Geisinger College of Health Sciences

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,"

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."

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."

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."

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.

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.

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.

The Lycoming County Medical Society awarded a $3,000 scholarship to Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine student Tyler Bogaczyk of Williamsport. A member of GCSOM's MD Class of 2023, Bogaczyk is also a participant in the Abigail Geisinger Scholars Program. Acceptance to the program allows students to graduate without tuition debt, provided they become Geisinger physicians upon completion of residency training.

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.

On Saturday, March 21, student members of the Dermatology Interest Group at Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine (GCSOM) will host a free skin-cancer screening from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the school's Medical Sciences Building, 525 Pine Street in Scranton.

The Pediatric Endocrinology Society (PES) has selected Meredith Hanrahan, a member of Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine's MD Class of 2022, as a member of the highly exclusive PedsEndo Discovery Program. PES pays for the travel, lodging and conference registration to the 2020 PES Annual Meeting in Fort Worth for students chosen for the program. Students will also be introduced to board members and committee chairs during the meeting.

The American Academy of Neurology (AAN) has notified two students at Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine (GCSOM) that their scholarly work has been accepted for presentation at AAN's annual conference. The conference will take place in Toronto from April 25 through May 1.

More than 30 Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine (GCSOM) students completed training and were certified in Mental Health First Aid. Mental Health First Aid is an eight-hour training course designed to help participants build key skills to help a person coping with a mental health problem or experiencing a mental health crisis. Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) teaches skills that can be used in a crisis just as CPR training helps a layperson without medical training assist an individual suffering a heart attack.

Students, faculty and staff at Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine celebrated their heritage, culture and diversity with a lively international potluck luncheon and cultural dress fashion show on Friday, Jan. 17. Models presented cultural fashions from Africa, Japan and India. The fashion show is preceded by an international luncheon, with foods prepared by members of the GCSOM community eager to share a cultural dish.

A group of Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine students representing the school's Asian Pacific American Medical Student Association and South Asian Society led the planning and organization of GCSOM's first Lunar New Year's celebration Jan. 22.

Student leaders at Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine organized a Day of Service in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The students planned and participated in events for Scranton-area children and youth at Friends of the Poor and Boys and Girls Club. Events included teaching participants the basics of CPR, blood pressure, heart rate and temperature in order to expose them to health indicators in minority populations. The children also learned about Dr. King and created posters regarding their dreams for the future.

Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine (GCSOM) announced that eight fourth-year medical students have successfully matched into residency programs. While most of GCSOM's MD Class of 2020 will learn of the locations of their residency programs at noon on Friday, March 20, several matches occurs prior to the national residency event.

Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine (GCSOM)announces the first cohort of students accepted to the Geisinger Primary Care Scholars Program, in which selected scholars receive a monthly stipend and pay no tuition or fees in exchange for an obligation to work in a primary care area (family medicine, internal medicine or medicine-pediatrics) at Geisinger once they finish residency.

Two Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine (GCSOM) students are authors of a paper published in Vol. 8, Issue 1 of Pharmacy, an international scientific peer-reviewed open access journal on pharmacy education and practice published quarterly online by MDPI. The students, Sara Graham and John Wroblewski, are both members of the MD Class of 2022.

Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine's student organization, Pediatric Outreach Group for Students (POGS), spearheaded an effort to make sure children in Head Start programs and foster care will have gifts to open this holiday season. The students sponsored a Holiday Giving Tree that collected donations for Dunmore Head Start and Lackawanna Family Care for Children and Youth. More than 140 children will receive gifts thanks to the effort.

Student leaders at Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine recently planned and organized the school's second Indigenous/First Nation People cultural bazaar to celebrate is Indigenous/First Nation People Heritage Month, an observance that occurs in November.

Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine (GCSOM) held its annual National First-Generation College Celebration on Nov. 8. The event included a first-generation meet and greet reception where student leaders shared their experiences with attendees, including faculty, staff and fellow students.

Preserving health and having fun were the twin goals of the eighth annual Steamtown Health Fair recently hosted by second-year medical students from Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine (GCSOM) in partnership with Scranton Primary Health Care Center. The free, family-friendly event featured free screenings for blood pressure, hearing and mental health. In addition, attendees received information on a variety of health-related topics, from diabetes management to substance use disorder education, as well as education on emotional resilience and organ and tissue donation. All event proceeds were donated to the Meals on Wheels of Northeastern Pennsylvania. Student organizers said 250 people attended or volunteered at the event.

A group of Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine (GCSOM) students have dedicated what little spare time they have to mentoring undergraduate students and preparing them to be competitive applicants. Since its founding in 2018, the Pre-medical Mentoring and Advising Program (PMAP) has helped 17 students get into medical school and was recognized by GCSOM students as "organization of the year" for the 2018-2019 academic year, based upon student votes.

Three Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine (GCSOM) students joined a Geisinger Health Foundation team working to address the problem of childhood obesity. The students' poster presenting the program, Pediatricians Prescribing Play: A Unique and Scalable Approach To Combat Childhood Obesity, won third place in the Pennsylvania Medical Society's 2019 Student, Resident and Fellow Poster Contest.