Department of Surgery Newsletter Winter 2020

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“ON THE CUTTING EDGE” NEWS FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF SURGERY

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Department of Surgery Residents: The Next Chapter...

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18

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Surgical Notes from the Chair

Dr. Aziz Merchant Named Division Chief of General Surgery

Sharing Perspectives on Mentorship: Providing Structure to Culture Change

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Remembering Dr. Eric Muñoz at a Rededication of Trauma Center in his Name

Rutgers NJMS Team Performs 64 Surgeries, Trains 300 in “Stop the Bleed” in Peru

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Department of Surgery Residents The Next Chapter

Graduating Resident Profile: Dr. Reyna Gonzalez

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“Cutting Edge” Presentations at Grand Rounds

Honors and Awards

08 Gun Violence Prevention: It’s Everyone’s Lane

10 NJMS Students Select Dr. Joanelle Bailey and Dr. David Palange for Humanism Awards

12 Back to Bedside Grant

14 New Vascular Center and Wound Healing Center

16 Training RJMS Surgery Staff to “Stop the Bleed”

26 Fifth Annual Research Symposium

28 Welcome Huzaifa A. Shakir, MD, FACS, FACCP

40 New General Surgery Residents

42 Resident Presentations at ASC

43 Personal Note

The go-to source for exciting developments and major advances in education, research and clinical missions within our Department.

Contents Honors & Awards HUMANISM AWARD GME AWARDS GOLDEN APPLE

Welcome

Highlights

DR. HUZAIFA A. SHAKIR, MD, FACS, FACCP

GRADUATING RESIDENT PROFILE: DR. REYNA GONZALEZ

NEW RESIDENTS

˜ REMEMBERING DR. MUNOZ

2019 FACULTY AWARDS

On the Scene FIFTH ANNUAL RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM STAFF STOP THE BLEED TRAINING ADVOCACY IN DC

Features

Speakers “CUTTING EDGE” PRESENTATIONS AT GRAND ROUNDS

RUTGERS NJMS TEAM PERFORMS 64 SURGERIES, TRAINS 300 IN “STOP THE BLEED” IN PERU NEW VASCULAR AND WOUND HEALING CENTER BACK TO BEDSIDE

Have a great story to tell?

SHARE IT WITH YOUR COLLEAGUES: CONTACT DONNA SHORE, EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT TO THE CHAIR, DSHORE@NJMS.RUTGERS.EDU * On the cover - General Surgery Residents Graduate - Dr. Gregory Grimberg, Dr. Kenneth Walsh, Dr. Anastasia Kunac, Program Director; Dr. Paul Johnson, Dr. Akia Caine, Dr. Diana Arellano, Dr. Reyna Gonzalez, Dr. Anne C. Mosenthal, Chair; Dr. Eihab Abdelfatah, Dr. Chetan Merchant.

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Inside this issue ON THE CUTTING EDGE WINTER, 2020

DR. ANNE C. MOSENTHAL

DR. STEPHANIE BONNE

Surgical Notes from the Chair

Gun Violence Prevention: It’s Everyone’s Lane

PAGE 6

PAGE 8

Residents Receive ACGME Grants for “Back to Bedside” Research PAGE 12

Remembering and Honoring Dr. ˜ Eric Munoz at Rededication of Trauma Center in his Name PAGE 20

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SURGICAL NOTES FROM THE CHAIR:

Endings and Beginnings and the Power of Mentorship

By Anne C. Mosenthal, MD, FACS Benjamin F. Rush, Jr., MD, Endowed Chair, Department of Surgery

The power of mentorship we provide each other plays an important role in the training of our residents on the journey to becoming surgeons.

Both mentors and mentees benefit from these relationships. It is part of our Departmental commitment to Professional Development on many different levels.

We highlight mentorship in special coverage of a joint Grand Rounds presentation by Professor Dorian Wilson, MD, and PGY 5 Resident (and new administrative chief

resident) David Palange, D.O. They share their perspectives on the path to formally integrating mentorship into our culture and what mentorship has meant to their careers.

Our graduating Administrative Chief Resident, Dr. Reyna Gonzalez, drew upon her experience and high expectations from a career as an elite gymnast and coach to a Grand Rounds lecture on “educating millennials.�

Coaching and Mentoring Update

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The Professional Development work in coaching we began last year with consultant Dr. Jeffrey Hull continues to evolve and engage all of us as faculty members. Dr. Anastasia Kunac, Associate Professor of Surgery and General Surgery Residency Program Director is leading this effort in conjunction with our mentoring program.

Multiple faculty and staff have used “StrengthsFinder,” and “Pulse 360” feedback to advance their personal development. What we have learned has been embraced by many, including me… it was good to gain a better understanding of how I am perceived by others.

We are training doctors to be more than just good surgeons, but how to be good people: good communicators, good collaborators and mentors and building a culture that fosters a learning environment for all.

I encourage you to read the story about our “Gold Foundation Humanism Award” winners, Dr. Joanelle Bailey and Dr. David Palange to understand the impact their mentorship had on medical students, Thobekile Ndlovu and Justin Sipiora.

We celebrated the life of one of our great mentors with the re-dedication of the Dr. Eric Munoz Trauma Center on the tenth anniversary of his untimely passing. Several speakers lauded the contributions of the late Dr. Eric Munoz as a surgeon, teacher and legislator, and Dr. David ˜ Livingston, Professor and Chief of Trauma and Surgical Critical Care, shared his own special, personal remembrances. ˜

Highlights Congratulations to Dr. Aziz Merchant on his appointment to Division Chief of General and

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Minimally Invasive Surgery. Dr. Merchant brought the division together during his role as interim chief. And now as permanent chief, he is developing a strategic vision for the Division of becoming a leader in surgery outcomes and making an impact on reducing health disparities and improving health equity.

Dr. Merchant’s focus on developing others and promoting mentorship of junior faculty in clinical and research initiatives is a part of his leadership towards the strategic vision.

The vision of Dr. Michael Curi, Associate Professor and Chief of Vascular Surgery for a comprehensive vascular center has been realized with the opening of the new Vascular and Wound Care center. This is a unique multidisciplinary center, collaborating with plastic surgeon Dr. Mark Granick, Professor of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. The Center offers the added benefit of comprehensive care for patients with chronic wounds needing improved vascular flow and plastic surgery care and treatment.

Welcome to new cardiothoracic surgeon Dr. Huzaifa Shakir, Assistant Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery, a longtime and wellknown local heart and chest surgery specialist.

