Nov. 4, 2014
16th annual VCU School of Medicine Faculty Excellence Awards
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Mouths watered at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine Faculty Excellence Awards ceremony on Wednesday afternoon, and it wasn’t just because the event was right before lunch.
“Not that I would compare the production of a croissant with education, but there are many similarities” said Jerome Strauss, M.D. The School of Medicine dean had just referenced Sub Rosa in Church Hill, using the artisanal bakery as a tongue-in-cheek analogy to describe the education of a VCU School of Medicine student.
“Medical education is truly an artisanal process,” Strauss said. “Today we are recognizing the craftspeople who deliver the artisanal educational product at Virginia Commonwealth University.”
The 16th annual event represents a high point in the academic year – a time to celebrate the accomplishments and dedication of medical faculty to the university community. Of particular focus this year was the school’s C3 curriculum, which was implemented in August 2013. Many of the top award recipients were recognized for their instrumental roles in creating and implementing the new curriculum, which is structured to get medical students into the clinical arena earlier.
“When Woodrow Wilson was president of Princeton University, he said ‘It is easier to move a cemetery than to change a curriculum,’” Strauss said, adding: “I want to express my profound gratitude to all of you who have participated in this transformational event.”
Strauss presented the Enrique Gerszten Faculty Teaching Excellence Award, to Susan Roseff, M.D., professor in the Department of Pathology. The School of Medicine’s highest award for teaching recognizes extraordinary accomplishments in all aspects of education.
Roseff was selected because of her exceptional dedication to students and was recognized for teaching at all levels of education. The co-director of the new C3 marrow and movement course was also acknowledged for her help with the implementation of the new curriculum.
“No one need look any further than to Dr. Gerszten, for whom this award is named, to know what it means to be an excellent teacher,” Roseff said as she gestured toward the Department of Pathology professor emeritus, who was in the audience. “When I think back through all of my teachers, what stands out for my favorite teachers is that they didn’t just try to disseminate knowledge to me, they really cared about me.”
The Irby-James Award for Excellence in Clinical Teaching went to Catherine E. Grossman, M.D., associate professor in the Department of Internal Medicine.
The award recognizes superior teaching in clinical medicine taught in the last two years of medical school and residency training, and encourages excellence in an increasingly complicated and challenging education environment.
Grossman, who recently began taking improvisational acting classes, was recognized for creating a safe learning environment for her team, and for encouraging questions and discussion to support learning. The internist takes novel approaches to teaching medicine. Recently, she designed a two-hour improvisation workshop for second-year residents in order to teach the acting style’s approach to communication, teamwork and situational awareness.
Strauss read comments from Grossman’s nomination, which was submitted by M. Thure Caire, M.D., former Department of Internal Medicine resident: “[Grossman] is a synergy of art and science, of humanism and empiricism, of the traditions and the future of medicine.”
The Distinguished Mentor Award recognizes significant contributions to the career development of others, such as through mentorship to fellow faculty members, junior faculty, residents, fellows, graduate students, post-docs and medical students, or through other mentoring relationships.
Diomedes E. Logothetis, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics, was this year’s recipient.
Since coming to VCU in 2008, Logothetis has mentored 18 predoctoral students, 27 postdoctoral fellows, and student advisory committees, as well as junior faculty and summer undergraduate interns. Known for his efforts to help international students, Logothetis has developed programs to support talented scientists who did not speak English as their first language, including a week-long writing class and one-on-one mentoring program.
“[Logothetis] is passing on his passion and his high standards to the next generation of scientists,” Strauss said. Since Logothetis was out of the country on Wednesday, two of his trainees accepted the award on his behalf.
Strauss presented the Educational Innovation Award to three recipients this year. The award recognizes an individual faculty member, a group, or an academic unit for a significant educational innovation or educational research. “We recognize [the recipients] for adding new dimensions to our undergraduate and graduate medical education programs,” Strauss said.
The first recipient was John “Christian” Barrett, M.D., associate professor in the Department of Internal Medicine.
As the hematology-oncology fellowship director, Barrett meets with fellows at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts to reflect on specific pieces of art that he has chosen to highlight core principles of the program, such as integrity and teamwork.
The associate chair for clinical operations in the Department of Internal Medicine implements experiential learning whenever possible.
