The BCMS Pat Sharma President’s Scholarship – How to Become an Optimist

The BCMS Pat Sharma President’s Scholarship The BCMS Pat Sharma President’s Scholarship

How to Become an Optimist

Reasons to feel pessimistic about the future bombard us on a daily basis, so when I discover an antidote to gloom I hold on with both hands and stay with it! Such an antidote can be found in the BCMS summer student research program, the Pat Sharma President’s Scholarship. The stated purpose of this 6-week paid internship, now in its ninth year, is to encourage bright young people with a connection to our community to pursue careers in health care. With luck, some of them will return to our area and contribute to our own wellbeing, so this project is not entirely altruistic!

In this edition of the Medical Record, we are proud to publish the research reports written by the 2022 Pat Sharma President’s Scholarship recipients: Kirill Popovich and Safitaj Sindhar. Kirill is currently in his third year as a pre-med student at UNC Chapel Hill. Born in Moldova, Kirill holds dual US/ Moldovan citizenship and in April this year he was moved to participate in a mission trip to a Ukrainian refugee camp. His captivating description of that trip was published in the summer Medical Record. Safi Sindhar is a pre-med student on track to graduate from Penn State Berks in December. She was born and raised in rural India, where access to medical care is difficult and where Safi and her family did not always receive competent care. These early experiences have set Safi on a path to improve access to quality healthcare for underserved communities in India and around the world. When our 2021 interns, Jasmine Slusser and Layla Abousaab, invited me to a catch-up lunch this summer I invited Safi to join us because her interests closely mesh with those of Jasmine and Layla. After two hours of wide-ranging conversation, I believe the three of them will stay in touch for years to come.

In other good news, after a 2-year hiatus due to the pandemic, the Reading Hospital revived the summer student internship we had been privileged to coordinate with in the past, and our relationship has been reestablished. Therefore, we are delighted to once again publish abstracts submitted by the hospital student interns – showcasing research projects in the participating hospital departments. The BCMS is thankful to Mr. Francisco Hernandez, System Director GME in the Reading Hospital/Tower Health Academic Affairs office, for his aid in reviving the association between the two summer programs.

The bright, hardworking, and compassionate young people I have had the privilege of working with as the coordinator of this BCMS program always lift my spirits and give me hope for the future. I’m sure that all the other physicians (and community leaders) who help to make this program a success by spending time mentoring and/or allowing clinical shadowing reap the same rewards that I do. There are too many such helpers to thank them all here individually, but each played a vital role. This year, special thanks are due to Safi’s main project mentor, Dr. Deb Powell, and Kirill’s project mentor, Dr. Adam Sigal. Dr. Daniel Edwards (Center for Urologic Care of Berks County) provided invaluable assistance by coordinating the clinical shadowing experiences from which Kirill and Safi gained immense benefit.

This program would not exist if not for the generosity of BCMS member Pat Sharma, MD, who in 2018 endowed the BCMS Educational Trust with a fund to support the student stipend and other educational programs. From the program’s inception in 2014 through the summer of 2018, we were able to accept a single student, but for the past few years we have been able to bring on a second student thanks to gifts from Ray Truex, MD. The Trust’s only source of additional funds is the generosity of members like Pat and Ray, who see great value in extending a helping hand to the next generation of physicians. Please consider joining them in their philanthropy by contacting our Executive Director, Mr. T.J. Huckleberry, about making a contribution to the Educational Trust. Practice optimism and you will be rewarded!

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