Geisinger College of Health Sciences

On Sunday, Feb. 12, students from Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine will host the sixth annual ALLEY-OOP FOR AUTISM three-on-three charity basketball tournament. In addition to the tournament, the event features a three-point contest for $10. All proceeds will benefit the Northeast Regional Autism Center at Friendship House in Scranton.

Nicole Marianelli, of Old Forge, a second-year medical student at Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine, on Jan. 13 was the guest speaker at the monthly meeting of the Abington chapter of the Insulin Pump Support Group.

Ashley Labdick of Allentown and Nicole Klein of Emmaus, both second-year medical students at Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine in Scranton, are leading an effort to bring information and peace of mind to local patients coping with metastatic breast cancer.

Geisinger Commonwealth students on Jan. 7 took primary care to the needy. They set up a blood pressure screening, with dipstick urine test for diabetes, at Scranton's Community Intervention Center (CIC), which offers homeless services, in addition to addiction and mental health services. Two faculty members and 14 Geisinger Commonwealth students volunteered for the screening, held Jan. 7.

The Advocacy Alliance, in conjunction with Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine (Geisinger Commonwealth), will hold an Affordable Care Act (ACA) registration event on Wednesday, Jan.25 from 6 p.m. - 8 p.m. at the school's Medical Sciences Building, 525 Pine Street in Scranton.

Erin Connolly, a first-year medical student at Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine participated in Northwest Area High School's annual College/Career Day. She spoke to students in grades 7-12 about college, getting in to medical school and what it is like to be a medical student and future physician. The event is organized by Northwest's Alumni Group.

Jessica Porcelan, Mechanicsburg; Trevor Staub, Aspers; Oakland Walters, Scranton; and Laura Wingert, Hanover Township, all members of Geisinger Commonwealth's M.D. Class of 2017, recently volunteered to help with the annual "Christmas Wrap" at the Catherine McAuley Center in Scranton. The Catherine McAuley Center provides temporary shelter for women and children in crisis and assists women in attaining safe, affordable, permanent housing. It also provides women support services leading to self-r

Students enrolled in The Commonwealth Medical College's (TCMC) master of biomedical science program at the Baruch S. Blumberg Institute (BSBI) in Doylestown conducted a holiday food drive benefitting the Bucks County Opportunity Council.

Jacob (Jake) Parrick, a second-year medical student from Duryea and Erin Connolly, a first-year medical student from Shickshinny, created and delivered a STEAM presentation on Dec. 15 for sixth-grade students at Dunmore Elementary Center.

Mountaintop resident Michael Bedrin, a fourth-year medical student at The Commonwealth Medical College (TCMC) has been notified he has successfully matched into an orthopedic surgery residency at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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).

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

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,