The Journal - Winter 2021

Journal Winter 2021

The

For alumni, community and friends of Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine

Cultivating leaders with ‘unreasonable spirit’ Inside: Dean Scheinman announces his retirement

Alumni feature

Welcome home Eric Drago, MD ’17 Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center hospitalist I have always enjoyed this area and always planned on returning. Part of me will miss Philadelphia, but I’m excited to be home. Besides there’s much better pizza here!

Being home and treating neighbors is a bit surreal. I’ve already had a few encounters of hospital staff coming up to me and saying, “I knew you when” or “You were always smart as a kid.” I’m sure as time goes on I’ll be treating old teachers and high school classmates. I hope to be active with Geisinger Commonwealth and the alumni society. I’d love the chance to mentor or teach.

From personal experience, I always liked the group sessions taught by docs who volunteered their time.

Angela DiBileo Kalinowski, MD ’17 PrimeMed family physician I was born and raised in Scranton, so it was important to me to try to give back to my own community. Since my return, I’ve enjoyed being close to family again and I’m happy I moved back home to raise my daughter. It has been exciting to meet patients who can tell me stories of how they knew my grandparents. As a member of the Geisinger Commonwealth Alumni Society board, I plan to remain active with the School of Medicine.

Amanda Holleran, MD ’14 Geisinger Wyoming Valley orthopaedic surgeon specializing in foot and ankle I completed my residency at the University of Vermont in orthopaedic surgery and then performed a one-year fellowship in foot and ankle surgery at the University of Rochester. It was time to come home when I recently had a baby.

My husband’s family and my family are located here and we need all the help we can get! It’s been great to return to the area and give back to the community that was so supportive of my hopes and dreams as a young adult.

I’m planning to get involved in Geisinger Commonwealth by having med students involved in my practice — and hopefully they’ll become interested in orthopaedics!

A message from the president and dean With pride in our shared accomplishments and gratitude for our forward momentum, and after much personal reflection, I have decided that this is the year that I will retire.

This was not an easy decision for me, but I know it is the right one, and the right time — not just for me but for the School of Medicine and Education at Geisinger. This is my ninth year at Geisinger Commonwealth, more than two dean half-lives, and with my 8 previous years at Upstate I’ve been doing “dean duty” for 17 years. And it is healthy for a school to refresh itself with new leadership. I think you all know how much I have loved my work at the school. I have become part of the community here, and I love the family our community, staff, faculty and students have created. But the time, I feel, is right. I will confess that having eight grandchildren can do a lot to broaden one’s perspectives on life.

The Journal A publication by the Department of Marketing and Communications: V. Scott Koerwer, PhD, EdD Vice President for Strategy & Planning Vice Dean for Graduate Education, Professor of Organizational Systems & Innovation Elizabeth Zygmunt Director of Media and Public Relations Heather M. Davis, MFA Director of Marketing and Communications Board of Directors Virginia McGregor, Chair John C. Bravman, PhD Pedro J. Greer, Jr., MD V. Chris Holcombe, PE David B. Nash, MD, MBA Deborah E. Powell, MD Jaewon Ryu, MD, JD, Geisinger President and CEO (Ex-Officio)

I am proud of what we have accomplished together, from achieving full accreditation to growing a graduate school to uniting our community around the singular need for mental and behavioral health. Together we have worked with colleagues at Geisinger to implement our integration with this nationally-renowned clinical system, surely the most significant accomplishment during my tenure here. In all of this our school has been fortunate to have friends and supporters who never feared a challenge and are energized by chasing big dreams. This past year has been a particular challenge. A global pandemic has the power to test a community’s mettle. I was gratified but not surprised that our faculty, staff and students handled the upheaval with creativity and resilience, even continuing our school’s upward trajectory and injecting some fun into “virtual” proceedings along the way.

Steven J. Scheinman, MD, Geisinger Executive Vice President and Chief Academic Officer (Ex-Officio)

I have often said that the single measure by which our school will be most judged will be the number of our graduates who return to practice in our communities. With the boost given by the Abigail Geisinger Scholars program, our founding vision will be fully realized. It gives me enormous pride and satisfaction to know that over my 9 years as dean, we have all worked in unison and with such vigor to that end. Together we secured the future of a beloved institution that represents the hopes and dreams of an entire region. This achievement is something I will treasure.

Chris Boland Director of Alumni Relations

Geisinger Health Foundation Nancy Lawton-Kluck Chief Philanthropy Officer Robin Endicott, CFRE Vice President, Philanthropy Mark Hanichak Senior Director Jane Kanyock, MBA, CFRE Director of Major Gifts

Dorothy Williams Administrative Assistant

I look forward to continuing our work together during the months that remain in my tenure here. And I hope you will continue to think of me as your friend and as one of Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine’s most ardent supporters.

Thank you.

On the cover: All pandemic protocols were observed.

Each student was photographed individually from a distance with all personnel masked. Then we used the magic of Photoshop to put them together.

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

Cover photo: Standing is Terrence Habiyaremye. Clockwise from him are Alfred Hamilton III (also above), Kaiya Flemons and Ashanti Littlejohn.

Read on page 2

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Dean Steven J. Scheinman announces retirement

Dr. Scheinman poses with Geisinger Commonwealth students in 2014.

2012 Dr. Scheinman arrives at then-TCMC and establishes the Behavioral Health Initiative (BHI). It will be one of his enduring legacies.

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2013

2014

Charter MD Class graduates. Every medical student to get a degree from this first ceremony through 2021 will receive their medical doctorate from Dr. Scheinman’s hand.

Under Dr. Scheinman’s leadership, the school received full accreditation from both LCME and MSCHE.

2015 Launched the Campaign for Scholarships and Innovation. The initial goal was $15 million. The campaign exceeded $25 million at its close.

“...the transformational dean.”

Geisinger Commonwealth President and Dean Steven J. Scheinman, MD, on Jan. 26 announced his intention to retire at the end of 2021. In his comments to faculty, staff and students, Dr. Scheinman said the time was right for him, but more importantly, for the region’s only medical school.

Dr. Scheinman, the longest-serving dean of Geisinger Commonwealth, arrived in time to hand the very first graduating class of medical students their diplomas in 2013. Since then, every MD graduate to date has received their degree from Dr. Scheinman.

“Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine is the first new medical school in Pennsylvania in 50 years and is now considered the crown jewel of northeast PA,” said Virginia McGregor, chair of the Geisinger Commonwealth Board of Directors. “Through Dr. Scheinman's leadership, beginning in 2012, Geisinger Commonwealth developed stability and growth, achieved full accreditation and integrated with Geisinger in 2017. Our entire region benefits from his tenure and will do so for generations, and we are grateful for his service."

During his time with the school, Dr. Scheinman presided over the founding and growth of the Behavioral Health Initiative (BHI), an interprofessional collaboration of behavioral and physical health leaders, persons with lived experience of mental illness, those in recovery, payer organizations and county leaders. BHI counts among its many successes the psychiatry residency program at The Wright Center and the regional Autism Collaborative.

In 2017, Dr. Scheinman shepherded the integration of the school, formerly The Commonwealth Medical College, into Geisinger. At that time, he was named executive vice president at Geisinger. That union held numerous benefits for both the school and the health system, most notably in the form of the Abigail Geisinger Scholars program, which provides tuition relief and a stipend to medical students who commit to remain in our area to work as Geisinger primary care physicians after graduation. Today, 76 students are enrolled in the program.

2016 Doylestown Campus launched.

2017

2017

Dr. Scheinman presides over the integration with Geisinger. He also founded the School of Graduate Education, which now offers five degree programs with more to come.

2018 Abigail Geisinger Scholars program established

“When I arrived in Scranton in September 2012, I was thrilled and honored to lead an independent medical school built by the community and charged with enhancing not just the healthcare workforce, but the regional economy and the national stature of northeast Pennsylvania,” Dr. Scheinman said. “I knew our neighbors had invested their hearts as well as their dollars into building this school, so this particular leadership role would be unlike any I previously held. In 2017, we were fortunate to find in Geisinger a partner whose vision for this community’s medical school aligned with our own. The school’s integration with Geisinger is the accomplishment of which I am proudest.”

“While we are sad to see Dr. Scheinman retire, we wish him much happiness and thank him for his vision and steady hand,” said Geisinger President and CEO Jaewon Ryu, MD, JD. “Because we are welcoming talented new graduates of the school in growing numbers, we are much better positioned today to achieve Geisinger’s purpose to make better health easy for everyone we serve. For this reason, I believe that while he is not the school’s founding dean, he will be remembered as its transformational dean.”

Dr. Scheinman is particularly gratified by the number of Geisinger Commonwealth graduates now practicing medicine in our region. “I am very proud of the academic achievements of our students and their brilliant successes on Match Day, but I know that when our history is written, our community will judge us most by the number of doctors we give to our region,” he said. “Today there are 27 Geisinger Commonwealth graduates caring for our neighbors. I will retire knowing that their number will progressively and forever continue to grow.”

Geisinger will conduct a national search for a new executive vice president and dean for the School of Medicine.

2019

2020

Plans are laid for MD curricular renewal. MBS program offers online experience.

Geisinger Commonwealth successfully weathers COVID. Abigail Geisinger program has grown from an initial cohort of 8 to 76 enrolled scholars.

The School of Medicine 3 counts 27 alumni practicing in the region.

Feature story

Diversity, equity and inclusion One metric for progress: What kind of doctor is a Geisinger Commonwealth grad?

As long-simmering national social justice and equity issues came to a boil in the summer of 2020, Ida L. Castro, JD, Geisinger Commonwealth’s associate dean for equity and inclusion and chief diversity officer, together with concerned faculty and students, developed a comprehensive framework to create a more inclusive learning environment.

