Sidney Kimmel Medical College - Spring 2016 Alumni Bulletin

Diversity Initiatives

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A Psychoanalyst & A Poet

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Match Day 2016

The Bulletin SPRING 2016

DoubleTake

Joint MD/MBA Degrees Create Business-Savvy Doctors

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t i m e c a ps u l e

From the Jefferson Archives: Spring 1966

Photo courtesy of the Archives and Special Collections, Thomas Jefferson University.

on the cover: Illustration by James Steinberg.

Senior Director, Communications: Mark P. Turbiville Editor: Karen L. Brooks Jefferson Alumni Bulletin Spring 2016 Volume 65, Number 2 Executive Vice President: Elizabeth A. Dale, EdD Associate Vice President, Alumni Relations: Cristina A. Geso

Design: SwivelStudios, Inc. Bulletin Committee William V. Harrer, MD ’62 Chair James Harrop, MD ’95 Cynthia Hill, MD ’87 Larry Kim, MD ’91 Phillip J. Marone, MD ’57, MS ’07 Joseph Sokolowski, MD ’62

Address correspondence to: Editor, Alumni Bulletin Office of Institutional Advancement Thomas Jefferson University 125 S. 9th Street, Suite 700 Philadelphia, PA 19107-4216 215-955-6890 alumni@jefferson.edu Fax: 215-503-5084 Advancement.Jefferson.edu Alumni Relations: 215-955-7750

The Jefferson community and supporters are welcome to receive the Alumni Bulletin on a regular basis; please contact the aforementioned address.

Postmaster: send address changes to the aforementioned address.

ISSN-0021-5821 Copyright© Thomas Jefferson University. All Rights Reserved.

Published continuously since 1922.

6 The Reformation Healthcare Changes Spur the Rise of the MD/MBA

12 Many Voices, Better Care SKMC Diversity Programs Enrich Medical Education and Community

18 Brind-Marcus Center Expands the Frontier of Integrative Medicine

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DEAN’S COLUMN

4 FINDINGS Study Shows Promise in Protecting the Brain Against Parkinson’s Disease

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5 Alumni Home A Message from Elizabeth Dale

20 ON CAMPUS 22 Salman Akhtar, MD Healing with Words

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John Babb, MD '80 Following His Sister's Heart

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28 Robert Pollock Trading Notepad for Stethoscope

30 CLASS NOTES 33

IN MEMORIAM

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BY THE NUMBERS

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Students and Faculty Doing Amazing Things The Jefferson family—students, residents, fellows, alumni, faculty and staff—is special in so many ways. There are the day-in and day-out acts conducted in the course of training, discovering and caring and, occasionally, the virtual miracles performed, most often unheralded.

There are the special, above-and-beyond things that occur, as well as initiatives and programs that showcase our institution’s transformative prowess. And then there are the occasional out-of-the-ordinary acts that catch the attention of outsiders and offer a glimpse of our very special Jefferson grit.

I make a habit of collecting the sundry uplifting anecdotes that find their way to my desk. Hard to choose among them, but let me share a random few.

Let’s start with two 2015 SKMC graduates, Daniel Becchi and Monica Pham, who, during their fourth-year global health rotation, happened to be in Nepal when the devastating earthquake struck. By a stroke of luck, the wing of the building they occupied remained untouched.

Having made it to the international airport to head home, the two chanced upon a traveler in dire distress. Their Jefferson training kicked in, with an impressive display of clinical acumen.

After ABC resuscitation steps, Daniel and Monica obtained a history with the help of a translator. Forming an impressive differential, they surmised that this individual was experiencing a hypoglycemic episode

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from dehydration and malnutrition, complicated by a seizure. On-the-fly innovation followed. With the patient’s swallowing function impaired, they applied a cloth, soaked in oral rehydration solution, to the patient’s mouth—two medical students pulling a cat out of the hat on the other side of the planet.

A few years earlier, in that very same part of the world, another one of our own proved her mettle. Twelve days before graduating, Erin Lally, MD ’11, became the 177th woman to summit Mount Everest. In my graduation remarks that year, I showcased Erin’s tremendous feat, which built upon all kinds of other mountaineering exploits juggled with medical school demands. But what I didn’t share at the time was what happened on the way down.

Shortly upon arriving back at Camp IV, after more than 20 hours of her own taxing descent from the Everest summit, Erin’s team was informed that 15 Spanish climbers were unaccounted for. Hours of a painstaking search on the upper reaches of the mountain led her team’s Argentinian guides and sherpas to four of the missing climbers. The victims were carried and dragged all the way to Camp II, roughly 3,000 vertical feet from where they had been found, to a makeshift triage tent.

Erin kicked in. Though exhausted from the prior day’s efforts, under close radio communication with emergency room physicians at Base Camp, this fourth-year medical student managed to thaw bottles of saline, set up IVs and administer steroids, heparin and oxygen to climbers suffering from cerebral edema, pulmonary edema, severe frostbite and hypoxia.

Stabilized overnight, they were then transported to Kathmandu with what became

The dean’s column

one of the highest helicopter rescue missions in history. Erin, one of our own, soon became somewhat of a legend in the mountaineering community, with our medical school front and center.

Erin later wrote: “My summiting Everest taught me that there is no feat that is insurmountable or dream that is unattainable. By simply putting one foot in front of the other, the world has no limits.”

It’s not just our medical students who rise to the occasion. Heading home on the 7:25 p.m. train out of Jefferson Station in May 2012, Howard Weitz, one of our renowned cardiologists and a 1978 graduate, overheard the conductor twice asking the person behind him for her pass.

But no response—so the conductor yelled out for a doctor. Howard spun around, and detecting no pulse or breathing, pulled her to the floor, started chest compressions and instructed the conductor to call for assistance. Two more passengers responded—none other than Simeon (“Kosi”) Yamoah, a then-resident in radiation oncology, and a Jefferson nurse (anonymous by request), armed with a personal airway device.

Howard supervised the CPR efforts, with Kosi performing compressions and our nurse assisting in the breathing.

The collapsed woman came back to life, awake and alert, 15 minutes after the ordeal began. Jefferson teamwork was on full display—serendipity bringing a random group of our own together, on a moving commuter train.

Lifesaving stories of heroism abound.

But, sometimes, it’s in the form of biomedical discovery that has impact across continents. Micaela Collins, Class of 2019, as a co-principal

investigator on a Canadian-funded project, has designed a breast milk pasteurization device that, along with feeding counseling programs and breast pumping stations, is being trialed in a garment factory in Dhaka, Bangladesh, to accommodate female workers who often have no choice but to return to work three months after giving birth. Most don't have access to any sort of refrigeration—hence the need to introduce an alternative way to keep

Sherrard, MD ’15, who won the 2013 Ironman 70.3 World Championships in Las Vegas and placed fourth in the 2014 Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii, in her 25-29 age group. Or the likes of Edward Liu, MD ’90, who sacrificed his life a few years ago, saving two 12-year-old boys toppled from their canoe

by Lake Michigan’s riptide current. This prominent pediatric surgeon managed to help the boys make it to shore, but was himself pulled down by the undertow.

Their stories inspire.

Each day, as I traverse the halls and walkways of our campus, I stop and remind myself of just how very special the people surrounding me are. We have incredible people capable of doing incredible things—so often with little fanfare. How uplifting, in a world too filled with disturbance and tragedy.

Mark L. Tykocinski, MD Provost, Thomas Jefferson University Anthony F. and Gertrude M. DePalma Dean, Sidney Kimmel Medical College breast milk safe when stored at room temperature for extended periods. Micaela was invited to pitch the project at the Pneumonia Innovations Summit sponsored by the United Nations.

I could go on, mining my files for more anecdotes of very special Jefferson people—lifesaving heroes or medical discoverers. And none of this speaks to the many personal triumphs or acts of selflessness—like those of Emily

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FINDINGS

Study Shows Promise in Protecting the Brain Against Parkinson’s Disease

Almost 200 years after London physician James Parkinson first wrote about “the shaking palsy”—now known as Parkinson’s disease—there is still no known cure. A number of treatments exist to alleviate symptoms of the disease, but none slows or stops its progression. In 2013, a molecule called GM1 ganglioside showed potential, but it has proved difficult to make and deliver to patients.

Now, Jefferson researchers have demonstrated a way to help the brains of mice produce more of their own GM1 ganglioside in a study published in the journal PLOS ONE. “GM1 ganglioside has shown great promise in Parkinson's patients,” says lead author Jay Schneider, PhD, professor in the Department of Pathology, Anatomy and Cell Biology. “However, considering the difficulties with the manufacturing of GM1 and its delivery to the brain, we wanted to see if we could coax the brain to make more of its own GM1.”

GM1 ganglioside is made by nerve cells in the brain but appears at much lower levels in people with Parkinson’s and other neurodegenerative diseases. Although earlier work revealed that Parkinson’s patients who were administered GM1 ganglioside displayed improvement, the current industry standard for obtaining GM1 ganglioside is to extract the substance from cow brains, which presents a number of manufacturing and safety concerns.

The substance cannot be readily made synthetically.

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A cannula is placed in the third ventricle in the brain and connected to a mini-pump filled with sialidase enzyme. The mini-pump continuously delivers the sialidase to the brain for four weeks.