“Whether it’s using literature, visual arts or simulations, it’s a matter of trying to learn ways to get a different perspective,” Barrett said.
The second recipients of the Educational Innovation Award were Gonzalo M. L. Bearman, M.D., professor in the Department of Internal Medicine, and Michael P. Stevens, M.D., assistant professor in the Department of Internal Medicine. The two doctors were honored for their work in the VCU Global Health and Health Disparities Program (GH2DP).
“This is truly an innovative experience that enriches education for undergraduate medical trainees as well as our graduate medical student trainees,” Strauss said of the international health care learning experience that Bearman and Stevens lead. The program is primarily based in a rural, mountainous area in northern Honduras, where VCU students and faculty help to provide medical care to approximately 2,000 people across 17 villages who have limited access to care.
“We are very grateful to the people we serve in Honduras who have provided great educational opportunities to our learners,” Stevens said.
The other major awards presented were the Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Award, presented to Steven H. Crossman, M.D., associate professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Population Health; the Women in Science, Dentistry, and Medicine Professional Achievement “WISDM” Award, presented to Cathy J. Bradley, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Healthcare Policy and Research; and to PonJola Coney, M.D., professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology; the MCV Physicians Distinguished Clinician Award, presented to Alpha A. “Berry” Fowler III, M.D., professor in the Department of Internal Medicine; the VCU/VCUHS Leadership in Graduate Medical Education (LGME) Program Director Award, presented to Jay H. Shapiro, M.D., professor in the Department of Anesthesiology; the VCU/VCUHS LGME Fellowship Director Award, presented to Beth C. Marshall, M.D., associate professor in the Department of Pediatrics; and the LGME Fellowship Coordinator Award, presented to Rachel Ferguson Van Hart, fellowship coordinator in the Department of Internal Medicine.
Other awardees were:
Outstanding Departmental Teacher Award in Health Science Education
Helen “Ruth” Clemo, Ph.D. Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology
Tomasz K. Kordula, Ph.D. Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Roy T. Sabo, Ph.D. Department of Biostatistics
Briana Mezuk Ratliff, Ph.D. Department of Family Medicine and Population Health
Lindsay M. Sabik, Ph.D. Department of Healthcare Policy and Research
Rita Shiang, Ph.D. Department of Human and Molecular Genetics
Kimberly K. Jefferson, Ph.D. Department of Microbiology and Immunology
Michael F. Miles, Ph.D. Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology
Leon Avery, Ph.D. Department of Physiology and Biophysics
Jennifer Elston Lafata, Ph.D. Department of Social and Behavioral Health
Best Teacher in the Course and Clerkship Awards
Scientific Foundations of Medicine Courses
Virginia Pallante Molecular Basis of Health and Disease Course
John Bigbee, Ph.D. Principles of Physiology Course
Edward Ishac, Ph.D. Principles of Autonomics and Pharmacology Course
Cynthia Cornelissen, Ph.D. Immunity and Infection Course
Kimberly Sanford, M.D. Foundations of Disease Course
Applied Medical Science M-II Courses
Diane Biskobing, M.D. Endocrine Course
Scott Matherly, M.D. GI & Metabolism Course
Christian Barrett, M.D. Marrow Course
Beth Rubinstein, M.D. Movement Course
Vernon Orton, M.D. Reproduction Course
M-II Courses
Margaret Grimes, M.D. Cardiovascular Course
Diane Biskobing, M.D. Endocrine Course
John Clore, M.D. Endocrine Course
Scott Matherly, M.D. Gastrointestinal Course
