Geisinger College of Health Sciences

Five Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine (GCSOM) medical students attended the 2021 Family Medicine Education Consortium's (FMEC) annual meeting in Pittsburgh, which was held in-person from Oct. 8 through Oct. 10. Each student who attended is an Abigail Geisinger Scholar and all received an FMEC scholarship to participate in the conference.

Members of Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine's (GCSOM) chapter of the Minority Association of Premedical Students (MAPS) recently completed a successful fundraiser on behalf of the Black Scranton Project.

Students in the Master of Biomedical Sciences Class of 2022 at Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine have elected officers to represent them on the Graduate Student Council (GSC).

Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine's (GCSOM) Climbing Club and Chakstone Climbing will host the "Spooky Sends Dyno Climbing Competition" on Saturday, Oct. 30. The event will benefot Children's Advocacy Center of Northeastern Pennsylvania.

On Sept. 20 Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine's Pediatric Outreach Group for Students (POGS) hosted a vaccine clinic. During the clinic, the POGS students taught 73 fellow GCSOM medical students how to administer vaccines, understand the pediatric vaccine schedule and combinations, navigate vaccine hesitancy conversations, and manage vaccinations in immune-compromised patients.

Oluwaseyi Olulana, a member of Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine's MD Class of 2024, co-authored the paper, entitled "Lessons Learned: Preventing Recurrent Ischemic Strokes through Secondary Prevention Programs: A Systematic Review." The paper was published in vol.10, issue 18 of the Journal of Clinical Medicine.

On Aug. 25, Emily Grimes, a member of Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine's MD Class of 2024 joined Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) Secretary Cindy Adams Dunn, along with officials from Geisinger and the Pennsylvania Medical Society officials at Hess Recreation Area to launch 'Walk with a Doc' statewide.

A forensic accountant with the FBI; a Buenos Aires tour guide; an actor; a stagehand; 24 students who are the first member of their family to go to college and other accomplished future doctors received the first symbol of their new profession as Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine (GCSOM) held its 12th annual White Coat Ceremony for the Class of 2025 on Saturday, Aug. 7 at the Pavilion at Montage Mountain.

On July 29, Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine held its annual Summer Research Immersion Program (SRIP) symposium. Each year, SRIP offers research opportunities to students between their first and second years of the MD curriculum. Over the course of eight weeks, students work on a wide variety of projects under the guidance of a research mentor. To conclude the program, each student (or pair/team of students) presents their work during the Summer Research Symposium. This year the symposium featured more than 70 presenters, who shared their research over two poster sessions. Three members of the MD Class of 2024 received ressearch awards at the ceremony that followed.

On Saturday, July 31 Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine held commencement exercises celebrating 67 members of its master of biomedical sciences (MBS) Class of 2021. The MBS Class of 2021 attended classes entirely online, a format that attracted students from distant states like California, Texas and Arizona, as well as from Canada. The ceremony was held virtually to accommodate all graduates.

On Saturday, July 31 Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine (GCSOM) held commencement exercises celebrating 67 members of its master of biomedical sciences (MBS) Class of 2021. During the ceremony, seven graduates received awards noting exceptional service to their class.

Oluwaseyi (Seyi) Olulana, a member of Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine's MD Class of 2024, was elected Student National Medical Association (SNMA) chapter president to the regional executive committee for Northeast Region 8, a region that includes all medical schools in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Delaware.

Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine (GCSOM) student, Alivia Roberts, a member of the master of biomedical sciences Class of 2021, organized and presented an Earth Day service project designed to encourage students, faculty and staff to recognize and adopt environmentally-friendly practices.

Four Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine students and two faculty members have published an article in the May edition of The Journal of Arthroplasty. The Journal of Arthroplasty is a peer-reviewed journal that publishes original research and manuscripts from all areas relating to joint replacement or the treatment of its complications. The article the Geisinger team published was entitled, "Lumbar spine fusion and symptoms of leg length discrepancy following hip arthroplasty."

