The Medical Messenger: Volume 1, Issue 4

TM Volume 1 | Issue 4 | May 2018

UPCOMING EVENTS August 6th M1 Orientation begins

August 10th M1 White Coat Ceremony

August 13th First day of M1 classes

August 20th First day of M2 classes

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The Class of 2018 Meets Their Match After years of preparation, the Class of 2018 was finally able to find out the results of their residency Match this year on March 16, 2018. Match Day is perhaps the biggest day throughout all of medical school, and is filled with a lot of mixed emotions. Our UICOM medical students, after four years of hard work, late nights, and learning the science and art of medicine, find out where they will be going in the next stages of their careers.

For this academic year, we had 174 students participate in the Match. 95% of our students were successful at matching into 23 different specialties across 27 states throughout the country (see map and statistics on next page).

Match Day was held at the UIC Forum and was an inspiring occasion for all who attended. Students and families were treated to a spectacular event with a full breakfast, mimosas, and Bloody Marys to accompany the celebration. The morning was opened up with encouraging speeches by Interim Executive Dean Dr. Charles Ray, M.D., Ph.D., Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs Dr. Robert Barish, M.D., and Assistant Dean for Residency Preparedness Dr. Trevonne Thompson, M.D., who all commented on the significance of the day and how it will serve as the spark that ignites the rest of our students’ careers. A class toast was then held by Erik Liederbach, M3 Class President, who thanked the M4 class for serving as colleagues, tutors, friends, and more.

After the Match envelopes were passed out to all of the students and they returned to their tables with their families and friends, a countdown was initiated, led by Dean Thompson and the Director of Career Services, Stacey Walters. As the last few seconds approached, you could feel the nervous excitement throughout the room as our M4 students were about to discover where they matched! As the countdown reached zero, the UIC Forum erupted with surprise, joy, and excitement. Students were hugging their families, and searching the room for their close friends to see where they will be attending residency. Some were shocked to find out close friends would be attending the same institution as them, albeit in a different specialty. We couldn’t be more proud of our graduating students! Congratulations!

Where are they going?

2018 Match Statistics Top 5 Most Popular

States: 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Illinois – 33% California – 11% Texas – 5% New York – 5% Massachusetts – 5%

Top 5 Most Popular

Specialties: 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Internal Medicine – 26% Pediatrics – 9% Family Medicine – 9% Emergency Medicine – 7% Anesthesiology – 7%

Top Hospitals: 1. University of Illinois Hospital (IL) 2. University of Chicago Medical Center (IL) 3. Baylor College of Medicine (TX) 4. Programs that Tied: Advocate Health Care (IL) Loyola University Medical Center (IL) Medical College of Wisconsin (WI) Northwestern McGaw/NMH/VA (IL) Rush University Medical Center (IL) Stanford University Programs (CA)

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A note from the CMSC President

Doctors in uniform Marissa Ghant

Shikhar Shah

Graduating students, and are scholars in the F. Edward Hébert Armed Forces Health Professions Scholarship Program and successfully matched through the Military Match this year.

Looking back, their stories began four years ago when Marissa and Shikhar first heard about the scholarship.

Marissa learned about the program from friends and applied to the program because it sounded like a good way to finance her education. “It takes care of medical school fees, and you get a stipend and a signing bonus,” she says. “And the payback is four years, so if you don’t like it you can come back to be a civilian doctor really soon.”

Marissa applied to the Navy branch and went up to the base in Great Lakes for her interview and physical exam. She was accepted soon after and after talking with her family, decided to accept the offer. Around the same time, Shikhar was applying to the Army branch because he wanted a career in public policy and felt the military scholarship would allow him to practice in the public sector, with the added bonus that they pay for medical school.

The next four years of medical school would be similar to their civilian counterparts with a few exceptions. In the summer after M1 year, Marissa and Shikhar attended Basic Leadership training at their respective training sites.