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From curriculum to community engagement to staff and faculty understanding, the stage is being set to address a pervasive though often unconscious atmosphere that marginalizes certain students and clinicians. This effort will advance the academic and professional development work in the area of equity and inclusion initiated by the Diversity and Inclusion Center of Excellence, currently funded by a Health & Human Services/Health Resources & Services Administration (HHS/HRSA) grant.

“Students and academic affairs leadership, including Dr. Bill Jeffries and Dr. John Arnott, met to discuss the establishment of a Social Justice and Equity Task Force, a sub-committee of the curriculum renewal process Dr. Jeffries has already initiated,” Dr. Castro said. The task force is led by Na Tosha N. Gatson, MD, PhD, FAAN, assistant dean for equity and inclusion, Geisinger’s director of the Division of Neuro-oncology for the Neuroscience and Cancer institutes, and associate professor of research and medicine at Geisinger Commonwealth. Dr. Gatson will be assisted by Karen Johnson, MD, anesthesiologist. She has an ambitious plan to influence what she calls three streams — faculty, curriculum and students — to produce young physicians who “recognize that injustices, inequities and racism in medicine pose a threat to public health. Our students will be trained to ‘See something; Say something,’ therein holding all accountable to be the change needed for the culture of medicine.”

racism. For me, that was a pivotal point. I couldn’t wait to do something. I knew we had to do better.”

With Dr. Castro’s assistance, Ms. Triano and fellow faculty members invited Lia Richards-Palmiter, PhD, a member of the Greater Scranton MLK Commission and director of student equity and inclusion at Marywood University, to host what Ms. Triano calls “a real conversation on the history of racism.” In addition, faculty asked the Health Equity Group, Geisinger clinicians who mentor and advise the school’s underrepresented-in-medicine students, to find ways to talk about racism in medicine in their interactions with all first- and second-year medical students.

Dr. Castro notes that Geisinger Commonwealth faculty went to work immediately on changes to the curriculum in response to meetings held with a group of medical students. According to Mary Triano, MSN, CNRP-C, medical director of the school’s Clinical Skills and Simulation Center, director of clinical skills and an assistant professor of clinical sciences, a group of students approached her. “We had an honest conversation and some of the experiences they shared were shocking. It seemed that at every layer and every level of our community, our students of color had met with sometimes concealed and sometimes flagrant

Gatson Castro

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Faculty implemented immediate change •

Made strong and recurrent statements in the course introductions and in exams to affirm that race is a social construct, not a biological factor.

•

Cataloged clinical vignettes used throughout the course with respect to bias and inclusion and made appropriate revisions.

•

Made resources available for students in the Dermatomusculoskeletal block that illustrate skin lesions on persons of color.

•

Asked clinician volunteers who came into class to include persons of color as appropriate.

For example, the dermatologists showed examples of lesions on various shades of skin.

•

Started a clearinghouse of resources for faculty in the course.

•

Encouraged students to reach out to faculty with feedback.

Each course syllabus contains a statement affirming commitment to promoting an inclusive, bias-free and professional educational environment and encouraging student feedback to help us increase inclusion and reduce bias.

•

Communicated the limitations of clinical algorithms and guidelines based on race to challenge the students to critically appraise those racialized guidelines.

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Revised instructional material to promote diversity and reduce bias and to be more explicit in statement of risk factors and epidemiology.

•

Course and co-course directors and course faculty attended sessions offered through various organizations (e.g., International Association of Medical Science Educators) to learn best practices of other institutions.

Triano

Jeffries

Arnott

Rogers

Sapp

Breese

Finally, Ms. Triano said William Jeffries, PhD, vice president for academic affairs and vice dean of medical education, charged all School of Medicine faculty to “show the curricular renewal committee precisely how they are decreasing racism and improving inclusivity.” Faculty responded with some immediate changes. (See box.)

Recognizing that student interactions are not limited to faculty, Geisinger Commonwealth engaged Keba Rogers, PhD, a counseling, school and clinical psychologist who has her own practice, Grace, Growth and Greatness Psychological Services. Dr. Rogers has begun delivering her series, “Social and Emotional Learning as a Tool for Equity and Social Justice.” She also presented during the Black Lives and Voices Matter Summer Series and on June 5 delivered a session to students titled, “Managing and Addressing Trauma from a Racially and Culturally Relevant Lens.” The series was organized by Vicki T. Sapp, PhD, director of student engagement, diversity and inclusion and an assistant professor at Geisinger Commonwealth. Dr. Rogers’ charge is to help faculty and staff use the skills she teaches “to effect transformational change in regard to diversity, equity, inclusion and social justice.”

Five years down the line we should see people who go from M1 into residency with a certain viewpoint and understanding. When they are on the floors and they hear things like, ‘Black women die faster from breast cancer’ or ‘Black infant mortality rates are higher,’ they can’t just accept that as they do now. They must be charged to say: Why is that? How can we change that situation?”

— Na Tosha N. Gatson, MD

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Dr. Castro further noted that the school’s efforts include a significant community engagement component. Not only will student research and service projects address underserved communities, in her role on the Greater Scranton MLK Commission, Dr. Castro helped develop and implement a regional learning event titled “Talking About Racism: A Community Conversation,” consisting of three Q&A sessions that occurred in October. (See box.)

Dr. Castro said the School of Medicine is concerned with the experiences of all learners, not just medical students. To get a snapshot of the overall learning environment at Geisinger, Arthur Breese, Geisinger’s director of diversity and inclusion, agreed to help gain a better understanding of the system’s “racial climate” by adding targeted questions to the engagement surveys administered systemwide in November to employees and learners. “This means that not only will the school be asked these questions, but also the entire clinical system.

Across Geisinger, we will be talking and asking the same questions of everyone in our ‘stream of learners,’ including residents and preceptors. This way, we will be able to fully understand the medical student experience across all four years, rather than just the two when students are in our building,” Dr. Castro said.

Across all of these efforts there is just one metric for success, according to Dr. Gatson. “The metric will be what type of doctors are we producing?” she said. “Five years down the line we should see people who go from M1 into residency with a certain viewpoint and understanding.

When they are on the floors and they hear things like, ‘Black women die faster from breast cancer’ or ‘Black infant mortality rates are higher,’ they can’t just accept that as they do now. They must be charged to say: Why is that? How can we change that situation?”

Talking About Racism: A Community Conversation Defining and Identifying Racism Oct. 1, 2020 Arthur Breese, Director of Diversity and Inclusion, Geisinger Teresa Grettano, PhD, Associate Professor of English/Theatre, The University of Scranton Moderator: Cathy Ann Hardaway, President, Greater Scranton MLK Commission Understanding White Privilege and Allyship Oct. 8, 2020 Leon John, PhD, Director of Alumni Engagement, East Stroudsburg University Jessica Nolan, PhD, Professor of Psychology, The University of Scranton Moderator: Ida Castro, JD, MLK Commission, Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine Discussing Black Lives Matter Oct. 15, 2020 Glynis Johns, Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Black Scranton Project Yerodin Lucas, PhD, Interim Director, Office of Equity & Inclusion, and Title IX Coordinator, Marywood University Moderator: Lia Richards-Palmiter, PhD, MLK Commission, Marywood University These sessions took place during the fall of 2020.

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Na Tosha Gatson, MD, PhD, speaks to Geisinger Commonwealth students in 2019.

‘Let us lead with an unreasonable spirit’ Na Tosha Gatson, MD, PhD, FAAN, is the former director of the Division of Neuro-oncology with the Geisinger Neuroscience and Cancer Institutes, and the assistant dean of equity and inclusion for the Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine. As the first Black person to graduate from The Ohio State University’s MD/ PhD Medical Scientist Training Program in 2009, she questioned why this distinction was afforded so late.

“Until 2009, despite OSU’s excellent track record for graduating diverse PhD candidates, it had not graduated a single Black dual doctorate MD/PhD candidate,” she said. “Why? What happened? I was not first to enroll, just the first to successfully complete the program.”

As she thought more about it, Dr. Gatson said it became clear to her that the medical community has been “rocked to sleep” in what she calls the “other syndrome.” Dr. Gatson described the “other syndrome” as the idea that routine medicine is taught with the assumption of a “nonminority” in mind, and when the lesson calls for the “other” issues, the educator or the textbooks will take care to emphasize race at that time.

lab conversions, nor are students responsible to know the potential clinical implications for patients prescribed therapies to ‘treat’ presumed abnormal conditions that could be quite normal for specific patient populations.

These are not on the U.S. Medical Licensing Examination.”

Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine has appointed Dr. Gatson to lead a medical curriculum renewal subcommittee charged with decreasing racism and improving inclusivity. As the assistant dean for equity and inclusion and a thought-leader representing the Social Justice and Equity Curricular Task Force, Dr. Gatson has engaged learners, educators and members of the community to best design and implement the necessary programs and competencies to “graduate a stronger and more culturally aware student than we matriculate.”

“We are in a position to question everything, yet we don’t ask the questions. We can no longer feel comfortable with not knowing. It is now our time to be unreasonable. In the unadulterated words of George Bernard Shaw, ‘The reasonable man adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man.’ Minus the patriarchal language representative of his time, let us lead with an unreasonable spirit. Let us no longer feel comfortable not knowing.”

Dr. Gatson recalled, “When I was a medical student, I was never taught to identify dermatological manifestations of commonly taught conditions such as neurofibromatosis (NF) and tuberous sclerosis on dark-skinned tones. I never realized what I did not know until I was faced with a Black patient with NF and had to describe the exam findings.

Even more egregious,” Dr. Gatson said, “is the fact that medical students are never tested on the various To read more about Dr. Gatson’s plans, visit go.geisinger.edu/gatson mathematical formulas needed to make the proper

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Understanding begins with listening Keba M. Rogers, PhD, is the CEO and founder of Grace, Growth and Greatness Psychological Services. She is a New York state-licensed psychologist and certified school psychologist, a nationally certified school psychologist, and a diplomate in School Neuropsychology with the American Board of School Neuropsychologists. Geisinger Commonwealth retained Dr. Rogers to work with students, faculty and staff to build the skills necessary to address issues of equity and justice, both within the school and throughout the broader community. Dr. Rogers said the workshops she developed are meant to build upon each other to ultimately empower people to be catalysts for change.

