Science is full of precision and vigilance. But sometimes, there are subtleties that present themselves that get ignored, pushed aside for the drive to stay on task or to stick with the parameters of a hypothesis.

Michele Parry, a student in the Masters of Molecular Medicine Pre-Professional Program at the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, was working for the former when she experienced the latter. It was an “ah ha!” moment that ended up being a key finding for why certain genes of cancer cells mutate, while others don’t.

Michele Parry.

Parry volunteered in the lab of George Blanck, PhD, professor of molecular medicine, who was studying how the size of a gene’s protein coding region affects it’s the likelihood of becoming mutated. While combing over screen after screen of data – spreadsheets, graphs, and countless lists – she spotted a trend: larger genes are more frequently mutated than smaller ones, and in particular genes encoding cytoskeletal proteins.

“She spotted something that I didn’t and, thanks to that, we were able to run with it,” said Dr. Blanck, whose work looks into the nuances of genes and who pushes to fill the pipeline with talented biomedical sciences students.

The gene mutation work warranted publication, for which Parry was first author. It’s unusual for master’s students to be first author of published research, but Parry’s story is a good example of the experiences students in the USF master’s program can have, Dr. Blanck said.

“This is what master’s students in our program can do,” Dr. Blanck said.  “The role of the student in research is becoming more apparent. Nurturing that experience for a student researcher is directly connected to our mission of teaching.”

Titled “Big genes are big mutagen targets: A connection to cancerous, spherical cells?” in the September 2014 edition of Cancer Letters – the publication resulted in funding for new research looking into how the shape of cancer cells (round versus flat) affects drug resistance.

Dr. Blanck and Wade Sexton, MD, associate professor in the USF Department of Oncologic Sciences and a bladder cancer specialist at Moffitt Cancer Center, were awarded the Anna Valentine Award by Moffitt Cancer Center for new work titled “Cytoskeletal protein related coding region mutations in bladder cancer.”

“Cancers cell have unique characteristics and their shape may affect whether or not they are resistant to drugs,” said Parry.

Parry has a bachelor’s degree in biology and wants to be a physician. Specifically, she wants to be an oncologist. She’s driven to understand the difficult science and realizes she’s lucky to pick it up so fast.

“I’m happy that I’m educated and can understand a lot of this,” she said. “And tutoring the master’s students really helps me cement the molecular biology concepts. We’ll see if I feel the same way as a medical student.”

Parry applied to medical school once and was told to strengthen her resume to increase her likelihood of acceptance.

So, strengthen it she did. Since first applying to medical school in 2012, she has graduated with her master’s degree earning a 4.0 GPA, she now works in Dr. Blanck’s lab and has been published as first author, she is an adjunct professor at St. Petersburg College, and she is the graduate teaching assistant for the master’s program.

“This was supposed to be my year off,” she joked. “But I needed to do all of this to strengthen my candidacy and to prove I could excel at the graduate level.”

Was that “ah ha!” moment proof of her abilities? Parry describes it more as a chance to contribute to promising cancer research.

“It makes me feel valuable,” she said, “and gives me a sense of gratitude.”

Photos by Eric Younghans, USF Health Office of Communications

Click here for Match Day 2015 results.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Zb1MF-qua8

There was a new vibe to this year’s Match Day.

After some 25 years of gathering at Skipper’s Smokehouse in north Tampa, the Morsani College of Medicine Class of 2015 opted to move their Match Day closer to downtown Tampa, finding a celebratory spot along the banks of the Hillsborough River and Tampa’s Riverwalk at Ulele, one of Tampa’s hottest dining destinations.

Larger space was needed to hold the largest matching class in the history of the USF medical school. Students, along with their friends and family, filled the green lawn just outside Ulele’s back door to learn where they would spend the next few years of their medical training as physician residents.

This year is also the first Match Day for the charter group of SELECT students, who spent the past two years in clinical rotations in Allentown, PA. Nine SELECT graduates participated in the Match in Allentown and seven returned to Tampa to open their envelopes at Ulele.

In total, 128 USF senior medical students participated Match Day 2015.

“This is a perfect venue for what is probably most important day of our careers,” said. Charles J. Lockwood, senior vice president for USF Health and dean of the Morsani College of Medicine.

Great friends and supporters of USF, Frank and Carol Morsani.

“I’d like to thank Mr. Gonzmart and his family for their generosity and to acknowledge Carol and Frank Morsani. There is no one more dedicated or committed to our school. This incredible experience will change your life. The next three to seven years will be exciting. It’s really where you become physicians. We do our best to lay the foundation, but the actual super structure, the building itself, that will allow you to be a doctor is going to be set over the next several years of your residency training.”

Joking about the obvious low-key theme of USF’s Match Day tradition, he added, “This is my first match day here. I’ve gone from wearing a suit, which I wanted all of you to do, to wearing your jerseys. We know who’s running the place.”

With that, Dr. Lockwood read the first match: Christopher DeClue, who matched with a specialty of diagnostic radiology at the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine.

Match Day is the annual ritual when senior medical students across the country learn where they will spend their residencies, the next phase in their medical education, which can last from three to seven years depending upon the specialty pursued. They’ve spent the past six months or more interviewing with residency programs and then ranking their picks within the National Residency Match Program (NRMP). Match Day is when students find out which programs chose them.

For most students, this day is a defining moment: they find out where they will launch their careers. And for some, Match Day continues paths of determination.

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For Kanchi Batra, the upbeat theme of Match Day is a perfect complement to what she experienced during her four years of medical school: continuous exposure to good people and positive experiences. Kanchi entered medical school with an attitude of optimism. As a member of the SELECT program’s charter class – a program founded for students looking for “ways to shape their own educational experiences” – she set out with high hopes. When she was admitted to the program, Kanchi was quoted as saying “I would like to become one of those players in the future who helps the country, the healthcare system, the community, and that one specific patient.”

Such a positive outlook is in her DNA. In her second year, she started Project Happiness, a task force aimed at increasing morale throughout USF Health.

“The idea was to bring together like-minded people and have them work as a team to bring more cheeriness on campus,” she said. “We wanted our peers to know it’s not all about tests and struggles. There is more to life than that.”

One of the group’s efforts included mounting a large poster board in a study area for students to write what they were most thankful for. Another event was a spring-time carnival day with face painting. Called Hump Day Happiness – because it was on Wednesdays – the event is probably the pinnacle project, Kanchi said, since it was so well received by students.

Four years later her expectations for medical school and for SELECT were met, and even exceeded.

“Being the first SELECT class was a life-changing experience,” Kanchi said. “And the administration was so receptive to feedback from us so they could make the program better. My experience was eye opening. The faculty up here (in Allentown) really wanted to make sure we were ready for residency and to work in teams, which is what medicine is all about now.”

Kanchi Batra, a charter student in the USF SELECT MD program, will be doing her residency in internal medicine at Kaiser Permanente San Francisco Medical Center.

For Match Day, Kanchi looked forward to matching in an internal medicine program with hopes of a career in critical care. Her hard work and optimism were rewarded; she matched in internal medicine at Kaiser Permanente San Francisco Medical Center.

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Seeing gaps that prevent success drives Yasir Abunamous to improve things. Following the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, he and a group of like-minded friends realized that relief organizations needed to recruit younger people into relief efforts.

“Campaigning to put younger people on the frontline of relief projects can inject raw optimism into the effort,” he said.

So with that in mind, he helped start Muslims Without Borders (now United Muslim Relief), a completely student-led – therefore young – relief organization.

And when he saw firsthand in Haiti that the relief efforts didn’t have a strong dental care component, he helped develop a branch of Muslims Without Borders that focuses on dental care, the first American Muslim dental relief group.

That same drive to improve brought Yasir to USF’s SELECT program, a leadership track whose students commit to “positively changing medicine” and to “transform health care and improve the health of communities.”

A perfect fit.

“They took a huge chance on us,” he said. “And we took a chance on a new program that would likely have challenges along the way. But they invested enormous resources in us and the program, and empowered us with a ton of new content and skills. They taught us to enhance our relationships with patients and challenged us to build something new and become true stakeholders. I wouldn’t trade it.”

It was during his two-year time in Lehigh Valley Health Network that his drive to improve presented itself again. Yasir helped design a pilot study to measure the number of homeless people within the LVHN patient population, a number that hadn’t been tracked before but could help better define access to health care and lead to cost savings because of reduced visits to the emergency room. He calls this “a critical data point to better allocate care and resources to this population.”

To improve, again.

SELECT student Yasir Abunamous reads his match in Allentown.

Yasir is hoping to match into a family medicine residency. And he did, at Lehigh Valley Health Network in Allentown, PA. 

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In addition to having the desire to help care for people, Rachael King found another common thread among many of her classmates: they were from various places in the Caribbean, just like she was. Her family is from Jamaica.

Seeing an opportunity to blend a passion for medicine with a compassion for Caribbean populations, she formed the Caribbean Outreach through Medical Missions Association. The student-run organization takes annual  trips in association with Caribbean Community Association to provide much-needed health care to impoverished areas of the Caribbean.

“Our first goal was to educate fellow students about the people in need of quality medical care throughout the Caribbean,” Rachael said. “Each population is quite different and requires different approaches. There is a different exposure and a different world in each place. Some have a bigger focus on AIDs, others diabetes or hypertension. The key is to do something.”

The effort is one of several proud moments of outreach Rachael has experienced while attending medical school at USF.

Another was when she was on USF’s MD Program Admissions Committee to provide input about potential USF medical students. The process helped validate her own journey, she said.

“It’s really gratifying to help applicants become students,” she said. “I was in that seat once and someone saw something in me beyond scores and grades. I’ve succeeded at USF because the community here has nurtured me.  So I try to look for those same qualities in others who might also succeed.”

Her work at the national level as a member of the Governing Council of the American Medical Association’s Minority Affairs Section is another proud moment. In that role, she helped promote the Doctors Back to School program that encourages physicians to connect with local high schools in low-income areas to expose young students to opportunities for becoming physicians.

Locally, similar efforts are playing out at King’s Kids Academy for Health Sciences for elementary students and Tampa Bay Tech for high schoolers.

“A lot of times, it’s about knowing there’s an option,” Rachael said. “Getting young kids exposed to doctors says to them ‘hey, you can do this, too.’ It empowers kids to set goals and make them aim for success.”

Rachael King will be doing her internal medicine residency at the University of Illinois College of Medicine in Chicago.

So that she can continue to reach populations in need of quality primary care, Rachael vied for a residency slot in internal medicine. She found out March 20 that she’ll be moving to Chicago after graduation to start an internal medicine residency at the University of Illinois College of Medicine.

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Always an active mentor and tutor to those in need of extra help, Jason Ricciuti took that initiative a step further when he started Tampa Bay Street Medicine (a local chapter of a national effort) to help provide basic medical care to the homeless in Tampa.

“A couple of us students started it as a service learning project,” he said. “We contacted other medical schools that are doing it, worked with our Student Affairs Office for approvals, went to a conference about it, recruited other USF students, got a grant, and started the chapter last April.”

Jason and fellow students worked with local organizations to help identify those in need and also connected with social service professionals and partnered with a group to gain access to a local community center that gave the patients access to some basic needs, such as laundry facilities.

The group of about 10 students hits the streets every other Friday and includes a mix of upperclassmen students who help guide first- and second-year students, as well as one to two supervising faculty physicians or physician assistants. And then they walk.

“We usually are around downtown Tampa and the Tampa Heights areas,” he said. “Over time, people have gotten to know us and expect us when we come around again or are waiting there so we can follow up on their conditions.”

Much of what the team sees are chronic problems, like cough and colds, skin problems, allergies problems, acid reflux. They dole out over-the-counter medications and wound care supplies in addition to health education. And the impact is good: typically, they see about 20 people with medical conditions, even more when you count the ongoing concerns.

Before Jason started medical school and the Tampa Bay Street Medicine, he spent two years with the AmeriCorps’ program City Year tutoring middle and high school students in Rhode Island and in Miami. During his first year of medical school, he also helped found Explorers Mentoring at USF.

“I feel like it’s an obligation to serve,” Jason said. “I certainly benefitted from other people’s support and it made a difference to me. It’s good to help each other and realize you’re not alone. You are where you are because of someone else. You can never forget that.”

Jason Ricciuti and fiance Dr. Asha Balakrishnan, a current USF resident.

For Match Day, Jason chose a residency in obstetrics and gynecology. He matched in ob/gyn at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

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A sunny day greeted everyone at Ulele, the new Match Day venue. Ulele is named for the daughter of a legendary Native American chief and is located on the site of a former City of Tampa Water Works building, next to the new Water Works Park. The old brick mixed with the newness of neighboring buildings and the Tampa Riverwalk along the Hillsborough River give the event a traditional yet modern urban feel.

Following Dr. Lockwood’s announcement of the first match at noon, Kira Zwygart, MD, associate dean for student affairs for the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, continued calling student names.

One by one, students came forward to accept an envelope, open it, and read to the crowd of classmates and family where they’re headed.

USF SELECT students matching in Allentown, PA. Photo courtesy of LVHN.

Several couples opened their envelopes at the same time to learn where they would be going, together. One couple represented two medical schools: Katherine Diaz from Texas Tech joined her partner Robert Lorch from MCOM at Ulele to learn they will be doing their residencies at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.