On April 27, Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine's Pediatric Outreach Group for Students (POGS) hosted events for child abuse prevention. The observance included a pinwheel planting on the lawn of the Medical Sciences Building. Students also wrote, signed and sent letters to local business owners about recognizing the signs of child abuse.

Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine (Geisinger Commonwealth) conferred Doctor of Medicine (MD) degrees upon the 98 students who compose Geisinger Commonwealth's graduating Class of 2021. Commencement ceremonies were held Sunday, May 2 in-person at Mount Airy Resort in Mount Pocono.

Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine's Center for Student Engagement, Diversity & Inclusion, along with the Asians in the Diaspora Planning Committee, presented a series of events in April to celebrate Asian cultures! Although May is the official Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, student planners chose April to recognize the contributions and the history, culture and achievements of the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community.

Alivia Roberts, a member of Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine's (GCSOM) Master of Biomedical Sciences (MBS) Class of 2021 and chair of the Graduate Student Council Service and Engagement Committee, invited her classmates to take part in "Geisinger Pays it Forward." The initiative was an effort to "spread kindness and reflect on the impact we can make, one kind act at a time," according to Roberts.

In the 2020-21 academic year, Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine's Medical Student Council (MSC) introduced a new student discussion series called "Civil Talks." The talks encourage students to share information and their points of view about the civil circumstances in their country of birth, interest or heritage.

Several Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine students worked with Vicki T. Sapp, director of student engagement, diversity and inclusion and assistant professor at Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine, to present a series of lectures and workshops celebrating "Women's HERStory" month in March. Women's HERStory events included a Black Women's Health Matters series and a series called, Women LEAD. They were presented by Geisinger's Black Outreach Leadership Development (BOLD) Employee Resource Group; Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine's Center for Student Engagement, Diversity and Inclusion; Geisinger's Women LEAD Employee Resource Group; and community partner, Black Scranton Project.

Tara Knox, a member of Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine's (GCSOM) MD Class of 2021, has published an article in the April 8 edition of EMResident, an online publication of the Emergency Medicine Residents' Association (EMRA). Her co-author is GCSOM faculty member, Mark Olaf, DO, FACEP, who is a board-certified emergency physician, in addition to serving as regional associate dean of GCSOM's Central Campus.

Zhi-Shan Hsu, Tice Harkins, Miranda Rep, Justina Warnick, Michael Kovalick and Evan Calvo, all members of Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine's MD Class of 2024, helped Scranton Tomorrow clean up the downtown. Working in the rain, the students cleaned out the planters found in several blocks of Scranton's downtown area and planted fresh flowers that will beautify the city all spring and summer!

At an orientation event held March 24, four students from Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine's Master of Biomedical Sciences (MBS) program became the first volunteers in a new program that will aid elderly patients at GEisinger South Wilkes-Barre.

A group of Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine students planned and organized the school's annual Freedom Seder, held on March 23. Freedom Seders intertwine the archetypal story of the Israelites' deliverance from slavery in ancient Egypt with more modern liberation struggles.

On March 19 99 students at Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine (Geisinger Commonwealth) learned their residency placements during the National Resident Matching Program's "Match Day," 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.

A group of 22 master of biomedical sciences (MBS) students represented Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine at the Region VIII Student National Medical Association conference on Feb. 5-6. The theme for the conference was, "A United Front: The Need to Diversify Medicine."

The HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN) has notified Eshiemomoh Osilama, a member of Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine's MD Class of 2024, that he has been accepted to its highly competitive Research and Mentorship Program (RAMP), a scholar program for African American/Black and Latinx medical students.

A Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine faculty member and two students helped The Black Scranton Project unveil its Black History Month programming by raising the Pan-African Flag at an annual event held at Scranton City Hall.

Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine announced that six of its current fourth-year medical students have successfully matched into residency programs.

Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine medical students hosted the school's 11th annual Turkey Trot 5K/10K in November. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the students planned a virtual race instead of the traditional in-person event. Despite this challenge, student organizers raised more than $10,000 for Friends of the Poor.