Our residents conducted significant research presentations around the country. Look for highlights in this issue.

I also call attention to the many awards bestowed on well-deserving faculty and residents, and I am honored to receive the “Mentorship Award” from the Faculty Organization of Rutgers New Jersey Medical School.

DR. STEPHANIE BONNE

Gun Violence Prevention: It’s Everyone’s Lane

Dr. Stephanie Bonne Keynotes “Call to Action” Conference

“If you ask the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) how many people are shot and live, they don’t know.

There is no formal data collected in one location. So how can we think up ways, new ideas, and fresh thinking to solve this problem?

That’s what we are doing in New Jersey.” Dr. Stephanie Bonne

In what she called her “day job” as a trauma surgeon, Dr. Stephanie Bonne said stopping the tide of gunshot victims has to begin long before the patient reaches the Trauma Center and the operating room.

Dr. Bonne, Assistant Professor of Surgery, Division of Trauma and Surgical Critical Care, has taken on an expanded role as the Surveillance Core Director guiding the collection of all firearm injury data in New Jersey.

“We have to use a public health model versus a medical model to treat the affected population with interventions based on preventions,” Dr. Bonne said in her keynote speech to the first conference hosted by The New Jersey Center on Gun Violence Research at Rutgers University.

Dr. Bonne cited the data-driven efforts of “Mothers Against Drunk Driving” which created “interventions that dramatically reduced motor vehicle deaths by million miles traveled.”

Yet, New Jersey is only the second state in the nation to take a public health approach to collecting data

to prevent gun violence deaths and injuries. The 1996 Dickey Amendment to the United States Constitution prevents federal funding of gun violence research used to promote gun control.

Dr. Bonne said The New Jersey Center on Gun Violence Research is bringing together the public health and criminal justice resources of Rutgers University with state and local officials to identify root causes of gun violence.

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“Gun violence spreads in populations like a disease.”

She referenced a “heat map” of Newark census blocks using geospatial tracking data of gun violence at the neighborhood and street level as one of the tools being employed to create intervention strategies and tactics.

As an example, Dr. Bonne said public health data reveals that many people who commit suicide by gun had visited gun ranges prior to their attempt.

“The intervention involved talking to people at gun ranges about their mental health, and a public service video was created to spread the word,” Dr. Bonne said.

Focusing on root causes, Dr. Bonne said, “Gun violence spreads in populations like a disease.”

Her work will identify at-risk populations including: Women: “Access to a gun in a home raises the risk of women being killed by a gun in a domestic violence death by 500 percent.”

Children: “Firearm deaths are the number two cause of death in children, 12 times more likely than any other cause.”

Black youth: “Ten times more likely to be murdered by a gun than white youth.”

Mentally ill: “Are more likely to be a victim, not a perpetrator of gun violence.”

As part of the data collection process, Dr. Bonne envisions medical students and residents being engaged in training on how to talk with patients and their family members about the problems of gun violence in their community.

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Dr. Bonne also participated in first Medical Summit on Firearm Injury Prevention conducted by the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma. “This event brought key leadership from medical organizations to brainstorm the key components needed to address firearm injury from a public health perspective,” Dr. Bonne said. “As the medical community continues to seek a public health approach to gun violence prevention and with the new funding for The New Jersey Center for Gun Violence Research at Rutgers University, I am encouraged that a public health approach will lead us to find meaningful solution to the crisis of gun violence in the United States.”

At the Gun Violence Prevention Conference hosted by Rutgers, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy said a next step will be to convene a summit of mayors of five New Jersey cities; Jersey City, Newark, Trenton, Paterson and Camden to discuss strategies to collect data and identify causes of gun violence. The summit will be hosted by The New Jersey Center for Gun Violence Research at Rutgers in partnership with The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence.

Dr. Bonne said, “this is why we fund this kind of research, so we can use it to stop the next child being shot in Camden.”

DR. JOANELLE BAILEY & DR. DAVID PALANGE

Medical Students Select Dr. Joanelle Bailey and Dr. David Palange for Gold Foundation Humanism Award “Next year I will be a resident, and I hope that I can be like Dave, and have the same passion for taking care of patients, and the same love and excitement for teaching and helping students.”

Justin Sipiora, MS IV Rutgers New Jersey Medical School

Dr. David Palange

Dr. Joanelle Bailey

Thobekile Ndlovu, MS IV

Justin Sipiora, MS IV

The Gold Humanism Honor Society (GHHS), sponsored by the Arnold P. Gold Foundation, honors senior medical students, residents, rolemodel physician teachers, and others for “demonstrated excellence in clinical care, leadership, compassion, and dedication to service.” Inspiration for this society began in the late 1990s as a way of recognizing and promoting humanistic attributes in medical students. Students are selected for this Society by their peers for outstanding clinical and interpersonal skills and attitudes that are essential for excellent patient care.

Medical students Thobekile Ndlovu and Justin Sipiora nominated recipients Dr. Joanelle Bailey and Dr. David Palange: The students highlighted the importance of the way Dr. Bailey and Dr. Palange demonstrated the extent of their personal interactions with patients.

They also shared stories of the willingness of the doctors to mentor and serve as role models to them as students.

Thobekile Ndlovu recalled the moment when Dr. Bailey asked a patient if he wanted his braids retwisted after he had spent six weeks in the Surgical Intensive Care Unit, SICU with multiple gunshot wounds.

“In a defining moment in the life of this patient, he was finally seen.

Joanelle, as his physician, had reached out and acknowledged that his identity, before his trauma, was just as important as his health status.

She acknowledged him.”

Justin Sipiora said that he and another medical student on their first trauma weekend were on their way to perform a procedure on a patient when they ran into Dave Palange in the hallway.

“Dave offered to come with us, and he showed us how to complete the task (it was our first time) and watched us perform it. Dave wasn’t even on our service and I’m sure he was exhausted from being on service for three liver transplants that week and finishing up his weekend shift.

But he stayed and took the time to teach and help us.”

“

“I want to say, ‘Thank You’ to Joanelle for teaching me what it means to be confident and compassionate, for showing me how to be powerful and personable and lastly for always reminding her patients that they matter.”

Thobekile Ndlovu, MS IV Rutgers New Jersey Medical School

Pa l l iat i ve C a re Department of Surgery

Rutgers NJMS Surgery Residents Receive ACGME Grants for “Back to Bedside” Research Dr. Michele Fiorentino and Dr. Kurun Oberoi are among only 33 residents across the nation chosen as recipients of the “Back to Bedside” grants from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). More than 200 residents applied for the grants.

