commonwealth; Suzanne O’Hara, breast-cancer survivor and community volunteer; Julie Sidoni, WNEP, panel discussion moderator; Marian Farrell, PhD, mission chair, Susan G. Komen NEPA; second row: Ashley Labdik, second-year medical student, Geisinger Commonwealth; Nicole Klein, second-year medical student, Geisinger Commonwealth; Pamela Lucchesi, PhD, FAHA, professor of physiology, Geisinger Commonwealth; Dolly Woody, executive director, Susan G. Komen NEPA; last row: Michael Murray, MD, director of Geisinger’s clinical genomics and the MyCode data project; Adrian Lee, PhD, Komen Scholar from the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute; David A. Mankoff, MD, PhD Komen Scholar from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania; Craig Piso, PhD, Piso & Associates LLC

Donor spotlight Entrepreneur and businessman Stephen Poorman and Pamela Poorman, of Lock Haven, Pa., recently added Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine to their list of 14 organizations named as beneficiaries of The Poorman Trust.

Their giving includes the largest-ever gift from an individual donor to Lock Haven University and within the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education's history. The 2016 total gift value exceeds $7 million. This support will fund the newly created Stephen Poorman College of Business as well as physician assistant and nursing students.

Poorman family to support Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine with lead scholarships 16

When asked why he chose Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine, Mr. Poorman said: "My family and employees were covered under the Geisinger Health Plan for 25 years and Geisinger was always there. From suffering a heart attack to cancer and a stroke, I've spent months in the Geisinger Medical Center in Danville. This stay gave me a firsthand experience of the professional and effective treatment delivered during my recovery. Geisinger physicians saved my life. In appreciation for this exceptional care, we made our contribution in recognition of Randle H. Storm, MD, FHRS, and Sanjay Doddamani, MD, FACC, FACP. Hopefully future students will maintain the Geisinger commitment to excellence, dedication and patient care exhibited by these men."

This scholarship and another being planned are also intended to encourage others to support the medical school whose graduates will continue to serve 3 million residents in 45 Pennsylvania counties and avoid any need for patients to travel to metropolitan areas for quality healthcare.

"After recently hearing David T. Feinberg, MD, MBA, president and chief executive officer of Geisinger, speak, it became obvious that his perspective on Geisinger's past, with his future leadership and objectives, will bring about an advanced approach to healthcare and place Geisinger decades ahead of other institutions."

Medical students benefit from annual golf classic Geisinger Commonwealth’s annual golf classic, presented by PNC Bank, was held June 12 at Glenmaura National Golf Club. The tournament grossed more than $100,000.

Proceeds benefit student scholarships.

“We are very grateful to everyone who made this golf tournament a

From left: Pete Danchak, PNC Bank; Maggie Koehler; Bob Durkin, Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce; Ed Steinmetz, The University of Scranton

success,” said Steven J. Scheinman, MD, Geisinger Commonwealth’s president and dean. “The money raised will help reduce the burden of student debt for our future physicians. Scholarships allow our students more freedom to choose careers in primary care and return to our region of Pennsylvania to practice.”

Steven J. Scheinman, MD (right), president and dean of Geisinger Commonwealth, presents Jim Hoover, vice president of operations for NRG Controls North Inc., with a special Premiere Vendor Supporter Award.

Save the date

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Supporting STEM education PPL Foundation committed to REACH-HEI

Geisinger Commonwealth recently received a $75,000 grant from the PPL Foundation to expand the school’s REACH-HEI program. Seen at the presentation, surrounded by REACH-HEI participants and Geisinger Commonwealth student volunteers (in center, from left): Maureen Murtha, Geisinger Commonwealth's REACH-HEI program director, holding check on left; Alana Roberts, regional affairs director for PPL, holding center of check; Ida Castro, JD, Geisinger Commonwealth’s vice president for community engagement and chief diversity officer, holding check on right; Jane Kanyock, Geisinger Commonwealth’s director of corporate and foundation relations.