The student names were called in random order, a tradition at USF because each student called up drops a dollar bill in a box. The last student called to open his or her Match envelope wins the cash. This year that winning student was Danielle Kamis, who matched in psychiatry at Stanford University.

Danielle Kamis collects her prize — the Match box filled with cash.

Then the crowd of newly matched students gathered together for what might be their last photo as a class. Everyone cheered in unison, thrilled to have matched.

From the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, 39 students (30%) are staying at USF; 52 (41%) are staying in Florida; and 64 students (50%) chose primary care as their specialty (internal medicine, family medicine, and pediatrics).

Click here for more details about the nationwide Match from the Association of American Medical Colleges. 

Video by Sandra Roa and photos by Eric Younghans, USF Health Office of Communications

As 108 second-year medical students promised in unison to always have empathy and respect for their patients, the oath marked the biggest turning point in their four years of medical school – their transition from what has been primarily classroom learning of their second year to more clinical and hospital settings where they will interact with patients in their third year.

Clinicians Ceremony celebrating the transition from academic to clinical education.

The annual Student Clinician Ceremony for Morsani College of Medicine students signifies the next step in their medical education. This year’s event was held May 8 in the USF School of Music Concert Hall. The group of 108 represented a portion of the 175 student in the Class of 2017.

Messages for these new third-year students focused on caring, listening, and learning.  Providing the Humanism and Leadership in Medicine address was Stephen Palmieri. The keynote speaker was Steven Specter, PhD, associate dean for MCOM Alumni Relations and Advancement, who offered 10 steps for success for this group to prepare them for “the greatest learning curve of your life.”

And current third-year medical student Casey Nagel provided insight in the year ahead for the group with the Humanism and Excellence in Teaching address.

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In addition, several awards were presented, including teaching awards for five resident physicians for their exceptional effort for inspiring students to be more. They are Miriah Gillispie, MD (primary care), Lowell Dawson, MD (internal medicine), Christina Paidas-Teefey, MD (maternal newborn/inpatient pediatrics), Eihab Akary, MD (general surgery), and Kristie Jetter, MD (psychiatry and neurology).

The awards are provided by the Arnold P. Gold Foundation, which also provides a grant that supports the Clinicians Ceremony.

Students selected their classmate Shelby Register to receive the Student Teacher Award.

Shelby Register earns the Student Teacher Award.

And 27 students were acknowledged for outstanding efforts across their first two years of medical school, exhibiting ‘sustained excellence’ throughout their coursework. While 19 were honored at the ceremony in Tampa, eight students were honored at Lehigh Valley Health Network in Allentown, PA, as part of the SELECT program.

The 19 students in Tampa included Kyle Achors, Robert Ackerman, Himanshu Ajrawat, Nigel Arruda, Matthew Beattie, Luis Gonzalez, Michael Hernandez, Michelle Hummel, Brennan Hyler, Edward Keshishian, Thuy-Quynh Le, Mayssan Muftah, Holly O´Brien, Sabrina Prabakaran, George Richard, Shea Taylor, Cady Welch, Matthew Witzel and Yumeng Zhang.

The eight students in Allentown included Steven Baltic, Carly Crowder,Tiana Dalton, Thanhnga Doan, Alexander Guillaume, Matthew Ho, Kathleen McFadden and Andrew Steele.

Dr. Bryan Bognar.

Bryan Bognar, MD, MPH, vice dean for MCOM Educational Affairs, reminded the Class of 2017 that their third year would be a transformative one.

“It’s an amazing journey,” Dr. Bognar said. “Be thankful for it.”

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Photos by Eric Younghans, USF Health Office of Communications

For 26 years, Willie Mitchell has helped thousands of medical students navigate through medical school.

He is the first person visitors see in the Office of Student Affairs for the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine (MCOM).

He plays important roles in key events for medical students, from orientations as they begin freshmen year, to Clinician Ceremonies as they transition to third year, to Match Days as they learn where they will be resident physicians, and to Commencement Ceremonies as they reach the culmination of their efforts and officially become doctors of medicine.

Willie Mitchell is retiring after 38 years at USF, 26 of which were on staff in the MCOM Student Affairs Office.

And he is forever a positive force for USF Health, notorious for his smile, laugh, and calming demeanor, not to mention his extensive collection of Marilyn Monroe memorabilia.

On June 26, Willie Mitchell will step out of those roles and retire.

“We’ve developed a family atmosphere in Student Affairs, a place for every situation – fun or tough times – for us and for students,” Mitchell said. “It’s a place of calm, peace and family. We still meet, eat lunch together, and gossip, just like a family.”

Mitchell joined USF in 1977 and the MCOM Office of Student Affairs in 1993, giving him more than 38 years of fond memories. Many of those stories revolve around changes taking place on campus and within the Morsani College of Medicine, including personalities of each entering class of freshman.

How do today’s medical students differ from those of two decades ago? Mitchell, who is a staff assistant in the MCOM Office of Student Affairs, sums it up this way: While all students understand the impact they will have as physicians, today’s medical students seem to be “more appreciative for being able to be a physician,” he said. “They’re taking the humility part another step further and are getting to know better the person, the patient and the classmate.”

In total, Mitchell has helped multiple generations of medical students experience the key milestones of their four years at MCOM. Of all events, Mitchell doesn’t hesitate to say that Match Day is his favorite. The annual rite of passage is when senior medical students across the country find out simultaneously where they will conduct their medical residencies, the next step in their medical education. The USF MCOM Office of Student Affairs coordinates the entire event for USF medical students, an effort that includes weeks of planning.

“Match Day is my favorite because I like to see the medical students with their families,” he said. “And it’s an event where everybody works so well together to make it happen.”

Mitchell has also witnessed vast changes to facilities at USF Health, saying he has always been impressed by USF’s growth and the University’s efforts to constantly build space for more and more students, including those in MCOM.

“The changes to the study spaces for medical students, and the new people joining in, like Pharmacy, Physical Therapy and SELECT, has improved us and made us better,” he said.

For Mitchell, students always come first and he has always been amazed at their ambition and talents. To gain a slight sense of what they experience as medical students, Mitchell said he would participate in Dr. Lois Nixon’s annual summer reading and movie list for medical students and the USF Health community at large.

“I wanted to watch what they’re watching and read what they’re reading,” he said.

That effort to put students first also earned him an Outstanding Staff Award and the USF-Gabor Employee of the Year Award, both in 1999.

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Mitchell is father to three grown boys: Damien, 18; Javon, 19; and Eric, 21. He is active in church, acting as youth director. Once retired, he said he hopes to become involved with more programs, fundraising efforts and working with the elderly.

And, he will continue exercising, a pastime he enjoys but was recently urged to increase when he had a medical scare that pushed him closer toward diabetes. That is why some of his first activities in retirement will revolve around vegetable gardening so he can continue his good eating habits.

“One of my first things to do is to renew my library card so I can read more about growing vegetables,” he said. “My diet now has so many more vegetables in it but I want to grow my own. I’m going to start with collards, tomatoes and mangos, and go from there.”

He also plans to take classes and workshops to bolster his farming efforts, starting with a workshop on building his own rain barrel.

Walking into retirement brings an intensity of mixed emotions for Mitchell. The people in the MCOM Office of Student Affairs have had tremendous impact on his life, he said.

“They are wonderful people to work with,” he said. “I’ve been blessed to work with some outstanding people who truly care about students, about the school. There is lots of love in this group and that will carry me for quite a while.”

While Mitchell has such fond words for USF, there are lots of people who know and love him in return. Here are words of gratitude and fond memories from several MCOM staff and faculty who have worked with Willie Mitchell over these past decades.

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“I remember as a student, it was always comforting to see Willie’s smiling face upon entering the Office of Student Affairs.  We always knew he would help us with anything we needed, even if it might have been insignificant or tedious.  Now that I am a part of the office of Student Affairs, it has been great to know that today’s students have the same thoughtful and caring resource to help them.”

Kira Zwygart, MD, (Class of 1998) Associate Professor of Medicine and Associate Dean of MCOM Office of Student Affairs.

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“Willie Mitchell and I worked together in Student Affairs for 13 years.  Every day he brought a warm and friendly attitude to work, thus I referred to him as Mr. Sunshine.  He was the first person everyone encountered upon entering the Student Affairs Offices and he made each person feel welcomed and important.  Willie Mitchell is as fine a man as any who has worked at USF.”

Steven Specter, PhD, Associate Dean for MCOM Alumni Relations and Advancement.

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“I’ve never met anyone who has tried to improve himself and to help an institution more than Willie. It was wonderful to see him progress in his work and provide such real value to the College. And he had real impact on the students. Carolyn and I attend alumni reunions and students ask how a lot of people are doing and Willie is always at the top of the list. He really is a truly decent human being.”

Greg Nicolosi, PhD, retired USF Professor of Physiology, former Executive Associate Vice President and Interim Dean/Vice President for the USF College of Medicine and Health Sciences Center, and current member of the USF MCOM Alumni Society Board.

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“I was extremely fortunate to be able to hire Willie in our Student Affairs Office. He wasn’t hired initially to be the frontline person but it became crystal clear very quickly that his talents were with interacting with people and that’s where he needed to be. He is an incredible person. For years he took care of his mother and raised those boys and still he found time to help other people. I remember seeing a stack of brand new shoes in boxes and bags and hearing him say he was buying them for a family he met at his bus stop who didn’t have any shoes for the children. That’s who Willie is – always thinking of others.”

Carolyn Nicolosi, former Assistant Dean of Student Affairs in the USF College of Medicine and current member of the USF MCOM Alumni Society Board.

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“I remember when I was a first-year student meandering through orientation week, wide-eyed and lost as I stumbled into our Student Affairs office. Willie was the first person I saw as I came up to the front desk.  His smiling face has put countless other students like me at ease as they were finding their way through the tumult of medical school.  Willie makes MCOM feel more like home for our students.  He’s a testament to the fact that sometimes the cure to what’s ailing you is a warm smile and a gentle voice telling you that you need to focus on staying well and that everything really is going to be okay.  All students at our school can look to Willie for inspiration in his unending generosity of support. The MCOM family will deeply miss him, and the student body will do all we can to live truly to the legacy of kindness and service that he’s imparting in our community. There were 26 years of him leaving his mark on every student that walks past his desk to the murky waters beyond.  After all that, there’s a little bit of Willie Mitchell in every doctor’s office, operating room, or hospital ward of the MCOM graduate. The world is one thousand-fold better because of that legacy.”

Neil J. Manimala, MS4, Medical Student Council President.

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“I can’t imagine the student affairs office without him there. Willie was one of the first people I interacted with when I started medical school at USF. Over the 4 years of medical school, and intermittently in the years since, I have never once stepped into the student affairs office without seeing him with a big smile on his face — his positive energy is practically infectious. He is one of those unique people that has the ability to make you feel really good about yourself and brighten your day with nothing more than a caring ‘hello’ and his trademark smile. I am not sure that I could remember the specifics of a conversation with Willie, but I will never forget how those conversations always left me feeling more calm, especially during those high stress exam times. Willie always seemed to genuinely care about the medical students and was always there to help out if you needed anything.”

Nishit S. Patel, MD, (Class of 2010) Assistant Professor, Associate Program Director, and Associate Director of Clinical Research for the USF Department of Dermatology and Cutaneous Surgery.

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“Willie Mitchell is an amazing individual and it has been a blessing and honor to have worked with him.  He is my dear friend and colleague and I can’t even imagine Student Affairs without him.  His smile and kind disposition define our office.  He has served the students and the university for 38 selfless years and he and his kind and gentle disposition will be missed. He’s definitely leaving some really big shoes to fill.”

Phyllis Ridgeway, Office Manager, MCOM Office of Student Affairs.

Photos by Eric Younghans, USF Health Office of Communications

Three words: Safe. Team. Commit. That’s the message Charles Paidas, MD, urged more than 230 new resident physicians to take away from their recent all-day orientation, their official welcome to the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine (MCOM).

“If you remember nothing else about the next 15 minutes, I want you to remember those words,” said Dr. Paidas, professor of surgery and vice dean for Clinical Affairs and Graduate Medical Education at MCOM. “These are your goals for your residency. Graduate as a safe doctor, be able to work in a team, and commit to your obligations of lifelong learning, your patients your peers and students, your department, and the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine.”

The June 30 orientation at the USF Alumni Center and was likely be the only time the entire group will be in the same room together. The next day – July 1, the national start to residency training programs – the new-to-USF residents were deployed to the many clinical facilities and hospitals throughout the Tampa Bay area affiliated with the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine.

This year’s entering group includes 238 physicians, with 147 residents and 91 fellows. Of the residents, about half are entering their first year of residency. Called PGY1s (post graduate year 1), these physicians are experiencing the first day of their medical careers – they just graduated from medical school a few months ago. The other incoming residents are beginning the next step in their residencies, transitioning to a narrower focus within their specialty. Fellows have finished their residencies and are now conducting additional, more specialized training within their specialty. Fellowships are typically highly competitive positions in superior programs. While most of the new resident physicians are from MCOM (40), the rest are graduates of schools and programs from farther afield, including China, Colombia, Taiwan, Bangladesh, Thailand, and Mexico, among others.