The day after the M1 boat cruise, Marissa was off to Rhode Island for five weeks for bootcamp. Meanwhile, Shikhar was in San Antonio learning “everything about army culture—learning how to salute, how to wear the uniform and what to call people,” he states. “We lived in tents, 40 guys to a tent. And when everyone else [from school] was doing academic stuff, I was learning how to shoot and do land navigation in the woods. There was a gas chamber and that’s something I can say I’ve done once but I will never do again.”

Fast forward to the summer before M4 year. Marissa and Shikhar were deciding where to apply for residency, but it wasn’t that hard of a decision.

Marissa had three programs available to apply to, Shikhar had two. Shikhar remembers in his specialty, “there were 12 seats total for two programs—so my rank list was 1 and 2.” The Military match happens earlier in the academic year. Marissa recalls that the process was similar to civilian match, but she began interviewing in July. After visiting all three programs in Florida, North Carolina and San Diego, she had finished her application process by October.

She and Shikhar both heard that they matched in December.

In early May, in addition to dawning the graduation regalia and taking the Hippocratic oath, they will participate in the special hooding ceremony and become promoted to Lieutenants in their respective branches. Marissa explained, “the commencement speaker at graduation, Dr. Richard Carmona, who is the ex-Surgeon General under the Bush administration is hooding me!” After graduation, these two will report to their sites for an additional training before beginning residency orientation. After graduating residency, they will serve a four-year term being stationed around the world.

They then have the option to extend their contract or return to the civilian world.

Marissa Ghant at left. Shikhar Shah above.

Marissa and Shikhar encourage other students to reach out to them to learn more about the scholarship. “If you’re interested in more than medicine, especially outdoorsy stuff and wilderness, then it’s really great for that,” says Shikhar. “It’s difficult because there are few students, advisors try to help but you have to do a lot of double checking to make sure you’re meeting the requirements,” says Marissa. These two students have incredibly unique paths through medical school and will be dedicating the next chapter of training to serving our country.

And where did they end up? Marissa is going into Family Medicine at the Naval Hospital in Jacksonville, Florida and Shikhar will be in the anesthesiology program at Walter Reed Medical Center (named after the guy who discovered Yellow Fever) in Bethesda, Maryland.

Congratulations to Marissa and Shikhar and thank you for your service to our country.

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Class of 2018 Superlatives Of course, the graduates of UICOM are the best and brightest physicians around! However, here are some other superlatives you might not have known about the newest group to join the ranks of illustrious UICOM alumni.

Rounding out the list “JD/Turk” Best Bromance

Parmede Vakil and Ramzy Khabbaz

Cutest Couple Kasia Rojek and Trevor Thompson

Most Likely To Fall Asleep On Rounds Frank Ebai

Most Likely To Trach Someone In A Restaurant

The time-honored tradition of reaching into the depths of obscure medical knowledge (particularly basic sciences), known as “pimping”, is a hallmark of the clinical years of medical school. Jay Meisner will likely be causing scores of medical students to hit the books and answer question after question, as this future surgeon was voted Most Likely To Pimp Medical Students Relentlessly.

Clearly, all UICOM students and alumni are dedicated to providing the greatest service to humanity in their career as physicians.

However, that does not mean that being a physician cannot also offer some perks, such as raising your prospects in the dating pool. This will come in particularly handy for future orthopedic surgeon Keith Whitlock, voted Most Likely To Use “I’m a doctor” Line At The Bar.

Kayt Hack

Class Clown Greg Klazura

Most Likely To Be “Doctor of the Year” In An Inflight Magazine Ian Winter

Most Likely To Forget To Submit Their Rank List Michelle Yoo and Marikah Davin

“Dr. Oz” Award for Most Likely To End Up A Medical Personality George Gianakakos

Highest AST/ALT Ratio Bhavik “Bob” Patel

Dr. Congeniality Palida Noor

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Sometimes, you hear of doctors that are so generous with their patients that they would likely give them the shirt off their back. Nathan Lin and Ariana Melendez are expected to bring some nextlevel humanism into their practice of family medicine and obstetrics/gynecology, respectively – they were voted Most Likely To Donate A Kidney To A Patient.

The class of 2019 will recognize these two as the architects of those Monday night fun-fests in Anatomy lab during M1 year.