“We were thinking, ‘there's got to be a way around this,’” says Schneider. “Instead of putting more GM1 into the brain, why not try to get the brain to make more of it?”

Through a search of existing literature, Schneider and colleagues found that an enzyme called sialidase was capable of converting other naturally occurring ganglioside molecules in the brain into GM1 ganglioside. They tested their idea in a mouse model of Parkinson's disease. After the researchers inserted a pump that continually injected the sialidase into the mouse brain, the researchers then simulated the onset of Parkinson's. Schneider and colleagues saw neuronal protection at similar levels to those seen in mice injected directly with GM1 ganglioside.

“We were excited to see that this could work in the mouse model,” says Schneider. “As long-term delivery of sialidase enzymes to the brain would require implantation of a pump system, which might not be optimal, we are currently working on alternative gene therapy approaches to enhance GM1 levels in the brain.”

Creating better ways of enhancing GM1 ganglioside levels could prove beneficial in a number of diseases, including Huntington’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease. Schneider is currently investigating novel gene-therapy approaches that could enhance the GM1 ganglioside content of neurons and plans to investigate the neuroprotective potential of these approaches.

A m e ss a g e fr o m Elizabeth Dale

Alumni Home

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When we started to think about creating an Alumni Center here at Jefferson, we put together a document outlining its purpose. The paper states, “The proposed Alumni Center will serve three basic functions: to provide a home for alumni visiting campus, to provide a space for the five alumni association boards to meet and to house the Alumni Relations offices.”

It’s a rather dry and practical statement of purpose—correct as far as it goes—but the word “home” jumped out at me and tugged a little at my heart. The new Alumni Center we are planning will be more than a meeting space and an office space: it’s a home. It’s friends and family. It’s memories.

It’s where you’re always welcomed back, no matter how far away you go or for how long.

It’s triumphs and setbacks and lessons learned. It’s where you got your start in life.

It’s where you’re always welcomed back, no matter how far away you go or for how long.

The new space Jefferson has set aside for our 33,000-plus living alumni from all six colleges comprises 5,000 square feet on the second floor of Alumni Hall. We already have a floor plan. The Alumni Center will include a reception area, large conference room, a library lounge, a business center, displays of Jefferson archival materials like photos and yearbooks and, of course, Alumni Relations offices. It will be a friendly and versatile environment where alumni can gather for catching up, reminiscing about their professors, learning about the new Jefferson, networking with colleagues, mentoring students, conducting official alumni business, attending on-campus alumni events and accessing alumni services. The Alumni Center will be

completely dedicated to serving our alumni.

In other words, it will be, as our plan put it, your campus home.

The new Alumni Center is all about our Jefferson family. That’s why Jefferson is investing in more resources, more programming and more services for alumni. Even though you’ve graduated, even though you’ve gone off to make a life and build a career, you’re still one of us— and we depend on you. Alumni are not just our past: you’re our future. We love to hear your stories, and we need to hear your voice. Your involvement and passion help Jefferson to govern better and plan for a brighter future, and the close connection helps you to tell better Jefferson stories to those who don’t know us.

There are many ways alumni can give back by giving forward to secure a better Jefferson. We welcome your comments and queries at alumni@jefferson.edu.

Dorothy, in The Wizard of Oz, is more than right when she says, “There’s no place like home.” Find out for yourself. I hope you come and visit soon.

Elizabeth Dale, EdD Executive Vice President for Institutional Advancement

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Story Summary

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Healthcare reform has presented challenges best met by those with both medical and business training.

A growing number of mid-career physicians are returning to school to pursue an MBA. Armed with business skills and knowledge, they are thriving in the midst of a changing healthcare landscape.

Big Data and population health analytics are key to providing evidence-based treatment, value and good outcomes.

Business-savvy physician leaders serve as cross-cultural agents, bridging the gap between medicine and management.

They help reduce costs while improving care.

By Koren Wetmore

TH E RE FORM ATION

Healthcare Changes Spur the Rise of the

MD MBA

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While some may fear change, Jefferson President and CEO Stephen Klasko, MD, MBA, embraces and inspires it. So as others strive to reform healthcare, he’s busy reimagining it.

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Klasko employs technology with a patient care focus through initiatives such as JeffConnect—an app that allows patients and families to video chat with doctors— and hosting hack-a-thons that spur ideas for improving healthcare access and delivery. He also recognizes and seizes opportunity when it arises, as evidenced by Jefferson’s recent merger with Abington Health System and pending mergers with Aria Health and Kennedy Health, which will bring Jefferson’s clinical expertise to a broader population. Yet it’s no accident that the veteran ob/gyn and academic leader shows such business acumen.

He’s also the proud possessor of a Master’s in Business Administration.

Some argue that people like Klasko, who have merged their medical expertise with business savvy, are healthcare’s future. In its 2014 white paper, “The Value of Physician Leadership,” the American College of Physician Executives argues that as reform drives more administrative decisions to impact clinical care, a physician’s patientcentered perspective will be vital. It also emphasizes the need for physicians with business skills who can bridge medicine and management.

According to the American Hospital Association, those skills include medical economics, analytics, population health management and the use of information technology.

Anne Boland Docimo, MD, MBA, chief medical officer for Jefferson Health, and David Nash, MD, MBA, the Dr. Raymond C. and Doris N. Grandon Professor of Health Policy and dean of the Jefferson College of Population Health.

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Why an MBA? Medical school prepares future physicians for medical practice, but offers little to no instruction in the business basics needed to successfully run an organization, communicate with colleagues or plan strategically.

Although some skills can be gained through experience and on-the-job training, gaps often remain in aspects such as finance, analytics and marketing.

All of which can affect even the most seasoned professional.

“There’s a fear when you’re in a business meeting and people start talking about multiples in terms of investment or forecasting,” says Alex Vaccaro, MD, PhD, MBA, president of the Rothman Institute and the Richard H. Rothman Professor and Chair of Jefferson’s Department of Orthopaedic Surgery. “Say we want to purchase a hospital. Can you forecast the populations of patients that will be served? Can you forecast earnings to see if we have a margin? You learn how to do that when you get an MBA.” Vaccaro, who earned his MBA in 2015, pursued the degree after 22 years in medical practice. Prior to his MBA training, he worked to maintain the success of the departments and teams he led. Now his vision is much larger. “I realize we can be bigger and better. Because of what I’ve learned, I can now talk to groups about mergers, acquisitions and focusing on scale and scope.”

For some physicians, impending growth drives their decision to get an MBA. When plans emerged to expand the Jefferson Myrna Brind Center of Integrative Medicine’s reach—including the recent launch of the Brind-Marcus Center in Villanova, Pa.— Dan Monti, MD, MBA, the Ellen and Ron Caplan Professor and Director of Integrative Medicine at Jefferson, chose to pursue the degree.

“Growing new practice sites really requires some business acumen and strategy,” Monti says. “It’s one thing to have an idea to expand; it’s another thing to really understand the pro forma for expenses and revenues, and to develop a five-year strategic plan. To be able to do

Cataldo Doria, MD, MBA, the Nicoletti Family Professor of Surgery and director of the Jefferson Transplant Institute.

things like estimate margins and break-even analyses goes hand in hand with modeling strategic growth.”

Healthcare reform and an increasingly competitive market led Cataldo Doria, MD, PhD, the Nicoletti Family Professor of Surgery and director of Jefferson’s Transplant Institute, to pursue an MBA. His coursework is nearly complete, and Doria has already seen benefits from his training.

“I saw that our business model, which for years involved asking local physicians to send us patients, had to change. In Philadelphia there are more healthcare centers than restaurants, so why should doctors send people to us?” Doria says. “So we created the Jefferson Transplant Institute and now instead of referring patients, doctors become our partners.”

The new model employs collaboration where patient tests, X-rays and follow-up are done by the treating physician, while the transplant surgery is done at the main Jefferson hub. As a result, patients receive streamlined service and Jefferson engages more doctors and serves more patients.

No Magic Bullet

Orthopaedic surgeon Antonia Chen, MD, MBA.

Business training benefits have become so apparent that they have triggered false notions about what an MBA program can do. In fact, some have come to view it as a “magic bullet” that automatically produces great leaders.

However, like any educational opportunity, an MBA simply provides new knowledge and skill sets. Your professional outcome will depend on your individual motivation, effort and experience.

“If you go to business school with the idea that when you emerge you’ll take over the hospital where you work, that’s unrealistic. You still have to earn your leadership stripes through jobs with increasing levels of responsibility and accountability,” says David Nash, MD, MBA, the Dr. Raymond C. and Doris N. Grandon Professor of Health Policy and founding dean of Jefferson’s College of Population Health. “What the degree does is enable you to shuttle back and forth between the culture of medicine and patient care and the culture of resource allocation, leadership and strategic planning. It usually leads to leadership opportunities, but it’s not a given.”

Nash shares this wisdom as he fields calls from doctors interested in the new online MBA program developed in collaboration with Strayer University’s Jack Welch Management Institute (JWMI). Offered through JWMI, the program features an innovative MBA curriculum, but with a healthcare emphasis, thanks to the addition of four courses created by Jefferson's College of Population S idne y K immel M edical C ollege at T homas J efferson U niversit y

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Health. Designed for both mid-career doctors and nonphysicians, it offers an overview of population health and provides the knowledge base needed to address the challenges of a shifting healthcare landscape.