In the fall, Dr. Rogers began delivering her four-workshop curriculum to Geisinger Commonwealth faculty, staff and students. The series is designed to build attendees’ emotional intelligence, one building block at a time.

“We first take the time to identify the variety of emotions we feel and learn more about ourselves and our ability to listen,” she said. “The series then progresses to understanding the impact of trauma on us and others and learning the fundamentals of developing and maintaining positive relationships. The end goal is to use these skills to lead transformational change with regard to diversity, equity, inclusion and social justice.”

One of the most basic emotional intelligence tools is the power to truly listen. “I start with active listening because it’s most important,” she said. “I find that when we try to have diversity and inclusion conversations, they are so emotional. We aren’t really engaging in understanding what the other person is saying. We are shooting darts at each other and spending our time thinking about how we are going to respond.” Dr. Rogers recommends that people practice active listening in everyday conversations that are not “high stakes.” “While the person is speaking, just listen. Paraphrase what they said before you get to adding in what you think or trying to fix things. This allows a person to feel heard and understood. This way we avoid circular arguments. Also, after you really listen to someone, your reply might actually change,” she said.

is where we talk more expressly about empathy and compassion,” Dr. Rogers said. “It’s important in relationship building because we need strategies to engage in difficult conversations. The goal is to be able to have these discussions while maintaining our relationships – we focus on how to engage in conflict in ways that may be uncomfortable but don’t feel purposely hurtful.”

Active listening, empathy and relationship building are key components of emotional intelligence (EI). By the fourth workshop, it is Dr. Rogers’ goal that, as a community, everyone has sharpened their EI and is ready for the final step – a personal commitment to asking oneself, “What can I do personally?”

“With heightened awareness and by practicing emotional intelligence skills, my hope is that those who attended the workshops can engage in the harder work around diversity, equity and inclusion – that people will be more open, and more progress will be made toward social justice,” Dr. Rogers said.

The workshops Self-Awareness/Active Listening: •

Encourage participants to think about the cultural underpinnings of family rules and practices and how these can play out in our relationships with others.

•

Practice active listening.

•

Learn to listen to each other and to provide feedback to each other on how we listen.

Trauma Defined and Discussed: •

Learn about various types of trauma.

•

Gain awareness of your own personal trauma.

•

Understand the impact of trauma on our social, emotional, physical and mental health.

Relationship Building:

Once the active listening groundwork is laid, Dr. Rogers says the next step is “building self-awareness and social awareness around trauma.” “With regard to diversity, equity and inclusion, we are all coming from different places with different traumatic experiences. Sometimes we can’t accept another person’s experience because we don’t realize how trauma is affecting us,” Dr. Rogers said. “But now that I can hear what you are saying, I am able to conjure a capacity for empathy and compassion.

If we don’t have empathy and compassion, we can’t do diversity, equity and inclusion work.”

•

Discuss the importance of empathy and compassion in relationship building.

•

Learn strategies to engage in difficult conversations and resolve conflict while maintaining a relationship.

•

Participate in opportunities to improve relationship skills.

•

Practice skills learned in workshops 1–3.

The next building block is relationship building. “This

•

Accept personal responsibility toward social change.

•

Learn to be change agents toward social justice.

Learning Toward Social Justice:

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Dr. Vicki Sapp named co-chair of BOLD employee resource group Vicki T. Sapp, PhD, director of student engagement, diversity and inclusion and assistant professor at Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine, has been named co-chair of Geisinger’s Black Outreach and Leadership Development (BOLD) employee resource group. Darrell McBride, DO, will also serve as co-chair. Dr. McBride was recently named Geisinger Commonwealth’s regional assistant dean for student affairs at the Central Campus, in addition to his role as attending physician in Geisinger’s Division of Infectious Diseases.

BOLD’s goal is to provide support for Geisinger’s Black/ African-American hires and representation in recruitment and recruitment initiatives as they relate to people who are Black/African American. BOLD accomplishes its mission by sharing data and stories that include experiences relating to diversity, inclusion and belongingness; hosting enterprisewide events for Black History Month; ensuring all Geisinger marketing publications represent its diverse workforce; and providing a professional, personal mentoring and sponsorship community to secure a pipeline of talent for upcoming strategic leadership positions.

Dr. Sapp began her term as co-chair in January. Her top priorities are to work collaboratively with her co-chair, Dr. McBride, and BOLD subcommittee chairs to create concrete and measurable initiatives to implement BOLD objectives aligned with Geisinger’s strategic plan and diversity scorecard. The BOLD objectives are to:

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Embrace a culture of inclusion.

•

Build awareness and appreciation for diversity.

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Facilitate networking and career development opportunities by connecting members with similar professional and personal interests.

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Develop informal mentoring opportunities by providing guidance, advice and training as well as sharing the exciting work being done throughout Geisinger.

•

Sponsor professional and personal development workshops, seminars and lectures featuring distinguished speakers.

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Ensure that information about events of interest and members’ achievements is effectively distributed throughout Geisinger.

•

Foster awareness of Black/African-American issues and to work collaboratively with Geisinger’s other employee resource groups to support other marginalized communities within Geisinger.

Student voices Terrence Habiyaremye, Alfred Hamilton III and Ashanti Littlejohn were among the students who met with Geisinger Commonwealth faculty to discuss ideas for change. Here are their perspectives.

Ashanti Littlejohn, MD Class of 2022 Remove the elephant in the room

My interest in meeting with faculty was to suggest that early clinical experiences reflect every student’s lived experience. Patient encounters and textbook cases should be diversified because there are differences when speaking to a Black person or a Latino person about mental health, for example. As doctors, we have to understand how to overcome cultural barriers. We have to talk about how race plays a role in health . . . remove that elephant in the room. We also need to mentor and guide students of color, something that I thought was done very well when I was an MBS student at Geisinger Commonwealth. At our meeting with faculty, I believe that our concerns were heard and that the people listening have the power to do something.

Terrence Habiyaremye, MD Class of 2022 Make community service about cultural competency

Though not purely a curricular change, I believe that the Geisinger Commonwealth community would benefit from enhancements to its approach to cultural competency. I am in favor of continuing education in cultural competency, but we should discourage the use of these activities as resume boosters or attendance for completion’s sake. To encourage reflective community involvement and service, I want to reach out to minority-aligned organizations (like AMSM, SNMA, LMSA, SAS, PRIDE) to create service awards that students can earn by serving those particular communities and examining their experiences and attitudes before and after.

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Alfred Hamilton III, MD Class of 2022

Students need a forum to have constructive discourse about social issues The ideal is to have a faculty member present to moderate if it gets out of control but, ultimately, the student discourse should be student-led. I imagine having topics and an agenda created by students. To keep any debate fair, students should have a list of recommended neutral resources they can use but can refer to their own credible sources. The caveat is that if a source is deemed very biased, the talking point will not be considered valid. This could teach students the importance of using credible sources while encouraging them to use them to broaden their perspective.

How do we get there? I think it’ll take some cycles of meetings to learn and the most important component initially is the faculty. I think the faculty moderating should be trained to withhold their perspective during the conversations. They should also be trained to peacefully de-escalate verbal disagreements that become too heated. Having ground rules on attacking an idea and not a person should also be implemented, along with the emphasis on reaching a common goal of understanding and not “proving someone wrong.”

Ebuwa Ighodaro, MD Class of 2023

Students must feel a sense of ownership as pioneers of change We need our medical texts and lectures presented in a context that demonstrates/ promotes awareness and true understanding of the long-lasting impacts of historical injustice.

When we, as a student body, coordinate to implement a social justice curriculum, we each gain a sense of responsibility and ownership as pioneers of this change.

We will then go into our respective areas of specialties as committed advocates and implementors of the change that we have worked hard to initiate.

Oluwaseyi Olulana, MD Class of 2024 Patients will benefit from our understanding

There is a need to continue course-mandated discussions on social issues/inequality — especially issues that are experienced by our patient population. It will promote awareness/understanding of the extraneous factors that affect the health and adherence of our patients to their care; additionally, it will inform the type of care we recommend, so that our patients find it sustainable to their lifestyle.

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Abigail Scholars

Abigail Geisinger Scholars explore system’s innovative care models Second- and third-year Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine students who participate in the Abigail Geisinger Scholars program recently began visiting unique primary care sites throughout the health system. The purpose of the visits is to introduce Scholars to Primary Care Signature Models that embody Geisinger’s innovative emphasis on wellness.

“As future primary care doctors, it is imperative that our Scholars experience the myriad ways Geisinger’s approach to patient care is fundamentally different, based as it is on making it easy for all people to stay healthy and to access the support and services necessary for their total wellbeing,” said Kim Kovalick, DO, assistant dean, Primary Care Curriculum.

The medical students were able to gain a better understanding of various programs like 65 Forward, Fresh Food Farmacy, Geisinger at Home, LIFE Geisinger and the Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC), which provide comprehensive primary care in underserved areas.

Through the process, the students had a chance to see the positive impacts of the programs and their effect on the community. Students also had the opportunity to meet program leadership and gain insight on unique aspects of each program.

“After visiting both the 65 Forward and Fresh Food Farmacy, I am even more excited to be part of the Abigail Geisinger Scholars Program,” said Kara Romanowski, MD Class of 2023. “These programs showed me the unique ways that Geisinger works to provide the most wellrounded primary care for its patients, while considering vital factors such as age and social determinants of health.”

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Abigail Scholars

Warnick family members become Geisinger family members When Gino Warnick’s job was sent overseas in 2006, his goal was simple: to gain similar employment — quickly.