PPL strives to empower economic vitality and quality of life by promoting and enabling vital, sustainable communities, empowering each citizen to fulfill her or his full potential.

— PPL Foundation’s mission statement 18

PPL Foundation’s mission statement focuses on creating vibrant communities.

For Alana Roberts, regional affairs director for PPL Electric Utilities, fulfilling that mission begins with education. “Our commitment is to philanthropy that improves the lives of the people we serve. When we empower people through education, economic vitality will follow,” she said.

Did you know?

REACH-HEI has a 100% completion

rate for all program participants in high school, undergraduate and pre-matriculating programs.

95% of all program participants

“ The thing that impressed us about REACH-HEI was how it supports STEM education.”

— Alana Roberts

are educationally or economically disadvantaged.

Approximately 40% of participants are

from diverse medically underserved communities.

Nearly 90% are first-generation-to-

college students.

That’s why, Ms. Roberts said, PPL Foundation has supported Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine’s REACH-HEI (Regional Education Academy for Careers in Health — Higher Education Initiative) program in Hazleton for more than three years. REACH-HEI is an out-ofschool program that provides academic enrichment opportunities and enables students in northeast Pennsylvania to succeed in science-related professions. The program has a proven track record of success, with hundreds of its program participants successfully completing their high school and college goals. Since its 2011 launch, REACH-HEI has served nearly 700 students. “The thing that impressed us about REACH-HEI was how it supports STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) education. The one-on-one interaction with medical students is unique.

Exposing our young people to STEM in this way contributes greatly to our goal of empowering citizens,” she said.

PPL was so inspired by the results of its investment in the Hazleton School District’s REACH-HEI program that it recently awarded a new grant to both maintain it in Hazleton and expand it to Scranton.

Throughout the 2016–17 school year, the eighth-grade class at Northeast Intermediate School, located right next door to the medical school, took part in a “mini medical school.” The school’s curriculum was designed by REACH-HEI’s program manager, Maureen Murtha, who works closely with program founder, Ida Castro, JD, Geisinger Commonwealth’s vice president for community engagement and chief diversity officer. The mini medical school ended with a health fair attended by the entire Northeast Intermediate student body. The event featured research and projects prepared by the REACH-HEI students specifically addressing health concerns of teenagers.

“REACH-HEI makes good use of the power of mentoring and builds a strong foundation to allow our young people to fulfill their potential. We are happy to support such a program,” Ms. Roberts said.

More than 60% of program

participants are female.

100% of high school participants and

98% of undergraduate participants graduated on time.

98% of the pre-matriculating

participants progressed through medical school and are graduating on time.

38% of the undergraduate

participants were admitted to an allopathic or osteopathic medical school.

Of the remaining participants, more

than 50% enrolled in a post-graduate health program.

Of the 2011 secondary group in

the Scranton area, more than 80% enrolled in college, and of these more than 90% intended to pursue healthrelated careers.

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Founders Society In the early days of Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine, a group of individuals, organizations, corporations and foundations stepped forward to ensure the success of the Commonwealth’s new medical college through generous contributions for student scholarships and operations. We are sincerely grateful for their support and recognize them as members of our Founders Society.