Their mastery of the preclinical curriculum, via countless Anki cards or inhalation of textbooks, led to both being selected for Junior AOA - but more importantly, they were voted Most Likely To Pass Step 3 Without Studying (future orthopedic surgeon Cam Gos To Be The Next Gossett, at left) and Most Likely Dr. Zar (future internist AND pediatrician Josh Muniz, at right).

Student spotlight In this edition, we’re featuring graduating M4s Liz Zavala and

Greg Klazura.

The Journey Liz: I’m going into family medicine here at UIC. My journey into medicine began as a translator and health advocate for my grandmother. I worked at health fairs in primarily Spanish-speaking communities where I was able to help individuals that did not have access to health care prior to immigrating. These experiences inspired me to serve communities who do not have easy access, who are underserved, and who need physicians that are passionate about providing care.

Greg: I’m going into general surgery at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, IL. Prior to starting medical school, I was a professional MLS soccer player for the Vancouver Whitecaps FC, a journey that was sparked by a breakout fourth-year performance at Notre Dame. I always considered medicine as a future career. I believed I would be able to have a stronger impact as a medical professional, and I decided to pursue this passion after my second year as a professional soccer player.

Favorite Moment of Medical School?

Liz: The Young Doctors Club in the North Lawndale area through the UMED program has been my most memorable and influential life experience during medical school. Being able to teach a medical science curriculum to our students, see them grow, and apply these skills has been an incredible experience. Seeing these kids overcome personal adversity daily and come in with the energy and passion, makes me incredibly excited that they will have a lasting impact on the health care field.

Greg: My trip to Ghana this past February with fellow GMED students was my most memorable moment from these past four years. During this time, we rotated through different departments of the Komfo Anokye hospital. On this trip we were able to perform needs assessments, take a lab medicine course, and learn about global health care from a different perspective.

The GMED program is very dear to my heart and being able to go through this experience with my GMED colleagues was an amazing opportunity.

Why… Family Medicine?

Liz: I decided to pursue family medicine as you provide care and service for all people from different walks of life. We are the first interaction and often the only interaction patients have with the healthcare system. We are physicians who can advocate, shape policy, promote social justice, and provide a holistic service to improve the overall well-being of our patients. The ability to create a life-long relationship and personalized healthcare partnership with future patients is a unique opportunity as a family medicine physician.

General Surgery?

Greg: The concrete, tangible, and corporeal nature of surgery was very appealing as you are able to see the final results of your work. I really enjoyed the pace of surgery, where even though you are working long hours, time would fly due to the exciting nature of work as a surgeon. The final decision of the patient’s care often lies in the surgeon’s hands when it really counts, which is a unique aspect that drew me towards it. Having a father who is a retired vascular surgeon influenced me to enter this specialty. He served as a great role model and I see myself as a reflection of him.

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2018 Award Recipients Abbas Hyderi, MD Leadership Award Recipients M1 - Jorge Rivera and Lola Castro M2 - Kelsey Holbert and Molly MacInnes M3 - Joan Marc and Joshua Smith M4 - Kenji Kobayashi and Yu-Hui Huang

CMSC Awards Night

Tom C. Reeves Memorial Award Zack Schoppen, M3 The Ariana Melendez Award recognizing an Outstanding Student Organization Latino Medical Student Association Co-Presidents: Gina Alvarado, M2 and Alyssa Murillo, M2 Golden Apple Award for Excellence in Medical Education M1 - Dr. Mahesh Patel M2 - Dr. John Groth M3 - Dr. Richard Stringham M4 - Dr. Fred Zar Maurice F. Rabb, MD & Jose F. Pulido, MD Medical Student Teaching Award Dr. Amelia Bartholomew Frank T. Sparks Memorial Award for Excellence in Medical Education Support Staff Eric Wallbruch C. Thomas Bombeck, MD Award for Excellence in Medical Education Dr. Fred Zar Maria Devens, Ph.D Memorial Award for Commitment to Student Wellness Nathan Lin, M4 Outstanding Student Features, The Medical Messenger Yu-Hui Huang, M3/MS Candidate Rachel Bervell, M3 Ravand Samaeekia, M2

Dr. Abbas Hyderi presenting the Granville Bennett award to Kenji Kobayashi (M4).