Yet mid-career physicians who have pursued an MBA are quick to stress that the degree doesn’t so much transform as enhance your natural abilities.

“Getting an MBA didn’t make Stephen Klasko a visionary. Rather, the MBA gave him the necessary toolset to bring his vision to reality,” says Anne Boland Docimo, MD, MBA, chief medical officer of Jefferson Health.

Docimo spent more than a decade working in emergency medicine, led two urgent care centers and redesigned the documentation and patient flow for several departments prior to getting her MBA in 2000. Her knack for administration and operations was solid, but business training gave her a better understanding of marketing and finance.

For part of her coursework, she developed a marketing plan for Patient First urgent care centers in Baltimore.

“An MBA provides the skill and knowledge needed to partner with business people in medicine to develop and implement clinical strategy. That’s the job we do. Our business just happens to be healthcare.”

And that business is rapidly evolving.

changes and challenges Healthcare spending in the United States surged to $3.1 trillion in 2015 and is expected to rise an average of 5.8 percent a year until 2024. The increase has been attributed to everything from the rising cost of prescription drugs to the expansion of insurance coverage under the Affordable Care Act. Ironically, the ACA calls for reforms to control costs along with provisions to improve care and access.

“We have to pay attention to finances and outcomes in a way that we never had to before. It doesn’t matter which

specialty or environment you’re in, understanding the business of medicine is crucial to survival,” says Monti.

“Every decision you make has consequences, and the more knowledge you have to make an informed decision, the better the outcome.”

Under ACA provisions, medical providers must now show proof that the treatments given are effective.

Volumes of data must be gathered and interpreted in a useful way, which calls for expertise in health analytics and information technology.

Orthopaedic surgeon Antonia Chen, MD, MBA, specializes in hip and knee replacement surgery. Healthcare reform has changed how she designs research studies, which now include economic and patient survey data.

In a recent comparison of treatment outcomes for partial vs. total knee replacement surgery, Chen included factors such as work loss, time on disability, life expectancy and patient satisfaction.

“We used statistical models to determine which surgical procedure is more ideal in a certain patient population vs. another. A research fellow and statistician did the actual equations, but my MBA background helped with designing the model and knowing what inputs to include,” says Chen.

Such population health analytics are also vital in the reformed environment, where reimbursements are no longer based on services rendered but rather the value provided.

“It’s essentially Big Data coming to healthcare,” says Nash, who’s coined the term “no outcome, no income” to describe the shift from a service-based model to one based on value and outcome. “No outcome, no income means that you better understand the system of care and how it’s organized in order to achieve a good outcome.

So you need the information infrastructure to get the data to help you figure out how you’re doing. And, when you achieve a good outcome, you’ll be rewarded.”

“The adage that you can’t wear the suit and the white coat is nonsense.

Good business and good medicine go hand in hand.”

—David Nash, MD, MBA

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for profit or patients?

Some fear physician leaders who pursue MBA training might shift focus from patient care to the business bottom line. Or, at the very least, have trouble balancing the two.

Nash disagrees.

“The adage that you can’t wear the suit and the white coat is nonsense. Good business and good medicine go hand in hand,” he says. “A business person in healthcare will reduce waste, free up resources and improve care.”

An MD/MBA is actually better equipped to make decisions that benefit patients while staying fiscally sound, says Maria Chandler, MD, MBA, president and founder of the Association of MD/MBA Programs. She offers the example of a surgeon who requested a new MRI machine.

When the CEO asked how he planned to pay for it, the surgeon had no response.

“Often as a physician you don’t know how to tell a large corporation how to afford something that you need. An MD/MBA would have the business skills to say, ‘If we get a new MRI, I could see patients in half the time, which means I could see twice as many. Here are the statistics and finances showing how the machine will pay for itself in two years,’” Chandler says.

Alex Vaccaro, MD, PhD, MBA, president of the Rothman Institute and the Richard H. Rothman Professor and Chair of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery; Sabrina Bazzan, JD, MBA, administrator for the Myrna Brind Center of Integrative Medicine; and Dan Monti, MD, MBA, the Ellen and Ron Caplan Professor and Director of Integrative Medicine.

Just as healthcare reform is driving physicians to change and acquire business skills, Chandler believes the growing trend of business-savvy physicians will in turn drive change in healthcare. “If you equip doctors with business skills, they’ll show you how to take care of patients while doing it at a better cost. Give these really brilliant people the tools they need, and they’ll turn the industry around.”

The rise of the MD/MBA appears to be upon us. Nearly half of the nation’s medical schools have added a dual MD/MBA degree track, and growing numbers of seasoned physicians are returning to school to acquire their MBA. In the future, business training may even be incorporated into the core medical curriculum, eliminating the need for a second degree.

“Maybe by 2025, people will understand that the road to improving outcomes, reducing waste and treating people more equitably is paved with these new skill sets,” says Nash.

“I regret that I probably won’t live to see it, but it’s been a fun mission to be engaged in.”

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Story Summary

Diversity is the richness of human differences and similarities. Jefferson believes that cultivating a diverse, inclusive environment improves healthcare and health equity for all patients and communities.

Many Voices,

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Programs and initiatives at SKMC, such as cultural competency training, a diversity council and projects to increase the number of doctors from underrepresented minorities, benefit students’ educational experience and the future of medicine.

In 2016, a Jefferson program to prepare minority students for the medical school application process is expected to double in size from its first year. Likewise, a pilot four-year program training SKMC students as medical Spanish interpreters will enroll its second class and expand students’ real-world experiences at a clinic for Spanish-speaking patients.

Better Care

SKMC Diversity Programs Enrich Medical Education and Community

By Robin Warshaw Christopher Rivera-Pintado leads an MCAT prep group.

Photo by Carlos Holmes.

The words “gout” and “eye drops” are unlikely to be confused in a doctor-patient conversation conducted in English. But when the patient speaks Spanish and the doctor knows only a little of the language, then “gota” (gout) can be mistaken as the problem when a patient mentions “gotas” (as in “gotas para los ojos,” or eye drops), says Joseph Villavicencio, a second-year Sidney Kimmel Medical College student.

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Villavicencio is explaining the risks of similar-sounding words to students enrolled in the Longitudinal Medical Spanish Translator Program, one of SKMC’s medical education, clinical practice and research initiatives to create a diverse and inclusive environment and provide the best care to all people. The pilot course is training 18 first-year students to become certified medical Spanish interpreters. As part of the program, the students will volunteer at a South Philadelphia clinic that has many Latino patients and, in their fourth year, gain clinical experience in a Spanish-speaking country.

Training students as both doctors and medical interpreters fits with SKMC’s commitment to expand diversity through awareness and sensitivity to differences— ethnic, racial, religious, gender/gender identity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic,

disability and more—and to foster an institutional culture that includes everyone.

“We take this seriously,” says Bernard L. Lopez, MD ’86, associate dean for diversity and community engagement. “This is about incorporating diversity and inclusion as part of our daily work.”

Creating a Community for All

“Anytime you have a diverse group of individuals coming together to solve a problem, the outcome is better than if people are similar.”

—Karen Novielli, MD ’87

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In December, students Adesola Oje and John Honhart co-hosted a “Holidays Around the World” event celebrating diverse cultures on campus.

Photo by Roger Barone.

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The Office of Diversity and Inclusion Initiatives (ODII) at SKMC, which Lopez directs, works to promote diversity, enhance cultural competency or knowledge about other backgrounds and ensure health equity. ODII efforts involve students, residents, faculty, staff and institutional leaders in a variety of initiatives. The goal, Lopez says, is to “make this a place that provides the best and most culturally competent patient care.”

SKMC pipeline programs seek to increase physicians from underrepresented minority (URM) groups, those with fewer doctors than proportional to their U.S. population numbers. In the Future Docs program, high-school students participate in a nine-week winter program on health professions, with a middle-school project planned. A summer program prepares college students for applying to medical school. SKMC is also part of a program to create more URM physicians for the state of Delaware.

At least a dozen SKMC student groups represent varied populations, providing support for common concerns, education for the Jefferson community and greater understanding for all patients. Among the groups: the Student National Medical Association, for African American students; Jefferson Latino Medical Students Association; Asian Pacific Medical Student Association; Jeff LGBTQ for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer students; and the Jefferson Muslim Student Association. The groups conduct workshops, networking, social events and service projects.

The SKMC Council for Diversity and Inclusion, headed by SKMC Dean Mark L. Tykocinski, MD, creates diversity initiatives, policies and programs with input from members who are deans, department chairs, faculty, administrators, residents and students. “Anytime you have a diverse group

of individuals coming together to solve a problem, the outcome is better than if people are similar,” says Council member Karen Novielli, MD ’87, associate provost for faculty affairs and vice dean for faculty affairs and professional development.

The Council recently began work on a catalog of Jefferson’s health disparities research, care initiatives and community service programs. The catalog will augment collaborations and be a resource for Jefferson’s planned Center for Health Equity. That Center will launch this year, says Joseph B. Hill, senior vice president and chief diversity officer.

The SKMC Council also fostered a module on cultural competency in Jefferson’s Health Stream Training Program.

The module used caring for a transgender patient to highlight the importance of providing care informed by inclusive understanding and provided education to all faculty and staff at Jefferson.