Myer M. Alperin* Michael J. & Louise D. Altier Anonymous Pat & John Atkins Dr. & Mrs. Charles J. Bannon Benco Dental Company Blue Cross of Northeastern Pennsylvania Dr. Harmar D. & Leslie W. Brereton Alice Bulger, Dr. Weimin Chen & Louis Shapiro Geisinger Community Medical Center Geisinger Community Medical Center medical staff Drs. Louis DeGennaro, Anthony Brutico, Mark Frattali, Keith Pritchyk Delta Medix PC Dempsey Uniform & Linen Supply Inc. Fidelity Deposit & Discount Bank First Liberty Bank & Trust The Gentile family David & Carol Greenwald and Bruce & Melissa Saidman David & Ann Hawk, Gertrude Hawk Chocolates Beatrice T. Heveran, Esq. & Robert M. D’Alessandri, MD Martin Hyzinski, MD InterMountain Medical Group Eugene Joseph Kane Thomas F. & Flora K. Karam Lackawanna County Charlotte T. Schroeder Mack Margaret Briggs Foundation Richard C. & Sally W. Marquardt Family Foundation The medical staff of Mercy Hospital Cliff & Ruth Melberger Mercy Health Partners Kim & Rob Mericle Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs Barbara Monick Moses Taylor Health Care System Moses Taylor Hospital medical staff Morey & Sondra Myers Dr. Robert W. & Claudia B. Naismith Northeastern Eye Institute Northeastern Rehabilitation Associates PC The Oppenheim family Penn Security Bank & Trust Company The Roy W. Piper Charitable Trust PNC Pocono Health System PrimeMed PC The Quandel Group Inc. Radiation Medicine Associates of Scranton Radiological Consultants Inc. & Advanced Imaging Specialists Mr. & Mrs. Harold Rosenn Drs. David Rutta, Bharat Patel, Christopher Barbarevech, Alexander Lalos & Edward Sherwin Sanofi Pasteur Gov. & Mrs. William W. Scranton* Scranton Area Foundation Inc. Scranton Orthopaedic Specialists PC Mr. Andrew & Dr. Susan Sordoni Susquehanna Health Taylor Nursing and Rehabilitation Center Fund of The Luzerne Foundation Dr. & Mrs. Gerald P. Tracy Wayne Memorial Health System Wilkes-Barre General Hospital Steve* & Libby Wojdak Dr. & Mrs. Robert E. Wright The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education The Wright Center Medical Group

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*Deceased

Update Since the start of the Campaign for Scholarships and Innovation on Jan. 1, 2013, philanthropic donors have established 35 new scholarship and award funds to benefit our students. The annual award amount has grown from a total of $50,900 in 2013 to more than $843,000 to be awarded in the 2017–2018 academic year. Totaling almost $2.4 million in aid since 2013, scholarships have helped students with financial need and have also been given based on demonstrated merit and community service.

For information on creating a scholarship fund, contact Marise Garofalo at 570-207-3689 or mgarofalo@tcmc.edu.

“ Without you, the Campaign for Scholarships and Innovation simply could not happen.

Our faculty thanks you, our support staff thanks you and, most importantly, our students thank you in their own words.”

— Marise Garofalo Vice President for Institutional Advancement

Scholarships and awards by academic year $900,000 $800,000 $700,000 $600,000 $500,000 $400,000 $300,000 $200,000 $100,000 $-

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

“ My scholarship is honestly so much more than money. Your donation shows me that I have people beyond even my friends and family who believe in me. To me, this scholarship is evidence of the community’s resolve to empower those within it to thrive, step up and fill needs. This is a really powerful message, and it makes me that much more determined to become the most compassionate and knowledgeable physician for my future patients.”

– Megan Chan, Class of 2018 – Harveys Lake, PA Recipient of the Wilkes-Barre General Hospital Auxiliary Fund Scholarship, provided through The Luzerne Foundation

“ As someone who wants to practice medicine in NEPA, I value being given the opportunity to work with mentors and preceptors who are familiar with the area and will be able to provide me with unique learning experiences tailored to serving the communities here. The generosity of the scholarship has confirmed that my decision to return to NEPA to attend medical school and eventually practice was in fact the right decision, and that where I was born and raised is a wonderful, supportive place to spend my life and career as a physician.”

– Erin Connolly, Class of 2020 – Shickshinny, PA Recipient of the Northeastern Pennsylvania Health Care Foundation Scholarship

“ I feel a sense of duty to prove my worthiness of such an amazing gift, and I feel inspired by my donors' generosity to become the type of person who is willing to give to others in such a meaningful way in the future.”

