Geisinger College of Health Sciences

Taylor Nursing Rehabilitation (TRN) Scholarship of the Luzerne Foundation awarded Bhumi PatelThe Taylor Nursing Rehabilitation (TRN) Scholarship of the Luzerne Foundation is awarded by the board of directors of the Taylor Long Term Care Center to benefit a TCMC medical student who is a native of the geographic area that the nursing facility serves.

Geetika Gupta, of Newtown, was elected medical student representative to the Lackawanna County Medical Society (LCMS). Ms. Gupta, a member of The Commonwealth Medical College's (TCMC) Class of 2019, is serving on the board of LCMS for a one-year term.

Geetika Gupta, of Newtown, was re-elected president of The Commonwealth Medical College's (TCMC) chapter of the Asian Pacific American Medical Students Association (APAMSA). APAMSA is a national organization that provides an important forum for Asian and Pacific Islander American (APIA) medical students to meet, exchange information and experiences and develop personally and professionally.

World AIDS Day, one of just eight official global public-health campaigns marked by the World Health Organization, has been celebrated every Dec. 1 since 1988. This year, for the first time, The Commonwealth Medical College (TCMC) will also hold an observation. TCMC's student group, PRIDE (Physicians Representing Inclusivity, Diversity and Equality) is working with the NEPA Rainbow Alliance to plan the free, public event.

The Commonwealth Medical College (TCMC) in conjunction with The Advocacy Alliance will hold an Affordable Care Act (ACA) health insurance registration event on Wednesday, Nov. 30, from 6 p.m. - 8 p.m. at TCMC's Medical Science Building at 525 Pine Street, Scranton.

Rachel Z. Polinski of Sayre, a third-year medical student at The Commonwealth Medical College (TCMC) in Scranton, was awarded a scholarship from the Pennsylvania Medical Society (PAMED) Alliance Medical Education Scholarship (AMES) Fund. Polinski was presented with the scholarship at PAMED's annual inauguration and awards ceremony at the Great American Hall of the Convention Center in Hershey in October.

Akhil Kher of Horsham, a fourth-year medical student at The Commonwealth Medical College (TCMC) in Scranton, recently presented a poster of his research at TCT 2016 in Washington, D.C. His research received recognition as one of the Top 50 posters of the more than 1,000 posters presented at the conference. TCT is the transcatheter cardiovascular therapeutics annual conference presented by the Cardiovascular Research Foundation.

Student leaders of the Preventive Medicine Interest Group at The Commonwealth Medical College in Scranton are helping to plan a Nov. 30 lecture by renowned biochemist and author, T. Colin Campbell, Ph.D.

The Commonwealth Medical College held its annual Turkey Trot on Sunday, Nov. 6. The event, featuring 5k and 10k races and a "Tiny Trot" for children younger than 13, attracted close to 200 participants. When added to race registration fees, additional funds from a basket raffle, a cupcake sale, a bowling event and a college-wide "penny war" raised more than $11,000 for Friends of the Poor to provide Thanksgiving dinners for those in need.

Evan Frigoletto of Cherry Ridge Township, a first-year medical student at The Commonwealth Medical College (TCMC,) has been notified that he is the recipient of the 2016-2017 Wayne Memorial Health System (WMHS) scholarship. The scholarship is available to an academically qualified student who resides in Wayne or Pike counties or the greater Carbondale area of Lackawanna and Susquehanna counties.

TCMC students led the organization of a special event meant to help future primary care doctors, pharmacists and other providers effectively address the delicate topic of end-of-life care.

The American College of Physicians (ACP) recently notified TCMC third-year medical student Alexander Brusque of North Caldwell that a research abstract in which he participated, "Core needle biopsy prior to breast cancer surgery in northeast Pennsylvania: prevalence and barriers to uniform application," was awarded first place in ACP's medical student poster competition for ACP's Pennsylvania eastern region.

The American College of Physicians (ACP) recently notified TCMC students Alexander Bruscke, Ghamar Bitar, Sydney Huerbin, Kaitlyn Nielson, Michael Lilly, MBA and Atousa Salehani, MBS, that their research abstract, "Core needle biopsy prior to breast cancer surgery in northeast Pennsylvania: prevalence and barriers to uniform application," was awarded first place in ACP's medical student poster competition for ACP's Pennsylvania eastern region.

The American College of Physicians (ACP) recently notified Micael Lilly of Nazareth that research in which he participated was awarded first place in ACP's medical student poster competition for ACP's Pennsylvania eastern region.

The American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) recently notified Akindele Olagunju, of Pawtucket, a second-year medical student at The Commonwealth Medical College (TCMC), that his research abstract was selected for presentation at AICR's 25th annual research conference. Mr. Olagunju's research, conducted under the principal investigator Darina Lazarova, Ph.D., associate professor of molecular biology at TCMC, and with the guidance of Mark White, M.D., M.P.H., associate professor of epidemiol

Nichole Ogojiaku, M.S., of Marietta, a second-year medical student at The Commonwealth Medical College (TCMC) in Scranton, was recently notified that she was was awarded a National Health Service Corps (NHSC) scholarship for her commitment to primary care. The scholarship pays tuition, fees, other educational costs, and provides a living stipend in return for a commitment to work at least two years at an NHSC-approved site in a medically underserved community.

First-year TCMC medical student Daniel Bach is co-author of a paper published by Neuroscience Letters in its September 2016 edition. He collaborated with fellow researchers at West Chester University in West Chester, Pennsylvania. Neuroscience Letters is a biweekly scientific journal for short articles covering all aspects of neuroscience.

Second-year medical students Tina Roy, Factoryville; Jena Patel, Lansdale; Chloe Swanger, Altoona; Diane Saint-Victor, Astoria, N.Y.; Edmond Abdou, Scranton; Caitlin Bevvino-Ring, Scranton; Christen Samaan, Scranton and Quan Chen, Scranton are the organizers of the fifth annual Steamtown Health Fair

Nichole Ogojiaku, M.S., a second-year medical student at The Commonwealth Medical College (TCMC) recently attended the regional leadership institute hosted by the Student National Medical Association (SNMA) in Philadelphia. Ogojiaku is political advocacy liaison for SNMA's Region 8 (Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Delaware).

First-year TCMC medical student Adit Singhal is co-author of a paper published in the August 2016 edition of The International Journal of Medical and Pharmaceutical Case Reports. Researchers at Georgetown University and of Topiwala National Medical College and Sathaye College, both in Mumbai, India, collaborated on the paper. The journal publishes case reports in the areas of medical and pharmaceutical sciences and is a quality-controlled, open peer-reviewed international journal. The article,

108 students received their white coats at a ceremony on Aug. 12.