Women now comprise half of students enrolled at SKMC, but there are still gender gaps in certain specialties, faculty and departmental roles. According to Novielli, SKMC needs to include more URM and LGBTQ physicians as faculty, bring women into specialties where their numbers are low and increase diversity in departmental and senior leadership. While SKMC has made progress in these areas, there is still work to

Classical Indian dance comes in many forms.

At a multicultural holiday celebration, SKMC students performed a fusion piece encompassing Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi and Kathak influences.

Photo by Roger Barone.

be done. “Our faculty should look like the students and patients we serve,” she says.

“Diversity is not just tolerance,” says Novielli. “It’s a matter of making sure that everyone feels completely part of the com­­­munity and able to contribute maximally.”

Encouraging a Dream As a boy growing up in Bayamón, Puerto Rico, Christopher Rivera-Pintado dreamed of becoming a professional baseball player.

Then his brother and father were seriously burned in an accident and hospitalized for a month. “Ever since then, I developed a passion for the medical field,” he says.

Rivera-Pintado came to the mainland five years ago, speaking no English, yet finished high school and entered Delaware State University. He played baseball at college for two years, then set that aside to pursue his newer dream of becoming a doctor.

He was among 12 participants in the first Jefferson Summer Training and Enrichment Program for Underrepresented Persons in medicine (JeffSTEP-UP). The eight-week program prepares minority students for their application to medical school. In addition to Delaware State, students in the 2015 program came from Rutgers University-Camden, West Chester University, St. Joseph’s University and Southern Methodist University.

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Giving to Enhance Diversity Minority doctors comprise about 6 percent of the total U.S. physician population, a number that has not changed since the 1960s, says Traci R. Trice, MD, assistant dean for diversity and student diversity programs. “If you look more specifically at certain populations, particularly black males, the numbers have even gone down,” she notes. Yet African Americans comprise about 15 percent of the general U.S. population and Hispanics or Latinos make up about 17 percent.

Several barriers exist to improving those statistics. “Part of it is knowledge, part is financial and part is not having mentors in those communities,” says Trice.

JeffSTEP-UP students attend workshops on clinical skills, the application process and interviewing. They receive 135 hours of MCAT preparation through the Princeton Review and do clinical shadowing with Jefferson faculty in family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics, emergency medicine and general surgery.

“I loved that experience shadowing in surgery,” says Rivera-Pintado. He is considering a future as an orthopaedic surgeon, sports medicine doctor or plastic surgeon, so he can work with burn patients.

“It increased my desire to go to medical school.” After finishing the program, he took the MCATs and was accepted at Cooper Medical School of Rowan University.

According to Trice, JeffSTEP-UP will become a residential program this summer and have more participants. Results for the first year’s class will also be assessed.

“We want to see them be successful,” she says. “Even if they enroll somewhere besides SKMC, we can say that we’ve made an impact in their lives and also in diversifying the physician workforce.”

Thirty-six years ago, James and Nancy Baxter established close ties to Jefferson during one of the scariest times of their lives. Their newborn son, Andy, was a patient in Jefferson’s intensive care nursery. Andy not only survived—he thrived and has gone on to live a happy, healthy life.

The Baxters have remained a part of the Jefferson community since Andy’s birth, even establishing a neonatology fellowship in the name of Andy’s physician. Recently, they developed a passion for scholarships and made a new pledge to support minority students attending—and aspiring to attend—Sidney Kimmel Medical College. The Baxter Family Scholarships will provide full tuition to eight medical students from underrepresented groups (four each in the classes of 2020 and 2021), and additional funds will benefit two student pipeline programs: the Summer Training and Enrichment Program for Underrepresented Persons in Medicine (STEP-UP) and the Saturday Academy, a brand-new program through which minority middle-school students participate in educational activities one Saturday per month for nine months.

Through their generosity, James and Nancy Baxter have become integral partners in Jefferson’s journey to reimagine diversity and inclusion in health and education.

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Improving Care The impetus behind the medical interpreter program was simple. “If you don’t know the language (of the patient), you make errors, you misdiagnose and you hurt a vulnerable population,” says second-year SKMC student Daniel Sentana Lledo, who developed the course with Villavicencio.

Adults may be uncomfortable translating medical terms to a relative, or want to keep sensitive medical information private. Using an untrained person to translate creates difficulties for doctors, too. “You lose empathy and communication skills with your patient when you have to rely on someone else,” says Sentana Lledo. “And that definitely impacts patient care.”

About half of the program’s students are Hispanic or Latino. They complete online curriculum modules and meet every three weeks to discuss medical Spanish content and practice speaking with each other.

Volunteering at the Puentes de Salud clinic, which serves an immigrant population, is required. There, students take patients’ vital signs, shadow physicians and interpret.

Students receive humanities credit for the program, but their interest “comes from their passion,” Sentana Lledo says.

“The more confident you are when you speak, the more it makes your patient feel better.”

—Joseph Villavicencio, SKMC student

Gabriel Cambronero, a first-year SKMC student, is Costa Rican. “I want to work with an urban community,” he says. He joined the interpreter program because the clinic work gives him more interactions with patients. Practicing medical Spanish with him, Shalini Vadalia is interested in cultural differences related to health. She also is a first-year student, is ethnically Indian and minored in Spanish in college. “You can only give to your patients if you understand their language and understand their culture,” she says.

As the students rise to leave the session, Villavicencio reminds them to email him if they want to mentor at Esperanza Academy Charter High School in Philadelphia’s Hunting Park neighborhood—a school where most students are Spanish-speaking.

“It’s a good opportunity for community service and to practice Spanish,” he says.

“The more confident you are when you speak, the more it makes your patient feel better.”

Joseph Villavicencio teaches SKMC students in the Longitudinal Medical Spanish Translator Program.

Photo by David Lunt.

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Brind-Marcus Center Expands the Frontier of Integrative Medicine

Every day, more and more healthcare consumers are seeking complementary and holistic therapies for healing purposes.

Jefferson has long embraced a growing interest in refashioning the traditional concept of healing the body into healing the whole person—mind, body and spirit—through the Jefferson-Myrna Brind Center of Integrative Medicine.

Now, the new Brind-Marcus Center of Integrative Medicine is helping to expand these efforts.

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The BrindMarcus Center ribbon cutting on Dec. 8, 2015.

On Dec, 8, 2015, the Jefferson community celebrated the opening of the Brind-Marcus Center in Villanova, Pa.— the first satellite location of the Myrna Brind Center. The 14,000-square-foot center was made possible by a $14 million gift from The Marcus Foundation, which is chaired

by Bernie Marcus, co-founder of The Home Depot. Marcus says he and his wife, Billi, “chose Jefferson for this gift because of our shared vision for the future of medicine.”

The Marcus’ investment has enabled Jefferson to purchase the Philadelphia region’s first PET-MR (Positron Emission Tomography-Magnetic Resonance) machine, which combines an MRI with molecular imaging to give radiation-free images that align a patient’s anatomy and metabolic activity. Known as the “gold standard” of imaging, PET-MR is recognized for its insight into neurological

disorders and can test the effects of integrative therapies on brain function.

“The PET-MRI is a game-changer for our patients, our research and for validating our clinical model,” says Daniel A. Monti, MD, MBA, the Ellen and Ron Caplan Professor and Director of Integrative Medicine at Jefferson.

Other services include a targeted nutrient infusion program, integrative management of chronic illnesses, preventive wellness programs and a variety of mind-body therapies to complement conventional medical treatments and promote health and wellness.

The Brind-Marcus Center is located at 789 E. Lancaster Ave. in Villanova, Pa. Call 1-800-JEFF-NOW for an appointment.

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O N CAM P U S

SKCC Approved for PCORI Engagement Award The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) has approved a team from the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson for a Eugene Washington PCORI Engagement Award to support a project aiming to reduce cancer disparities.

Ronald Myers, PhD, Director of the Division of Population Science, will lead the project, which will focus on patient engagement as well as forming a centralized steering committee and patient and stakeholder advisory committees for the Delaware Valley Accountable Care Organization and the Lehigh Valley Health Network.

Myers’ project was selected through a highly competitive review process in which applications were assessed for their ability to meet PCORI’s engagement goals and objectives.

Rao Named RSNA Board Chair Vijay M. Rao, MD, the David C. Levin Professor and Chair of Radiology, was named chair of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) Board of Directors in December 2015. Rao has been a faculty member at Jefferson since completing her residency in 1978. In 2002, she became the first woman chair of a clinical department in the institution’s history.

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Mitchell on Power 100 List Edith Mitchell, MD, professor of medical oncology and president of the National Medical Association, was named to Ebony Magazine’s 2015 Power 100 List, which honors heroes from the black community. Mitchell—along with luminaries ranging from musician John Legend to Attorney General Loretta Lynch—was honored at a gala in Los Angeles on Dec. 2.

She is also director of the Center to Eliminate Cancer Disparities and associate director for diversity at the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson.

Pestell Wins Susman Prize Richard G. Pestell, MD, PhD, professor in the Department of Cancer Biology and senior adviser for innovation, has been awarded the 2015 Eric Susman Prize by the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP). Awarded annually since 1962, the Susman Prize recognizes RACP fellows for outstanding contribution to any branch of internal medicine. Pestell is pursuing important studies through Prostagene, a biotechnology company he founded to further cancer research and treatment.

