Geisinger College of Health Sciences

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!

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.

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."

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.

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.

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.

Cynthia Ciccotelli, a member of Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine's MD Class of 2021, recently published "Tips from the Virtual Interview Trail" on the "Leader Voices" blog of the American Academy of Family Physicians. The blog was published on Jan. 27 and can be viewed at https://www.aafp.org/news/blogs/leadervoices/entry/20210127lv-virtualinterview.html.

Students, faculty and staff at Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine celebrated their heritage, culture and diversity with a virtual cultural dress fashion show and cooking demonstrations on Friday, Jan. 15.

On Saturday, Jan. 2, Student Engagement Leaders (SEL) held a Holiday Game Night. The event was geared to GCSOM students who were spending holidays alone or away from family, as well as those looking for a fun night to spend with friends. SEL gave students the option to sign up in teams or to be placed individually and randomly into a team.

Oluwaseyi Olulana, a member of Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine's MD Class of 2024, published a paper in Therapeutic Advances in Neurological Disorders, a peer-reviewed, open access journal focusing on pioneering efforts and innovative studies across all areas of neurology.

Kenneth Lam, a fourth-year, medical student at Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine's (GCSOM) Atlantic City campus recently achieved an important milestone. On Dec. 29 he administered his 100th COVID-19 vaccine to fellow GCSOM student, Rachel Fulton.

Monica Joglekar, a member of Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine's MD Class of 2022, was among the medical-student authors of the independently published book, Diary of a Med Student. Released in September, the book features 100 student authors offering reflections on various aspects of the medical school experience.

Matthew Busch, a member of Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine's (GCSOM) MD Class of 2021, published an essay in the Oct. 7 edition of in-Training, an online peer-reviewed publication for medical students.

Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine (GCSOM) student, Michael Blazaskie, a member of the MD Class of 2024 presented a session at Drexel University's seventh annual Conference on Teaching and Learning Assessment, held virtually. Blazaskie presented a session entitled, "Assessment of Graduate Students' Professional Identity Formation during the COVID-19 Pandemic,"

The 2020 Steamtown Health Fair will go on - virtually. According to student planners, gift bags filled with educational resources and other "goodies" from local health and wellness businesses which will be handed out by participating organizations. Bags will be distributed from Tuesday, Oct. 13 through Saturday, Oct. 17 while supplies last. Please check geisinger.edu/gcsomhealthfair for updates on where to pick up a bag. "While not our typical health fair format, this will still be a fun, free way to learn about health, wellness and the resources that are available to you in the community," said ___ In addition, instead of the health fair's gift basket raffle, GCSOM students have chosen to help promote donations to several local organizations. If you would like to donate to any of these organizations, you may do so by following the links listed below: Bread Basket of NEPA Meals on Wheels of NEPA - You can also text "meals" to 64600 National Alliance on Mental Illness NEPA United Neighborhood Centers of NEPA Follow the event on Facebook for the latest updates. For more information, contact Julia Hendricks at jhendricks@som.geisinger.edu.

Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine (GCSOM) students, Kara Romanowski and Jordan Wolfheimer, both members of the MD Class of 2023 will present at the National Residency Matching Program's (NRMP) virtual meeting, "Transition to Residency," being held Oct. 16-17. The students will present a session entitled, "Student Satisfaction with a Career Coaching Model in Undergraduate Medical Education."

Paul Bastian, a member of Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine's MD Class of 2023, along with two faculty members, presented at the Sept. 23 NVivo Virtual Conference. Bastian presented a poster entitled, "Utilizing NVivo as an Evaluation Tool of a Hidden Curriculum Discussion Board within Medical Education."

Three Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine medical students, along with two faculty members, will present at the National Residency Matching Program's (NRMP) virtual meeting, "Transition to Residency," being held Oct. 16-17.

Three Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine medical students, along with two faculty members, presented at the Sept. 23 "NVivo Virtual Conference."

A new academic year usually includes a flurry of activities meant to organize and orient new students. At Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine (GCSOM), September typically includes events that fill the Medical Sciences Building lobby with booths, balloons and people. This year, despite COVID-19 restrictions, student planners made sure the annual Community Service Fair went on as scheduled.

Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine (GCSOM) student, Michael Yi, a member of the MD Class of 2023 will present at the National Residency Matching Program's (NRMP) virtual meeting, "Transition to Residency," being held Oct. 16-17.

Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine's (GCSOM) Master of Biomedical Sciences (MBS) Class of 2021 held elections for Graduate Student Council. Eight MBS students were elected to leadership positions.

An abstract based on a project initiated during the 2019 Summer Research Immersion Program (SRIP) has been accepted for presentation at the national American Heart Association meeting to be held virtually in November. The abstract is entitled, "Computer Versus Physician-Interpreted Electrocardiographic Diagnosis of Prior Anterior, Septal or Anteroseptal Myocardial Infarction."

Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine (GCSOM) announced that 33 members of their Class of 2024 have been accepted to the Geisinger Primary Care Scholars program. Primary Care Scholars pay no tuition and receive a monthly stipend in exchange for becoming a Geisinger-employed physician in one of three targeted primary care specialties.

Three Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine (GCSOM) students conducted research to evaluate the lived experiences of first-generation medical students. They were invited to present their findings at two conferences. The first invitation was for a poster presentation at the American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC) Group on Student Affairs, Careers in Medicine and Organization of Student Representatives (GSA-CiM-OSR) Professional Development Conference in Chicago. The second invitation was to present the research as a workshop at the 2020 National Conference on Race and Ethnicity (NCORE) in New York City.

Amelia Mackarey, a fourth-year medical student at Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine (GCSOM), recently completed the six-week Epidemiology Elective Program (EEP) at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta. Mackarey's six weeks in Atlanta occurred just as the CDC issued guidelines regarding vaping and began rolling out its novel coronavirus response.