Said Dr. Anastasia Kunac, Program Director, General Surgery Residency, “The Back to Bedside projects are resident-led initiatives to empower residents and fellows to create innovative strategies for increasing time with patients, improving physician and patient well-being.”

Dr. Fiorentino’s project is “Mitigating Moral Distress in Surgical Trainees Through Improved Communications Skills.”

Dr. Oberoi’s project is “Implementation of a TraumaInformed Care Curriculum for Surgery Residents Caring for Trauma Patients in Newark, NJ.”

Mitigating Moral Distress Dr. Fiorentino’s research focus is on surgery performed in the last month before death “when further medical/ surgical treatment is futile, and no intervention will alter the patient’s outcome.”

Dr. Fiorentino said, “Although studies have examined the physical and emotional burden of non-beneficial surgery on patients, there is no literature that examines the effects on trainees.”

She hypothesizes that trainees who are forced to provide futile care or care that is not in line with the patient’s preferences may be a source of moral distress in trainees.

The study, to be conducted along with PGY-5 Dr. Franchesca Hwang, will investigate whether providing surgical trainees with the tools and skills of effective communication could help provide care aligned with patient goals.

“Surgical residents acknowledge the need to discuss end of life issues, but they feel inadequately trained to do so. The goal is to provide PGY trainees in years one through three with the knowledge, comfort and skills to have Goals of Care Conversations, (GOCC) with patients,” Dr. Fiorentino said.

Trauma-Informed Care Curriculum Dr. Oberoi’s research will examine the efficacy of providing training to help surgical residents improve interaction skills with patients from traumatized populations.

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Two Rutgers NJMS Surgery residents, Dr. Michele Fiorentino, PGY-4 and Dr. Kurun Oberoi, PGY-4 have received “Back to Bedside” grants to study the impact on surgical trainees of caring for traumatically injured or terminally ill people and to develop new approaches that enhance patient and physician satisfaction.

“Although there have been studies assessing Trauma Informed Care, (TIC) efficacy in several populations of health care providers, there is a lack of data on surgical trainees,” Dr. Oberoi said.

People who grow up from childhood to adulthood in communities with high rates of violence need care by a well-informed physician team that can appropriately build trust between the health care system and the community, according to Dr. Oberoi.

Dr. Michele Fiorentino, PGY-4

The project will provide trauma-informed care training for general surgery residents; evaluate the attitudes of residents about trauma victims with whom they interact before and after the training; implement a formal trauma-informed care curriculum for the residents and evaluate the experience of patients that are cared for by residents receiving trauma-informed care training compared to residents who have not been trained.

Dr. Kurun Oberoi, PGY-4

New Vascular Center & Wound Healing Center Open at University Hospital A new Center of Excellence has recently opened at The University Hospital featuring a Vascular Center and Comprehensive Wound Healing Center in one state-of-the-art facility. This Center provides comprehensive care for patients in a new space featuring the services of Vascular Surgery, Plastic Surgery, and Podiatry.

using radiofrequency or medical adhesives as less invasive procedures, so patients can avoid surgical therapy. Now we can ablate the damaged or leaky vein with a radio frequency catheter or with a glue, providing much less pain, faster recovery, and better patient satisfaction with these therapies,” Dr. Curi said.

“This is a site where we see two different patient populations, while using shared resources to effectively and efficiently treat patients where multiple specialties can collaborate on complex cases,” said Dr. Michael Curi, Chief, Division of Vascular Surgery.

Medical Director of the Wound Center, plastic surgeon Dr. Mark Granick, Professor of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery said, “The Wound Center provides care for all kinds of wounds with support from allied services such as podiatry, vascular surgery, and the internal medicine specialties.”

As an example, Dr. Curi explains, “A patient comes in with a diabetic foot wound and is evaluated by a foot and ankle specialist from the podiatry team. The podiatrist recognizes the patient has a vascular insufficiency, obtains testing and has the patient see a vascular specialist, all in the same space. Patients often will require a procedure to provide better blood flow to the foot and in the most complex cases, plastic surgery performs a reconstructive procedure to help heal the wound. All of this care is coordinated in one comprehensive center, helping patients simplify their complex medical problems.”

The Vascular Center is a state-of-the-art facility, with six exam rooms, a procedure room and conference space. “We are correcting venous insufficiencies, veins with leaky valves, and

“Our technicians are very well trained, and we have the services of a certified wound care nurse and an advanced practice nurse. Oscar Alvarez, Ph.D., is the Director of Research in the new Wound Center and his unparalleled experience and knowledge assists with care for the diabetic foot under the direction of one of the team doctors,” Dr. Granick said.

What began as a vision of a comprehensive Vascular Center, according to Dr. Curi, expanded to include the Wound Center as space became available to accommodate both the Vascular and Wound Care services.

Dr. Curi says, “Adding this Wound Center to our program here at University Hospital not only dramatically improves the care and outcomes for

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“This is a site where we see two different patient populations, while using shared resources to effectively and efficiently treat patients where multiple specialties can collaborate on complex cases,” our vascular patients with wounds, but also provides a gravely needed resource for patients suffering with chronic wounds of all nature.”

wave therapy for the treatment of diabetic foot ulcers as it effects the oxygen levels of skin adjacent to the wound.

In addition to state-of-the-art care, the center provides educational opportunities for medical students as well as surgical trainees in General, Vascular and Plastic Surgery by exposing them to the most advanced wound care in the region.

“We are similarly studying cutting edge technologies such as fluid distribution materials for managing wound drainage. Our Wound Center is internationally known for our expertise in surgical wound debridement and the group is currently studying direct contact ultrasound technology,” Dr. Granick said.

“One of the big advantages of putting this all together is for complex limb salvage,” Dr. Curi said. “We have saved the limbs of patients who have been told elsewhere they need an amputation, and we took care of them here.”

As part of ongoing vascular research, University Hospital is one of only five sites in the country that is using first-of-its-kind bioengineered blood vessels in clinical trial to replace arteries damaged by severe trauma.

“We were the first site in the country to use this bioengineered blood vessel for reconstructing a femoral artery in a patient who had a complex traumatic injury requiring both Vascular and Orthopedic surgical reconstruction,” Dr. Curi said.

For Dr. Granick, ongoing research at the Wound Center includes the study of extracorporeal shock

Another major emphasis of the Wound Center according to Dr. Granick is to explore the efficacy and utility of new stem cell-based skin grafting techniques.