The Hanover Township resident and his wife, Mary Jean, had two children to worry about. So, when Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center called him back about a mechanic’s position, his only thought was that he had regained a paycheck. Little did Mr. Warnick know that his open and friendly manner with his new Geisinger colleagues would benefit his whole family.

“I do facilities maintenance work,” Mr. Warnick said.

“Mechanical, lighting, HVAC. Sometimes I would be in Dr. [Alfred] Casale’s office working and we would just end up talking.” The conversations often centered on Mr. Warnick’s two children, Eugene (Gino) and Justina. Gino, the elder child, was in high school and had expressed interest in a career in medicine. When Dr. Casale learned this, he and several physician colleagues offered the Warnick children sustained shadowing and mentoring experiences. Even today, as Mr. Warnick’s son navigates his first year as a Geisinger orthopaedic surgery resident, Dr. Casale remains a source of insight and guidance.

“Dr. Casale took the time to set up Gino’s first shadowing opportunity — he helped us get the clearances needed for Gino to get into the OR,” Mr. Warnick said. The younger Gino Warnick describes the moment as pivotal.

“Shadowing a surgeon is what made me want to become

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a doctor,” he said. “Being a first-generation-to-college student, I had no idea what went into a doctor’s day. But when I saw the OR, I just loved it.”

When Mr. Warnick’s daughter decided she, too, wanted to become a doctor, he looked to another Geisinger doctor for guidance. This time radiologist Scott Sauerwine, MD was tapped for the mentorship role. “Justina absolutely loved Dr. Sauerwine. He impressed her so much that we had to look at his alma mater, Juniata College, when Justina was searching for a college.” Although Ms. Warnick ultimately chose Dickinson College and primary care, the advice and guidance she received was influential in her decision to study at Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine. “I feel like Geisinger is my home and, as an Abigail Geisinger Scholar, I know it will be my home for a long time,” she said.

Mr. Warnick himself is now using the tuition reimbursement his employer offers to pursue a bachelor’s degree in Operations and Project Management.

“Geisinger took a chance on me when I was an unemployed millwright. They’ve been good to us,” he said. “And I couldn’t be prouder of my kids. My son is in his residency, and that’s quite an accomplishment. And Justina has free tuition at the medical school. I have to thank all the Geisinger doctors who helped to shape their futures.”

Mentoring starts early for Abigail Geisinger Scholars While tuition relief makes the Abigail Geisinger Scholars program attractive to aspiring primary care doctors, mentors make it special.

“One thing about the program I really like are the mentors,” said Greg Burke, MD, chief patient experience officer at Geisinger and an architect of the Abigail Geisinger Scholars program. “In medicine, finding a mentor usually does happen organically — but it might not occur until residency. I like that the School of Medicine is proactive and makes it happen while our future doctors are still medical students.”

Kim Kovalick, DO, assistant dean, Primary Care Curriculum, said the guidance Scholars receive is multilayered, with both attending physicians and residents volunteering to offer support and guidance. “Obviously, the professional advice a student gets from an attending is priceless, but we are also very excited that Geisinger residents have stepped up to fill the ‘near peer’ adviser role that so many medical students find more comfortable.”

To kick off the mentoring experience for Class of 2024 Scholars, several Geisinger resident mentors joined their attendings and the medical students for a Senior Leader Seminar. The event, held in October, gave “near peers” the opportunity to share their own perspectives on their specialties and answer questions from the Scholars.

Alex Chop, MD ’18, a resident in the medicine/pediatrics program, chose her specialty because of the breadth of knowledge required to care for both children and adults who often have complex medical problems. “Often, medical students don’t know too much about med/peds.

I only learned about it myself as a third-year medical student. I like the specialty because there’s outpatient work, so you have those long-term relationships that make primary care so special, but also so much inpatient.

For example, I work in both the PICU (pediatric ICU) and the NICU (neonatal ICU). Med/peds helps with the access to care problem because there’s a shortage of specialists, too — and we can fill both roles.”

For Natasha Wu, DO, deciding on family medicine was easy because she values the specialty’s well-known benefit of caring long-term for entire families.

Chop

Abbas

She does, however, cite a hidden benefit not often appreciated by students pondering which path to take. “Family medicine is focused on prevention,” she said. “And having a public health background, I could see how teaching multiple generations of a family how to adopt Wu healthy behaviors and to take care of themselves from the start can impact entire communities. No other specialty has that power to improve community health.”

Sayeda Abbas, MD, hopes her mentees, like her, find every medical specialty fascinating. If they do, she knows they will choose internal medicine. “In medical school, on every rotation, I’d say, ‘Oh, I love this!’ and then on the next one, I’d say, ‘Oh, this is for me!’ I wanted to do everything, so I chose the specialty that lets me do it all,” she said.

Dr. Abbas added that she is part of a new program at Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center. “The advantage there is that we are creating the culture together with our attendings and so we have a lot of autonomy. I’ve learned so much in the few months since I started the program.

Once when I was working at Geisinger Community Medical Center, the attendings there couldn’t believe I was an intern — I had that much knowledge and confidence.”

Drs. Chop, Wu and Abbas, as well as their colleagues, have begun working one-on-one with their mentees, but say there is also an informal “mentoring grapevine.” “I am friends with many residents in internal medicine,” Dr. Chop said. “We give each other’s names out a lot. We all want to guide the students, and everyone is happy to help.”

THE JOURNAL / WINTER 2021

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Campus news

Inaugural Medical Education Grand Rounds held Geisinger Commonwealth’s Faculty Development team held its inaugural Medical Education Grand Rounds session on Friday, Oct. 23. Nearly 100 educators systemwide dialed in for the live session via Zoom.

“Medical education research has expanded dramatically in the last decade.

It’s difficult enough to keep up with the literature related to clinical practice, let alone, becoming a better educator. With this in mind, our goal with the Medical Education Grand Rounds is to learn from national and international experts, helping us keep our skills sharp and always incorporating new best practices for teaching and learning,” said Robert Cooney, MD, MSMedEd, FACEP, director of faculty development. “We had an amazing discussion about direct observation and the pitfalls in capturing authentic performance.”

Attendees heard guest presenter Christopher J. Watling, MD, MMEd, PhD, FRCP(C), discuss the perils of direct observation. Dr. Watling’s research, widely published in medical education literature, explores how and why feedback influences learning, and how medicine’s professional culture shapes its educational practices.

Dr. Watling is a professor in the Departments of Oncology, Clinical Neurological Sciences, and Family Medicine at the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry at Western University in London, Canada. He is the director of Schulich’s Centre for Education Research and Innovation, and a faculty scholar at Western University. From 2010 through 2019, he was the associate dean for postgraduate medical education at Schulich. He has a master’s in medical education from the University of Dundee in the United Kingdom and a PhD in health professions education from Maastricht University, Netherlands. He is an avid teacher of academic writing and is the co-author of an upcoming book on the subject.

Join the pandemic time capsule project The library team plans to preserve the accoutrements and paraphernalia of the strange events of 2020 for future generations. The library seeks donations of items that have become icons of the pandemic.

Another way to participate is to volunteer to tell your story so the library staff can collect memoirs.

The library is accepting donations of items that demonstrate how students, faculty and staff spent their time during the pandemic, especially during the spring months when the stateside “shelter in place” order was active. Items can include new crafts learned to pass the time, such as photos of bread-baking, or a donation of a homemade mask or birdhouse. Items can also include homeschooling schedules, homemade posters encouraging masking and safe behavior, or photographs of home offices or volunteering activities.

The library also wants to conduct virtual interviews with students, faculty and staff to collect memoirs of how lives changed.

The goal is to curate and store donations with the intent to display them in 2030.

Contact Iris Johnston at ijohnston@som.geisinger.edu or 570-504-9665 if you have any questions or would like to participate in the project.

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Leadership structure enhanced by appointment of institute chairs Steven J. Scheinman, MD, Geisinger Commonwealth president and dean, announced a major addition to the leadership structure of the medical school. Since the transformation of The Commonwealth Medical College into Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine, it has been leadership’s goal to integrate the school fully into Geisinger. To advance this integration, Geisinger Commonwealth will recognize the eight clinical institutes of Geisinger as integral institutes of the School of Medicine, with a status similar to the academic departments found in most medical schools.

Effective Sept. 21, each institute lead now holds a dual appointment as chair of a school institute, reporting to the dean. These new school institutes will be the operational home for Geisinger physicians who have faculty appointments, reporting to their respective institute chairs. These institutes will be responsible for the clinical elements of the curriculum. They will continue to collaborate with faculty at our non-Geisinger campuses to assure the provision of excellent instruction and student advising. The school’s Department of Medical Education will continue its mission of instruction in the basic sciences, formal clinical skills instruction and assessment, medical education and scientific research, curriculum development and pedagogical expertise.

This structure will engage the institute chairs more fully in design and delivery of curriculum and foster integration of the clinical faculty within the medical school. It will

Casale

enhance involvement of Geisinger physicians in clinical teaching, student advising, curriculum development, faculty development and advancement, and participation in undergraduate medical education administration.

Together with the recent restructuring of the faculty appointment and promotion process, this should streamline and promote consistency of clinical faculty appointments.

The Department of Medical Education will be busy over the next several months orienting institute staff and faculty on their new roles and realigning our governance model to ensure success of this new structure. New institute chairs are: Medicine: Kenric Allen Maynor, MD Surgery: Mohsen Mohammad Shabahang, MD, PhD Women’s and Children’s Medicine: Sandra Culbertson, MD Neuroscience: Neil Holland, MD (Interim Chair) Musculoskeletal Medicine and Surgery: Michael Suk, MD, JD Diagnostic Medicine: Myra Wilkerson, MD Cardiovascular Medicine: Alfred Casale, MD Cancer Medicine: Rajiv Panikkar, MD

Wilkerson

Maynor

Suk

Holland

Panikkar

Culbertson

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Shabahang

THE JOURNAL / WINTER 2021

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Campus news

High-tech anatomy lessons Geisinger Commonwealth recently purchased three Sectra tables. A fourth will arrive in early 2021.