Peiper Named ‘Power Pathologist’ Stephen C. Peiper, MD, the Peter A. Herbut Professor and Chair of the Department of Pathology, Anatomy & Cell Biology, was named on The Pathologist’s 2015 Power List, which recognizes the 100 most influential people in laboratory medicine. Peiper also is associate director for translational research at the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson.

Pollack Elected ESC Fellow Charles V. Pollack, Jr., MD, has been elected as a Fellow of the European Society of Cardiology—the first U.S. emergency-medicine physician to receive such an honor. Pollack is associate provost for innovation in education; director of the Jefferson Institute of Emerging Health Professions; associate dean for continuing medical education and strategic partner alliances; and professor and senior advisor for interdisciplinary research and clinical trials in the Department of Emergency Medicine.

O N CAM P U S

Jefferson Digital Commons: Proving That Jefferson Is an International Phenomenon!

Interested in accessing publications about all things Jefferson?

Look no further than the Jefferson Digital Commons, or JDC. Provided by the Center for

Teaching and Learning and the Scott Memorial Library, the JDC is an open-access repository of works authored by Jeffersonians.

To date, the archive houses more than 10,500 assets and has garnered more than 2.5 million downloads from all over the world, illustrating our institution’s extensive international influence.

JDC materials include conference posters, published articles, Grand Rounds, newsletters, journals, oral histories, yearbooks, items from the University Archives and Special Collections, teaching videos and student capstone presentations, among others.

Got some time on your hands?

Check out the following:

Dr. Gibbon Historical Grand Rounds series from the Department of Surgery: jdc.jefferson.edu/gibbonsocietyprofiles

Example of a JDC download count over three hours highlighting worldwide download coverage.

Podcast from the Department of Radiation Oncology: jdc.jefferson.edu/radoncjefferson Yearbooks: jdc.jefferson.edu/jmc_yearbooks Oral histories from the first women at Jefferson: jdc.jefferson.edu/jdc_oral_histories Rare medical books and notebooks from the Archives and Special Collections: jdc.jefferson.edu/jefferson_medicalbooks_notebooks Various newsletters: jdc.jefferson.edu/jeffersonnewsletters.html Teaching Tools including “Professionalism in Medicine” and “Resident as a Teacher” videos: jdc.jefferson.edu/teachingtools

Got thoughts or questions about something you’ve seen? Contact the JDC editor, Dan Kipnis, MSI, at dan.kipnis@jefferson.edu.

If you would like to donate to the JDC, please allocate your gift to the “Jefferson Digital Commons.”

You can check out new JDC additions by visiting jdc.jefferson.edu/recent_additions.html every week.

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PhotoGRAPHY by karen kirchHoff

F A C U LT Y P R O F I L E

aren

By K

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oo L. Br

ks

Salman Akhtar decided on his epitaph long ago: “This man shall write no more books.”

Raised in Lucknow, a city in northern India renowned for its culture, Akhtar comes from a long line of celebrated authors on both sides of his family (a street in his hometown is named after his mother, his father published many acclaimed volumes of poetry, and the government of India recently issued a postage stamp bearing his uncle’s image). He inherited his relatives’ writing talent and has set a goal of publishing 100 books during his lifetime. At age 69, he is more than three-quarters of the way there.

Although Akhtar is not the only writer in his family, he is the only physician. By his last year of medical school in India, he had not yet found a specialty that felt quite right.

Then, one day, he saw a sign.

“It said that Professor Narendra Nath Wig, MD, was presenting a lecture on poetry and psychodynamics. I thought, ‘How can a doctor be talking about poetry?

That’s amazing,’” he recalls. “We’d had almost no psychiatry training in medical school. So I went, and I listened.

And it became clear—I was going to be a psychiatrist.”

Akhtar finished his degree and applied for a residency with Wig, whose university took just two psychiatry residents per year. Nine young physicians applied, and their rankings were posted publicly on a board outside.

“I was number three. I stood there in tears. There was nothing else I wanted to do,” Akhtar says.

But a moment of serendipity changed everything. A man standing next to Akhtar saw his pain. His name was Ravi Berry, and he was second on the list. But he had also matched for two other residencies—ophthalmology and medicine—and kindly offered his slot with Wig to Akhtar.

“Ravi is a legend in my family. I owe my career to him.

He went on to become an ophthalmologist, but many years later decided he actually was meant to be a psychiatrist. He moved to the U.S. and did a residency in Cincinnati, where he now practices.”

Akhtar himself came to the States right after his residency, as he wanted to be a psychoanalyst and there is no formal psychoanalytic training in India. He served

s iatrist h c y s Most p t 100 u o b a have e them e s d n ts a vals. patien r e t n i radic at spo ce is i t c a r ole p s My wh atient p e n i tly n curren four r o e e hr I see t week. a s e tim

another residency at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, followed by a fellowship at the Psychoanalytic Center of Philadelphia, where he now teaches.

A faculty member in Jefferson’s Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior since 1979, Akhtar is a renowned lecturer who has given presentations on every continent. “I take four or five international trips a year and try to get back to India at least twice. If I don’t go twice a year, it starts hurting. I am anchored there by an invisible rope,” he says.

In addition to the 77 books he has authored or edited (many of which have been translated into multiple languages), he has written more than 300 scholarly articles on topics such as forgiveness, regret, love, family, pets, personality disorders, psychoanalytic technique, film, immigration and culture. His portrait hangs in Jefferson’s DePalma Auditorium, and he has received many honors for his writing and teaching, most recently the 2012 Mary S. Sigourney Trust Award for distinguished contribution to the field of psychoanalysis.

For more than a decade, he has served as scholar-inresidence at Philadelphia’s InterAct Theatre Company, where he participates in post-show discussions on Sunday afternoons. He passed his enthusiasm for the humanities down to his children; his daughter, Nishat, is an artist and graphic designer, and his son, Kabir, is an Emmynominated television editor and director.

Akhtar recently sat down to discuss his life and work.

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F ACULT Y P R O F I LE

What sparked your interest in psychoanalysis?

After my chance meeting with Dr. Wig introduced me to psychiatry, there was another doctor who recommended I read a book by Sigmund Freud called The Psychopathology of Everyday Life. I picked it up and within two minutes knew this was what I was going to do.

What are the differences between psychiatry and psychoanalysis?

Most psychiatrists have about 100 patients and see them at sporadic intervals. My whole practice is currently nine patients. I see each of them often—usually three or four times a week. By the end of their careers, most psychoanalysts will have treated 45 patients total. Three or four will have had no response, then there will be 20 to 30 successes and 10 to 15 stunning successes. Psychoanalysis is like pregnancy; if the treatment takes, you can tell when you’re in the third trimester. And then you and the patient decide together when it’s time to part.

Also, to become a psychoanalyst, you must first undergo your own psychoanalysis, which can take years. For seven years, I went to a psychoanalyst five times a week.

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What qualities are important for someone in your field to have?

To be a good psychotherapist, a person must love children, animals and poetry. These three things require you to give up ordinary spoken language, listen between the lines and think in a different way. The ability to communicate in different ways is a good quality for any doctor to have.

Of all your books, is there one you are most proud of?

I couldn’t answer that; the books I’ve written are like my children. There is one in particular that is total madness, though: the Comprehensive Dictionary of Psychoanalysis, published in 2009. I took every single term that exists in psychoanalysis and wrote its definition and history. It was handwritten at first—about 2,800 pages. Nobody in their right mind would ever do something like this!

What does the future hold for psychoanalysis?

At least in the U.S., psychoanalysis will not continue in its pure form because we have an increasingly hurried society with an emphasis on medication rather than communication. Freud used to see patients six times a week. When I was training, most psychoanalysts saw patients five times a week. Today, it is conventional to meet four times a week and is trending toward three times a week. This country and its lifestyle do not permit traditional psychoanalysis. However, psychotherapies informed by psychoanalytic theory shall endure.

A Wish I want to be like my dog.

To speak more with my eyes than with my tongue.

Writing poetry is one of Akhtar’s favorite pastimes—in fact, he has published eight collections of poems. “Most of my poems are written in one shot at 3 a.m. and hardly ever edited,” he says. “I wake up with a poem and get it down immediately.”

Here are two of his works.

To be happy with a walk around the neighborhood.

To not need clothes.

To never be sleepless and always find it easy to wake up.

To have keen ears and loyal blood.

To own a dictionary of smells.

To grow old with all my favorite toys around.

And when the time comes, to be put to rest by someone who truly loved me.

Defenses I want a giraffe with a goat's neck, a dog that flies in the air.

A mountain of water, a lake filled with iron.

A tree that walks, a train that goes nowhere.

A soundless song, a whistling grave.

A four-year-old grandmother, a twelve-feet-tall son.

For only having these things will stop me from falling in love with you.

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ALUMNUS PROFILE

John Babb, MD ‘80 Following His Sister’s Heart

When John Babb was 8 years old, his parents left their beloved home in the picturesque island nation of Barbados. They packed up a precious few items and headed north to the unfamiliar city of Philadelphia with their two young children.

What inspired this sudden departure from the life they had built in the Caribbean? Babb’s older sister had developed complications related to congenital pulmonary stenosis, and adequate care was hard to find.

“She was going to die,” he recalls. “The heart-lung machine at Jefferson was her only hope.”