“Plastic surgery availability in the Wound Center facilitates our interaction with other specialists so that we can assist Vascular Surgery in the coverage of their complex post-surgical wounds and repair revascularized limbs with non-healing wounds.

We also work closely with the podiatric surgeons to help them obtain closure for their complex diabetic foot wounds.”

“Overall, the synergy between the medical/surgical specialists working at the Vascular and Wound Center is of great benefit to our patients and to the community,” Dr. Granick said.

To make a referral or to request an appointment, please call: 973-972-HEAL, (4325)

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Training NJMS Surgery Staff to “Stop the Bleed” Fifteen staff members from the Department of Surgery participated in “Stop the Bleed” training, conducted by Dr. Brad Chernock, PGY 1 The goal of the nationwide “Stop the Bleed” training is to teach “immediate responders,” in the general public to render first aid in a bleeding emergency before “First Responders” and medical personnel arrive.

The Stop the Bleed Campaign was started by the Committee on Trauma From the American College of Surgeons in response to incidents over the years as it relates to active shooter events. The Department of Surgery sponsored sessions where the staff learned how to apply direct pressure, perform wound packing and how to use a tourniquet.

Most participants said it was the first time they had received such training and they felt more comfortable knowing what to do in an emergency.

Rutgers NJMS is working with medical students in the Community Engaged Service Learning, CESL, program to expand “Stop the Bleed” training to employers throughout the area.

Dr. Adam Fox, Associate Professor Division of Trauma and Surgical Critical Care, spearheaded this program to bring to University Hospital and NJMS.

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Dr. Aziz Merchant Named Division Chief GENERAL AND MINIMALLY INVASIVE SURGERY Dr. Aziz Merchant, Associate Professor, has been appointed to Division Chief, General and Minimally Invasive Surgery at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, Department of Surgery.

Announcing the appointment, Dr. Anne C. Mosenthal, FACS, the Benjamin F. Rush Jr. MD Endowed Chair of the Department of Surgery, said “Dr. Merchant has brought the Division together and

through. It includes all aspects of elective and emergency general surgery.”

Dr. Merchant’s clinical expertise and areas of interest include minimally invasive surgical techniques, anti-reflux and hiatal hernia surgery, benign esophageal surgery and achalasia, laparoscopic hernia repair, and complex revisional laparoscopy.

His research interests include surgical outcomes, patient-centered outcomes, surgical quality improvement, and cost-effectiveness research.

is developing a strategic vision of Rutgers NJMS

From an educational perspective, Dr. Merchant’s

becoming a leader in surgery outcomes, reducing

interests include surgical residency training

health disparities and raising equity.”

mentorship and surgical simulation.

Dr. Merchant arrived at Rutgers New Jersey Medical

Dr. Merchant currently serves as a committee

School in 2013 and prior to his new appointment had

member for the Research & Career Development

served as interim chief for the Division.

and the Publications committees of the Society

“My main goal is to provide the highest quality of care we can for patients in surgery and acute care and the best resident education experience,” Dr.

of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons. He is an active member of the American College of Surgeons and SAGES.

Merchant said. “Our general surgery service is one of the more important rotations our residents come

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Dr. Merchant completed medical school at

Working with medical students, residents and

Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia,

biostatisticians, reviewing large databases

followed by surgical residency at Georgetown

such as the National Readmission Database

University. He conducted a fellowship in

and National Inpatient Sample, Dr. Merchant said,

advanced laparoscopy and bariatric surgery

“we ask a lot of different questions about insurance

at Emory University.

and socioeconomic status at a safety net hospital

Prior to arriving at Rutgers, Dr. Merchant was an assistant professor and associate residency program director at Central Michigan University, where he was part of a team that established a

and how these things affect outcomes on different surgeries.”

Working with Dr. Anastasia Kunac, FACS, Associate Professor of Trauma & Critical Care,

Bariatric Surgery program at its affiliate,

and General Surgery Residency Program Director,

St. Mary’s of Michigan.

Dr. Merchant conducts research in surgery

New Jersey is home for Dr. Merchant since he

simulation and education.

arrived at age one from India. “I grew up here

“Our surgical simulation research fellowship

and have friends and family here, so it was nice

includes data collection, publication and manuscript

to receive an offer to come back here in 2013,”

writing. The trainees or residents we mentored in

Dr. Merchant said.

the past have had successful Fellowship matches

The impact of health disparities in surgical outcomes; length of stay, and occurrences of postsurgical complications and deaths is a focus for Dr. Merchant’s research interests.

“We know surgical outcomes are highly affected by social determinants; where you live, your income, your race, your insurance status, your educational status, sometimes even more so than your actual medical condition.”

Dr. Merchant said, “The big question is: how do you level the playing field for these patients? What are the things really causing problems for them? How do you fix their lack of transportation or access to care or educational issues, people not knowing enough about their disease?”

and go on to start their careers in areas that they really enjoy. What you want for your mentees is to open the gate and let them fly.”

As a mentor himself, Dr. Merchant said, “One person who I always remember as a mentor is my fellowship director Dr. Edward Lin at Emory in minimally invasive. He gave me a great deal of clinical training and career mentorship training.

Whenever I have questions or challenges, I always gravitate to him.”

“When you receive mentorship you value it, and it gives you a framework of ways to mentor someone else,” Dr. Aziz Merchant

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Remembering and Honoring ˜ at Rededication Dr. Eric Munoz of Trauma Center in his Name “I am honored to be here today at the rededication of the ‘Eric Muñoz Trauma Center’ at the University Hospital. The tenth anniversary of my husband’s passing is of course a difficult time for our friends and family.

But the hard work of the doctors and the medical team at the Eric Muñoz Trauma Center provide a daily testament to my husband’s legacy. The countless lives that have been saved here is truly humbling.”

New Jersey State Assemblywoman Nancy F. Muñoz speaks at the rededication of the Trauma Center named after her late husband, Dr. Eric Munoz.

For longtime friend and colleague Dr. David Livingston, the opportunity to honor the late Dr. Eric Muñoz was a chance to look back and to look forward at the re-dedication of The Eric Muñoz Trauma Center at the University Hospital.

“I worked with Eric for nearly 15 years and know he would have been incredibly proud of the way trauma care has evolved here at University Hospital, in the Greater Newark Community and in New Jersey,” said Dr. Livingston, Professor, and Chief of Trauma and Surgical Critical Care.

Dr. Muñoz, trauma surgeon and former Chief Medical Officer at University Hospital, devoted his life and career to medicine and public policy representing the 21st District in

New Jersey State Assemblywoman Nancy F. Muñoz

the New Jersey General Assembly.

