VCU news

Yeri Park, a student in the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, and Michael Czekajlo, M.D., associate professor in the Department of Anesthesiology, were honored by the Medical Society of Virginia Foundation last month. Park and Czekajlo were presented with Salute to Service Awards at the MSV’s annual meeting in Chantilly on Oct. 24.

Park received the Service by a Medical Student Award for her impact on medically underserved communities. She served as the pharmacy chair for the 2014 Honduras Outreach Medical Brigade Relief Effort trip to the Dominican Republic that provided preventive care for more than 1,000 patients. In addition, Park is co-founder of the Farmworker Health Outreach project on Virginia’s Eastern Shore, which is focused on the needs of migrant workers, and she also volunteers with the Mattaponi Healing Eagle Clinic, CrossOver Healthcare Ministry and the Center for High Blood Pressure.

Park was elected to the post of president of the Class of 2017, and she served as co-president of the Student Family Medicine Association and on the leadership board of the Women in Medicine Student Organization. She is enrolled in the fmSTAT program that nurtures students pursuing a career in family medicine. Park spoke about her work in a video produced by the MSV.

Czekajlo was presented with the Service to the International Community Award. It acknowledges his long-term service and commitment, including establishing the CPR for Schools program in Poland, which has now trained 1 million school children in the mechanics of cardiopulmonary resuscitation. He also introduced innovative technology at an interdisciplinary simulation center in Poland that trains about 5,000 each year, teaching Polish health professions students the key aspects of treating heart disease and training American military and first responders on critical care practice.

A Fulbright scholar and director of the simulation center at the VA Hunter Holmes McGuire Medical Center, Czekajlo has encouraged the growth of simulation in Poland and helped the Polish Minister of Health secure a grant from the European Union to improve and enhance medical simulation in the country. Czekajlo was born to Polish émigrés and his connection to Poland is chronicled in a video produced by the MSV.

The MSV Foundation’s Salute to Service Awards are given annually to Virginia physicians and medical students for their selfless services to others, impact to the health of the population served and commitment to health care excellence.

 

Subscribe to the weekly VCU News email newsletter at http://newsletter.news.vcu.edu/ and receive a selection of stories, videos, photos, news clips and event listings in your inbox every Thursday.