– Yoseph Aldras, Class of 2020 – East Stroudsburg, PA Recipient of the Sondra and Morey Myers, Esq. Scholarship and the Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine Student Scholarship, funded by employees

“ Thanks to my scholarship, I am able to pursue my dream. I would like to provide direct preventive medical care for those in underserved populations and integrate community involvement. I am highly dedicated and motivated to complete this goal and will persistently strive to become a physician that does so.”

– Ashley Jeanlus, MD ’17 – Spring Valley, NY Recipient of the Sondra and Morey Myers, Esq. Scholarship

“ Through contributions like this scholarship, I am able to focus more on learning how to become a physician my patients can trust and can focus less on the burden of paying for medical school. I'd like to thank the donors of this scholarship for caring about my success as a physician and want to ensure them that I am dedicated to pursuing my dream fully.”

– Shailly Gaur, Class of 2019 – Sayre, PA Recipient of the Guthrie Towanda Memorial Hospital Medical Staff Scholarship

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525 Pine St., Scranton, PA 18509 geisinger.edu/GCSOM

Scholarship feature Northeastern Pennsylvania Health Care Foundation Scholarship Two incoming members of Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine’s Class of 2021 have been named Northeastern Pennsylvania Health Care Foundation scholars. Jennifer Jordan of Scott Township, Pa., and Katherine Snyder of Dallas, Pa., have been selected for the scholarship, which significantly reduces their tuition burden. Both scholarship recipients have demonstrated academic excellence and a desire to serve the communities of northeastern Pennsylvania.

The Northeastern Pennsylvania Health Care Foundation (NEPA HCF) was established in 2011 following the sale of Mercy Hospital in Scranton. The foundation is dedicated to improving the health and well-being of the people of the region, particularly the most vulnerable and most underserved of the population. The Scranton Area Foundation serves as foundation administrator.

Ms. Jordan, valedictorian of her class at Lakeland High School and a graduate of the University of Rochester, is a first-generation-tocollege student. "When I read the email explaining the scholarship I had received, I cried,” she said. “I couldn’t believe I’d been chosen to receive something this amazing, this life-changing.” As a physician, she is interested in primary care fields, although she remains open to all possibilities. What is not in doubt, she said, is her desire to stay in northeastern Pennsylvania.

Snyder is a graduate of Dallas High School and Washington and Jefferson College in Washington, Pa. She also holds a master of biomedical sciences degree from Geisinger Commonwealth School

Seated, from left: Natalie Gelb, NEPA HCF board member; Jim Clemente, chairman of the NEPA HCF board; Erin Connolly, MD Class of 2020, NEPA HCF scholar; Jennifer Jordan, MD Class of 2021, NEPA HCF scholar; Jacob Parrick, MD Class of 2019, NEPA HCF scholar; Jason Homza, MD Class of 2020, NEPA HCF scholar; standing, from left: Jeremiah Eagen, MD, NEPA HCF board member; Laura Ducceschi, administrator of NEPA HCF and Scranton Area Foundation president and CEO; Michele McGowan, NEPA HCF board member; Mark Mitchell, NEPA HCF board member; Katherine Snyder, MD Class of 2021, NEPA HCF scholar; Atty.

Matthew Haggerty, NEPA HCF secretary/treasurer; Laura Barna, MD Class of 2019, NEPA HCF scholar; Kerry O’Grady, NEPA HCF board member; the Honorable Terrence Nealon, NEPA HCF board member

of Medicine. As a first-generation-to-college student, she said she grew up watching her father work multiple jobs to care for his family. As a high school and college student, she adopted his work ethic, sometimes juggling as many as three jobs in addition to her schoolwork. “Describing what this scholarship means to me is so difficult. It means that, for once, academics can become my top priority. I won’t have to focus on how to pay. Instead my priority can be my studies and my future patients,” she said, adding, “I don’t have a particular medical specialty in mind, but without hesitation, I hope to return to NEPA to practice medicine and serve my hometown community.”

To make a donation or for more information, contact the Office of Annual Giving at 570-504-9619 or visit tcmc.edu/donate.

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