He attended Assembly meetings adorned in his University Hospital surgeon’s white coat and a bow tie.

Judith Persichilli, then University Hospital Acting President and CEO, said the Hospital is proud to rededicate the Trauma Center in the name of Dr. Muñoz, “as we work to expand and enhance the Hospital’s physical space and emergency services. Dr. Muñoz was an example to us all. He dedicated himself to saving lives and saving the people of our community and New Jersey.”

Dr. Adam Fox, Associate Professor of Trauma, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, said, “The celebration of National Trauma Awareness Month makes it rather fitting that we spend some time recognizing the Eric Muñoz Trauma Center and the outstanding people who make it function on a day-to-day basis.”

Dr. Livingston recalled his friend Dr. Muñoz as “an incredible guy. He and I arrived together in 1988. Eric was hired as both chief medical officer at UH and one of the trauma surgeons, which was very unusual at the time to have both roles.”

A prolific academic researcher with an interest in health care financial policy, Dr. Muñoz authored more than 80 publications, according to Dr. Livingston.

“He coined the term ‘Surgeonomics’ in 1984 in the journal Surgery in a study evaluating the costs associated with cholecystectomy and he wrote some of the very early and seminal publications involving health care economics throughout the 1980’s when no one was talking about it. He was very ahead of his time and was even a member of the Federal ProPac (prospective payment) system.”

When Dr. Livingston became Trauma Director in 1995 while Dr. Muñoz still was Chief Medical Officer, he had the opportunity of transitioning from a colleague to Dr. Muñoz’s ‘boss’ on the trauma service. “Eric was very supportive of me in that leadership position. That support was invaluable to help me make the changes I felt the service needed at the time. He was a very good surgeon and pretty unflappable; no matter what walked through the door. When he was on-call he always greeted everybody warmly and jovially even at two in the morning.”

The legacy of Dr. Muñoz is more than a sign bearing his name on the Trauma Center said Dr. Livingston. “There is a Trauma Lectureship in his name that focuses on public policy. Soon after his death, we created a trauma award for the best third year resident on the Trauma Service and given his optimistic outlook on life and medicine named it the ‘Eric Muñoz Future is Bright Award’.

The awardee not only gets a check, but a pair of sunglasses. For the dedication, we also restarted an annual Trauma Service Award and recognized 21 | W IN T ER , 2020

the Trauma Nurses, past and present. I think Eric would have definitely endorsed this choice,” Dr. Livingston said,

“There are so many Eric stories.

He was just a wonderful man.

Like a lot of people, when you look backwards at what he accomplished and how he navigated a very complicated political arena, you realize how smart and savvy he was.”

“I miss him greatly. Since the politics in health care have not gotten easier, I wish he was around when I have things that I would want to bounce off him. His input and advice would be invaluable.

Everyone needs people like Eric for some part of your life. That’s just the way it is. When they are gone, there is a hole that can’t be filled.”

DEPARTMENT OF SURGERY RESIDENTS & FELLOWS

The Next Chapter...

Eihab Abdelfatah - Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, New York Minimally Invasive Surgery Fellowship Surgical Oncology Fellowship

Diana Arellano - Baylor Houston

Trauma Fellowship

Akia Caine - Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla, NY Advanced GI and Bariatric Surgery Fellowship

Reyna Gonzalez - UCSF, Fresno

Trauma, Critical Care Fellowship

Gregory Grimberg - Johns Hopkins, Baltimore, Maryland Bariatrics/Advanced Minimally Invasive Surgery/Robotics Fellowship

Paul Johnson - Florida Hospital, Orlando Colorectal Surgery Attending

Chetan Merchant - Guthrie Packer, PA

General Surgery Attending

Kenneth Walsh - Northwell Health – North Shore/LIJ Vascular Surgery Fellowship

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Urology Residents: Dr. Saman Shafaat Talab

Plastic Surgery: Dr. Paul Therattil

and Dr. Michael Benson

and Dr. Alexandra CondĂŠ Green

Trauma Fellows Graduate Dr. Devashish Anjaria, Associate Professor; Dr. Michael Callander, Fellow; Dr. Prerna Ladha, Fellow; Alexis Chan, Program Coordinator; Dr. David Livingston, Professor; Dr. Ziad Sifri, Associate Professor and Fellowship Director

Tr au m a F e l low s

Urolo g y R e side nc y G r adu ate s

Michael Callander

Saman Shafaat Talab

Trauma and Acute Care Surgeon

Private Practice

Orange Park Medical Center Jacksonville, Florida

Palm Springs, California

Prerna Ladha

New Jersey Urology

Trauma and Acute Care Surgeon

Michael Benson Belleville, NJ

Metrohealth

Assistant Professor Case Western Cleveland, OH

Pla s t ic Su r ge r y R e side nc y G r adu ate s Alexandra CondĂŠ Green Private Practice

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Va s c u la r F e l low s

Florida

Amer Homsi, MD

Reconstructive Micro Surgery Fellowship

Private Practice

Paul J. Therattil University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA

“Cutting Edge” Presentations at Grand Rounds Welcoming guest speaker Melina R. Kibbe, MD, FACS, FAHA Anne C. Mosenthal, MD, FACS, the Benjamin F. Rush Jr. MD Endowed Chair, Department of Surgery, greets Dr. Melina R. Kibbe, the Colin G. Thomas Jr. Distinguished Professor and Chair, Department of Surgery, University of North Carolina

SPE A K E R S

Abbas E. Abbas, MD, MS, FACS, Professor and Vice Chair, Thoracic Medicine and Surgery, Lewis Katz School of Medicine, Temple University, presented “Advances in Esophageal Surgery: Evolution or “Devolution”?” in January.

Betty Ferrell, RN, PhD, MA, FAAN, CHPN, Professor, Director, Division of Nursing Research and Education, City of Hope Medical Center, Duarte CA, presented the “Dr. Pat Murphy Endowed Lecture in Palliative Care” entitled “Advances in the Integration of Palliative Care in Oncology” in May.

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SPE A K E R S

Lorena Gonzalez, MD, RPVI, Assistant Professor of Surgery, Department of Vascular and Endovascular Services, SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, presented “Biologic vs. Chronologic Age in Surgical Outcomes: Why Frailty is More than Just an Index” in January.

Larry Kaiser, MD, FACS, Dean, Lewis Katz School of Medicine, Temple University and President & CEO, Temple University Health System, presented “From the Operating Room to the Boardroom: Confessions of a Surgeon-CEO” in February.