Each table comes with a VH Dissector software program and premade online lessons. The software uses medical imaging data set forms from the National Library of Medicine’s Visible Human Project. Imaging was formed by freezing cadaver and created slices analogous to those of CT and MRI scans. These high-tech tables facilitate students’ learning with radiological images, a core tool in the diagnosis and treatment of patients.

Faculty are in the process of renewing the curriculum of the medical education program and are planning to integrate and introduce clinical experiences and clinical understanding of diseases earlier in the program.

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“The plan is to weave dissection/prosection into the curriculum vertically and horizontally,” said Ying-Ju Sung, PhD, director of anatomical services and a professor of anatomy. “With these anatomy visualization tables, students can see the relationship between organs and between normal anatomy and disease. Students can work in the Gross Anatomy Lab and then come to the Sectra tables and correlate what they just learned from real-life cadavers to the digital images. More importantly, these tables allow asynchronous virtual dissection in regions that are difficult to dissect and to see in the tightly packed confines of a human body.”

Dr. Darrell McBride appointed regional assistant dean at Central Campus Darrell McBride II, DO, was appointed to the position of Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine’s regional assistant dean for student affairs at the Central Campus in Danville. Dr. McBride will also retain his role as attending physician in Geisinger’s Division of Infectious Diseases. William B. Jeffries, PhD, Geisinger Commonwealth’s vice dean for medical education and vice president for academic affairs, made the announcement Sept. 9.

“Dr. McBride has a keen interest and great depth of experience in medical education, having served as clerkship director for Geisinger’s Division of Infectious Diseases and as a member of Geisinger Commonwealth’s internal medicine core faculty since 2018. He is regularly recognized by learners as a skillful teacher and cares deeply for our students and their welfare,” Dr. Jeffries said. “I am confident that his leadership and guidance will enhance and elevate the learning environment at the Central Campus.”

In his new role, Dr. McBride will provide support for medical student professional identity formation and resources for Geisinger Commonwealth students during the clinical education curriculum years. He will be responsible for direct third- and fourth-year student advising in regard to academics, future residencies and career choice. Dr. McBride will work in collaboration with Mark Olaf, DO, regional associate dean, as well as regional clerkship directors, regional education specialists and the student affairs team.

Dr. McBride earned his medical degree from Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine and completed his residency in Internal Medicine at Case Western University School of Medicine. He completed a fellowship in Infectious Diseases at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, Mo. Dr. McBride serves on the HIV Medicine Association’s Ending HIV as an Epidemic Working Group and is board certified in internal medicine and in infectious diseases by the American Board of Internal Medicine.

Dr. Christin Spatz appointed to advisory committee Christin M. Spatz, MD, FASN, director of clinical advising and an assistant professor of medicine at Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine, was appointed to serve as the northeast regional representative on the Association of American Medical Colleges’ Careers in Medicine (CiM) Advisory Committee.

As the northeast representative, Dr. Spatz will educate colleagues about the CiM program, as well as aid and participate in career-advising-related programming for relevant conferences.

The Association of American Medical Colleges’ CiM is a comprehensive career-planning program that provides students with the skills, information and resources to choose a specialty and residency program that meets their career goals. It offers students tools to guide them through self-assessment and research about specialty

and practice options. The program is designed for students to use in conjunction with faculty and staff advisors at their medical school who can provide them personalized advice in navigating the planning of their physician career. CiM also provides resources to medical school faculty and staff to help them implement careerplanning and advising programs at their school, as well as prepare them for working directly with students.

“My involvement with student advising for Geisinger Commonwealth medical students inspired me to pursue the opportunity to influence the growth and direction of career planning for all medical students. Choosing a medical specialty is one of the most consequential decisions a doctor-in-training will make. I hope to provide the information and guidance students need to make the right choice,” Dr. Spatz said.

In a letter announcing her appointment, the Association of American Medical Colleges indicated Dr. Spatz’s appointment reflects the esteem and confidence of her colleagues. Her 3-year term began Nov. 5.

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Campus news

Katie Foundation donates funds from ‘5Kate’ to Behavioral Health Initiative The Katie Foundation recently presented a $15,000 gift to Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine’s Behavioral Health Initiative (BHI). The gift represents the proceeds from the October 2019 “5Kate” event held at Nay Aug Park, Scranton. Like the gift from the 2018 event, BHI will use these funds to support the goals of the Katie Foundation, whose mission is to increase awareness and find more effective treatments and perhaps a cure for mental illness.

Seen presenting the gift are, from left, Jane A. Kanyock, MBA, CFRE, Geisinger Commonwealth director of major gifts; Kathy Snyder, Geisinger Commonwealth MD Class of 2021; and Ed Shoener, The Katie Foundation.

COVID-19 jointly taught course added to curriculum When COVID-19 swept the globe, it caught the collective healthcare world off guard. While the national news was largely fixated on the bath tissue shortage, health systems were scrambling to shore up their supply of personal protective equipment and other infection-control necessities. Educators at Geisinger realized that Geisinger itself could provide the perfect case study in pandemic response to ensure better preparation for the inevitable future plague.

As the coronavirus raged, educators and scientists at Geisinger began to develop a course, “COVID-19: Health Systems and Pandemics,” for audiences ranging from graduate and medical students to healthcare practitioners looking for relevant continuing education credits — and even to the general public interested in the infectious disease, how it spreads and what an effective response entails.

“The course arose from misconceptions about the virus,” said William (Andy) Faucett, MS, LGC. “Initially, there was a lot of public confusion. We realized that most students and even healthcare providers haven’t had specific virology or pandemic training. Our COVID-19 course fills that gap.”

In October, Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine graduate students were the first to enroll in the course. In November, the course became available to professionals seeking continuing education credits with the intent to offer it to the general public. Both audiences will be able to choose to attend the sessions of the course they find most interesting and valuable.

The course is taught jointly by numerous Geisinger Commonwealth faculty members and an array of Geisinger physicians and scientists, including a module taught by Jaewon Ryu, MD, JD, Geisinger’s president and CEO. Dr. Ryu’s session examines the healthcare system in pandemic and provides insight into how to mobilize large systems during a crisis.

“COVID-19: Health Systems and Pandemics” introduces students to the evaluation, management, scientific underpinnings and impact of a pandemic. The emphasis is on COVID-19 to allow participants to engage in healthcare discussions and planning about the pandemic and future pandemics. Major topics include virology, viral testing, public health, modeling and predictions during a pandemic, clinical manifestations of SARS CoV-2, health system responses and impacts, ethical challenges, and research changes and impacts.

To view course lectures, visit go.geisinger.edu/COVID19Course

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Virtual lecture examines how DNA is becoming an everyday preventive health tool Although many think of genetic information as useful only for patients under the care of specialists for rare or complex diseases, David Ledbetter, PhD, FACMG, and Christa Lese Martin, PhD, FACMG, delivered a virtual lecture on Oct. 7 designed to dispel that myth.

Ledbetter

The scientists discussed their work in “Using DNA to Guide the Health of Individuals and Communities,” as well as Geisinger’s MyCode® Community Health Initiative and its benefits for individual patient-participants, their families and our communities during the ninth installment of Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine’s Preventive Medicine Lecture Series, presented in partnership with The Wright Center.

Dr. Ledbetter recently retired as executive vice president and chief scientific officer for Geisinger. Dr. Martin is interim chief scientific officer for Geisinger and professor and director of Geisinger’s Autism & Developmental Medicine Institute.

Martin

Drs. Ledbetter and Martin have devoted their careers to leveraging the wealth of genomics data created in everyday patient care, integrating it into the electronic health record and then mining it for clinically useful information. The result is knowledge that primary care doctors and public health officials alike can put to use to prevent disease and preserve health.

To view this lecture, visit geisinger.edu/OctPrevMed

Geisinger Commonwealth earns state recognition for REACH-HEI program Noe Ortega, acting secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE), earlier this year named REACH-HEI a “Best Practice” in Pennsylvania.

REACH-HEI, the Regional Education Academy for Careers in Health – Higher Education Initiative, is Geisinger Commonwealth’s out-of-school program that provides academic enrichment opportunities, including mentoring by medical and graduate students, for low-income and/or first-generation-to-college students in northeastern and central Pennsylvania and encourages their success in health-related professions.

The PDE distinction recognizes REACH-HEI for its success and efficacy in providing career pathways that are aligned with the commonwealth’s workforce needs and workforce readiness initiatives.

According to Maureen Murtha, MS, REACH-HEI program administrator, the recognition also means REACH-HEI is aligned with two key PDE goals: •

To prepare learners for meaningful engagement in postsecondary education, in workforce training, in career pathways and as responsible, involved citizens.

•

To meet the commonwealth’s goal of having “60 percent of the population age 25 to 64 hold a postsecondary degree or industry-recognized credential by 2025, with a particular focus on closing the attainment gaps for historically underrepresented populations.”

REACH-HEI founder Ida Castro, JD, Geisinger Commonwealth’s chief diversity officer, vice president of community engagement and associate dean for equity and inclusion, said, “Being recognized as a ‘best practice’ is an honor and a testament to the hard work our team has done to build a multifaceted, longitudinal pipeline program. The bigger honor, however, is in preparing our region’s young people — especially those from disadvantaged or marginalized backgrounds — for meaningful and rewarding careers, while meeting our area’s real need for skilled healthcare providers.”

Ms. Murtha was subsequently invited to speak at the statewide Career Ready PA Coalition, which was designed to encourage statewide educators and administrators to promote and establish future-ready initiatives to career pathways.