Developed by surgery professor John H. Gibbon, Jr., MD ’27, the heart-lung machine was first used successfully in 1953. Babb’s sister’s procedure five years later was also a success; she made a full recovery, eventually going on to earn her doctorate and becoming a faculty member at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Babb’s earliest memories of Jefferson involve standing outside on the sidewalk, waving up to his sister as she looked out her hospital room window because at the time, children were not allowed inside to visit. More than a decade later, he was able to develop many more memorable experiences on campus; after earning a bachelor’s degree at Columbia University, he enrolled in medical school at Jefferson.

“I was curious about the school that trained the man who created the machine that saved my sister’s life,” he says.

Babb’s mother, a surgical eye nurse, used to tell him all about her work; her stories piqued an interest in ophthalmology. After graduating with his MD, he did an internship in internal medicine and later pursued an ophthalmology residency at SUNY Downstate Medical Center, where he went on to become a clinical professor.

He also established a private practice in Brooklyn Heights, N.Y., where he continues to work today.

A retired U.S. Army Major who spent 12 years as a physician in the Reserves, Babb enjoys spending time with his wife, Lareen, and their two daughters, 18-yearold Lauren (now a student at Columbia University) and 10-year-old Rebecca. He also nurtures a passion for tropical fish, particularly living corals. He has tanks both at home and in his office and boasts corals from all over the world, including Fiji, Tonga, Bora Bora and Australia.

“I take care of all of them myself—it’s a more timeconsuming hobby than you’d think,” he says. “To me, the only thing more beautiful than my family and my hobby is successfully restoring someone’s vision.”

Photo by Michael Paras

–KAREN L. BROOKS

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I was curious about the school that trained the man who created the machine that saved my sister’s life.

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STUDENT PROFILE

Robert Pollock Trading Notepad for Stethoscope

Photo by Karen Kirchhoff

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The interview skills, the research skills Robert Pollock has had an exceptional career in journalism. For nearly two decades, he served as an editorial writer, and later as an editorial board member and op-ed editor for the largest newspaper in the United States, the Wall Street Journal. He also received several prestigious awards for his writing, including being named as a finalist for the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing.

Now, the 42-year-old journalist is a making a career move that some might not expect. Pollock has enrolled in SKMC because he believes he’s found something even closer to his heart than writing.

“I think practicing medicine is my true passion.

Medicine has been a longstanding interest of mine and one of the things that I wrote about when I was a journalist. I figured now might be a good time to move on and try something new,” he says.

Pollock’s interest in access to medical care for sick and vulnerable populations began during his teenage years. As he grew older and witnessed several of his close friends struggle with cancer, he began speaking out about ways to make cancer medications more readily available to seriously ill patients and the need for more targeted tools to treat the disease.

In his Pulitzer Prize-nominated editorial series, Pollock critiqued the Food and Drug Administration’s delay in its approval of new cancer drugs. Besides having the series lauded by one of the highest honoring bodies in journalism, Pollock said he was particularly moved by the number of cancer patient legacy groups that deemed his editorials as advocacy journalism and selected them to be honored.

and the way of thinking seem to translate very well from journalism to medicine.

“It was pretty exciting,” Pollock recalls. “If the people that you think you’re trying to help actually think you’re helping, that means a lot.”

He now wants to go beyond writing about the issue to effecting change in the field. While some may find the career change a bit odd, Pollock says journalism and medicine aren’t as different as one might think.

“There are a lot of similarities between what journalists do and what doctors do. Doctors interview patients like a journalist would, and then based on the interview they have to compile a picture that tells what’s wrong with the patient,” Pollock explains. “The doctor, of course, is then charged with finding out how to best treat the patient, but the interview skills, the research skills and the way of thinking seem to translate very well from journalism to medicine.”

Pollock expects to complete his MD in 2019. He’s still uncertain about which specialty he’ll choose but is leaning toward internal medicine or oncology. At least for now, he says, writing will be taking a back seat to medicine.

“In the future I imagine I might go back to writing both scholarly and in the press. My focus right now is just learning how to be a good doctor.”

–Queen Muse

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class notes

Alumni Association Welcomes Matthew Keller, MD ’05, as President Matthew S. Keller, MD ’05, became president of the SKMC Alumni Association in April. Keller succeeds Joseph F. Majdan, MD, CV ’81, who enthusiastically led the Association for the past two years.

An associate professor in the Department of Dermatology and Cutaneous Biology who served his residency at Jefferson, Keller is director of the Jefferson Psoriasis Center. Stay tuned for more about his background and plans for our alumni in the summer Bulletin!

’56

’78

David C. Schechter retired in 1998 from private practice in thoracic and cardiovascular surgery. A diplomate of three specialty boards of surgery, Schechter previously served as a clinical associate professor at New York Medical College and visiting professor of surgery at New York College of Osteopathic Medicine. A collector of historical medical memorabilia, he owns several rare books, lithographs, etchings, instruments and other ephemera; he recently donated his collection to the New York Academy of Medicine.

An “erstwhile sailor and jogger,” Schechter currently focuses on tai chi and tennis. He and his wife, Gladys, have traveled to 22 countries, in some of which he has lectured on medicine and public health. The couple has homes in Manhattan and Naples, Fla.

John F. Camp, Sr., is the medical staff president for Carolinas Medical Centers Central Division, which comprises a level one trauma center, as well as multiple hospitals including Levine Children’s Hospital, Carolinas Medical Center-Main, Carolinas Medical CenterMercy, Carolinas Center for Behavioral Health, Carolinas Specialty and Rehabilitation Hospitals and Outpatient Rehabilitation Centers, multiple surgery centers and numerous free-standing outpatient and emergency facilities and outpatient clinics in the Charlotte, N.C., area. He also is medical director for perioperative care at Carolinas Medical Center-Mercy. He has been joined in practice by his son, John Jr., who subspecializes in pediatric and cardiac anesthesia.

’64 Eli O. Meltzer received the prestigious 2015 Gold-Headed Cane Award from the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology.

This award honors a fellow of the College “who has demonstrated the highest standards of scientific excellence and integrity.” Earlier in 2015, he received the Outstanding Clinician Award from the World Allergy Organization for “medical care and teaching which have contributed to allergy care worldwide.” Meltzer lives in La Jolla, Calif.

’65 Richard P. Wenzel is “almost completely retired” from Virginia Commonwealth University but continues to teach physical diagnosis, infectious diseases and do some morning reports for house staff. He is currently finishing his third book, a second international thriller called Dreams of Troy, which he expects to be out within the next year. He enjoys spending time with his wife, JoGail, and their children and “very exceptional” grandchildren.

Wenzel writes that he enjoyed catching up with classmates in October 2015 at their 50th reunion, for which he served on the Class of 1965 committee. He was one of three winners of the 2015 Simon Gratz Research Prize, presented to him during Alumni Weekend. He is pictured with SKMC Dean Mark Tykocinski, MD.

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’79 Howard Cotler recently had two patientcentric books—Accelerated Recovery of Your Health: How to Recover Your Body after Injury or Surgery and The Empty Chair: A Movement to Limit the Wheelchair and Lead a Healthy Life—published by Atlantic Publishing Group.

Cotler dedicated each book to a Jefferson faculty member who was influential in his career. He is in his 30th year of practice of orthopaedic surgery, subspecializing in spinal care, in Houston.

’94 Jennifer (Adams) Delozier recently published her debut medical thriller, Type and Cross. A graduate of the six-year Penn State-Jefferson BS/MD program, Delozier has spent the last 13 years as a federal physician, caring for veterans and deploying to disasters such as hurricanes Katrina, Ike and Gustav. She lives in State College, Pa., with her husband.

Post-Graduate ’92 Christine A. Grissom (adolescent psychiatry) finished a tour of duty as a commander with the U.S. Navy Selective Reserves in May 2015 at age 68. Grissom recently became a Distinguished Life Fellow with the American Psychiatric Association and serves as medical director for Coastal Mental Health’s 10 psychiatric clinics in Central Florida. While serving in this position, she has clinically precepted MD students from University of Central Florida, DO students from Lincoln Memorial University-DeBusk College of Osteopathic Medicine and physician assistant students from Nova Southeastern University. She is looking forward to earning a population health degree and starting anti-smoking lectures in the near future.

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time capsule

Artist’s rendering for the building that housed the Stein Research Center at the corner of 10th and Locust Streets, where the Bluemle Life Sciences Building sits today.

From the Jefferson Archives Some happenings from 50 years ago, in spring 1966

• Andrew J. Ramsey, MD, professor and chair of pathology and director of the Daniel Baugh Institute of Anatomy, is presented with his portrait by the Class of 1966.

• New and corrected corporate seal is approved for the medical college by the Board of Trustees.

Photo courtesy of the Archives and Special Collections, Thomas Jefferson University.

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• Renovations for the new building housing the Stein Research Center, Department of Radiology, begin.

I n M e m o ri a m

In Memoriam ’45 Joseph S. Brown, 95, of McVeytown, Pa., died July 20, 2015. Brown received a first lieutenant’s commission in the U.S. Army Medical Corps; he served as an anesthesiologist at Walter Reed Medical Hospital during World War II. He then returned to Jefferson for his post-graduate education, which included preceptorships and surgical intensive care. For nearly 30 years, he served as director of pulmonary medicine at Lewistown Hospital, where he also served as chairman of medicine and of the critical care unit. He was a founding member, past president and council member for the Pennsylvania Society of Critical Care Medicine, which named an annual award after him and his wife. He was active in the state and national American Heart Association and served on the board of directors as vice president and president of the PA Heart Association. Brown volunteered as a CPR instructor at the PA State Fire Academy, Lewistown. He was a ring-side physician at U.S. Junior Olympic competitions and presided over boxing events at several correctional facilities. He was passionate about training bird dogs and horses and served as a handler, sponsor and judge for German Shorthair Pointers in events sanctioned by the American Kennel Club and the American Field.