The annual influx of new residents and fellows marks a significant moment for these doctors, but probably a bit more so for the PGY1s. It’s when the paradigm shifts, Dr. Paidas said.

“As a medical student, decision making was ‘virtual’ and practiced in the shadows of the care team,” he said. “Now, the responsibility shifts to the intern, or first-year resident. Although not completely in charge, the first-year resident has graded responsibility and team trust is earned and rewarded with more responsibility. The first-year is all about learning the drill.

“And it’s the very first time an office or hospital patient looks at you as one of their docs, begins to develop a relationship with you, and trusts what you say.”

One such resident is Lindsey Ryan, MD, a PGY1 from the University of Louisville in Kentucky. Her first day included making early rounds at Tampa General Hospital with a team from Pediatric Surgery.

Dr. Ryan, who is specializing in otolaryngology, said that USF’s program rose above others when she was interviewing residency programs.

“On interview day, you look for a program you will fit into,” Dr. Ryan said. “That’s a big thing. There are great programs all over, but it’s that extra piece you look for. I loved the program and the faculty here and I felt right at home.”

Fitting right in on rounds at TGH, Dr. Ryan walked in and out of pediatric patient rooms with the health care team that included more seasoned residents, a chief resident, an attending physician, a nurse practitioner, and a USF medical student. These are the first patients she is seeing as a physician, a realization she doesn’t miss.

“I’m having a very good day,” she said.

USF’s residency program has more than 80 residency and fellowship training programs with more than 700 trainees. The program is considered strong, Dr. Paidas said.

“It’s all about the depth and breadth of patient populations,” he said. “The USF affiliates attract a wealth of patients and provide the substrate for the maturation of the resident. Tampa Bay has historically been an attractive geographic locale. In addition, we have a superb clinical faculty able to balance their work with patient care and education. Think about it. Our affiliates include the Number One ranked hospital in the State, level 1 Pediatric and Adult trauma Center, Comprehensive Cancer Center, two VA’s, Family Health Clinics. Our affiliates give us an unbelievable depth of patients.”

This year’s residents and fellows totaled 238. About 45% are starting at Tampa General Hospital, 25% at the Haley VA Hospital, 15% at Moffitt Cancer Center, and the remaining are at various other sites. Internal medicine welcomed the largest number of new residents and fellows, with 73, followed by surgery, with 25.

Here is a breakdown of the entire group:

Dermatology, 5

Emergency Medicine, 10

Family Medicine, 10

Cardiology, 7

Internal Medicine, 73

Medicine / Pediatrics, 6

Neurology, 18

Neurosurgery, 4

Obstetrics & Gynecology, 7

Ophthalmology, 5

Orthopaedics, 7

Otolaryngology, 3

Pathology, 8

Pediatrics, 15

Preventive/Occupational Medicine, 2

Psychiatry, 13

Radiology,20

Surgery, 25

Story by Sarah Worth, and photos by Sandra C. Roa, USF Health Office of Communications. 

Across 41 years, Allan Goldman, MD, has treated patients, taught and advised students and residents, chaired the Department of Internal Medicine, directed Graduate Medical Education, connected with alumni, taught environmental and occupational health to public health students, and been a mentor and leader to teams of staff and colleagues across the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine.

“I extend a very special thank you for passing on excellence to so many generations of our students, residents and fellows to whom you have been a tireless mentor, and for bolstering scholarship funding to support deserving medical students,” said Charles J. Lockwood, MD, MHCM, senior vice president for USF Health and dean of the Morsani College of Medicine.

“Congratulations on a job well done and a retirement well deserved.”

Dr. Allan Goldman.

Dr. Goldman joined USF in the summer of 1974. MCOM’s founding internal medicine chair Roy H. Behnke, MD, recruited him to direct the College’s first Division of Pulmonary Disease in the Department of Internal Medicine and as chief of the pulmonary section at the James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital. Dr. Goldman directed the division for 23 years.

Dr. Goldman also set up a pulmonary disease training program for residents. For years, most practicing pulmonologists in Tampa were graduates from the USF program, since USF had the only such training program in the region.

In 1994, following Dr. Behnke’s retirement, Dr. Goldman was named interim chair and later took the job fulltime. He holds a joint appointment as professor in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, College of Public Health.

Dr. Goldman provided some of the earliest collaborations with Tampa General Hospital, helping lay the foundation for TGH becoming USF’s primary teaching hospital. He also was the founding director of the Thoracic Oncology and Lung Cancer Center at Moffitt Cancer Center.

In his four decades at USF, Dr. Goldman had a consistent and lasting impact on the growth of the Morsani College of Medicine and USF Health.

“Allan is a man of integrity, compassion and his word,” said Richard F. Lockey MD, FACP, professor and director of the Division of Allergy and Immunology in the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine and holder of the Joy McCann Culverhouse Chair of Allergy and Immunology.

“He is a physician’s physician, a person with whom you would trust as a family member. Allan is a life-long friend, a person with the utmost integrity.  He has always promoted what is best for the patient and for USF.”

Among the events planned to honor Dr. Goldman, there was a thank-you video created and a reception at CAMLS July 22 was hosted and included many familiar faces: fellow chairs, division directors, MCOM alumni, colleagues, staff, friends and family.

Dr. John Sinnott (left) and Dr. Charles Lockwood (right) at the celebration for Dr. Goldman at CAMLS.

Dr. Lockwood helped set the congratulatory tone of the evening, offering heartfelt thanks to Dr. Goldman for providing strong leadership across four institutions: USF Health, Tampa General Hospital, Haley VA Hospital and Moffitt Cancer Center and throughout the community.

“His life’s work has been marked by the pursuit of excellence,” Dr. Lockwood said.

Current Department of Internal Medicine Chair John Sinnott, MD, reflected on how he was mentored by Dr. Goldman as an intern and resident.

“I learned so much from the gentle, intelligent way he taught me about caring for patients,” Dr. Sinnott said. “In the same way, he treated the nurses, respiratory therapists and all the hospital staff with dignity… I realized whenever I rounded with Dr. Goldman as a resident that he was always happy.  The pleasure he took in his job is how we should all approach medicine.”

Guests described Dr. Goldman as being a constant learner and educator, fully engaged in life, calm and “unflappable.”

Building on those, Neil Fenske, MD, chair of the Department of Dermatology and Cutaneous Surgery, said with a laugh, “I only saw Allan Goldman stressed one time – and that was when the Dean said he was going to take the Dermatology Department away from Internal Medicine and make it a department.”

Charles Paidas, MD, vice dean for Clinical Affairs and Graduate Medical Education at MCOM, reminded guests of the breadth of Dr. Goldman’s impact.

“So many physicians, nurses and other health care professionals working in our affiliate hospitals were mentored by him in some way throughout his career,” Dr. Paidas said. “I have every intention of continuing to consult with Dr. Goldman frequently.”

Mr. and Mrs. Goldman.

Dr. Goldman then thanked everyone for the kind words.

“I survived five deans as division director and five deans as chair – that may be a record,” Dr. Goldman said. “I always learned something from each of them. Over the years, our (College of Medicine) goal became not only to become a first-class educational institution for the community, but also to focus on good patient care and research….. Now with leaders like Dr. Lockwood and Dr. Sinnott, the institution is poised for tremendous growth and excellence in all those areas.”

Dr. Phil Marty, Dr. Allan Goldman and Dr. Richard Lockey.

Dr. Allan Goldman with Dr. Jay Wolfson.

There was also a celebration for Dr. Goldman on the main campus that drew more friends and colleagues.

Dr. Bryan Bognar and Dr. David Solomon applaud Dr. Goldman at the celebration on campus in the USF Health Rotunda.

Dr. and Mrs. Worth Boyce and Dr. Allan Goldman.

Staff and colleagues presented Dr. Goldman with a thank you gift, focusing on golf, of course.

The golf theme continued with a creative cake.

Dr. Goldman earned his medical degree from the University of Minnesota Medical School and conducted an internship at the Wadsworth VA Hospital in Los Angeles, CA, a residency in internal medicine at Brooke General Hospital in San Antonio, TX, and a fellowship in pulmonary disease at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC.

He is board certified in internal medicine, pulmonary disease and critical care medicine, has participated in and/or lead more than 100 committees, programs and organizations, has been the editor, reviewer and consultant for dozens of journals, and has authored more than 220 publications.

Photos by Eric Younghans, USF Health Office of Communications

After spending a morning in courtrooms at the George Edgecomb Courthouse in downtown Tampa, USF Health faculty, administrators and students saw firsthand the similarities of the medical and legal professions.

USF Health faculty, administrators and students were invited to experience the judicial process first hand.

About two dozen people from USF Health who attended this year’s Black Robe Day, a morning-long event that partners lawyers and judges with faculty and administrators from the USF Colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Public Health, and Pharmacy, and the School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences, as well as medical students.

The event is organized by Jay Wolfson, JD, DrPH, USF Distinguished Service Professor and associate vice president for Health Law, Policy and Safety at USF Health and Senior Associate Dean Morsani College of Medicine, and Hillsborough County Circuit Judge Gregory Holder, and coordinated by Dionne Ferguson, JD, PhD, director of Strategic Planning and Institutional Effectiveness, and Laura M. Daniels, judicial assistant to Judge Holder.

The Honorable Judge Gregory Holder.

The lunch for event attendees was hosted by the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA), a group of litigators that promotes issues that support the courts and provide a better understanding of the court system.

The main goal of the Black Robe Day is to give a glimpse of our legal system so USF Health students and faculty gain better perspectives of the commonalities of law and medicine. The program is also linked to the Law and Medicine Scholarly Concentration, one of several programs offered by the Scholarly Concentration Program in the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine.

This year, the group from USF Health met with judges for part of the morning of Oct. 20 and then split into smaller groups to shadow individual judges and access many of the court cases taking place that day. Guests of the court heard details about drug possession, domestic violence, theft, and battery, among other types of cases, as they watched the proceedings.

Reflections from the students and faculty about their day in court included gratitude for the inside look at the court system and a newfound appreciation for the legal process. Some of the quotes from the morning included:

“There are similar competency and skill sets in both professions. The ability to listen, the ability to have compassion and the ability to dissect a lot of information in a short period of time. People were at odds with family and children in the courtroom, but they came together to help,”said Joe Ford, assistant vice president of the USF Health Shared Student Services.

“I teach domestic violence and human trafficking and today, seeing it from the real world, was very impressive. I love this,” said Anthonia Imudia, DNP, FNP-BC, assistant professor in the USF College of Nursing.

“We have a lot of patients with substance abuse problems so it was really good to see the follow up of that,” said Sharon Aroda, MD, assistant professor in the Morsani College of Medicine.

“It impressed me how you helped people make informed decisions. Many times they had to make tough decisions and what was best for them was laid it out very clearly,” said Douglas Holt, MD, professor of medicine and director of the Hillsborough County Health Department.

In Judge Richard Weis’ courtroom “I learned some inside baseball lawyering. We had a number of young attorneys in his courtroom and he told me afterwards how he tried to give them hints to get them back to the middle of the road when they were going off into the weeds. Because he operated his courtroom with amazing discipline and efficiency,” said William S. Quillen, PT, PhD, SCS, FACSM, professor and director of the USF School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences and associate dean for the Morsani College of Medicine.

“The disparities we see in health care mimics what you see in the courtroom. And being open to more students would be good because we could be studying these issues from a systems point of view. We need to get more people involved and passionate about this,” said Jacqueline Wiltshire, PhD, MPH, associate professor of Health Policy and Management at USF College of Public Health.

“I was struck by the co-morbidity of substance abuse with almost every story we heard today. No matter their angle or what their drug of choice was, it was amazing how much substance abuse there is and you wonder what direction the causality is. But it’s still shocking and has grim statistics,” said Sean Gregory, PhD, MBA, assistant professor of Health Policy and Management at the USF College of Public Health.

“As a health economist, it’s amazing to me the lost resources that are coming through this building. I can’t believe the challenges you all face on a day-to-day basis and it’s really nice to learn your perspective on it,” said Troy Quast, PhD, associate professor of Health Policy and Management at the USF College of Public Health.

In juvenile court “I saw just how much you judges are trying help them turn their lives around. Even though your hands are tied with that point system, you all really care about the citizens and try to help them,” said Chelsea Frost, fourth-year medical student.

“The thing that got me throughout this experience is the sheer volume of cases that there are. It was quite eye opening. When you say you’re running through 300 cases in a morning that to me blows my mind. So hats off to all of you. What you do on your end is amazing to me and I appreciate the time here,” said Amanda Davis, NP, instructor in the USF College of Nursing.

“For me it was really about solidifying the parallels between law and medicine. It’s not unlike walking through a hospital – the future hung in the balance for these people and their families. Compassion played a big part in the outcomes,” said Luis Espinosa, first-year medical student.

Judges of the Thirteenth District Court.

Judge Greg Holder and USF Health’s Jay Wolfson.

Story by Sarah Worth, photos by Eric Younghans, USF Health Office of Communications.

The USF College of Public Health will host its annual Free Flu Shot Drive on Friday, Nov. 13.  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that everyone ages 6 months and older get a seasonal flu vaccine each year to reduce the risk of illness, including hospitalization.

