Geisinger College of Health Sciences

On Nov. 17, 23 students at Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine (GCSOM) traveled to Drexel University's College of Medicine to attend the 2018 Racism in Medicine Conference. Since 2015, medical students from Pennsylvania and New Jersey have collaborated to host the conference, whose purpose is to provide an opportunityfor people in healthcare or related fields to examinethe ways that racism affects the health of marginalized peopleand to develop strategies to oppose it. It is the second year GCSOM has participated.

Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine (GCSOM) announced that six fourth-year medical students at GCSOM have successfully matched into residency programs. While most of the MD Class of 2019 will learn the locations of their residency programs at noon on Friday, March 15, several "matches" occur prior to the national residency event, including for military matches and matches for specialties like ophthalmology and urology.

On Nov. 16, Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine (GCSOM) master of biomedical sciences (MBS) students, Amalie (Molly) Kropp of Westminster and Mary Taglieri of Spring Grove, participated in the Fall 2018 Keystone Symposium.

Based on a national initiative started at the University of Washington, the Death Over Dinner project was created to explore aspects of death and dying that we tend to avoid in our everyday lives but that might make all the difference for ourselves and our loved ones when the time does come.Given that 80 percent of people would like to have end-of life conversations with their doctor when seriously ill, yet only 7 percent report having this talk, event organizers hope to help future care providers be open to frank discussions with their patients.

The American Medical Women's Association (AMWA) held its Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference at Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine (GCSOM) on Sept. 15. The theme was, "Be the First Domino." The purpose of the AMWA conference was to provide networking opportunities for future medical professionals and to provide career strategies and negotiation skills to advance careers.

Jee Moon of North Wales, a member of Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine's (GCSOM) MD Class of 2019, was invited to present at the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions' (SCAI) Annual Scientific Sessions in San Diego in April.

Kristina Borham of Oxford, a third-year medical student at Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine (GCSOM), first became interested in the subject of human trafficking when she worked on a donation drive to support Free the Girls, an organization that encourages and empowers women freed from sex trafficking. Following that experience, Kristina attending two trainings on sex trafficking with the American Medical Women's Association's (AMWA) Physicians Against the Trafficking of Humans. Kristina said that the more she learned about human trafficking, the more strongly she felt that other medical students needed education on the topic. To that end, she recently implemented and delivered a curriculum on human trafficking to second-year medical students at GCSOM.

Antonio Adiletta of Lancaster, a member of Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine's MD Class of 2019, published a case report in the August 2018 edition of the Journal of Surgical Case Reports published by Oxford University Press. His coauthors are Timothy J. Farrell, M.D., chief of surgery at Geisinger-CMC and Matthew T. Fisher, D.O., a Geisinger surgical resident.

Christian Bohan of Danville, a member of Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine's MD Class of 2019, publisheda case presentation in a recentedition of the medical journal, Cureus. The case presentation highlightscase of an elderly woman with weakness in her left upper extremity.

Preserving health and having fun are the twin goals of the seventh annual Steamtown Health Fair. The health fair, hosted by second-year medical students from Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine (GCSOM) in partnership with Scranton Primary Health Care Center, is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 22 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the school's Medical Sciences Building, 525 Pine St., Scranton. The event is free and family friendly.

First-year doctor of medicine (MD) students received the first symbol of their new profession as Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine (GCSOM) held its 10th annual White Coat Ceremony for the Class of 2022 on Friday, Aug. 3 in Scranton.

Jared Reynolds of Laguna Hills, a current student and Bo Jung of Horsham, a recent graduate of the master of biomedical sciences (MBS) program at Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine's (GCSOM) Doylestown campus, are working with the transdermal company, K&H Pharm, at the Pennsylvania Biotechnology Center.

The Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine (GCSOM) Family Medicine Interest Group (FMIG), a group organized and led by GCSOM medical students, has been recognized with an award from the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP). The GCSOM students received a Program of Excellence Award for "promoting the scope and value of family medicine."

Master of biomedical sciences (MBS) students at Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine's (GCSOM) Doylestown campus recently took part in an eight-hour "Mental Health First Aid" training. The training program taught the students how to respond to mental health or substance abuse-related crises, as well as how to recognize warning signs or risk factors for certain illnesses like anxiety, depression and substance use. Course instructors Tory Bright and Tricia Malott also provided a list of community healthcare providers and national resources, support groups and online tools for mental health and addiction treatment and support.

Master of biomedical sciences (MBS) students at Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine's (GCSOM) Doylestown campus recently completed a Stop the Bleed, a bleeding control basic course, at Bryn Athyn Fire Company. The course provided hands-on training of several life-saving techniques, including how to identify a life-threatening bleed and how to stop severe bleeding. The Stop the Bleed event was organized by emergency medical technician (EMT), Brian Therien, NRP, CCP, with a presentation by emergency medicine physician, Ryan Overberger, DO and demonstrations by EMTs Matthew Sadoon, Ashley Therein, Erin Tuffy, and Cathy Markey.

Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine's (GCSOM) chapter of the Minority Association of Pre-Medical Students (MAPS) joined with a group of GCSOM medical students to create a new organization dedicated to creating opportunities and networking for the school's under-represented in medicine (URM) students.

Dominque McKeever of Somerdale won the Service to Class Award for Clinical Years. Presented to a fourth-year GCSOM medical student, this award recognizes the person who has contributed most to the class during the clinical years of medical school (years three and four). Dr. McKeever also won the Service to College Award, which is presented to a fourth-year GCSOM medical student who devoted a significant amount of her time and energy to the development of GCSOM as a new and innovative medical institution. Her ideas and dedication have helped build a better institution through school involvement, Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) committees and community development.

Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine (GCSOM) bestowed its annual end-of-year awards upon deserving students and faculty on May 5. Among the medical students receiving an award was Max Vogel of Aliquippa. Dr. Vogel won the Service to Class Award for Pre-Clinical Years. This award is presented to a fourth-year GCSOM medical student who has contributed most to the class during the preclinical years (years one and two).

Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine bestowed its annual end-of-year awards upon deserving students and faculty on May 5. Four students received military commissions.

Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine's (GCSOM) chapter of the Minority Association of Premedical Students (MAPS) won the 2017-2018 Student National Medical Association (SNMA) national MAPS Chapter of the Year award. The group also won Chapter of the Year for MAPS Region 8, which includes Pennsylvania, Delaware and West Virginia.

Four master of biomedical sciences students were honored when Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine held its annual end-of-year awards ceremony for students and faculty on May 5.

Nick Maffetone of New Hope, a master of biomedical sciences (MBS) student at Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine's Doylestown campus, recently completed a Community Health Research project and presented a poster of his findings, entitled "Source Perception, Socioeconomic Factors, and HPV Literacy," at Geisinger Commonwealth's Research Day. Community Health Research projects require students to identify unique population health needs in their own communities and conduct research aimed at finding solutions. Maffetone's project involved performing a literature review and then identifying gaps in current research regarding public attitudes and understanding of thehuman papillomavirus (HPV). HPV is implicated in nearly every case of cervical cancer.He also developed methods to analyze the Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS) database to answer research questions.

Nicholas Maffetone of New Hope, a master of biomedical sciences (MBS) student at Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine's Doylestown campus, recently served as a "medicine and health" judge at the Lehigh Valley Science and Engineering Research Fair (LVSF) held on the campus of Lehigh University in Bethlehem. The mission of LVSF is to increase awareness in the areas of mathematics, science, technology and engineering, while motivating students in grades 6 through 12 to pursue careers in these field. More than 100 middle school and high school students from various school districts in the Lehigh Valley region participated. Judges evaluated projects, provided guidance and feedback, and encouraged the students in their pursuit of scientific exploration.

Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine (GCSOM) student ambassadors, Sheream Reed of Philadelphia and Mariamawit Yilma of Chelsea, Massachusetts attended a recent Delaware Valley University network night. The purpose of the event was for Delaware Valley students to learn about future educational and career options. During the event, the student ambassadors spoke to undergraduates interested in careers in health and biomedical sciences about GCSOM programs and services. Both student ambassadors are master of biomedical sciences students at GCSO's Doylestown campus.

On March 16, fourth-year medical students at Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine (Geisinger Commonwealth) learned their residency placements during the National Resident Matching Program's "Match Day." It is an event at which all fourth-year M.D. students around the country simultaneously open their envelopes to learn where they will spend the next three to seven years training in specialties. Residencies typically begin July 1.

Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine (GCSOM) master of biomedical sciences student, Mariamawit (Maria) Yilma of Chelsea, participated in the Cupid Chase, 5K run in Philadelphia. The race supports Community Options, a nonprofit helping people with disabilities by providing housing, as well as educational and employment opportunities through increased advocacy and fundraising. Yilma is a student at GCSOM's Doylestown campus.

Eduardo Ortiz, a third-year medical student at Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine, has organized a free skin cancer screening slated for April 21.

Mikael (Mickey) Horissian of Lewisburg, a third-year medical student at Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine and Anne Horissian, research assistant at Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine, received two prestigious awards at the recent Pennsylvania Academy of Family Physicians Research Day, held March 3 in Philadelphia.

Amelia Mackarey of Clarks Summit, a second-year medical student at Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine, was named co-editor-in-chief of in-Training, an online magazine for medical students. Ms. Mackarey's co-editor is Nihaal Mehta, a medical student at Brown Alpert Medical School.

Two members of Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine's Class of 2018 published a paper in the March 1 edition of BMJ Case Reports.