Selwyn O. Rogers, Jr., MD, MPH, Professor and Chief, Trauma and Acute Care Surgery, and Director, the Trauma Center at the University of Chicago Medicine and Biological Sciences, presented, “Violence 25 |Seen W INThrough T ER , 2020a Public Health Lens” in January.

Jeffrey W. Hull PhD, Clinical Instructor of Psychology, Harvard Medical School, presented “Building a Culture of Coaching in Health Care” in December.

Melina R. Kibbe, MD, FACS, FAHA, the Colin G. Thomas, Jr. Distinguished Professor and Chair, Department of Surgery, University of North Carolina, presented “Thinking Outside the Box: One Surgeon’s Journey” in March.

MARCH 2019

Scenes from the Research Symposium The Fifth Annual Research Symposium for the Department of Surgery featured presentations and posters from Rutgers NJMS Medical Students, Residents and Faculty and Surgery Residents from RWJ Barnabas Health and SBMC.

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PROFESSIONAL PROFILE

Huzaifa A. Shakir, MD, FACS, FACCP

Assistant Professor Medical School -

Cardiothoracic Surgery Boston University School of Medicine

Residency -

General Surgery

Residency -

Cardiothoracic Surgery

Fellowship -

New York University School of Medicine, North Shore University Hospital Rutgers, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School Fellow, American College of Surgeons Fellow, American College of Chest Physicians Member, American College of Health Care Executives Member, Society of Thoracic Surgeons

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WELCOME

Dr. Huzaifa A. Shakir, FACS, FACCP ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, CARDIOTHORACIC SURGERY Dr. Huzaifa A. Shakir, FACS, FACCP, joins the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School at a time when “opportunities to collaborate with a new interventional cardiologist in the Department of Medicine can help grow our cardiac surgery program,” according to Division Chief, Dr. Justin Sambol.

“Dr. Shakir has been a cardiothoracic surgeon in the New Jersey area for more than ten years. He has tremendous experience in the area and is well known. We are excited to have him join us. This is a great opportunity for our Division and he is enthusiastic as well.”

Dr. Sambol said he is transitioning his own practice to focus on thoracic surgery and devote more attention to his administrative responsibilities as Senior Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School.

A specialist in adult cardiac surgery, minimally invasive thoracic surgery and electrophysiology surgery, Dr. Shakir said, “I’m born and raised in New Jersey, trained and worked in

“I’m born and raised in New Jersey, trained and worked in this metro area since 1999 and I feel it is very important to serve our population with University Hospital’s commitment to public health.” this metro area since 1999 and I feel it is very important to serve our population with University Hospital’s commitment to public health.”

His experience while training and practicing at regional community hospitals “gave me a vision of a continuum of care for a patient with cardiac disease,” Dr. Shakir said.

“I have an understanding of the collaboration in University Hospital setting so that the care of a patient is not relegated to one specialty, but a range of things within cardiology, as a cutting-edge discipline.”

In particular, Dr. Shakir anticipates opportunities to collaborate with a new interventional cardiologist to expand the scope of cardiac services available in the region.

He also sees opportunities to promote cardiac preventative health and lung cancer screening.

During his training at Boston University School of Medicine, Dr. Shakir completed a health policy internship in the office of Massachusetts United States Senator John Kerry. Today, at home, Dr. Shakir serves on the Health Advisory Committee for the township of East Brunswick. He is participating in the Rutgers Leadership Academy. “My goal is to acquire the knowledge to network with service line leaders and help better position Rutgers as a unique leader in medical education.”

Dr. Shakir said, “I love what I do.

I appreciate the support I have received at the University. Being a local boy helps; knowing the market, I have a good understanding of what the challenges are and what patients are looking for. I hope to make an impact in the community.”

DR. DORIAN WILSON & DR. DAVID PALANGE

Sharing Perspectives on Mentorship: Providing Structure to Culture Change As Professor Dorian Wilson, MD and Administrative Chief Resident David Palange, DO, PGY 5 prepared their joint Grand Rounds presentation on Mentorship, (“Mentoring: Still an Evolving Art in the Setting of Surgical Education”) they drew upon profound personal moments when a faculty member provided mentoring advice that shaped their careers.

Dorian Wilson, MD

Beyond the mentor sharing advice and encouragement with the mentee from their own experience, both doctors suggested that a mentor can help the mentee see something in their ability and potential that they might not see in themselves.

Dr. Dorian Wilson, Professor, Department of Surgery and Associate Program Director for the General Surgery Residency Program, recalled being encouraged by the late Dr. Benjamin F. Rush Jr. to pursue a fellowship in transplantation.

David Palange, DO, PGY 5

“Dr. Rush looked at me and said in that gravelly voice of his,‘You have the necessary equipment and speed to go to Pittsburgh and do liver transplantation.’”

“Dr. Rush was the Founding Chair of the Department of Surgery when I was a resident on his service more than 30 years ago,” Dr. Wilson said. “Dr. Rush looked at me and said in that gravelly voice of his, ‘You have the necessary equipment and speed to go to Pittsburgh and do liver transplantation.’

“I was not even thinking of liver at the time,” Dr. Wilson said. “I had a plane ticket and a job interview lined up to be a junior partner for a busy surgeon at a community hospital in Ohio.

Dr. Rush and Dr. Carrol Leevy, a hepatologist here at that time, called Dr. Thomas E. Starzl, the pioneer of liver transplantation, and said, ‘We’ve got this kid who would be a pretty good transplant surgeon,’ and I went out there to Pittsburgh and trained and came back here and helped start liver transplantation in this state.”

For Dr. Wilson, the power of the mentorship support from Dr. Rush “motivated me to sticking the course. Transplantation is a difficult and grueling specialty and there weren’t many people who looked like me doing transplantation then, so that encouraged me.”

Both Dr. Wilson and Dr. Palange have been involved since the beginning in the progression of mentorship and coaching in the Rutgers NJMS Department of Surgery, as championed by Dr. Anne Mosenthal, the Benjamin F. Rush Jr., MD Endowed Chair of Surgery and Dr. Anastasia Kunac, Associate Professor, Trauma and Critical Care and General Surgery Residency Program Director.

Dr. Wilson said, “We are all involved in mentorship at some level and we are trying to make this a fundamental mainstay, more structured, more expected; a mentoring culture that is not hit-and-miss. We can better identify students and residents who may be struggling; it will be easier to identify opportunities for mentorship and for senior residents to act as mentors for junior residents.”