The drive is from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., or while supplies last, at the college, 13201 Bruce B. Downs Blvd., Tampa, FL 33612.  Shots are administered to adults 18 and older on a first-come, first-served basis. Attendees can also visit with health exhibitors.

Dianne Morrison-Beedy, PhD (right), dean of the USF College of Nursing, administered a flu shot to USF President Judy Genshaft, at one of the College of Public Health’s past yearly Flu Shot Drives.

This is the 19^th year of the college’s popular flu shot drive.  The longstanding community service is a collaboration between the college, USF Health and the Hillsborough County Health Department, which provides more than 1,000 doses of vaccines to help protect against this year’s flu strains.

For additional information, contact Ellen Kent, MPH, at ekent@health.usf.edu or (813) 974-3623.

Photo by Eric Younghans, USF Health Communications and Marketing

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9MfMQexnzs

The USF College of Public Health’s annual flu shot drive kicked off early on Nov. 13, with community residents, faculty, staff and students lining up to receive the shots before the vaccinations had even arrived.

Early arrivals sign in for their flu shots in the COPH lobby.

This is the 19^th year the USF College of Public Health (COPH) has sponsored the free flu vaccination drive, a collaborative effort with USF Health and the Hillsborough County Health Department. USF nursing and medical students, who have already successfully completed clinical training, administered 861 shots under clinical supervision. An interdisciplinary team supervised the students including Margaret Ewen, MSPH, BSN, RN, adjunct faculty instructor at the USF College of Nursing, occupational medicine residents, Adriene James, BSN, RN, registered nurse supervisor at the Florida Department of Health – Hillsborough County, and Barbara Kennedy, MS, MPH, ARNP, of the USF College of Public Health.  The event also included educational displays from public health student groups.

From left, Dr. Donna Petersen, Dr. Dianne Morrison-Beedy, Cuong Quoc Vong, Jean Ching, Sereena Pallasigui, and Dr. Kevin Sneed.

Dr. Charles Lockwood with medical student Toaa Abuelenen.

“Vaccines are one of the top 10 public health achievements of the 20th Century and we are honored to be able to participate in a tried and true tradition,” said Donna J. Petersen, ScD, MHS, CPH, dean of the USF College of Public Health. “The annual flu shot day is just one tangible way we can give back to the community that gives so much to us. Our commitment to improving public health extends across USF Health and this shared vision is clearly on display here as we come together as colleges of medicine, nursing, pharmacy and public health to help protect the public from harm.”

The shots are provided free to the public because COPH underwrites the cost the vaccine, which is supplied by the Hillsborough County Health Department, said Ellen Kent, MPH, CPH, coordinator of COPH Student Research Grants, the Sunshine ERC, and USF Health Service Corps.

Nursing student Michelle Rojas Gil gives her mother Olga Gil her flu shot at the COPH event.

USF Physical Plant staff member, Steven Bury, and his wife Maria were the first in line and have attended the flu shot drive for the past five years. Mr. Bury, who arrived before 7:30 a.m., was off from work for the day but decided make a visit to the USF College of Public Health to get vaccinated.

“Because we’re up in age, we want to make sure that we’re taken care of and that we don’t have any problems down the road,” he said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that everyone six month of age and older receive the flu vaccine, as the contagious respiratory virus can lead to severe illness or even death.

“Perfectly healthy people can die from influenza,” said Jill Roberts, PhD, associate professor at the USF College of Public Health.

The flu virus is not just a concern for infants, elderly and people at high risk. Influenza affects a significant portion of the healthy adult population. Of particular concern is pregnant women, who are at very high risk.

“We see tragic stories across Florida and the United States of women in third trimesters who pass away from the flu,” said Jamie P. Morano, MD, MPH, associate professor at USF’s colleges of medicine and public health and is also medical director for the Florida Department of Health, Hillsborough County.

The vaccination has a near 80 percent efficacy rate, but not everyone can receive the vaccine, such as infants under six months. Those who cannot be vaccinated benefit indirectly from vaccinated adults and children who help build herd immunity.

“It’s like a railroad track, and if you break up the railroad track the train is not going to be able to go and that’s what the flu vaccine does,” Dr. Morano said. “It breaks up the chain of transmission in the community.”

COPH doctoral student, Samuel Matos, volunteered at the event by checking in community members as they arrived.

“I love the experience of interacting with people,” he said. “I have fallen in love with public health in the sense that you are able to apply many educational interventions and initiatives to help people protect themselves and prevent them from being sick in the first place.”

Flu season typically runs from October to May in the U.S., with peaks occurring between December and February, according to the CDC. To view the latest influenza surveillance tracking data, visit the CDC’s FluView webpage.

Flu shot.

Dr. Donna Petersen gets her annual flu shot from nursing student Jean Ching.

See photos by Ellen Kent here.

Story by Anna Mayor, USF College of Public Health. Additional reporting and video by Sandra C. Roa,  photos by Eric Younghans, USF Health Office of Communications.

Tomorrow’s physicians will need a strong sense of the business side of health care if they hope to succeed in providing their patients with quality, safe and value-based care.

That was the key message from Charles J. Lockwood, MD, senior vice president for USF Health and dean of the Mosani College of Medicine (MCOM), as the keynote speaker for this year’s MCOM Scholarly Concentrations Student Symposium.

His talk gave the students – who are immersed in scientific and clinical information –invaluable insight into the economics that drive our ever-changing health care system.

Dr. Charles Lockwood provides medical students with a primer on the new economics of health care.

“Value-based care is here and providers will be changing,” Dr. Lockwood said. “Hospitals will continue to expand and will need help understanding cost, managing variation and optimizing supply chain. And physician/payer partnerships will produce to new models of health care delivery focusing on population health management.”

The pillars of a successful system, he told the students, will include alternative payment models, integrated practice units center round conditions but include multidisciplinary teams, measuring outcomes and measuring costs because of mandated metrics and opportunities to improve within, coordinated care across setting that ensure follow-up care and patient education, and provider scale and expansion that can increase coverage and better utilize assets.

He quickly assured the students that, despite the seemingly constant changes that disrupt existing workflow and habits, they would thrive in their future health care settings. Reflecting on his own career that involved tremendous transitions in health care, he said he’s never seen a stable period.

“But you will be practicing in a much saner environment than when I was just out of medical school,” he said.

Held Nov. 13, the Student Symposium is an opportunity for the mostly second- and third-year medical students to present their preliminary research data. Their projects will likely become their capstone project that culminates their work in their fourth year, so the event is somewhat like a practice run.

This 6th annual symposium featured 33 presentations by medical students participating in the faculty-mentored Scholarly Concentration Program, a college wide program that provides medical students with an elective minor, of sorts, in one of 10 areas, providing them with opportunities for academic endeavors in areas of special interest. The concentrations are:  Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Business in Medicine; Health Disparities; Health Systems Engineering; International Medicine; Law and Medicine; Medical Education; Medical Humanities; Medicine and Gender; Public Health; and Research.

Each concentration includes elements of course work, practical application, and scholarly presentation and allows for self-directed learning, enhances interactions between students and fosters relationships between students and faculty.

Mikaela Arida and LesleAnn Hayward provide the first presentation.

Following Dr. Lockwood’s address, the students presented their work. Topics included the mechanics of disease, community involvement, health issues in poor communities, and medical education. The presentations were judged, and winners include Bradford Miller, MSIII – Outstanding Clerkship Level Oral Presentation – Room B; Curtis Gravenmier, MSII – Outstanding Pre-Clerkship Level Oral Presentation – Room B; Evan Horowitz, MSI along with Jonathan Rogozinski, MSIV -¬ Outstanding Clerkship Level Oral Presentation – Room A; and Nirav Patel, MSII – Outstanding Pre-Clerkship Level Oral Presentation – Room A.

All presenting students and their topics include:

Nicole Abdo: “A Biomechanical Comparison of Suture Button Suspensionplasty versus Ligament Reconstruction with Tendon Interposition for First Carpometacarpal Arthritis”

Mikaela Aradi, LesleAnn Hayward: “Twenty-five years into the Indian HIV Epidemic: Profile of walk-in patients that access HIV testing services at an integrated counseling and testing center in Mumbai, India”

Corin Agoris, Andrew Benz, Anthony Clark: “Topically Applied Vancomycin Powder Reduces the Rate of Surgical Site Infection in Patients Undergoing Craniotomies for Primary Brain Tumors”

Mark Bender: “Early Outcomes and Fusion Rates in Patients Undergoing a “Hybrid” Lumbar Total Disc Replacement and Arthrodesis to Alleviate Symptoms Associated with Degenerative Disc Disease”

Sara Bijan: “Cesarean Incision Outcomes After Use of a Negative Pressure Wound Therapy Dressing: A Case Series”

O’Shaine Brown: “Seroepidemiology of Hepatitis among Patients Receiving Care at Kasturba Hospital in Mumbai, India”

Vinodh Chandra: “Clinical Course of Melioidosis in Patients treated with commonly used anti-diabetic drugs: a retrospective cohort study”

Zachary Christopher: “The First Histological Report on the Immune Response to Allogeneic Mesenchymal Stem Cell Transplantation in the Human Heart”

Amanda Copenhaver: “Education for Palliative Care Clinicians on Islamic Teachings Regarding End-of-life Care: A Pilot Study”

Shailaja Emani: “Retrospective analysis of the safety and efficacy of intrasaccular WEB device in the management of cerebral aneurysms at Hull Royal Infirmary”

Garrett Fitzpatrick: “The efficacy of preoperative MRSA screening in surgical patients”

Jeffrey Francis: “Use of Tissue Marking Ink to Intraoperatively Identify the “Hot Spot” in Sentinel Lymph Nodes for Melanoma”

Faris Galambo: “Development of a Co-Culture Injury Model for Studying Vascular Smooth Muscle Cell Migration In Vitro”

Brittany Gozlan: “Weight Perception among NYC Public Housing Residents: Do Neighborhood Obesity Prevalence and Activity Space Size Influence Weight Perception”

Curtis Gravenmier: “A Mechanism for the Evolution of the Warburg Effect”

Carolyn Hanna, Peter Hanna, Jacob Pierce: “Learning Outside the Classroom: Medical Student Performance, Classroom Attendance & Motivation?”

Evan Horowitz, Jonathan Rogozinski: “CT-OAM Guided Analysis of the Ankle Joint to Assist with Component Placement in Total Ankle Arthroplasty”

Kelsey Hundley: “Layperson Cancer Screening: An Assessment of Skin Cancer Screening Education, Attitudes and Behaviors in Hairdressers of Tampa Bay”

Seung-eun Jang: “Epidemiological Transition of Cardiac and Non-Cardiac Gastric Cancer Worldwide”

Sooraj John: “Autoimmune Polymyositis Following Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Therapy Targeting CTLA-4 and PD-L1”

Kaley McCrary: “G-WISE: A Proposal Using a Novel Approach – Calling on Grandmother’s Wisdom for Recruitment and Retention of African American Men in Prostate Cancer Clinical Trials”

Erik Madsen: “Mesoamerican Nephropathy”

Michael Manasterski: “Tampa Bay Street Medicine: Reflections on the Roots of Poverty”

Megan Melody: “Achievement of Remission but No Type of Induction Regime is Associated with Improved Outcomes in Double Hit Lymphomas”

Bradford Miller: “Compassionate use of D-mannose in a Pediatric Patient with Congenital Disorder of Glycosylation Type 1k”

Nirav Patel: “Heart transplant recipients have higher mortality rate after Thymoglobulin (rATG) Induction. Retrospective Single-Center Study with Five Years Follow-up”

Yohan Perera: “Evaluation of ocular hypertension in rural Southern Zambia”

Luis Perez-Mena: “Review of Colon Cancer Screenings at USF’s BRIDGE Clinic”

Vicky Pham: “Practical Issues of Retroperitoneal Sarcoma: Institutional Review, Literature Review and Sarcoma Pathology Centered Multidisciplinary Approach”

Alisha Rathi: “Role of Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Endoscopic Findings of Gastric and Duodenal Ulcers in Bariatric Surgery Patients”

Julia Rauchfuss: “fH Generation: Sustaining the Cedro Galan Health Initiative Through Careers in Healthcare”

Carrie Ryan: “Transthoracic Anastomotic Leak after Esophagectomy: No Longer a Catastrophe”

Christopher Story: “A Comparative Assessment of the Efficacy of Patient Education Materials in a Peruvian Outpatient Clinic”

Dr. Lockwood with student presenters.

Photos by Eric Younghans, USF Health Office of Communications. 

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=9egMmvVnUh4

Under a clear blue Florida sky, with the sunlit Tampa skyline behind them, friends and supporters gathered in downtown Tampa the morning of Dec. 8 to celebrate a key milestone for the University of South Florida – the site dedication for the future home of the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine and its Heart Institute.

University and community leaders gathered for the new Morsani College of Medicine and Heart Institute site dedication in downtown Tampa.

With their shovels full of white sand that surrounded a sand-sculptured USF Health logo, community leaders, legislators, USF leaders and USF Health medical students made the symbolic turn of earth. It marked the first official celebration for building the new academic facility that will propel medical education and heart research.