Brown is survived by his wife of 38 years, Rae; his children, Allison, Joseph III and Kimberly; a stepson, Ty; two sisters, Burnette and Barbara; two grandchildren, Lillian and Charlotte; and three step-grandchildren, Cole, Ella and Jack. He was preceded in death by a brother, Richard, and a sister, Maxine.

Eugene Ernest Costa, 96, of Charleroi, Pa., died Feb. 11, 2016. Costa completed his internship at Jefferson and served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. He opened his first office in Charleroi in 1947 and continued to practice in the area until his retirement in 2004. He was on the medical staff at Charleroi-Monessen Hospital, which later became Monongahela Valley Hospital. He was an avid golfer and a member of Nemacolin Country Club. Costa is survived by his wife of 66 years, Stella; two daughters, Cynthia and Judith; and several nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by three brothers, Marshall, Jess and Dominic.

’46

’53

Clarence M. Miller, Jr., 93, of Edgeworth, Pa., died Jan. 31, 2016. After graduating from Jefferson, Miller became a captain in the U.S. Army, serving in Korea and Japan. In the early 1950s, he became chief pathologist at Sewickley Valley Hospital in Sewickley, Pa. He retired in 1993. Miller is survived by his wife, Elizabeth Ann; his son, Richard; his daughter, Alaine; his step-daughter, Leslie; and four grandchildren, Evan, Mary, Spencer and Liam.

He was predeceased by his first wife, Eleanor; and his oldest son, James.

Irwin S. Jacobs, 92, of Santa Barbara, Calif., died Feb. 9, 2016. Jacobs did his residency in Miami and stayed there to practice psychiatry. He was a founder of the Bertha Abess Children’s Center, a life fellow and diplomate of the American Psychiatric Association, past president of the South Florida Psychiatric Association, corporate psychiatrist for Eastern Airlines and a 32nd degree mason. He is survived by his wife, Anna; a son, Moss; a daughter, Rivka; and four grandchildren, Ian, Miles, Scarlett and Joseph.

’51

’54

Ernest Falkenburg Doherty, Jr., 87, of Yorktown, Va., died Feb. 20, 2016. Doherty interned at Cooper Hospital in Camden, N.J., and began working at a medical practice on Long Beach Island. He then opened his own practice in his family’s home in Audubon, N.J. He made house calls for homebound patients and delivered more than 1,000 babies over 10 years. After 20 years running his own practice, he spent 15 years as a physician with the U.S. Public Health Service. He was assigned to the U.S. Coast Guard and achieved the rank of captain while caring for cadets, officers and their families on the bases of Cape May, N.J.; New London, Conn.; Yorktown, Va.; and at sea during several extended sails on tall ship training vessel, The Eagle. He retired from the Coast Guard in 1993. He enjoyed taking his family on fishing and camping trips and toured the world on many passenger cruise ships with his wife of 66 years, Marie.

In addition to his wife, Doherty is survived by three sons, Bob, Tom and Dave; eight grandchildren; his twin brother, Jim; his sister, Beryl; and his classmate and longtime friend, Ben Paradee (’51). He was predeceased by a son, John.

George Dewey Sorenson, 88, of Meriden, N.H., died Jan. 28, 2016. A U.S. Army veteran, Sorenson completed his internship and residency at University Hospitals, Case Medical Center in Cleveland, then joined the faculty at Washington University in St. Louis, serving as an instructor in pathology and a National Cancer Institute post-doctoral fellow. He later served as an associate professor and neuropathologist at Barnes Hospital in St. Louis.

He went to France to study electronmicroscopy as a NCI Special Fellow at the Institut de Recherches Scientifique sur le Cancer. He was recruited as chair of pathology at St. Louis University School of Medicine and remained there until he became chair of pathology and the John La Porte Given Professor of Cytology at Dartmouth College’s Geisel School of Medicine.

Sorenson co-founded the Committee on International Medical Education, which brought American students to study medicine at the University of Lille, France. His research on small cell carcinoma of the lung (SCCL) brought him to the Swiss Institute for Experimental Cancer Research, where he collaborated with scientists on the cellular aspects of SCCL. He was part of a medical team invited by the Chinese government to advise them on approaches to detecting and treating lung cancer and subsequently went on a similar mission to Japan. Sorenson holds several patents for methods in detecting circulating SCCL cells in peripheral blood. He was a co-founder, board member and later vice president of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer.

Sorenson is survived by his wife, Patricia; three children, Julie, Ellen and Eric; two grandsons, Andrew and Brian; two nephews, Ronald and Christopher; and several cousins.

He was predeceased by a son, Peter; his sister, Isabel; and his nephew, David.

’52 George F. Gowen, 93, of Bryn Mawr, Pa., died Feb. 9, 2016. Gowen served as an officer in the U.S. Marine Corps during World War II and was an associate professor of clinical surgery at Jefferson and director of surgical endoscopy at Pennsylvania Hospital. He pioneered various medical procedures and developed new and innovative treatments that improved patients’ lives. He is survived by his wife, Page; three children, George Jr., Truxtun and Molly; and 12 grandchildren. He was predeceased by a daughter, Katie.

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Thornton Arthur “Van” Vandersall, 87, of Huntington, N.Y., died Jan. 8, 2016. Vandersall trained in pediatrics at Bellevue Hospital and New York Hospital and in psychiatry and child psychiatry at St. Luke’s Hospital Center in New York City. After serving on the staffs of St. Luke’s and Roosevelt Hospitals, he initiated the child psychiatry program at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, N.Y., and served as director of the Department of Psychiatry there from 1974-1988. He later returned to work at North Shore in the consultation division of the psychiatry department, where he remained active in the training of residents. He also served on the faculty of Cornell University Medical College for more than 20 years and attained the rank of emeritus professor of clinical psychiatry.

He was a life member of the Nassau County Medical Society, the Medical Society of the State of New York and the American Medical Association and was a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. He enjoyed reading, spending time outdoors and travelling with his family to their summer home in Islesboro, Maine.

Vandersall is survived by two sisters, Virginia and Amy; a brother, David; three sons, Mark, Kent and Scott; seven grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren. He was predeceased by his wife of 54 years, Jean.

’55 William Taylor “Butch” Brandfass, 88, of Villanova, Pa., died Feb. 15, 2016.

Brandfass was an orthopaedic surgeon in the Philadelphia area for more than 35 years and was a founding partner of Premier Orthopedics. He was an avid sports fan and enjoyed his role as a team physician to the Philadelphia Flyers during the “Broad Street Bullies” era and to the Philadelphia Wings lacrosse team. He devoted many of his retirement years to charity work with the Philadelphia Literacy Program, Habitat for Humanity, the Bethesda-Bainbridge Project, Feeding the Homeless, the Interfaith Hospital Network and the Christian Eastside Ministry Tutoring Program. He was a member of the Philadelphia Country Club, Waynesborough Country Club, the Wayfair Club and the Orpheus Club of Philadelphia.

Brandfass is survived by his wife, Jane; three children, Barbara, Carolyn and Taylor; and four grandchildren, Morgan, Lizann, Carl and Alexandra. He was predeceased by his siblings, Robert (’51), Carl (’53), Richard and Eleanor

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’56 Charles J. Stahl III, 85, of Johnson City, Tenn., died March 1, 2016. Stahl served 27 years in the U.S. Navy Medical Corps. He became the Navy’s first forensic pathologist, serving at the Philadelphia Naval Hospital and on the Island of Guam. He later became chief of forensic pathology at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology in Washington, D.C., where he led many medical-legal investigations, including the deaths of the three NASA astronauts aboard Apollo I and the Robert F. Kennedy assassination. He was chair of the Department of Laboratory Medicine at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. Stahl received many military honors and is recognized at the Johnson City-Washington County Veterans Memorial.

After retiring from the Navy, Stahl was appointed chief of laboratory service at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Johnson City; assistant chief medical examiner for the state of Tennessee; and professor of pathology at the Quillen College of Medicine at East Tennessee State University. He continued to serve the Department of Veterans Affairs as deputy medical inspector and as chief of staff of the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Dayton, Ohio, and concluded his career as the Armed Forces medical examiner in Washington. He received the Department of Veterans Affairs Distinguished Career Award and the Helpern Laureate Award from the American Academy of Forensic Sciences. He served as an alumni trustee of Jefferson’s Board of Trustees from 2002-2008.

Stahl is survived by his wife of 62 years, Ellen; a son, Charles; two daughters, Marcia and Kim; six grandchildren, Shane, Troy, Victoria, Joseph, Christopher and Nicholas; a sister, Joan; and several nieces and nephews.

