INSTITUTIONAL HERITAGE
Five years later, Dr. Sutter embarked on a cardiothoracic surgery residency also at Jefferson, which he completed in 1986—ten years after graduating from PCOM. He became the first osteopathic physician to be board certified by the American Board of Thoracic Surgery. Over the years, Dr. Sutter has continued an association with PCOM, as a clinical associate professor, Department of Surgery, Division of Vascular and Thoracic Surgery. PCOM students have completed rotations within his department at Lankenau, and he returns to campus annually to present to PCOM’s Surgery Club. “The PCOM students are sharp as tacks, and they truly care about patient care,” he says. “PCOM has such a culture of caring.” Dr. Sutter notes that his advice to current students is simple: “energy and persistence conquer all things.” And he often cautions the students to “stay humble”—a bit of advice from his own mother.
MASON W. PRESSLY MEMORIAL MEDAL RECIPIENT
ANDREW G. CANAKIS (DO ’18)
Andrew G. Canakis (DO ’18) comes from a family of physicians; his father, Jerrold, is a gastroenterologist; his aunt, Katherine Canakis, DO ’83, is an internist; and his brother, Justin Canakis (DO ’21), is a first-year student at Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. Like his family, Mr. Canakis holds a deep commitment to community service. Early in his studies, Mr. Canakis dove into service on two projects: founding both PCOM’s Gastroenterology Club and the PCOM chapter of Philadelphia’s Health Career Academy.
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PHILADELPHIA COLLEGE OF OSTEOPATHIC MEDICINE
Mr. Canakis, who hopes to follow in his father’s footsteps, initiated the PCOM Gastroenterology Club in collaboration with Steven Lichtenstein, DO ’90, who is one of his mentors. The club organizes simulation events, and hosts practical talks for students seeking a potential fellowship in the specialty. Mr. Canakis realized the importance of strengthening PCOM’s involvement in the Health Career Academy after reaching out to Barry Mann, MD, Lankenau Medical Center, who founded the high school health education program in 2009. Mr. Canakis volunteered to teach health modules to Philadelphia high school students on health issues such as diabetes, cancer and trauma. He also helped develop the program’s curriculum. During his second year with the PCOM chapter of Health Career Academy, Mr. Canakis assisted high school students in producing a video about domestic violence. That year, he also worked to set up a chapter of Health Career Academy at the University of Sciences in Philadelphia; there he involved graduate and undergraduate students in physical therapy, occupational therapy, pharmacy and business administration. Those students then taught public health issues to students at an inner-city charter school in Philadelphia. While balancing his own studies and community service projects, Mr. Canakis also found time to dabble in research. Working with Alyssa Maria Parian, MD, assistant professor of medicine, Johns Hopkins University, he wrote a case report on an inverted colonic diverticulum, and presented it in 2017 at the World Congress on Gastroenterology. He’s working with Dr. Parian on a chapter in a book on treatment modalities for inflammatory bowel disease. He also did the data collection and was an author of a 2017 retrospective study that evaluated the use of fully covered self-expanding metal stents in patients with benign biliary disease, published in Minerva Gastroenterology. This summer, he will begin an internal medicine residency at Boston University Medical Center.