Setting a tone of celebration, USF System President Judy Genshaft called the event the first of many that will create a vibrant center of learning and research to transform the Tampa Bay region.

USF System President Judy Genshaft

“Today, we come together with a new chapter for downtown Tampa and the incredible partnerships that are helping this city and community reach its fullest potential,” President Genshaft said. “Our destiny is to be a city like no other – to put our heads and hearts together to create a happier and vibrant future for all of the Tampa Bay area. We are so appreciative to all who have played important roles and we look forward to taking the next steps together to make something quite amazing.”

Amid a standing ovation, Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik stood at the podium. Following a light quip that the standing ovation was because “we’ve built a tent” on the site, he turned his heartfelt thanks to the group in front of him.

Jeff Vinik, Tampa Bay Lightning owner and principal of Strategic Property Partners

“Because of Judy Genshaft, our Mayor and all the legislators in this area, that standing ovation is for every person I’m looking at right now,” Vinik said. “To get the USF medical school and heart institute where we are standing, it takes everybody under this tent and in this community. We’re all in this together. I couldn’t be more proud to have USF as the first anchor of this (development) district.”

The transformative initiative for USF will be a key anchor in a thriving downtown redevelopment project and will strengthen the university’s presence in downtown’s business district, as well as allow USF Health to expand essential educational and research programs at its main campus location.

The downtown site will position the medical school in close proximity to USF Health’s primary teaching and clinical affiliate, Tampa General Hospital, as well as its world-class simulation center, the USF Health Center for Advanced Medical Learning and Simulation (CAMLS) and other surrounding facilities.

And locating the Morsani College of Medicine in this downtown district will have a positive impact on recruiting top-tier students, Charles J. Lockwood, MD, senior vice president for USF Health and dean of the Morsani College of Medicine, pointed out.  At the dedication he reported that the College had already received more than 6,100 applications for the 2015-16 admissions cycle, all vying for 170 available positions.

Dr. Charles Lockwood, senior vice president of USF Health and dean, Morsani College of Medicine

“We are one of the most competitive medical schools in the country,” Dr. Lockwood told the guests, who followed with cheers and applause. “This downtown location is precisely where millennial medical students and young faculty want to be.”

Co-locating the USF Health Heart Institute with the new MCOM building downtown will also enhance recruitment of top cardiovascular researchers, support clinical and translational research opportunities to advance public health, increase MCOM’s National Institutes of Health funding levels and improve the rankings of MCOM and our partner, TGH.

In June, the Florida Legislature and Gov. Rick Scott supported plans for the new co-located facility by including $17 million in the annual state budget.  The new MCOM and Heart Institute, which will be built with a combination of state and private dollars, have received a total of about $57 million in state funding and $18 million in private donations to this point. The total cost of the project is $153 million.

Located at the corner of South Meridian Avenue and Channelside Drive, the new facility is part of a $2 billion real estate development led by Jeff Vinik. The group is developing 40 acres in downtown Tampa into a multi-use, urban waterfront district that will promote a walkable, sustainable, healthy environment for downtown Tampa residents, workers, students and visitors.

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With a 360-degree view of the hustle and bustle of downtown Tampa, speakers at the dedication captured the enthusiasm echoed across the region for this move downtown for the Morsani College of Medicine and the USF Health Heart Institute.

Site Dedication Speakers:  More of what they said

“The USF Morsani College of Medicine and the USF Health Heart Institute will rise here as one of the anchors of the development being planned by Strategic Property Partners, the joint venture between Mr. Jeff Vinik and Cascade Investments. By working together on every level of state and local government, and across both public and private sectors, we are creating a vibrant center of learning and research that will eventually touch the lives of everyone in the Tampa Bay region.”
USF System President Judy Genshaft

“Please allow me to… peer ahead to the year 2020. We would be standing on the first floor of the brand new medical school for USF and heart health institute, there would be a companion office building, and also one and two 600,000-square-foot office buildings.  You would be seeing bike paths, you would see diversity and inclusion from all kinds of people, you would see a 500-room hotel, 1,000 residential units, retail, restaurants, entertainment, vibrancy, water features, public art — all of which are require to turn an area into a district. A place where people live, work and play.”
Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik

Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn.

“This is an important day for this region. This is the beginning of Tampa taking that next step. This is where we join together as a community, driven by the belief that we are better together, that we are stronger together, that we are more competitive together, driven by Jeff Vinik’s vision. The willingness of USF to believe in what a downtown university could do for this community. The recognition that these resident (physicians) right here, that this is the intellectual capital that will drive the community for decades to come. Our ability to attract them to come to a great university but, most importantly, to stay in this city depends on an urban environment that works, an urban environment that’s alive 18 hours a day. That will drive our economy.”
Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn

Florida Senator Tom Lee.

“The university system throughout our nation is one of the great economic engines in this country. I truly believe, having spent 35 years in the home building development business and off and on about 20 years in the Florida Legislature, having worked with many of the men and women in this room, I really believe that the University of South Florida anchoring downtown (Tampa) is going to create wonderful synergies, clusters of opportunity for further economic activity and truly create this mixed-used opportunities that our community is looking for to revitalize and fully develop the downtown area.”
Florida Senator Tom Lee

Florida Board of Governors Chair Mori Hosseini

“It has long been a priority of the Board of Governors to support higher education programs and facilities that provide the most return on investment for the state’s economy, especially those in STEM and health care. The newest USF Health Morsani College of Medicine and the USF Health Heart Institute exemplify that mission. President Genshaft, the USF Board and all of the partners across the Tampa Bay community have made it easy for the Board of Governors to lend its support… Congratulations to USF and, indeed, all of Tampa Bay on this historic milestone.”
Florida Board of Governors Chair Mori Hosseini

“We are another step closer toward the creation of a new kind of medical school and research program, both of which together will have a transformative effect on medical education and research, as well as the health of our Tampa Bay region and its economy. Together, we are building a medical school of the future, one that will allow us to educate future doctors in an era when medical student knowledge doubles every 73 days, that will pioneer new discoveries and personalized therapies to allow people live better and healthier lives, and that will set new standards of health care quality and outcomes while reducing health care costs. But the greatest impact of this project will be on the lives of our students, current and future physicians, researchers, and other health care professionals.”
Charles Lockwood, MD
Senior Vice President for USF Health
Dean, Morsani College of Medicine

Co-Director of USF Health’s Heart Institute Dr. Arthur Labovitz.

“This integrated facility will help recruit top cardiovascular researchers and clinicians and support translational and clinical research in order to advance public health and increase NIH funding levels. It will elevate the level of cardiovascular care throughout the Tampa Bay region — providing a world-class program that leads to new and more effective treatments for heart disease for generations to come.”
Arthur Labovitz, MD
Chair of Cardiovascular Sciences for MCOM
Co-director, USF Health Heart Institute

USF friends and steadfast supporters Frank and Carol Morsani with Jeff Vinik.

USF Health medical students turn shovels with USF President Judy Genshaft, Dr. Charles Lockwood and USF mascot Rocky D. Bull. Photo by Aimee Blodgett, USF Photographer.

Video by Sandra C. Roa, photos by Eric Younghans, and graphic by Mark Leaning, USF Health Office of Communications

As 2015 comes to a close and we look ahead to new opportunities in 2016, let’s reflect on some of USF Health’s highlights and accomplishments over the past year:

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THE YEAR’S TOP STORY:  USF gets green light to build new USF Health Morsani College of Medicine and Health Heart Institute under one roof in downtown Tampa

The unprecedented opportunity became a reality in 2015, propelled by the alignment of a series of events — including a generous donation by steadfast USF supporters Carol and Frank Morsani, Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik’s visionary plan to develop a waterfront district in downtown Tampa, former Florida House Speaker Will Weatherford’s championing of the Heart Institute’s funding, and a new spirit of collaboration between USF and Tampa General Hospital.  A site dedication for the future home of the USF Health medical school and heart institute was held Dec. 8.

At the Dec. 8 site dedication for the future home of the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine and Heart Institute in downtown Tampa, USF Health medical students pose with USF President Judy Genshaft (left) and Dr. Charles Lockwood, senior vice president for USF Health and dean, Morsani College of Medicine (next to USF mascot Rocky D. Bull). Photo by Aimee Blodgett, USF Photographer.

The proposal to make this academic facility integrating superior medical education, translational research and clinical care a key anchor of Mr. Vinik’s downtown development project was quickly endorsed by city and county officials and virtually every segment of the Tampa Bay region.  After careful review, the USF Board of Trustees, Florida Board of Governors, state legislators and the Governor recognized the value of the project, both to advance USF’s academic and research missions and to drive innovation and economic development.

– USF dedicates downtown Tampa site of new Morsani College of Medicine and Heart Institute
– Governor approves funding for Morsani College of Medicine move downtown
– USF medical school on the move

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College of Nursing graduates first group of veterans to BSN students

The College of Nursing’s first cohort of students in the Veterans to Bachelor of Science in Nursing (VBSN) program students graduated Dec. 11 at the USF fall commencement. Bolstered by a $1.25-million Department of Health and Human Services grant, USF offers veterans and service members the opportunity to earn a bachelor of science degree in nursing through an innovative, rigorous program that builds upon their military health care training and experience.

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Think team: Interprofessional health training for disasters

USF Health students from nursing, medicine, public health, pharmacy and physical therapy gathered for the first critical incident and emergency preparedness simulation training Nov. 10.

Donna Petersen, ScD, dean of the USF College of Public Health, is administered a flu vaccination by a nursing student at the college’s free flu shot drive. Deans from all four USF Health colleges turned out to show their support for the community service event.

Rolling up our sleeves to protect against flu

The USF College of Public Health sponsored its 19th yearly free flu vaccination drive, in collaboration with the Hillsborough County Health Department. An interdisciplinary team of faculty and residents supervised USF nursing and medical students who administered shots Nov. 13  to adults from the university and surrounding community.

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USF Health celebrates “10 Together as One” 

USF Health faculty, staff and students gathered beneath the oaks near Lake Behnke in October to celebrate the 10^th Anniversary of USF Health. A decade ago, USF Health was created around a mission of envisioning and implementing the future of health.  A commitment, which continues today, was made to improve the full spectrum of health, from the environment, to the community, to the individual.

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Physical Therapy Class of 2018 takes an oath of commitment to professionalism

The achievements of USF Health’s relatively young School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences were highlighted at this year’s Commitment to Professionalism ceremony in October.  Among them were welcoming the school’s most selective Doctoral of Physical Therapy (DPT) class ever, with 47 Class of 2018 students chosen from among 1,299 applicants.  Additionally, this year the school admitted its first student to the new PhD in Rehabilitation Sciences degree program, and USF accepted its first resident into the Orthopaedic Physical Therapy Residency program.

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USF Health, TGH open storefront health care experience at Muma JA BizTown

Can a fifth grader be a surgeon, a nurse, a pharmacist, a hospital CEO? At the Muma Junior Achievement BizTown in September, cosponsors USF Health and Tampa General Hospital celebrated the opening of a storefront “hospital” where Hillsborough County fifth graders can take on roles in various health care careers for a day.

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USF Health physicians earn top spots as 2015-16 Best Doctors in America

The number of USF Health physicians making the biennial Best Doctors in America® list continues to grow. This year, the local list included 129 USF Health doctors who care for patients and families throughout the Tampa Bay region. More than two-thirds of the Best Doctors at our primary teaching hospital, Tampa General Hospital, are USF Health physicians.

Navigator Philip Conti of the Hillsborough County Division of Health Care Services speaks with Jodi Ray, principal investigator of the USF Navigator grant; Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn; and Michael Smith, special assistant to the President.

USF once again wins country’s largest Navigator grant

This September, for the second consecutive year, Jodi Ray’s team at the Florida Covering Kids & Families program, USF College of Public Health, was awarded the largest Navigator grant in the country — $5.9 million. Over the last three years, USF has been awarded more than $14.5 million in federal Navigator grants to help eligible uninsured Floridians get health care coverage.  The team’s success working with consortium partners across the state on education and outreach has garnered national media attention. This year’s enrollment event at the Marshall Student Center on Nov. 1 was visited by a White House official and Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn.

USF Health’s Dr. Charles Lockwood with Kathryn J. Gillette, Bayfront Health Market President and CEO.

Bayfront Health St. Petersburg becomes newest affiliate in Pinellas County

Bayfront Health St. Petersburg signed an affiliation agreement this fall with USF Health to help expand and strengthen the health care provided to patients in key medical and surgical specialties. Bayfront Health initially contracted with USF Health physicians who practice in the specialty areas of general and interventional cardiology and colorectal surgery.

The USF Health transitioned to the Epic electronic health records system in seven months; the typical changeover takes more than 18 months.

Epic electronic health records system launched

USF Health converted to Epic electronic health records (EHR) system at all its clinical sites Aug. 1, launching a new era of efficiency, improved patient care and safety, and a more cohesive system with Tampa General Hospital, its primary teaching hospital. Hundreds of people from various departments have participated in the process.

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USF Public Health first in state to launch new master’s curriculum

The USF College of Public Health became the first in Florida to update the curriculum for its master’s degree program, a step in tandem with a national effort to better train the public health workforce and improve population health. The changes reflect the national push to provide today’s public health professionals with real-world concepts that meet today’s public health needs. 