’59 Robert V. Davis, 82, of Waverly, Pa., died Jan. 9, 2016. Davis was an ophthalmic surgeon for the Northeastern Eye Institute as well as Moses Taylor and Community Medical Center hospitals. He served as a medical officer in the U.S. Navy before entering private practice. Davis enjoyed singing in many area choral groups, including the Ekumen Chorale; the S.P.E.B.S.Q.S.A. barbershop singers of Scranton; the St. David’s Chorus; and the choir at Church of the Epiphany. A passionate sailor, he owned several sailboats throughout his life; he was also an aviation enthusiast and held a pilot’s license.

Davis is survived by his wife, Judith; a son, Jeffrey; three daughters, Dana, Paula and Rachel; a brother, Richard; and seven grandchildren, Dean, Tyler, Cameron, Madeline, Andrew, Ethan and Reese. He was preceded in death by two sisters, Carol and Ann.

Howard A. Leister, 78, of Doylestown, Pa., formerly of Newtown, Pa., died March 4, 2012. He served as the commanding officer of a MASH unit in Korea from 1960-1962 and was a family physician in Newtown for more than 40 years. He was a longtime member and past president of the Newtown Rotary Club. He also was a member of the American Medical Association, the Pennsylvania Medical Society, the Bucks County Medical Society and the Newtown Reliance Company. He was an avid traveler, gardener, sailor and art collector.

Leister is survived by his wife of 49 years, Irene; his sister, Grace; his niece, Edith; and two nephews, Rob and Harold.

’61 John P. Keefe, 78, of Beachwood, Ohio, died Nov. 26, 2013. Keefe practiced obstetrics and gynecology in the U.S. Navy and in private practice, delivering more 5,000 babies over 40 years and serving on the Board of Directors of Hillcrest Hospital in Mayfield Heights, Ohio. He volunteered at Womankind Maternal and Prenatal Care Center, including as medical director, and Birthright International. He enjoyed spending time with his children, vacationing at the beach, gardening and playing ball and was a fan of the Cleveland Browns and the Cleveland Indians.

Keefe is survived by five children, Allison, Catherine, Patricia, John Jr. and Mary; four grandchildren, Ashley, Scott, Connor and Brady; three sisters, Sheila, Catherine and Mary; three brothers, Edward, James and Stephen; and many nieces and nephews.

’64 Kenneth Allen Baer, 75, of Miami, died Jan. 5, 2015. Baer completed his internship at Albert Einstein Medical Center and his ob/ gyn residency at Pennsylvania Hospital. After serving for two years as captain in the U.S. Air Force at Homestead Air Force Base, he joined a colleague in Miami, where he practiced for more than 40 years, delivering more than 10,000 babies. He was a member of the AOA honor society and a fellow of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the Florida Obstetric and Gynecologic Society and the American Fertility Society. He was a film buff, avid reader, jazz lover, antique car collector, glee club singer, athlete, golf fanatic, poker player world traveler and photographer. He was a fan of the Miami Dolphins, Heat and Marlins but also rooted for the Philadelphia Phillies and Eagles.

Baer is survived by his wife of 53 years, Sandra; three children, Rochelle, Susan and Douglas; and a granddaughter, Daniela.

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’67

James E. Copeland, Jr., 85, of Vero Beach, Fla., died Feb. 21, 2016. A longtime ophthalmologist and U.S. Marine Corps veteran of the Korean War, Copeland interned at Abington Memorial Hospital in Abington, Pa, and served a residency at Wills Eye Hospital in Philadelphia. He began practicing in Vero Beach in 1969. He served as president of the Indian River County Medical Society for two years and was a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and a member of the Florida Medical Association, the American Medical Association, the Wills Eye Hospital Association, the College of Physicians of Philadelphia and the Board of Trustees of the Indian River Memorial Hospital District.

He had been a past commandant of the Indian River Detachment of the Marine Corps League, the American Legion Post 39, Vero Beach and the Navy League US Treasure Coast Chapter. He belonged to George Washington Masonic Lodge # 59 F&AM of Philadelphia, the Vero Beach Masonic Lodge #250 F&AM and the Sebastian River Shrine Club. He was also member of the Florida Irish American Society.

Copeland is survived by his son, James III; his daughter, Susan; and four grandchildren, James IV, Paul, Shelby and Grace.

Stephen Byrne, 73, of Moorestown, N.J., died Feb. 15, 2016. Byrne had practiced family medicine in Moorestown since 1970.

He was a U.S. Army veteran who served as a field doctor in Vietnam and earned a Bronze Star for meritorious service. After returning to South Jersey, he focused on primary care with an enthusiasm for complementary medicine techniques, including acupuncture, meditation and hypnosis. In 2002, he went into semi-retirement, cutting back to 20 hours a week from a schedule that previously involved 60-hour, six-day weeks. Byrne did not miss a single day of work in 40 years, treating more than 25,000 patients and recording more than 250,000 patient visits.

He was a devoted Philadelphia sports fan, particularly rooting for the Phillies.

Byrne is survived by more than two dozen first cousins along with numerous aunts. He was predeceased by two cousins.

David Mitchell Toney, 77, of Greensburg, Pa., died Jan. 29, 2016. Toney served as a U.S. Navy lieutenant in Vietnam and was awarded two Purple Hearts. He was a radiologist at the former Westmoreland Hospital in Greensburg for 28 years. A longtime member of the Greensburg and Pike Run country clubs, he loved fly fishing, bicycling and attending the symphony, opera, ballet and Broadway shows. He also enjoyed model ship building, mountain climbing, gourmet cooking and painting.

Toney is survived by twin daughters, Meredith and Melissa; two grandsons; a nephew; and his former wife, Sarah. He was preceded in death by a brother, Mitchell.

’75 Herbert E. Mandell, 66, of Wyncote, Pa., died Jan. 19, 2016. A child and adolescent psychiatrist for many years, Mandell completed his residency and fellowships in adult, child and adolescent psychiatry at the Medical College of Pennsylvania. He was a clinical assistant professor of child and adolescent psychiatry at the Temple University School of Medicine from 1992-1998. In 2002, he graduated from the Institute of the Psychoanalytic Center of Philadelphia, and he worked nights and weekends from an office in Jenkintown, Pa. He also held clinical and leadership posts at Abington's Mental Health Center, Northwestern Institute, Einstein Medical Center and finally for 15 years at KidsPeace Psychiatric Hospital in Orefield, Lehigh County. He enjoyed riding his bike and singing bass with the choir at Or Hadash, a synagogue in Montgomery County.

Mandell is survived by his wife, Margaret; a son, Daniel; a daughter, Lydia; and one brother.

What’s New? To submit a class note or obituary for the Bulletin, contact the Office of Institutional Advancement: By phone

215-955-7751 By email

alumni@jefferson.edu by mail

125 S. 9th St. Suite 700 Philadelphia, PA 19107

’84 David Lee Clair, 57, of Bethlehem, Pa., died Feb. 19, 2016. Clair had a 30-year urology career and worked as a urologic surgeon at Lehigh Valley Hospital in Allentown, Pa., for 25 years. He was passionate about spending time with family and skiing and loved to go hiking with his wife and dogs. He is survived by his wife of 26 years, Carla; his son, Aaron; his mother, Elaine; and his sister, Beth.

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A Guaranteed Return for You, and Future Support for Jefferson.

“I had a wonderful experience as a student and resident at Jefferson and felt I should do something so others could have a similar experience at a terrific medical school. That requires support from various sources to ensure that Jefferson can meet the challenges of the future and maintain its high quality.”

–Ellis R. Levin, MD ’75 Jefferson Benefactor and Gift Annuitant

1 You make a gift to Jefferson.

GIFT ANNUITY

Donor 2 You receive an income tax deduction and fixed income now.

To learn about charitable gift annuities and other planned giving opportunities, contact:

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SPRING 2016

3 When the annuity ends, the remainder goes to Jefferson.

Lisa W. Repko, JD Senior Director, Planned Giving 215-955-0437 lisa.repko@jefferson.edu

A charitable gift annuity with Jefferson can help meet your financial needs while providing tax advantages.

Ultimately, your generosity will support Jefferson’s vision of reimagining health, health education and discovery.

In this popular charitable giving arrangement, the donor makes a gift of a minimum of $10,000, and Jefferson then provides secure, fixed payments for life.

Society

matches:*

by t h e n u m b e rs

57

Anesthesiology

27

SPECIALITY: Internal Medicine (Categorical)

21

Match Day

2016 Joined by family, friends, faculty and staff, 247 graduating SKMC seniors learned their professional fates on March 18—otherwise known as Match Day 2016. The students

Pediatrics

Family Medicine

Surgery (Categorical)

Obstetrics/ Gynecology

20

19

18

Orthopaedic Surgery

Emergency Medicine

11 10 14

Psychiatry

16

Ophthalmology

have spent the past several months countless programs and traveling

Radiology (Diagnostic)

across the country for interviews.

As they discovered where they will continue their medical training after commencement, they were assured all their hard work paid off. The specialty with the highest number of matches this year was

Urology Dermatology Medicine/Pediatrics Combined Neurosurgery Otolaryngology

2

4

6

7

2

2 2

internal medicine, totaling 57

Surgery (Preliminary)

students—or 23 percent of the class.

Medicine (Preliminary) 1

Congratulations to the Class of 2016!

8

Neurology

preparing for this event, applying to

Pathology 1 Pediatric Neurology 1 Plastics 1 Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation 1 Radiation Oncology 1

*Data as of March 18, 2016.

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