As Dr. David Palange begins his administrative chief residency year, he has seen the evolution of the mentorship and coaching program and advocated for more structure during his Rutgers NJMS Surgery training.

“Mentorship has gone through many iterations since I got here,” Dr. Palange said. “Three years ago, I went to Dr. Wilson, and Dr. Kunac and Dr. Mosenthal and said: ‘we have to do a better job with mentoring and coaching,’ and since then it has become a more formal program and keeps getting better and better.”

Dr. Palange has received mentorship from Dr. Wilson, Dr. Michael Shapiro, Associate Professor of General Surgery; Dr. David

Livingston, Professor of Trauma; Dr. Adam Fox, Associate Professor of Trauma but adds, “Dr. Mosenthal is my coach.”

“You pick things up from talking with all of them, great advice,” Dr. Palange said, adding, “and you try to share it back with the other residents, how to get through the daily muck of general surgery residency.”

Dr. Palange particularly appreciates the mentorship and guidance he is receiving from Dr. Melissa Alvarez-Downing, Assistant Professor of Surgical Oncology as he pursues a fellowship in Colorectal Surgery.

“Dr. Alvarez-Downing took me to Colorectal Surgery meetings this year and introduced me to lots of people from around the country.

Those personal, face-to-face meetings may be how I get to where I want to match. I can say in an interview, ‘I met you at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame,’ and then we can go from there.”

Now Dr. Palange is a mentor to other residents, holding lunch or breakfast meetings for chats to discuss subjects such as: “How are you handling things; how are you being more ‘present’ in your work and with your family? How are you engaging with patients, and what are you reading at night to stay current?”

When he had three medical students shadow him during a major trauma surgery on a man who was pinned under a car, Dr. Palange recalled how he felt compelled “to debrief them after I saw the looks on their faces, so we sat down and talked them through it, about what they had seen and why we did what we did.”

It all ties together and comes full circle, according to Dr. Palange. “What we are trying to do with our mentorship is to build the culture of our surgery program, to make us better, more like-minded in a culture that facilitates learning.”

A team of Rutgers NJMS Surgery residents performed 64 free surgeries in May during an ISHI International Surgical Health Initiative trip to Peru.

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Rutgers NJMS Team Performs 64 Surgeries, Trains 300 in “Stop the Bleed” in Peru A team of Rutgers NJMS Surgery residents performed 64 free surgeries in May during an International Surgical Health Initiative, ISHI trip to Peru.

Under the direction of Dr. Ziad C. Sifri, Associate Professor and Director of Global Health, at NJMS resident Drs. Michele Fiorentino, PGY 4, Jesus Rosado, PGY 4, and Vennila Padmanaban, PGY 4, were joined by former resident Dr. Amy Gore and former Surgical Critical Care Fellow Dr. Konstantin Khariton to perform numerous complimentary surgeries in Trujillo, Peru.

Ziad C. Sifri, MD, FACS, associate professor of surgery and a trauma

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and critical care attending at University Hospital, is the Director of the NJMS Office of Global Health, Center for Global Surgery, and global surgery fellowship program.

Dr. Michele Fiorentino shared, “We went to Madre de Cristo Clinic in Trujillo, Peru. Our team consisted of doctors, nurses, physical therapists and logistics people.

While there, we successfully completed 64 free surgeries.

The majority of the cases performed were hernias and gallbladders. The team also trained over 300 police officers and security officers in ‘Stop the Bleed,’ which gives bystanders and ‘immediate responders’ the skills they need to help in a bleeding emergency.”

GRADUATING RESIDENT PROFILE: DR. REYNA GONZALEZ

Elite Gymnastics Experience Drives Her Surgical Training and Coaching to adjust; either I could be the mean resident who doesn’t understand what people are going through or I can figure out how to teach and coach them in the way I want them to be,” Dr. Gonzalez said.

Elite gymnastics training for 20 to 30 hours a week from age three to 14, and then coaching nine years, gave Dr. Gonzalez a unique approach she applied to teaching residents.

For her Grand Rounds presentation, “The Age of the Millennial, Teaching the Next Generation,” Dr. Reyna Gonzalez described her journey of learning to balance high expectations with the current realities of teaching surgical residents.

“I don’t think you go a week without talking with faculty about how different it was when they trained, when dinosaurs roamed the earth,” she laughed.

“Unintentionally, I used my gymnastics coaching experience with residents; I had a way of doing things. I had that certain personality that believed every person coming in to residency is high achieving and works the way I do. I had to learn

“I learned about commitment through coaching with difficult parents, and tons of hours with kids working out 20 hours a week, that you have to be a good teacher and not all kids learn the same.

No six-year-old works out for 20 hours a week unless they want to achieve. You have to learn to teach, to help them learn.”

The Grand Rounds presentation put into historical perspective the challenges of training surgical residents in an educational program that has not changed much in 100 years, Dr. Gonzalez said.

“Where we are today, there is greater productivity pressure on teaching faculty, so there is less time for them to teach, advise, conduct research and serve as mentors,” Dr. Gonzalez said.

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Operating room teaching in an era of less repetition should be re-designed to help residents anticipate “knowing what comes next, choosing the right plane, better handling tissue and recognizing the abnormal in process,” Dr. Gonzalez said.

Born in the 1980s, Dr. Gonzalez calls herself a “transitional millennial, not a full-blown 90’s millennial,” but she identifies with the need to transform educating the “dreaded millennials” to better accommodate their learning styles.

Reyna Gonzalez as a young gymast

“My 18 years in competitive gymnastics as an athlete and a coach always pushed me for excellence and perfection. It influenced my perspective on how surgical residents are taught.”

Reyna Gonzalez, MD, Former PGY 5, Graduating Administrative Chief Resident The 2003 reduction in resident duty hours meant 20 percent less patient care experience.

Dr. Gonzalez cited a national study reporting 25 percent of residents felt a lack of confidence in performing eight of 13 types of operations because of a lack of repetition.

Changing the teaching approach to be more “learner focused” when the traditional “immersion method” is less possible could enable technology-savvy Millennials to learn lower level skills online rather than in the classroom. “That would allow higher order skills to be taught face-to-face with faculty,” Dr. Gonzalez said.

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“Millennials are digital native multi-taskers who work well in teams. Although well-educated, they face a greater potential for personal failure when being asked to work independently.”

Dr. Gonzalez, citing the “helicopter parent” generation, said “Millennials are unprepared to receive negative feedback or constructive criticism. They want to know that you don’t think they are an awful person because they did something wrong.”