Kevin Sneed, PharmD, dean of the USF College of Pharmacy, presents the good news about accreditation to his faculty.

Pharmacy earns its first full accreditation

In July, the USF College of Pharmacy earned its first full accreditation from the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), marking a huge milestone for the young school and validating the innovative education experience offered to its students.

Charles Paidas, MD, (far left) professor of surgery and vice dean for Clinical Affairs and Graduate Medical Education at USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, chats with otolaryngology intern Lindsey Ryan, MD, (right) as a group follows him for grand rounds at Tampa General Hospital during the first day for new residents.

First Day: USF physician residents embrace their specialty training

On July 1, the national start to residency training programs, new-to-USF residents were deployed to many clinical facilities and hospitals across the Tampa Bay area affiliated with the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine.  This year’s residents and fellows totaled 238 — with about 45 percent starting at Tampa General Hospital, 25 percent at James A. Haley VA Hospital, 15 percent at Moffitt Cancer Center, and the remaining at various other sites.

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First USF Health Commencement marks milestone for 600 graduates

The first-ever USF Health commencement ceremony May 1 brought together all the undergraduate and graduate candidates from the Colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Public Health and Pharmacy, as well as the School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences.  The ceremony in USF’s Sundome marked the graduation of the College of Pharmacy’s inaugural class and recognized the 30^th anniversary of the USF College of Public Health, the state’s first accredited school of public health.

Christiano Caldeira, MD, president and CEO of Florida Advanced Cardiothoracic Surgery, in one of the cardiac operating rooms at Tampa General Hospital, where FACT surgery performs most of their more than 600 heart and lung surgeries a year.

USF Health, Florida Advanced Cardiothoracic Surgery team up to expand education and research

The USF Health Morsani College of Medicine launched an academic partnership with one of the top heart and lung transplant surgery groups in the country to expand the university’s education and research opportunities in advanced cardiovascular care. The partnership opens the door for USF to work closely with Florida Advanced Cardiothoracic Surgery, based at Tampa General Hospital, to create accredited fellowships in cardiothoracic surgery and subspecialties such as heart and lung transplantation and heart surgery.

This year, Military Times reported USF as the #2 Best For Vets university in the country, a ranking likely influenced by #1 rankings for both the College of Nursing and the College of Public Health as “Top Veteran-Friendly Schools.”

USF Nursing and Public Health each named No. 1 in Top 10 veteran-friendly schools rankings

In May College Factual ranked the USF College of Nursing the #1 veteran-friendly school in the nation for a bachelor’s degree in nursing.  That was followed in June by a first-place ranking for USF College of Public Health’s undergraduate program in College Factual’s “Top 10 Veteran-Friendly Public Health Schools” list.  Both top spots were reported in Military Times magazine.

– College Factual names USF #1 in top 10 ranking of veteran-friendly nursing schools
– USF undergraduate public health program ranked No. 1 among nation’s best for veterans

Leadership of USF Health and Florida Hospital Tampa, as well as medical faculty and student volunteers, pose for a photo at the soft opening of the BRIDGE Clinic at Florida Hospital.

USF Health and Florida Hospital Tampa partner to expand BRIDGE clinic

Further strengthening ties between the two institutions, Florida Hospital Tampa this April committed $1.2 million in donated goods and services to the University of South Florida to help expand community-centered medical care through the USF Health BRIDGE Clinic. The partnership will increase access to specialty care for uninsured residents served by the USF Health student-run program and significantly increase the number of patients seen.

Dr. Kevin Sneed, dean of the USF College of Pharmacy, meets “Fill” (short for Refill), the small humanoid robot who made his debut at the Pharmacy Plus open house.

Pharmacy Plus Open House introduces robotic “greeter”

Faculty, staff, students and patients got a close-up look at USF Health’s “Pharmacy of the Future” when Pharmacy Plus held an open house April 22 to inform the USF community of its full range of services, including making onsite pharmacists an integral part of the entire health care team.

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USF med students find their residencies with Match Madness

The largest Match Day class in the history of USF’s medical school — 128 students, including the charter group of SELECT students — moved their 2015 Match Day celebration from Skipper’s Smokehouse to a more spacious venue at Ulele restaurant, along the banks of the Hillsborough River and Tampa’s Riverwalk.  The new spot is closer to downtown Tampa, the future home of the Morsani College of Medicine.  March 20, 2015 was also the first time that the USF College of Pharmacy celebrated its own Match Day.

– Morsani College of Medicine graduates 128 new physicians
– Students anticipate USF’s first Pharmacy Match Day

Dr. Charles Lockwood, senior vice president for USF Health and medical school dean, with FOI President Dr. Roy Sanders.

USF Health and Florida Orthopaedic Institute sign new academic affiliation agreement

USF Health and Florida Orthopaedic Institute (FOI), Florida’s largest private orthopaedic group, forged a new academic affiliation in March, aimed at creating a pre-eminent department of orthopaedic surgery at the University of South Florida over the next decade. FOI President Dr. Roy Sanders was named chair of the USF Orthopaedics Department as part of this stronger partnership to advance clinical training and research.

USF was ranked as Florida’s top graduate nursing program by U.S. News & World Report, surpassing such schools as the University of Florida, Florida State University and the University of Miami.

U.S. News ranks USF Nursing and Public Health graduate programs among nation’s best

Graduate programs at the University of South Florida’s College of Nursing and College of Public Health ranked among the nation’s best in the latest U.S. News & World Report “America’s Best Graduate Schools” edition, appearing online in March. Last ranked by U.S. News in 2011, the College of Nursing’s graduate program ranking jumped substantially from number 64 to number 38. The College of Public Health ranked 16 — up from 21 when the school was last ranked three years ago.

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25th USF Health Research Day: A celebration of research and collaboration

This year’s Research Day (Feb. 20)  marked the 25th time USF Health’s emerging scientists came together to present their projects.  Inside the Marshall Center Ballroom was a celebratory buzz of activity, with rows and rows of bulletin boards holding the work of students, residents, fellows and post-doctoral researchers from across USF Health, including some collaborations with main campus researchers.

The interdisciplinary team includes, standing from left, USF Health’s Dr. Arthur Labovitz, Dr. Michael Alberts, Dr. Michael Fradley, Bernadette Shields, RN, cardio-oncology nurse coordinator at Moffitt, Dr. Roohi Ismail-Khan, and Larry Roy, administrator for the new Cardio-Oncology program.

USF Health, Moffitt Cancer Center Launch Florida’s First Cardio-Oncology Program

In January, USF Health and Moffitt Cancer Center started Florida’s first comprehensive academic Cardio-Oncology Program to reduce the risk of cardiovascular complications caused by cancer treatment. The joint effort combines the expertise of cardiologists and oncologists to provide better care for cancer patients who have a history of cardiovascular disease or have developed cardiotoxic side effects from chemotherapy.

Commanding the stage with her powerful peformance of “Someone Like You,” USF pharmacy student Bionqua Lynch was the 2015 winner of the BANDaids for BRIDGE talent show.

BANDaids for BRIDGE showcases talent for a cause

The 4th Annual BandAIDS for BRIDGE Talent show packed the hall at the Pepin Hospitality Centre on Jan. 9 — entertaining students, faculty, staff and friends of USF Health with energetic acts ranging from heartfelt singing and dancing to musical arrangements and comedy. Beyond showcasing student talent, the event benefits the USF BRIDGE Healthcare Clinic, a nationally recognized initiative of students from several colleges and schools that provides free health care to underserved residents of the University Area Community.

RELATED ARTICLE:  Top 10 most popular USF Health stories

Videos by Sandra C. Roa and photos by Eric Younghans, USF Health Communications and Marketing
Nursing fall pinning ceremony video by Ryan Noone, USF College of Nursing

In watching his father struggle with kidney stones, William Pearce was inspired to work closely with urologists, which sparked his idea for a new device that greatly reduces the need for recurrent catheterization. Now, about four years later, he is the inventor of a urethral catheter and has a patent securing his idea.

Pearce is a fourth-year medical student in the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine and is one of few medical students who will graduate already owning a patent. His idea was designed, nurtured, modified and perfected while he was in medical school, as part of the Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Business in Medicine section of the College’s Scholarly Concentrations Program (SCP). As an academic elective program, the SCP allows students to focus on areas of interest beyond the medical school core curriculum to enhance their overall training. More than 85 percent of USF medical students take part in one of the program’s 10 tracks.

William Pearce.

“The main goal for our Scholarly Concentrations Program is to give students an infrastructure for building unique and creative ideas that are integrated with what they are learning from the medical curriculum,” said Susan Pross, PhD, director of the SCP. “William’s project is a prime example of the success students can have with this program.”

Pearce’s patent is part of an active and successful patent program at USF through its Technology Transfer/Patents and Licensing Office. USF is ranked 10^th nationally and 13^th among universities worldwide for U.S. patents granted in 2014 by the National Academy of Inventors and the Intellectual Property Owners Association.

 Listen to William Pearce speak to the great support he had filing his patent.

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Pearce said the idea for the catheter didn’t happen instantly, but was a process over a lot of time.

“Looking back, it’s not something I could lay a road map for or define a key moment,” Pearce said. “It was a series of steps, that each alone were improbable.”

In following the care his father received for kidney stones, Pearce discovered that a patient could have as many as five attempts by health care providers for inserting a Foley catheter. The recurring insertion attempts results in trauma to the patient, and presents a higher risk for infection.

 Listen to William Pearce explain the dangers of  recurrent catheterization.

“There’s got to be a better way,” Pearce recalled thinking.

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Pearce partnered with a urologist in the Jacksonville area and, following an in-depth literature search, they decided the best approach was to integrate and elaborate on two existing designs. The combined concept resembled the advanced device used by urologists but incorporated a guide that allowed for easier insertion by frontline health care professionals – the people inserting the catheter the first time.

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Pearce filed his application December 2013; and then the waiting began. It wasn’t until mid-2015 when an email alerted Pearce that his patent had been accepted, making is catheter official. But the reality is, his work isn’t done – his next step is to seek approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) so the catheter can be tested in clinical settings.

William Pearce with his patent #8,956,340.

His advice to other students looking to bring their ideas to reality and locking in with a patent: start early and seek advice from experts.

 Listen to William Pearce’s tips for others wanting to file a patent.

“The Scholarly Concentrations Program gave me a head start, to be able to get an award to study possibilities and to do the research to see what patents already existed,” he said. “And the experts at the USF Technology Transfer/Patents and Licensing Office were key to helping me fine tune my application and get it filed. And today, I have my first patent.”

Multimedia by Sandra C. Roa, USF Health Communications

Deborah DeWaay, MD, FACP, has been named associate dean of Undergraduate Medical Education in the Office of Educational Affairs of the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine (MCOM).

When she begins in late March, Dr. DeWaay will oversee all components for educating MCOM medical students.  Undergraduate medical education is the overall learning experience students have while in medical school that includes the curriculum, clinical rotations, simulation exercises, and peer projects which add to the complete knowledge and skill set students will have at graduation as they transition to be physicians in training during residency.

Dr. Deborah DeWaay. Photo by Tim Roylance.

“Dr. DeWaay brings to USF Health a broad experience for developing medical curricula and her own passion for teaching will greatly impact our students,” Dr. Bognar said. “Her sense for implementing key components that better meet national trends and standards will help us strengthen our program tremendously.”

Prior to joining USF Health, Dr. DeWaay was associate professor of internal medicine, associate vice-chair for Medical Education, and director of the Internal Medicine Clerkship at the Medical University of South Carolina. She earned her medical degree with a distinction in research from the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine and has won numerous awards for teaching and humanism in medicine.  She is a general internist who practices as a hospitalist.

The Morsani College of Medicine is doing a fantastic job teaching future doctors, Dr. DeWaay said. In her new role, she will help guide the evolution of the medical school curriculum to prepare USF medical students for the ever-changing and rapidly evolving health care system.

“Ideally the educational system focuses on creating physicians who meet the health care system’s needs, and the health care system provides educational opportunities that promote the creation of the physicians it will need,” she said.

Central to the concept, she said, is competency.

“One of my visions is to better incorporate the AAMC’s Entrustable Professional Activities into the curriculum,” she said. “These EPAs are the 13 key skills that, upon graduation, every medical student should be able to demonstrate proficiently before starting residency. Many, if not all, of these 13 activities are likely in the MCOM curriculum already. The next step will be to make student assessment of these competencies even more explicit and to create a system that allows students and educators to glean organized data that will promote continuous improvement of the students and the curriculum.”

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In addition to being able to track competencies, Dr. DeWaay would like to build a system that will let students progress based on those competencies, in order to give added motivation beyond just meeting the competency.

“We have all of these talented students who are anxiously eager to become physicians,” she said. “I want to see our students have their talents cultivated even further prior to residency, so that when they begin their internship the learning curve is alleviated a bit.”

For example, she said, with regard to managing a stroke, if a student has demonstrated competency through simulation exercises, when they rotate with the stroke team, the attendings and residents on that team will know by that student’s presence in that select position that he or she has been trained and proven their ability. Thus, the student can have more responsibility on that team and have an improved experience.