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Campus news

Graduate medical education

Neurosurgery residents hold research day The neurosurgery residency program at Geisinger held its Henry Hood Research Day on Oct. 2, during which the program’s seven residents had the opportunity to showcase their scholarship. This was the second year the program has hosted a research day. The intent is to hold it annually.

“Academic activity is a critical component of neurosurgery residency training at Geisinger,” said Christoph J. Griessenauer, MD, FAANS, FACS, director of vascular and endovascular neurosurgery at Geisinger Medical Center and an associate professor of neurosurgery.

“Besides training our residents to become safe and sound clinical neurosurgeons, we also want to foster their skills as clinician scientists. The resident research day is the ideal opportunity for each resident to present their best academic work of the prior year.”

Invited guests James Harrop, MD, chief of the Division of Spine and Peripheral Nerve Surgery at Jefferson University

Hospitals, and Brandon Fornwalt, MD, associate professor and director of the Cardiac Imaging Technology Laboratory at Geisinger, scored each presentation. Dr. Harrop also gave a lecture titled “Spinal Cord Injury: Trial and Tribulations: What Should we Expect in the Future?” to start the event. Then each resident presented a short discussion of one of their research projects.

The 2020 prize was bestowed upon both Sheela Vivekanandan, MD, and Nelson Sofoluke, MD, a member of Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine’s MD Class of 2017 and MBS Class of 2013.

Dr. Vivekanandan’s research was titled “Anticoagulant medications and operative subdural hematomas: A retrospective cohort study evaluating reoperation rates.”

Dr. Sofoluke presented “Genome-wide association analysis across 16,956 patients identifies a novel genetic association between BMP6 and spondylosis.”

From left are neurosurgical residents Christian Bohan, MD, a member of Geisinger Commonwealth’s MD Class of 2019; Alejandro Bugarini, MD; and Ali Tafreshi, MD; Gregory Weiner, MD, Geisinger neurosurgeon; neurosurgical residents Reginald Fong, MD; research day award-winner Nelson Sofoluke, MD, a member of Geisinger Commonwealth’s MD Class of 2017 and MBS Class of 2013; Christoph J. Griessenauer, MD, FAANS, FACS, director of vascular and endovascular neurosurgery at Geisinger Medical Center and an associate professor of neurosurgery; Brandon Fornwalt, MD, associate professor and director of the Cardiac Imaging Technology Laboratory at Geisinger; William Bird, a member of Geisinger Commonwealth’s MD Class of 2021; and Sarah Kline, GME program administrator, Neurosurgery Residency Program. Not present: research day co-winner Sheela Vivekanandan, MD, and neurosurgical resident Cameron Brimley, MD. 22

First-gen students get tools to succeed

Geisinger Commonwealth first-generation students, from left, Courtney Merwin, Kenneth Jordan, Amy Phou and Jasmine Nkwocha, celebrating in 2019.

The Association for American Medical Colleges (AAMC) convened a First-Gen Working Group within its Group on Educational Affairs to address the unique issues facing students who are the first in their family to attend college.

According to member Vicki T. Sapp, PhD, the working group has created an online toolkit that students can find on the AAMC website. The toolkit was peer reviewed prior to publication.

Dr. Sapp, director for student engagement, diversity and inclusion and an assistant professor in Geisinger

Commonwealth School of Medicine’s Department of Medical Education, said first-generation students, especially in medical school, are an under-represented population whose needs have often been overlooked.

“Navigating medical school is difficult if you don’t have a mentor or a guide,” said Dr. Sapp. “Insider knowledge is often passed down between generations — knowledge not available to first-gen students. It includes things like the importance of shadowing, finding research that aligns with professional goals, even when and how to study for the all-important USMLE Step 1 exam. Our toolkit is a resource to fill in those gaps.”

The toolkit, available at aamc.org/professionaldevelopment/affinity-groups/gea/first-generationstudents, provides resources on everything from finding a mentor to accessing emotional-health support. The resources are divided into four categories: •

Academic Support

•

Professional Development and Career Mentorship

•

Emotional Support

•

Financial Support

Dr. Sapp and the working group also presented a poster on the toolkit and its resources at the AAMC’s virtual 2020 AAMC Learn, Serve, and Lead Conference.

GEMS Center accredited by SSH The SSH seal affirms that the GEMS Center meets all Geisinger’s Education and Medical Simulation (GEMS) core standards for excellence in teaching and education.

Center received accreditation from the Society for In addition, accreditors specifically praised GEMS’ “rich Simulation in Healthcare (SSH). The accreditation is an and high-fidelity/realistic communication simulations” and important recognition of the excellence of the GEMS for cultivating “leadership who understand the power of Center and the growing consensus that simulation simulation and integration into the healthcare system.” plays an essential role in patient safety. “SSH has pushed for improving types of simulation technology, creating best practices in simulation and supporting rigorous educational assessment,” said Nicole Woll, PhD, MEd, associate chief academic officer and interprofessional education associate dean of faculty and continuing professional development. Samantha Lee, MHS, program manager, said, “There’s a recognition that simulation is a From left to right: Samantha Norton, MFA; John Cromis; April Morgan, MEd; Samantha Lee, MHS; Pam really valuable part of healthcare Domenico, EMT; Mary Jean Parry; Nicole Woll, PhD, MEd; and Mary Harris, MD. Not present: team education.” member, Sandy Green, MD.

THE JOURNAL / WINTER 2021

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Student news

Student groups share Halloween fun with community partners Geisinger Commonwealth’s Medical Student Council didn’t want the pandemic to interfere with a safe and happy Halloween for our community. That’s why these student leaders coordinated a Halloween goodie bagstuffing event. Over the course of just a week, multiple School of Medicine student clubs and organizations pitched in to create 590 Halloween goodie bags. Student volunteers then distributed the bags to community partners, such as the NEPA Youth Shelter, Junior Achievement NEPA, St. Francis Soup Kitchen, United Neighborhood Centers of NEPA and Meals on Wheels.

Participating Geisinger Commonwealth clubs included: • • • •

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American College of OB/GYN (ACOG) American Medical Association (AMA) American Medical Student Association (AMSM) Asian Pacific American Medical Student Association (APAMSA)

• • • • • • • • • • • •

Association of Women Surgeons (AWS, formerly Women in Surgery WIS) Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Medicine Interest Group (CVPIG) Dermatology Interest Group (DIG) Family Medicine Interest Group (FMIG) Global Health Society (GHS) Internal Medicine Interest Group (IMIG) Latino Medical Students Association (LMSA)/Med Spanish Mental Health Task Force (MHTF) Military Medicine Interest Group (MMIG) Pediatric Outreach Group for Students (POGS) Precision Medicine Interest Group (PMIG) Student Musculoskeletal Society (SMS)

Essay examines sign language use in children with autism Matthew Busch, MD Class of 2021, published an essay in the Oct. 7 edition of inTraining, an online peer-reviewed publication for medical students.

The essay, titled “American Sign Language and the Power of Communication,” traces Busch’s journey with American Sign Language and its power to help a child with autism but not hearing loss to express himself. Busch, who plans to become a pediatrician, has participated in and led Geisinger Commonwealth’s American Sign Language Club since arriving at the school in 2017.

The article may be viewed at in-training.org/american-sign-language-and-the-powerof-communication-19076.

All content on in-Training is contributed by medical students worldwide.

The pandemic’s effects on professional identity formation On Sept. 9, Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine student Michael Blazaskie, a member of the MD Class of 2024, presented a session at Drexel University’s seventh annual Conference on Teaching and Learning Assessment, which was held virtually.

Blazaskie presented a session titled “Assessment of Graduate Students’ Professional Identity Formation during the COVID-19 Pandemic” along with Michelle Schmude, EdD, associate dean for admissions, enrollment management and financial aid and an associate professor.

Having earned his master of biomedical sciences (MBS) degree from Geisinger Commonwealth in 2019, Blazaskie is now a first-year medical student in the Abigail Geisinger Scholars program. With Dr. Schmude, he focused on the assessment of Geisinger Commonwealth’s service-learning model within its graduate professionalism course during the COVID-19 pandemic. They discussed community service activities, reflections on the experiences that enabled students to advance their professional identity and student resiliency during the global crisis.

The session was designed to improve attendees’ understanding of how course and programmatic objectives can be achieved by students in an asynchronous, distanced setting while advancing their professional identity.

The conference annually gathers more than 500 higher education faculty and administrators to acknowledge that the quality of the student academic experience must be the driver behind all assessment and accreditation activities and to learn how to include as its focus students’ active engagement and understanding, along with the ability to assess it.

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Student news

Steamtown Health Fair held virtually Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine, Scranton Primary Health Care Center hosted ninth annual event The 2020 Steamtown Health Fair went on — virtually. Student planners said gift bags filled with educational resources and other goodies from local health and wellness businesses were handed out by participating organizations.

Bags were distributed from Oct. 13 through Oct. 17.

In addition, instead of the health fair’s gift basket raffle, Geisinger Commonwealth students decided to help promote donations to several local organizations: •

Bread Basket of NEPA

•

Meals on Wheels of NEPA

•

National Alliance on Mental Illness NEPA

•

United Neighborhood Centers of NEPA

Student planners included: •

Caroline Bandurska

•

Holly Funk

•

Julia Hendricks

•

Irene Lin

•

Jude Polit-Moran

•

Zoya Rahman

•

Sydney Shade

•

Erin Smith

•

Jessica Valenti

•

Mia Woloszyn

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Student reflection published in ‘Diary of a Med Student’ Monica Joglekar, a member of Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine’s MD Class of 2022, was among the medical-student authors of the independently published book, Diary of a Med Student. Released in September, the book features 100 student authors offering reflections on various aspects of the medical school experience.

Joglekar wrote about her life-changing experience working in a hospice unit.

After caring for hospice patients, getting to know their families and coming to admire the selflessness and compassion of the hospice caregivers, she wrote, “I can think of nothing more rewarding than helping someone navigate the certainty in morality and the uncertainties of what comes after death.”