The Abbas Hyderi Leadership Awards recognizes two members in each class who have displayed outstanding student leadership and advocacy. Each of the winners expressed their sincere appreciation that their peers thought of them to be nominated, when we are all surrounded by such impressive people. Special thanks to Dean Abbas Hyderi, who sat in our very seats not long ago and advocated for there to be a place for recognition and celebration of students taking on leadership roles at the College of Medicine.

Dr. Fred Zar, recipient of the C. Thomas Bombeck Award for Excellence in Medical Education.

Granville Bennett Award Kenji Kobayashi, M4 COM Research Forum Gold Prize Winner Dmitriy Peresada, M2 COM Research Forum Silver Prize Winner Kimberly Hu, M2 Body Electric Awardees Carolyn Cao, M3 Tavor Allali, M4 George Tsourdinis, M1 SRFC Andrea Plaut Scholarship Recipient Chris Nemeh, M4

The Annual CMSC Awards Night took place on April 17th, 2018. We would like to say a huge thank you to the many people who made this great event possible! We also want to thank the many students who nominated their peers, faculty, and staff for the various CMSC awards. In the spirit of our CMSC goals for the year of building camaraderie and trying to highlight the many amazing people at the College of Medicine, we were happy to have nearly doubled the number of awards given at this event! We chose to additionally highlight awards that students had received through other activities throughout the year and celebrate them all as a group. The full list of awards that were given at the event can be found to the left.

Chris Nemeh (M4) receiving the SRFC Andrea Plaut Scholarship from student Kieran Holzhauer (M4).

The recipient of The Reeves Memorial Award, is Zach Schoppen, M3. The award commemorates a UIC medical student who died during his third year. Each year, the third year class chooses a student to receive this award who has suffered a hardship and has shown outstanding strength of character. We thank Erik Liederbach, M3 for presenting this award and Zach for allowing his story to be told. He reminded us of what privilege we have in medicine to walk with patients and their families’ in some of the most trying times of their lives and to never forget the person beyond the patient.

Jennifer Devens paying tribute to sister Dr. Maria Devens.

Another special moment of the night was the presentation of the Maria Devens Award to Nathan Lin, M4. The Dr. Maria Devens Memorial Award seeks to honor an individual who promotes interpersonal cooperation and aims to alleviate the psychosocial stressors associated with medical training through their actions. The award honors the memory of Dr. Devens, who devoted much of her research to educating students and residents about sources of stress within the medical profession and promoting attention to personal wellbeing during medical training.

We are very grateful that Dr. Devens’ parents were in attendance, and Dr. Devens’ sister, Jennifer, spoke about her sister and the impact she made. Dr. Devens’ legacy was certainly felt throughout the room and we are very proud to have awarded someone as deserving as Nathan for his efforts in promoting wellness at the College of Medicine. Not only has Nathan been involved in curricular wellness, but many students also commented on his day to day approach to wellness. One M4 said, “Any of his friends can speak volumes to how reliable he is during times of need, and how sensitive he is to individualized approaches to support. I think Nathan's humble approach to this sort of support really allows that support to become empowering instead of cultivating dependence -- by which I mean to say that even during times of weakness, he reminds others of their inner strength so they somehow leave those situations feeling cared for and at least a little more ready to take on what they need to.

Through the Student Run Free Clinic (SRFC), we were happy to present Chris Nemeh, M4 with The Andrea Plaut Scholarship, which was created in the memory of a UIC College of Medicine student and SRFC steering committee member who died shortly after graduating. The scholarship was created by Andrea’s family and friends to honor a UIC student each year who reflects the dedication that Andrea displayed towards caring for Chicago’s medically underserved. The award was presented by Kieran Holzhauer, M4, who said that Chris “brings creativity and enthusiasm to each clinic night, which are reflected in how he treats his patients, how he spends extra time teaching fellow students, and how he engages with fellow volunteers.”

We also presented Kenji Kobayashi, M4, with the Granville A. Bennett Award.