“By increasing the opportunities students have to earn responsibility, we will build their confidence and increase their motivation to push beyond their own perceived limitations” she said.  “In addition, the health system would then provide increased opportunities for students to practice their skill. The result is learners who exceed expectations that allow medical schools to supply even more superior physicians into the health system in order to ultimately provide improved care to our community.”

Another key approach, she said, will be to build stronger clinical decision makers, which means students will have a better, more complete knowledge of the human body. Translated, that means continuing USF’s integration of the basic science and clinical science concepts across all four years. Dr. DeWaay offered this example.

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“In heart failure, for example,” she said, “we administer furosemide, but why? We know all the parameters around dosages, but what else? What is furosemide actually doing? How is our patient’s body actually responding to it? Having a greater foundation in basic science concepts while students are actually in the clinical setting, referencing them directly back to the patient in front of them, will help them be better doctors. It’s called mechanistic thinking, and incorporating it across all four years of medical school will create better clinical decision makers.”

In offering these ideas for what educational approaches make good doctors, Dr. DeWaay is quick to say that it’s a team of educators that helps build the framework.

“It’s important that there’s a unified vision for our goals and that all ideas are considered because there are always different ways to get to our destination,” she said. “The best innovations and solutions to a problem rarely come from one person.  Ideally, the culture cultivates an environment where individuals have novel ideas and the group takes the idea and makes it personalized and successful to the organization at large.”

Once settled in at MCOM, don’t be surprised to see Dr. DeWaay attending classes and clinical rotations as she gains a better sense of what USF medical students and educators are already experiencing. In addition, she will likely keep teaching.

“I can’t imagine not teaching or seeing patients,” Dr. DeWaay said. “Patients, students and residents constantly remind me why I became an academic physician and the great responsibility I have to serve both groups with enthusiasm and excellence.”

Photos by Eric Younghans, USF Health Office of Communications.

A wide range of science filled the Ballroom at the Marshall Student Center, showcasing the groundbreaking work of rising research stars taking part in the annual USF Health Research Day.

This year’s event, held Feb. 19, featured nearly 330 students, residents, fellows and post-doctoral researchers from across USF Health.

“This event gets better every year,” said Phillip Marty, PhD, vice president for USF Health Research.

Presenters arrived early to set up their posters in the Marshall Student Center Ballroom.

“I’m always impressed with the level of research that is presented at our Research Day,” Dr. Marty said. “Our faculty are engaged in important research, which translates directly to our students, graduate students, residents and trainees who are presenting here today. This is a great training ground for the rest of their careers.”

This year’s slate of presenters showed more students and trainees and slightly fewer faculty, Dr. Marty said, perhaps a reflection of the event’s return to its roots of showcasing science learners.

The day-long event brings together researchers from across all USF Health colleges, programs and disciplines, as well as guest researchers from USF programs studying the science of health. Beginning the day are the oral presenters, the few whose work earned them an invitation to present their work orally. This year’s 11 selected students presented their work at the 7th Annual Joseph Krzanowski, PhD, USF Health Invited Oral Presentations Session, They were: Ngozichukwuka Agu; Faris Galambo, BS; Krishna Reddy; Alison E Roth, MPH; Stephanie Ciarlone; Jaymin Kathiriya; Jared Tur; April Lussier; Abby Pribish, BS; Jessica M Gordon; and Rachel G. Sinkey, MD.

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Alison Roth won best overall for her oral presentation.

The full poster presentation session followed, filling the Ballroom with hustle and bustle as researchers stood next to their posters tacked up onto bulletin boards and judges walked from poster to poster evaluating each presentation and asking lead researchers questions about their work or to further explain their methods, results and conclusions. As always, for those who are new researchers, USF Health Research Day is a key event for acting as a practice run for future national research meetings.

Dr. Charles Lockwood judges the work of Kristen Marcet, second-year medical student.

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The day included students from Berkeley Preparatory School, who showcased their own award-winning posters, as well as visiting 12^th grader Patricia Askins (Sarasota High School) presenting her work on anticancer drugs from her time in the lab of Subhra Mohapatra, PhD, associate professor in the USF Department of Molecular Medicine.

After a lunch break, the Roy H. Behnke Distinguished Lectureship began, featuring. This year’s guest lecturer was Robert H. Brown, Jr., MD, PhD, professor and chair of neurology at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center and Medical School. His research is devoted to identifying gene defects that lead to neuromuscular diseases.  This year, the title of Dr. Brown’s lecture is “Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis:  Therapeutic Insights from Genetics.”

Dr. Robert Brown

At the conclusion of the talk, the much-anticipated awards are presented. Winners for the USF Health Research Day 2016 are:

Best MCOM Graduate Student Poster Presentations:

Doctoral Student Poster Presentation: Allergy and Immunology: Jillian Whelan

Doctoral Student Poster Presentation: Cancer Biology: Stephanie Buttermore

Doctoral Student Poster Presentation: Cardiovascular and Clinical Science Research: Natascha Alves

Masters Student Interdisciplinary Research: Kathryn Fomuke and Andrew McGill

Doctoral Student Poster Presentation: Molecular and Cellular Biology: Jaymin Kathiriya

Best MCOM Medical Student Presentations:

Med I Student Poster Presentation: Interdisciplinary Research: Nima Hosseinian

Med II Student Poster Presentation: Interdisciplinary Research: Curtis Gravenmier

Med II Student Poster Presentation: Interdisciplinary Research: Kristen Marcet

Med II Student Poster Presentation, Case Studies and Chart Reviews: Andrew Lai, MPH, Anthony Clark, and Luis Perez-Mena

Med III Student Poster Presentation, Case Study and Chart Review: Kyle Achors

Med III Student Poster Presentation, Empirical Study: Laura Kidd

Med IV Student Poster Presentation Case Study and Chart Review: Cheryl Godcharles

Best MCOM Medical Resident Poster Presentations:

MCOM Resident Poster Presentation: Interdisciplinary Case Studies: Jennifer Divine, MD, and Joanna Robles, MD

MCOM Resident Poster Presenation: Case Study and Chart Review: Karina Vivar, MD

MCOM Fellow Poster Presentation: Case Study and Chart Review: Sangeetha Prabhakaran, MD

Best College of Nursing Poster Presentation:

CON Graduate Student Poster Presentation: Nisha Vijayakumar, BDS, MPH

Best College of Pharmacy Poster Presentations:

Graduate Student Poster Presentation: Jeffrey Burgess

Postdoctoral Poster Presentation: Leslie Sandusky, PhD

Best College of Public Health Poster Presentations:

Graduate Student: Umonighu Michael Bubu (epidemiology and biostatistics)

Graduate Student: Athena Failla (global health)

Graduate Student: Kate LeGrand (global health)

Graduate Student: DeAnne Turner (community and family health)

Graduate Student: Tora Suggs (community and family health)

Graduate Student: Kristina Harand (environmental and occupational health)

Post-doctoral Student: Christopher Rice, PhD

Best Undergraduate Student Poster Presentations:

Allergy, Immunology and Infectious Diseases: Priyanshi Patel

Neurosciences: Sophia Abraham

Cancer and Clinical Sciences: Mevin Mathew

Interdisciplinary Sciences: Asgard Marroguin

College of Pharmacy: Neurosciences: Anjanet Loon, and Abdulah Barakat

Top Awards

USF Health Vice President’s Award for Outstanding Graduate Student Oral Presentation: Alison Roth, MPH

MCOM Outstanding Postdoctoral Poster Presentation: Aurelie Joly-Amado, PhD

MCOM Outstanding Fellow Poster Presentation: Liliana Bustamante

MCOM Outstanding Resident Poster Presentation: Anne Mattingly, MD (oncological sciences)

Outstanding Global Pediatric Behavioral Health Poster Presentation: Sophia Zaurou

Outstanding Innovations in Medicine Poster Presentation: Rose Tillis

Watson Clinic Award to a Fourth-Year Medical Student: Sriram Velamuri

Dr. Christopher P. Phelps Memorial Fund Annual Morsani COM Graduate Student Travel Award: Krishna Reddy

A field of research fills the Marshall Student Center Ballroom.

USF Health Research Day 2016.

Story by Sarah A. Worth, USF Health Communications

Photos by Eric Younghans, USF Health Communications

Video by Sandra C. Roa, USF Health Communications

USF Pediatrics is ranked #1 in the nation for NIH funding. USF Ob/Gyn is #10.

Two USF Health colleges and many of its basic science and clinical departments improved their ranks in the latest reports from the Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research (BRIMR) annual tabulations of total funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

• The Department of Pediatrics ranked #1 in 2015, up from #2 last year.
• The USF Health Morsani College of Medicine ranked #48 among the 139 medical schools with NIH funding in 2015, up from #63 last year.
• The USF College of Nursing ranked #24 among 66 institutions with NIH funding in 2015, up from #43 last year.
• The Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology ranked #10 in 2015, with no ranking last year.
• The USF Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology ranked #37 in 2015, up from #49 last year.

Based on the BRIMR methodology, NIH funding to USF Health colleges totaled $87.5 million in 2015. The USF Department of Pediatrics earned its top spot in the latest BRIMR reports because of the work by Jeffrey Krischer, PhD, Distinguished University Health Professor and his team – Dr. Krischer’s NIH-funded research in the BRIMR report totals more than $64 million, making him the #5 highest funded principal investigator in the world.

Dr. Krischer oversees the Data Coordinating Center of the USF’s Health Informatics Institute. The center coordinates, analyzes and maintains research data from several large clinical networks investigating the causes and outcomes of type 1 diabetes, including TEDDY, TrialNet, TRIGR and DPT-1, and of rare diseases.

“These enhanced rankings show solid progress for USF Health in the past two years and are a direct result of our increasingly laser-like focus on, and ongoing success in,  garnering NIH funding,” said Charles J. Lockwood, MD, MHCM, senior vice president for USF Health and dean of the Morsani College of Medicine. “For our Morsani College of Medicine, this is our best performance on record. We have now increased from #88 in 2013 to #63 in 2014 to #48 among U.S. medical schools in 2015. However, we have much work to do to maintain these gains and advance further.  The opening of the new USF Health Heart Institute in a thriving amenity-rich waterfront location in downtown Tampa proximate to our nationally ranked cardiology and cardiac surgery programs at Tampa General Hospital should accelerate our success in obtaining additional NIH funding.”

“This ranking is a credit to our outstanding scientists, faculty and staff who, together, form an incredible team that is passionate about transforming healthcare through research,” said Dianne Morrison-Beedy, PhD, FAANP, FNAP, FAAN, senior associate vice president for USF Health and dean of the USF College of Nursing. “I am so proud of each and every one of them who devote their energies, creativity, and experience to furthering the science of nursing and making the USF College of Nursing one of the premier institutions in the world.”

The BRIMR rankings provide an annual look at how institutions and science departments fared in attaining much-coveted federal funding from the NIH.

Only about a decade old – around the time the NIH stopped tallying and ranking schools and departments by their funding totals – the Blue Ridge rankings were started. Retired professor of biochemistry and molecular biology Robert Roskoski, Jr., began synthesizing the NIH data tables into an annual set of reports ranking colleges who typically garner NIH funding and the basic science and clinical departments typically found in colleges of medicine who get NIH funding.

Like other national rankings, the annual reports have quickly become a much-used data point for NIH funded programs across the country.

Push for excellence in research and education leads to 16 position rise since last year

The USF Health Morsani College of Medicine has upped its game in the latest U.S. News & World Report Best Medical Schools rankings released March 16.  Medicine was among six professional school programs included in the U.S. News 2017 Best Graduate Schools rankings.

Fueled in part by increases in National Institutes of Health funding and average Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) scores, the University of South Florida’s medical school ranked #63 among the best medical schools for research – a significant rise from last year’s #79 ranking.  In the best medical schools for primary care ranking, USF jumped to #67 — up from #85 last year.

Over the last two years, under the leadership of Charles J. Lockwood, MD, senior vice president for USF Health and dean of the Morsani College of Medicine, USF Health has intently focused on driving for excellence in its academic missions – including aggressively pursuing more National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants and raising the bar on scholarly achievements for students and faculty.

The factors U.S. News weighs in ranking best medical schools for research include the amount of funding that faculty receive from NIH and a school’s selectivity in admitting students.  The Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research annual tabulations, considered a gold standard in research metrics for medical schools, recently ranked Morsani College of Medicine #48 among 139 medical schools with NIH funding in 2015, up from #88 in 2013 and #63 in 2014.  Applications have increased 40 percent in the last two years to more than 6,200, and entering student MCAT scores were the highest in the state.

“Our climb in the national rankings shows that the relentless pursuit of academic excellence has begun to yield solid successes in enhancing the quality of our research and in attracting the best and brightest students,” Dr. Lockwood said. “We still have much to do to maintain and advance these gains, but I’m confident that the momentum will be sustained as we work toward opening our new Morsani College of Medicine and Heart Institute in a thriving downtown waterfront district, close to our primary teaching hospital, Tampa General, and the USF Health Center for Advanced Medical Learning and Simulation.”

U.S. News surveyed 170 fully accredited medical schools and osteopathic schools of medicine for its 2017 Best Graduate Schools edition; 114 of these schools provided the data needed to calculate the rankings.