“More 200 students from 50 different medical schools applied. It was an honor to be selected,” Joglekar said. “The book is organized into tales, such as tales of sorrow, tales of joy and so forth. My story was in tales of inspiration. The hospice experience changed me in a very profound way, to the point where I am considering palliative care. In fact, that is my elective this year.”

Her success with the book has encouraged Joglekar to continue to write. “I have always wanted to be a writer and it is definitely one of my passions. I hope to incorporate it into my medical career,” she said.

According to its Amazon description, Diary of a Med Student is “a book created by medical students, for medical students, doctors, pre-med students, and their loved ones to look backward, forward, and laterally on the wonderful world of medical school. This book offers a space to reflect on our emotions, process their meaning, and share them as tales of sorrow, humor, joy, or inspiration, told from the perspective of medical students writing in a diary.” The brainchild of two University of California, Irvine students, Diary of a Med Student (DOAMS) has garnered praise from such luminaries as Abraham Verghese, MD. All of the proceeds from the book go to the DOAMS scholarship fund for medical students. For more information or to purchase the book, visit www.amazon.com/Diary-Med-Student-Daniel-Azzam/dp/1087906970./

Students present at NVivo Virtual Conference on Sept. 23 NVivo is a qualitative data analysis computer software package widely used in academia.

Poster presentation links professional identity formation to physician career satisfaction Makayla Dearborn, Eleanor Fortner-Buczala and Krishani Patel, all members of Geisinger Commonwealth’s MD Class of 2023, presented a poster at the conference titled “A novel use of NVivo for Analysis of Professional Identity Formation ePortfolios in Medical Education” with faculty members Tanja Adonizio, MD, associate dean for student affairs and Michelle Schmude, EdD, associate dean for admissions, enrollment management and financial aid and an associate professor.

The research presented shows that physician career satisfaction is connected with the process of professional identity formation (PIF), a crucial component in medical education. Professionalism is also a core competency required by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, the body responsible for accrediting all graduate medical training programs for physicians in the United States.

The ‘hidden curriculum’ and its impact on professional identity

poster at the conference titled “Utilizing NVivo as an Evaluation Tool of a Hidden Curriculum Discussion Board within Medical Education” also with Dr. Adonizio and Dr. Schmude.

Awareness of the impact of the hidden curriculum on professional identity has long been an integral part of medical education. The hidden curriculum is unwritten, unofficial and often unintended lessons, values and perspectives that students learn alongside their formal course instruction.

The process of identity formation throughout the development of medical professionals is known. Each transition period — entry into medical school, residency or independent practice — leads to a crisis of identity.

These crisis points provide maximum opportunity for identity evolution through reflection and should be moments of formative guidance. Until now, asynchronous online discussion boards have been an underutilized resource in the process. Geisinger Commonwealth researchers are working to implement an evidence-based professionalism curriculum and asynchronous discussion board through a pilot collaboration with Professional Formation for the clinical years of medical education.

Paul Bastian, a member of Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine’s MD Class of 2023, presented a

SRIP project accepted for AHA presentation Mohammed

An abstract based on a project initiated during the 2019 Summer Research Immersion Program (SRIP) was accepted for presentation at the national American Heart Association meeting to be held virtually in November. The abstract is titled “Computer Versus PhysicianInterpreted Electrocardiographic Diagnosis of Prior Anterior, Septal or Anteroseptal Myocardial Infarction.”

The study found that although technology used to read ECGs has improved, there are still false positives generated and more study is necessary and machine learning should be explored as a means to improve automated reading of these studies.

Stephen J. Voyce, MD, director of clinical cardiology research at Geisinger, conducted the study with Geisinger Commonwealth students Humera Mohammed, MD Class of 2022, and Sean Gilhooley, MD Class of 2024, who is also an Abigail Geisinger Scholar.

Gilhooley

SRIP is an 8-week program for medical students. Acceptance to the SRIP is competitive.

Student projects are diverse, and their mentors include Geisinger providers, community partners and faculty members.

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Student news

Annual bazaar celebrates Indigenous/ First Nation People Heritage Month Student leaders at Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine recently planned and organized the school’s third Indigenous/First Nation People Bazaar to celebrate Indigenous/First Nation People Heritage Month, an observance that occurs in November.

Despite being held virtually, the bazaar was an educational and celebratory event. The highlight was a performance by Frank Littlebear, a member of the Cree Nation, and his son. Mr. Littlebear’s presentation included dancing, drumming, artifact displays and stories designed to provide an interactive introduction to Native American culture.

Indigenous/First Nation People Heritage Month is a time to celebrate rich and diverse cultures, traditions and histories and to acknowledge the important contributions of Indigenous/ First Nation People. The month is also an opportune time to educate the general public about tribes, to raise a general awareness about the unique challenges Indigenous/First Nation People faced both historically and in the present, and the ways in which tribal citizens have worked to conquer these challenges.

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Students present at NRMP virtual meeting, “Transition to Residency” The National Residency Matching Program (NRMP), also called The Match, is a private nonprofit non-governmental organization created to place — or “match” — medical school students into residency training programs located throughout the United States.

Virtual session on career coaching and UME Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine students Makayla Dearborn, Eleanor Fortner-Buczala and Krishani Patel, as well as Kara Romanowski and Jordan Wolfheimer, all members of the MD Class of 2023, presented at the National Residency Matching Program’s (NRMP’s) virtual meeting, “Transition to Residency,” held Oct. 16–17.

Romanowski and Wolfheimer presented a session titled “Student Satisfaction with a Career Coaching Model in Undergraduate Medical Education” along with faculty members Christin Spatz, MD, and Tanja Adonizio, MD, as well as Geisinger Commonwealth Center for Career Development staff members Julia Kolcharno, MA, and Linda Learn, MSW, MBA. Two physicians from Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center also took part in the research.

Dearborn, Fortner-Buczala and Patel presented a session titled “Multifactorial Use of ePortfolios in Medical Education” with faculty members Drs. Adonizio and Michelle Schmude, EdD, associate dean for admissions, enrollment management and financial aid and an associate professor.

Multifactorial Use of ePortfolios in Medical Education Makayla Dearborn, Eleanor Fortner-Buczala and Krishani Patel, all members of Geisinger Commonwealth’s MD Class of 2023, presented a session titled “Multifactorial Use of ePortfolios in Medical Education” with faculty members Dr. Adonizio and Michelle Schmude, EdD. The presentation examined the connection between physician career satisfaction and the process of professional identity formation (PIF), a crucial component in medical education.

Analysis of first-generation medical students’ performance presented at NRMP Michael Yi, a member of the MD Class of 2023, presented a session titled “Analysis of First-Generation Medical Students and their Academic Performance” along with clinical faculty member Joseph (Jay) Bannon, MD, and Dr. Schmude.

The session analyzed the performance of first-generation-to-college (FG) versus continuing-generation (CG) students with a focus on identifying biases within each cohort and recognizing support systems for FG students that may promote academic success.

The NRMP meeting draws graduate medical education program directors and coordinators, designated institutional officials, and medical school student affairs and academic affairs deans and faculty. Other professionals engaged in medical education research or clinical practice also participate.

Geisinger Commonwealth students address food insecurity On Nov. 17, first-year medical students from Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine learned about the prevalence of food insecurity in our region and had the opportunity to do something about it. The students heard from Roderick Blaine, director of administration and chief financial officer for the Commission on Economic Opportunity’s Weinberg Food Bank about the unique challenges in northeast Pennsylvania. Then they packed boxes to provide Thanksgiving meals to the families served by the food bank.

Students also had the opportunity to engage in national research on this issue. Bowling Green State University is researching student knowledge of food insecurity and the rising threat COVID-19 poses, noting that people facing food insecurity have greater likelihood of developing chronic diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity and heart disease. After interacting with Mr. Blaine and seeing firsthand the regional need, students took part in a survey to further that study’s aims.

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Student news

Thiel appointed AMA student committee chair

The American Medical Association (AMA) announced that Vanessa Thiel, MD Class of 2021, was appointed chair of the Committee on Bioethics & Humanities in the Medical Student Section.

The Medical Student Section (MSS) helps shape AMA policy by advocating for issues that impact medical students, physicians and patients. Each year, the MSS Governing Council appoints AMA medical student members to serve on its 13 standing committees. These committees support the Governing Council in a number of ways, and responsibilities vary across the committees.

The Committee on Bioethics and Humanities engages the larger AMA and MSS communities in critical and current topics on medical ethics and humanities. The committee encourages awareness of ethical and humanistic topics by facilitating discussions and highlighting experiences that affect the well-being of both patients and physicians. It also heightens awareness of all the opportunities the AMA Ethics Standards Group has to offer students Thiel recently received a master’s in public health (MPH) from Thomas Jefferson University. She is a member of the first cohort of Geisinger Commonwealth students to be accepted to the university’s College of Population Health as part of a unique partnership providing Geisinger Commonwealth medical students with scholarships that cover the cost of tuition to pursue their MPH during a year off between their third and fourth years of medical school.

As chair of the Committee on Bioethics and Humanities, Thiel will oversee several key annual projects, including:

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Interim and annual AMA conference programming to educate MSS and physician members on various ethical and humanistic topics

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Resolution review, which involves providing feedback on resolutions proposed to the AMA and AMA-MSS regarding topics related to ethics and humanities

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Regular MSS member education, such as monthly Facebook page posts, internal topic discussions in committee group chats, and journal clubs

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Publishing reports relating to topics of bioethics and humanities as assigned by the MSS Governing Council

School year kicked off with virtual fair events attended their virtual fair on Sept. 9. To present volunteer opportunities to students in a thoughtful manner, Evans and O’Brien divided the nonprofits by theme. For example, CHOMP, a group associated with Meals on Wheels, was placed in a Zoom “room” along with St. Francis of Assisi Kitchen and other service organizations devoted to reducing hunger and food insecurity.