This award was established in 1968 in the name of Dr. Granville A. Bennett, professor of Pathology, who served with the distinction as Dean of the college 1954-1967. The award is presented to the senior medical student judged to have made the most significant contributions to medical education in their time as a student. Kenji was awarded for his work on bringing the efforts of the Student Curricular Board into the third and fourth year of medical school, delivering respectful and professional feedback on how to improve these years of training during our period of curricular transformation. CMSC was proud to honor him for his dedication to curricular improvement.

We also recognized several students who have been previously acknowledged throughout the year including: Yu-Hui Huang, M3/MS Candidate, Rachel Bervell, M3, and Ravand Samaeekia, M2, for their outstanding student features in prior editions of The Medical Messenger, and Dmitriy Peresada, M2, and Kimberly Hu, M2, for winning gold and silver prize, respectively, at the College of Medicine Research Forum.

At left: Ravand Samaeekia (M2) and Rachel Bervell (M3), Outstanding Student Features of The Medical Messenger.

This year, we awarded the first ever Ariana Melendez Award recognizing an Outstanding Student Organization. The award was named after Ariana Melendez, M4, who has done a tremendous amount of work for student organizations and CMSC as it runs today. We were thrilled to honor the Latino Medical Student Association (LMSA) and its co-presidents, Gina Alvarado, M2, and Alyssa Murillo, M2, and the many initiatives they are working on, both for students and the community. This year, LMSA taught health classes to high school students through the Medicina Academy Apprentice Program, partnered with FRUIT to provide resources to the Pilsen community, offered a Medicina Hispana course, and much more! We thank them for their outstanding work! LMSA will be rewarded with an extra $250 of student organization spending money next year.

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SOLVE THIS MEDICAL MYSTERY Across: 1. Wearing fewer clothes 6. What your lungs did to the blood during each of your breaths 8. Current strength 9. “If the Bears win the Super Bowl next year, I’ll eat ___ ___!”

10. Who responds during a medical emergency 12. Protein used by a macrophage to recognize a PAMP 13. Enzyme that metabolizes arginine; we all have “n”, “e”, and “i” versions 14. ___ Paulo, Brazil 15. Trump’s Ivy alma mater, briefly 17. Narrowing, as in an artery or spinal canal 19. Having this type of memory would be helpful for medical school 20. Expenses

Down: 1. Term to describe kidney conditions such as minimal change disease and FSGS 2. How the body excretes nitrogen: ____ cycle 3. Thing stuck in a circular board, often at a bar 4. G is to our alphabet as ___ is to the Greek alphabet 5. Christian story of creation, repeated?

6. Enzyme that can be salivary or pancreatic 7. Possessed by an evil spirit 8. Quantities, briefly 11. 9-digit IDs 15. Indefinite articles, in Paris 16. Mycobacterial disease of the vertebrae 18. Old name for Tokyo

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About the Medical MessengerTM The Medical MessengerTM is the quarterly CMSC newsletter written by and for medical students at UICOM. It is meant to serve as a way to update the students, faculty, and administration on all of the achievements of our student body and celebrate students’ accomplishments. Questions, comments, or looking to contribute by writing about something you are passionate about? Contact our editor and CMSC VP of Communications, Olivia Lanser, at lanser2@uic.edu.

The Medical MessengerTM is intellectual property of the Chicago Medical Student Council.

About US

President: Joe Geraghty (jgerag2@uic.edu) VP of Student Life: Hannah Pennington (hpenni2@uic.edu) VP of Curriculum: Cutler Lewandowski (lewando4@uic.edu) VP of Communications: Olivia Lanser (lanser2@uic.edu) Treasurer: Joan Marc (jmarc3@uic.edu) Secretary: Kelsey Holbert (kholbe2@uic.edu) Head Alumni Rep: Jessica Strzepka (strzepk2@uic.edu) Health Fair Coordinator: Hannah Wavering (hwaver2@uic.edu) Leadership Series Coordinator: Aashu Patel (apate3@uic.edu)

Please reach out to us if you have any suggestions or questions for us or if you would like to get involved!