She learned from participating in coaching and mentoring herself that “it not only makes you a better resident, but helps you become a better person. We can enhance those things that make you a better version of you.”

Of her own mentors such as Associate Professor Dr. Michael Shapiro and General Surgery Residency Program Director Dr. Anastasia Kunac, Dr. Gonzalez said, their guidance helped her own surgical training and influenced her teaching style.

Her frequent e-mail messages with Dr. Kunac were reassuring. “I remember sending one my first time as an intern in trauma critical care. I felt overwhelmed and that I wasn’t good enough to be there yet. She basically said, ‘you’re doing fine, it is exactly how you are supposed to feel.

Don’t worry, we know what is going on and we would not let you hurt anyone,’ so that made me feel better.”

Dr. Gonzalez added, “Dr. Shapiro, he never hesitates to take a look at what I am doing in the operating room, even when I am not on his team.

He has never made me feel this approach is not okay. He always does ‘the teacher thing’ and asks me ‘why?’ He is a great coach. We have so many faculty here who do that for people. I know without question, that when I graduate, I could call anyone here and ask questions.”

Dr. Kunac said, “I think Reyna is exactly the type of person I am proud to be graduating. I remember actively recruiting her to come here because she is from Southern California (like I am) and she wanted to work someplace busy and train in the trenches to pursue a career in trauma and acute care surgery.”

“She has tremendous grit and resilience, which may have stemmed from her career as a gymnast. Nothing short of excellence is acceptable as a gymnast. When she started to think of herself as a coach, she realized that she had to figure out how to bring out the best in people, and that made her a very effective educator,” Dr. Kunac said.

As Administrative Chief Resident, Dr. Gonzalez brought her organizational skills to the demands of scheduling 60 residents in rotations at four hospitals. Dr. Kunac said, “Her attention to detail kept the program running, I could not do my job without the way she handled the schedule for the whole year.”

Again, her gymnastics coaching experience helped Dr. Gonzalez scheduling residents.

“Scheduling is not the most fun, but I knew what

I was getting myself into. I knew I was capable: I had coached gymnastics nine years for kids three years old and up. I came up with schedules to get 100 kids into a gym with only so many hours in the day to get these kids in and out, so you learn how to do it.”

Next for Dr. Gonzalez is a trauma and acute care fellowship at UCSF, Fresno. “I wanted to be back on West coast close to family, and honestly I just loved the program.”

When she first interviewed for her General Surgery residency here, Dr. Gonzalez recalled Dr. Anne Mosenthal, Benjamin F. Rush, Jr. MD Endowed Chair, of the Department of Surgery, “being excited when I said I really just wanted to work with people I would enjoy spending 80 hours a week with as friends and colleagues.”

So, in her exit interview, Dr. Gonzalez said, “The thing I will miss most, is the people; not just the residents, my best friends, but the faculty.

It is such a nice place to be. Everyone is so supportive. Everyone wants you to reach your potential and to teach you. Somehow, this is a department not about them, but about us.”

“

“The thing I will miss most, is the people; not just the residents, my best friends, but the faculty.

It is such a nice place to be.

Everyone is so supportive.

Everyone wants you to reach your potential and to teach you.

Somehow, this is a department not about them, but about us.”

Reyna Gonzalez, MD, Former PGY 5, Graduating Administrative Chief Resident

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Honors & Awards GME AWARDS

Dr. Pete Johnston

Dr. Anastasia Kunac and Dr. Nitin “Nick” Patel were honored for “Promoting Resident Well-being” during the GME Faculty Recognition Awards.

D r. A n a st a

NEW AD M I N I STR ATI V E C H I E F R ES I D E NTS

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D r. N iti

Pa tel

Dr. David Palange

Promotions NEW PROMOTIONS TO ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR INCLUDE: Dr. Adam Fox, Trauma and SCC;

Dr. Franchesca Hwang

Dr. Jonathan Keith, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery; Dr. Anastasia Kunac, Trauma and Surgical Critical Care and Program Director, General Surgery Residency

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Mentoring Award

MENTORING AWARD | Anne Mosenthal, MD, FACS, Benjamin F. Rush, Jr. Endowed Chair, Department of Surgery accepting 2019 Mentoring Award from NJMS Faculty Organization, pictured with Sangeeta Lamba, MD (L); and Stephanie Bonne, MD (R).

Golden Apple Award THE GOLDEN APPLE AWARD IS PRESENTED BY NJMS STUDENTS IN RECOGNITION OF EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING. Dr. Devashish J. Anjaria, Associate Professor, Director, Surgery Clerkship; Dr. David Palange PGY 5, Administrative Chief Resident; Dr. Ziad, C. Sifri, Associate Professor, Program Director, SCC Fellowship.

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WELCOME

New General Surgery Residents Members of the PGY 1 class assemble for a group photo at a welcoming reception.

Pictured below from left, are, Front Row: Ryan Benson, Tolulope Oyetunde, Basel Abdelazeem, Shyamin Mehra, Grace Tsui, Ann Nguyen. Second Row: Syed Haider, Brad Chernock, Matteo Novello, Antony Irungu, Alvand Sehat, Bobby Yu, Kevin Rhee and Alexander Nowicki.

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NJMS

Advocacy in DC

A delegation from Rutgers NJMS Department of Surgery and New Jersey Chapter of American College of Surgeons conducted an Advocacy visit to Washington, D.C. In the group photo from left to right: Dr. Tori Ko, surgical resident; Dr. Michael Spedick, Dr. Amit Joshi, Dr. Stephanie Bonne, Assistant Professor of Trauma and Surgical Critical Care and Dr. Michele Fiorentino, surgical resident. “We met with multiple staff members of New Jersey congressmen and women, and senators including representatives of Cory Booker.

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It was a great experience for me to go to Washington and advocate for issues that are important for surgeons and our patients. I had a great day getting to meet with the representatives of our congressmen and women and exploring the Hill,� Dr. Fiorentino said.

Scenes from the 2019 Academic Surgical Congress Surgery Residents and medical students from Rutgers New Jersey Medical School presented their academic research work at the Academic Surgical Congress in Houston.

On a Personal Note...

CONGR ATULATIONS! IT’S A GIRL!

Rutgers NJMS Surgery resident Dr. Victor Costa and wife Jessica announce the arrival of their baby girl Rori, born at the end of April 2019.

April 2019, 20.5 inches, 7 lbs 10 oz.

Copyright 2020 Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, an equal opportunity, affirmative action institution. All rights reserved

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