Evans

O’Brien

A new academic year usually includes a flurry of activities meant to organize and orient new students. At Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine, September typically includes two events that fill the Medical Sciences Building lobby with booths, balloons and people. This year both the annual Community Service Fair and the Geisinger Commonwealth Club Fair went on as scheduled — but rather than in the school’s cavernous lobby, both events were held virtually. In many ways, student planners said, the virtual events required more meticulous planning, even though there were no physical logistics to worry about.

Community Service Fair planners Rachel Evans and Kate O’Brien said 17 community nonprofits and organizations

There were four Zoom meeting rooms, each tended by a Geisinger Commonwealth student organizer. Students could enter each room at any time throughout the 2-hour fair. The key was to hold new entrants in queue to wait if the group was talking to another student. The Zoom “room tender” might also decide to place a nonprofit into a separate chat room with a student if that student was hoping to volunteer specifically for that agency. The planners also fielded calls during the event from agency participants with technological questions.

Despite the demands on their time, attention and technical skills, the fair was deemed a success. “It was fun to organize, and we had held the Club Fair, which went really well, so we had it to follow as an example,” O’Brien said.

Evans added that, in some ways, the virtual event was even better than being in the Medical Sciences Building lobby. “We have a lot of local agencies that want student volunteers but don’t have the time to come to our school and staff a booth for a few hours,” she said. “So, next year, even if we are back to holding an in-person event, we’ll definitely keep this virtual element.”

100th vaccine

Kenneth Lam, a fourth-year medical student at the Atlantic City Campus, recently achieved an important milestone. On Dec. 29 he administered his 100th COVID-19 vaccine to fellow Geisinger Commonwealth student Rachel Fulton.

In between his responsibilities as a busy medical student, Lam volunteered to help administer COVID vaccines at his clinical site. He says he was inspired by his attending physicians and residents to do everything necessary to fight the pandemic and to demonstrate that he and other health professionals trust the science behind vaccines.

Lam said he and his fellow students were excited by the news that the Pfizer vaccine had arrived at their hospital.

He received his second and final dose of the vaccine on Jan. 5 and has been busily vaccinating frontline workers, including staff from environmental services, nurses and doctors. “I’ve even vaccinated some of my own preceptors,” he said. “In the end, I hope that healthcare workers receiving the vaccine proves that we believe it is safe and effective to reassure the public that they can trust the science.”

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MD

Alumni news

MBS Stephen Avila, MBS ’16, a fourth-year medical student at Indiana University School of Medicine, plans to match into a neurological residency program this March.

Nicole Barela-Vess, MBS ’16, has been selected and now serves as the company commander for the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 213th Regional Support Group for the Pennsylvania Army National Guard. She is the first female commander to the unit in the last 20 years. In April 2021, her unit is scheduled to deploy to the Middle East. At that time, she will become the first female commander in the unit’s history to deploy to a combat zone.

Rebecca Brown, MD, MBS ’13, is finishing her internal medicine residency at Inspira Medical Center in Vineland, N.J. and has matched into a hematology/oncology fellowship with Tower Health at Reading Hospital.

Benjamin H. Hancock, MBS ’20, has been accepted to the University of South Carolina School of Medicine.

Joshua Kaminski, MD, MPH, MBS ’12, completed his MPH at George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health in June and has begun a family medicine residency program at La Grange Hospital in Illinois.

Jaeger Kubikisha, MBS, ’19, is now a lab technician at the Baylor Human Genome Sequencing Center, working on projects concerning COVID-19.

After her first year of medical school, Ashley Slack, MBS ’17, a second-year medical student at Howard University College of Medicine in Washington, D.C., worked with attending physicians on a “live” COVID-19 textbook published in July. She contributed to the Dermatology chapter. The textbook will be published in physical form in 2021.

Daria L. Zucchi, MBS, ’20, has been accepted to Temple University School of Podiatric Medicine.

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Anjani Amladi, MD ’15, recently published a children's picture book titled “When the World Got Sick.”

The book follows Olive and her family as they discuss the impact of COVID-19 and find ways to safely navigate challenging times together.

The book’s description on Amazon reads, “When the World Got Sick, written for kids by child and adolescent psychiatrist, Dr. Anjani Amladi, is a resource for families, caregivers and healthcare providers who are looking for engaging ways to explain the global pandemic in a child-friendly way. This colorful illustration book will not only help children to cope with difficult emotions they may be feeling but will spark a sense of hope in times of uncertainty.”

Karissa Arthur, MD ’17, now serves as executive chief resident in neurology at Johns Hopkins University (JHU) and will remain there for another year to enter JHU’s stroke fellowship. Her husband, Robert DeGrazia Jr., MD ‘17, is a general internal medicine fellow at JHU. Ronald Bogdasarian, MD ’15, and his wife are expecting their first child in late March and looking forward to the completion of residency in Bangor, Maine, where Dr. Bogdasarian has accepted a reconstructive surgery position. During the summer, the couple enjoyed visits with fellow alumni Nick Calder, MD and Ozzie Toy, MD. Charles Browning II, MD ’17, a surgical resident in the Lehigh Valley Health Network, is engaged to be married to Hannah Stevens, RN, a trauma ICU nurse.

The wedding is set for May 29.

Hannah Canty, MD ’15, will complete her pediatric critical care medicine fellowship at Stanford University in July of 2021 and has accepted an advanced clinical fellowship training position in pediatric cardiac critical care at Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C.

Syrell Rodriguez Carreras, MD ’15, graduated from her general surgery residency at Wellspan York Hospital in York and is currently completing a surgical critical care fellowship at Carilion Clinic in Roanoke Virginia.

Nermin Sihly, MD ’17, and husband, Ahmed Shokry, MD, welcomed baby Adam, born on Sept. 28.

Alexandra Chop, MD ’18, was chosen to serve as one of the chief residents in 2021 for the Geisinger combined internal medicine/pediatrics residency program.

After completing his general surgery residency in Myrtle Beach, S.C., Neal Cooper, MD ’15, his wife, Alexandra and their sons Lucas and Gabriel, have returned to Pennsylvania, where Dr. Cooper is completing his vascular surgery fellowship at Geisinger Medical Center.

Eric Drago, MD ’17, completed his internal medicine residency at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in 2020 and accepted a position at Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center as a hospitalist.

Aditya Eturi, MBS ’13, MD ’17, matched into a hematology/oncology fellowship at Thomas Jefferson in Philadelphia, which will start in the summer of 2021.

Amogh Karnik, MD ’17, matched at Northwestern University/McGaw Medical Center for a cardiovascular disease fellowship beginning in 2021.

Jennifer O'Loughlin Langstengel, MD ’15, matched into a pulmonary and critical care medicine fellowship at Yale School of Medicine, which she will begin in July. She completed her residency and chief residency at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics and has been working as faculty at Lehigh Valley Health Network in its Internal Medicine Residency Program as a primary care physician and hospitalist.

Shannon Lanzo, MD ’17, and Joseph Stricker, MD ’17, were engaged this past October.

Dr. Lanzo is completing her residency in diagnostic radiology at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, while Dr. Stricker is completing a fellowship in child psychiatry at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

Kristen Suchniak-Mussari, MD ’13, says she is loving her new job as a gastroenterologist with a private practice in Hickory, N.C., where she and her husband Anthony moved with their daughters Adriana, 5, and Ava, 1.

Sean Wallace, MD ’14, completed an integrated residency in plastic and reconstructive surgery at Lehigh Valley Health Network (LVHN) in Allentown in June.

He is completing a 1-year microvascular reconstructive surgery fellowship at Louisiana State University in New Orleans. Upon its completion, he plans to return to Allentown to join the division of Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery at LVHN as core faculty, performing the full spectrum of plastic surgery with an emphasis in microsurgical and lymphatic reconstruction.

The MD Class of 2017 held a mini reunion in Hershey in 2019. Seen left to right are Kelly Lani-Burtch with husband, Ryan Lani, MD, Matt Fennema, MD, Roni Dermo, MD, Tara Lal, MD and Nikki Jezewski, MD, all members of the Class of 2017. Dr. Jezewski completed her pediatric residency at Penn State Hershey Medical Center in June and started her career as a primary care pediatrician with CHOP Care Network Indian Valley in Souderton, Pa.

Linda Sanders, MD ’13, MA, DiMM, who practices emergency medicine in Colorado Springs, hosted Maram Bishawi, MBS ’11, for a weekend of camping and hiking around Colorado's Front Range.

Alumni, to share your good news, visit geisinger.edu/AlumniUpdate

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

Abigail Geisinger Scholar Spotlight Frank Monney, MD Class of 2024 Hometown: Cameroon Undergraduate: University of Maryland

‘Medicine doesn’t have all the answers, but doctors never stop looking for them.’

Growing up in Cameroon, Frank Monney, MD Class of 2024, learned to connect doctors and hospitals with death and trauma. Monney’s love of science led him to study biological sciences with a concentration in STEM education at the University of Maryland Baltimore County, where — fortunately — positive research experiences changed his mind. “I learned that medicine doesn’t always have all the answers, but doctors and scientists never stop looking for them. It was a big turning point for me,” he said.

To prepare for medical school, Monney chose first to get a master’s degree in biomedical sciences from Geisinger Commonwealth. That’s when he fell in love with Geisinger and its approach to medicine. “While I was a graduate student, I got involved in a lot of community service. As a Black man in medicine, I realized that Geisinger is encouraging diversity in all aspects. It’s not just lip service; it shows through every activity. The school celebrates, encourages and understands the value of diversity in healthcare. I felt it from the first day of my master’s program — that Geisinger wants to do right by its community and its people — and I continue to feel it today as a first-year medical student.”

To make a donation or for more information, contact the Development Office at 570-271-6461 or visit geisinger.edu/GCSOMdonate.

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

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