Susan Roseff, M.D. Hematology/Oncology Course
Cynthia Cornelissen, Ph.D. Microbiology Course
Beth Rubinstein, M.D. Musculoskeletal Course
Christine Fuller, M.D. Nervous System Course
Kimberly Sanford, M.D. Pathogenesis Course
Sandra Welch, Ph.D. Pharmacology Course
Linda Costanzo, Ph.D. Renal Course
Margaret Grimes, M.D. Respiratory Course
Fidelma Rigby, M.D. Women’s Health Course
Foundations of Clinical Medicine/Practice of Clinical Medicine M-I and M-II Courses
Kristin Miller, M.D. Foundations of Clinical Medicine M2 Small Group Leader
Thomas Iden, M.D. Foundations of Clinical Medicine M2 Small Group Leader
Anna George, M.D. Foundations of Clinical Medicine Preceptor
Daniel Grinnan, M.D. Foundations of Clinical Medicine Preceptor
Matthew Jones, M.D. Foundations of Clinical Medicine Preceptor
Melissa Chouinard, M.D. Practice of Clinical Medicine for 2017 Small Group Leader
M-III Clerkships
VCU Fairfax Family Medicine Residency Family Medicine Clerkship
Amanda George, M.D. Medicine Clerkship
Ian Reinemeyer, M.D. Medicine Clerkship
Olavo Vasconcelos, M.D. Neurology Clerkship
John Pierce, M.D. Obstetrics/Gynecology Clerkship
Michael Ryan, M.D. Pediatrics Clerkship
Ross Yaple, M.D. Psychiatry Clerkship
Huan Vu, M.D. Surgery Clerkship
Faculty with High Evaluation Awards
Scientific Foundations of Medicine M-I Courses
Robert Diegelmann, Ph.D. Foundations of Disease Course
Gonzalo Bearman, M.D. Immunity and Infection Course
Suzanne Barbour, Ph.D. Molecular Basis of Health and Disease Course
Margaret Biber, Ph.D. Principles of Autonomics and Pharmacology Course
Clive Baumgarten, Ph.D. Principles of Physiology Course
Applied Medical Sciences M-II Courses
John Bigbee, Ph.D. Endocrine Course
Melissa McGinn Greer, Ph.D. GI & Metabolism Course
Trey Wickham, M.D. GI & Metabolism Course
Deborah Lebman, M.S., Ph.D. Marrow Course
Susan Roseff, M.D. Marrow Course
Kimberly Sanford, M.D. Marrow Course
Jeffrey Dupree, Ph.D. Movement Course
M. Alex Meredith, Ph.D. Movement Course
Peter Haar, M.D., Ph.D. Reproduction Course
Christine Isaacs, M.D. Reproduction Course
Nicole Karjane, M.D. Reproduction Course
M-II Courses
Isaac Wood, M.D. Behavioral Sciences Course
James Levenson, M.D. Behavioral Sciences Course
Joel Silverman, M.D. Behavioral Sciences Course
Kevin Sumption, M.D. Cardiovascular Course
David Gardner, M.D. Endocrine Course
Robert Adler, M.D. Endocrine Course
Vikrant Brar, M.D. Hematology/Oncology Course
Francine Marciano-Cabral, Ph.D. Microbiology Course
Gonzalo Bearman, M.D. Microbiology Course
Jane Cecil, M.D. Microbiology Course
Kimberly Jefferson, Ph.D. Microbiology Course
Christopher Wise, M.D. Musculoskeletal Course
Huzaefah Syed, M.D. Musculoskeletal Course
Julia Nunley, M.D. Musculoskeletal Course
Lenore Joseph, M.D. Nervous System Course
Margaret Grimes, M.D. Pathogenesis Course
Edward Ishac, Ph.D. Pharmacology Course
Todd Gehr, M.D. Renal Course
Marjolein de Wit, M.D. Respiratory Course
Christine Isaacs, M.D. Women’s Health Course
Nicole Karjane, M.D. Women’s Health Course
Susan Lanni, M.D. Women’s Health Course
M-III Clerkships
Pamela Wratchford, M.D. Family Medicine Clerkship
Frank Fulco, M.D. Medicine Clerkship
Ravi Vachhani, M.D. Medicine Clerkship
Jessica Lehosit, D.O. Neurology Clerkship
Unsong Oh, M.D. Neurology Clerkship
Edward Gill, M.D. Obstetrics/Gynecology Clerkship
R. Scott Lucidi, M.D. Obstetrics/Gynecology Clerkship
David Friedel, M.D. Pediatrics Clerkship
Joel Schmidt, M.D. Pediatrics Clerkship
Philip Dawson, M.D. Pediatrics Clerkship
Timothy Bunchman, M.D. Pediatrics Clerkship
Louis Duchin, M.D. Psychiatry Clerkship
Jessica Malloy, M.D. Psychiatry Clerkship
Sherif Meguid, M.D. Psychiatry Clerkship
Michael Amendola, M.D. Surgery Clerkship
Paula Ferrada, M.D. Surgery Clerkship
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