As part of the 2017 rankings, for the first time, U.S. News ranked Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) programs, which are rapidly growing to prepare nurses for the highest level of clinical practice.  The USF College of Nursing DNP program (#54) was in the 50th percentile of 149 nursing schools ranked.  This newest ranking was based upon surveys of nursing school deans and deans of graduate studies asked to rate the quality of accredited DNP programs, student selectivity and program size, faculty resources, and research activity.

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The largest class in the history of the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine filled the stage of the Carol Morsani Hall in the Straz Center for Performing Arts April 21 as graduating seniors accepted their academic hoods and diplomas.

The USF Health Morsani College of Medicine Class of 2016.

The Class of 2016 included 172 graduates, along with university and community leaders, stood before friends and family and officially became doctors.

“Today we celebrate truly great traditions in the profession of medicine, the hooding of our new physicians and the taking of the Hippocratic oath, ceremonies with deep historical roots that are as moving today as when I received my own doctoral hood and took the Hippocratic oath 35 years ago,” said Charles J. Lockwood, MD, dean of the Morsani College of Medicine and senior vice president for USF Health.

“This commencement marks an end as well as a beginning, as each of you commit yourselves to the lifelong pursuit of the art and science of healing.”

Dr. Charles Lockwood, senior vice president for USF Health and dean of the Morsani College of Medicine.

Because of his impact as an internationally renowned medicinal chemist and physician who has distinguished himself through his humanitarian commitment and passion to eradicate infectious diseases, Jean-Francois Rossignol, MD, PhD, was presented with an honorary degree.

“What a great honor to be presented with this prestigious award,” Dr. Rossignol said. “I’m very touched and very proud of it and looking forward to spending more time with USF.”

Accepting the Honorary MD Degree is Dr. Jean-Francois Rossignol.

Taking the opportunity to be the first to address the graduating class as physicians, James Gern, MD, greeted the group.

“Good morning doctors,” Dr. Gern said.

He then went on to help the students see themselves by offering them a reflective look at questions he posed the group weeks before: What is one of your best memories from medical school? What is a challenge that you overcame in the last four years? And what is a current and important challenge to the medical profession and/or delivery of quality health care? Grouping the student responses by the themes that emerged, Dr. Gern shared with all some of the highs and lows, from post-exam celebrations and pranks and frog gigging on the Hillsborough River at night, to maintaining balance between work and life and overcoming prejudice and staying happily married, to trying to remain patient-centered and remembering compassion and eliminating health disparities.

Commencement guest speaker and Distinguished Physician Alumnus Awardee, Dr. James Gern.

“As you enter the next step in your training, try to find something you care deeply about,” Dr. Gern urged the group. “And listen to your patients; smile and ask why the young mother seems unnecessarily worried about her child. And finally, remember to balance your medical career and home life; devote time to relationships, your family, your children. Be a soccer coach. Be a soccer player. Maintain a positive mindset. And go frog gigging on the Hillsborough River. Once again, congratulations on your graduation.”

Jeff Vinik accepts the Dean’s Award from Dr. Lockwood.

Jeff Vinik accepted the Dean’s Award in recognition of his inspired vision for downtown Tampa and his generous gesture of making sure the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine and the USF Health Heart Institute are part of that vision.

“Dr. Lockwood and Dr. Genshaft, I’m so honored to receive this award,” Vinik said. “I’m proud of the many things that we have accomplish, but there is nothing I’m more proud of than our partnerships – and that’s with an ‘s’ on the end – with the University of South Florida. We at the Lightning are almost soul mates with the University of South Florida. Our objectives – quality outcomes, major community advocacy, major community participation – we’re all working together to make this Tampa Bay community a better place. It’s such a pleasure to work with the people at USF and equally a pleasure to work on this College of Medicine. The School is in design right now and construction will get under way in 2017. We hope that in 2019 there is a great new medical school building and a great new heart institute. We commit to USF and USF Health; we do not take our responsibility lightly of having the College come downtown. We commit to create an engaging and vibrant 24/7 district, where students and faculty of the USF med school will want to be, helping them recruit and retain the highest quality students and graduates. I’m very thankful for this award and look forward to many years ahead with USF and having more partnerships and working together to make this a better place.”

Jeff Vinik.

Then, in unison, the students recited the Oath of Hippocrates, led by John Curran, MD, professor of pediatrics, associate vice president for Faculty and Academic Affairs at USF Health, and senior executive associate dean for Faculty and Academic Affairs at the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine. Following that, USF System President Judy Genshaft conferred the Doctor of Medicine degree for the students in toto and, as each name was recited by Kira Zwygart, MD, associate professor and associate dean for MCOM Student Affairs, students walked to center stage to receive their academic hoods and diplomas.

USF System President Judy Genshaft.

Dr. Zwygart introduced everyone in the Carol Morsani Hall to the now graduated Class of 2016, which was followed by a roar of applause.

Dr. Kira Zwygart.

In the tradition of the College, a student is chosen among classmates for providing the Farewell From the Class and this year that student was Neil Manimala. Harking back to the group’s first semester together, Dr. Manimala recalled the postponement they had for their first exam because of a hurricane.

“The hurricane did come, but I think you’d agree that it never really went away over the last four years,” Dr. Manimala said. “The most important thing that brought us here today is that tiny thing called hope. Class of 2016! Hope is like a mustard seed – one of the smallest of all seeds, it is a speck in the palm of your hand. But plant that little seed in the right soil and tend it. Let it grow, and it can become one of the greatest of trees – a tree that cannot be shaken by any wind or storm, not even by a hurricane.”

Dr. Neil Manimala provided the Farewell From the Class.

He reminded his fellow graduates that the storm can also provide clarity for why they became physicians.

“Our hope allows us to find solidarity,” Dr. Manimala continued. “It’s that mustard seed so firmly planted in each of our hearts that brings us together, and I pray it will bring you each closer to those you treat. That hope is holding the hand of your beloved patient as he realizes his time on earth is coming to an end, as he tells you that all he wants is to go home and tend his garden, to be with his family – that even when the prognosis is poor, there could still be dignity.”

He then carried his metaphor forward, offering a parallel to the future that was ahead.

“We sometimes talk about doctors who have a God complex, putting up walls of elitism and detachment,” he said. “I submit to you today that yes, we should try to imitate God. But even when you can have it all, with all the knowledge and power, all the privilege and prestige, it’s alright to be weak – to shed a tear with your patients, to let love break down the barriers that separate us.  It’s okay to be on the losing end, to know what it means to be poor and in debt, to be overworked, and to have no voice.  It’s when you’re small, just like a mustard seed, when you see the true power of your community – the gift of the family that allows you to grow.”

 Listen to Dr. Neil Manimala’s entire speech here.

The final offering for the 2016 MCOM Commencement was the Charge to the Class, this year by Steven C. Specter, PhD, associate dean for Alumni Relations and director of the MD Career Advising. He, too, was chosen by the class to provide culminating words of encouragement and promise for what was to come for this group of 172.

Dr. Steven Specter congratulates graduates along the Faculty Path of Honor.

Dr. Specter urged the group to remember two words across their careers: be happy.

“Keep these two words with you throughout your careers, throughout all aspects of your lives,” he told the new doctors, and then added his own ideas for how they could succeed in being happy. “Make a set of basic rules to live by and apply them to your patients, colleagues, families and friends consistently. The first is attitude – each day you get to choose your attitude, pick a positive productive demeanor and think about this when you rise in the morning. Make time to play, even at work. Nothing will put your patients, staff, colleagues and family at ease more than a lighthearted spirit. Actively seek to improve the day for each person you encounter in your day, and that includes yourself. Pay attention to your patients when you ask them a question; don’t be thinking of the next question – be in the moment with your patients. My final point is to empower your patients and everyone with whom you share your work and your life.”

Dr. Specter emphasized this last point.

“You must tell a patient both why they should be taking an action to improve their health as well as what they must do,” Dr. Specter said. “Making them an empowered partner also will enhance compliance. You will have healthier, happier patients and, in turn, you will be happy.”

And with that, 172 new physicians stood and marched out of the Morsani Hall, passing between lines of faculty as they applauded the graduates, and into their new lives as healers.

With graduating students is Dr. Michael Schoenberg, president of the MCOM Faculty, who carried the College’s Mace.

Dr. Bryan Bognar, vice dean of MCOM Educational Affairs.

MCOM Class of 2016.

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Dr. John Curran led the recitation of the Hippocratic Oath.

Alexandra Printz receives her academic hood.

Carol Morsani Hall was filled with family and friends.

Dr. Matthew Widner with his son Luca amid the swirl of celebration.

Following graduation, nine new physicians took an oath to serve as part the military promotions ceremony. From left are Ben Fedeles, Tyler Paul, Keith Groshans, Cameron Paterson, Seth Grubb, Dr. Richard Mayers, who officiated, Joshua Stramiello, Melissa Rosas, Alvancin Louis, and Pete Silverman.

Multimedia by Sandra C. Roa, photos by Eric Younghans, USF Health Office of Communications.

Always do what’s best for your patients. This is the advice presented to 121 second-year medical students as they formally entered their third year of medical school at the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine’s (MCOM) annual Student Clinician Ceremony, held June 2.

“If you make this your one abiding principle, you will have a rich life in this field of medicine,” said Michael Albrink, MD, associate professor of surgery for MCOM.

Reflecting on his own career and his early decision to follow his grandfather’s footsteps to be a physician, Dr. Albrink shared with the students the lessons he has learned: observe everything –pay attention to the ways of the past; protect yourself – you’ll find that patients die and you have remain strong and not let that affect the care you give your next patient; and study hard – learn a lot, be a sponge for knowledge, but know that there are things we will never know.

Dr. Michael Albrink.

Summing up, he smiled and told them to “fasten your seatbelts – it’s going to be the fastest two years of your life.”

Friends and family shared in the event in the USF School of Music Concert Hall, which signifies the next step in medical education for these students – when they transition from primarily classroom learning to more clinical and hospital settings where they will interact with patients.

Charles Lockwood, MD, MHCM, senior vice president for USF Health and dean for the Morsani College of Medicine, urged the group to revisit the promise they made when they received their white coats.

“We hope tonight will underscore the fact that you have to provide holistic care to your patients,” Dr. Lockwood said. “When you meet your patient, you have to be totally there at that moment, with them and with their families.”

Dr. Charles Lockwood.

He then advised them to remain focused on value-based care.

“You all are entering medicine at a time of enormous transition,” he said. “Our entire method of providing care is evolving that will require you to understand populations and community health and to think about the environment your patient is coming from. Is it safe? Do they have clean water? Do they have adequate access to food? Your generation will be the best trained and the best equipped, both mentally and in terms of technology, to take care of patients in the history of medicine.”

Following Dr. Lockwood, Craig Doupnik, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology and director of the preclerkship curriculum, presented Preclerkship Commendation in Medical Science awards to 42 students (listed below, and including 11 SELECT students) for their sustained excellence across all aspects of the first two years of medical school.

Dr. Craig Doupnik.

Then, based on selections made by students, five MCOM faculty resident physicians were presented with Humanism and Excellence in Teaching Awards for their exceptional effort for inspiring students to be more. The awardees were presented by fourth-year medical students Nakul Batra and Robert Ackerman and the awardees are: Kelsey Schuette, MD (primary care), Tara Saco, MD, (adult medicine), Christie Carter, MD, (maternal newborn/inpatient pediatrics), Lila Cohan, MD, (general surgery), and Matt Morrison, MD, (psychiatry and neurology).

The awards are provided by the Arnold P. Gold Foundation, which also provides a grant that supports the Clinicians Ceremony.

Offering a change in tradition, Bryan Bognar, MD, MPH, FACP, professor of internal medicine and vice dean for MCOM Educational Affairs, welcomed Deborah DeWaay, MD, associate dean for Undergraduate Medical Education, to lead the students in reciting the Oath of Commitment.

Dr. Deborah DeWaay.

Then together the Class of 2018 stood and recited in unison promises of respect, ethics, compassion, professionalism and gratitude.

MCOM Class of 2018.

The students earning Preclerkship Commendation in Medical Science Awards (42 Core and 11 SELECT) are:

Corin Agoris
Katherine Allen
Brian Atkinson
Amy Bauer
Mark Bender
Andrew Benz
Michael Binner
Nicholas Castner
Zachary Christopher
Leah Clark
Amanda Copenhaver
Doris Deng
Hieu Diep
Garrett Fitzpatrick
Faris Galambo
Alena Golubkova
Curtis Gravenmier
David Hallowell
Donna Hassani
Alexandria Holmes
Jaime Ibanez
William Jin
Elodie Jospitre
Timothy Juwono
Melanie Kaplanek
Min Kong
Christine Le
Robert Levy
Nanxing Li
Kristen Marcet
Matthew Mills
Bryce Montane
Yuliya Oumarbaeva
Nirav Patel
Raj Ashok Patel
Tyag Patel
Abby Pribish
Gina Provenzano
Alisha Rathi
Michael Roberts
Mark Schattschneider
Priscilla Shen
Monica Stewart
Christopher Story
Tyler Stutzman
Kelly Thomas
Rose Tillis
Kavian Toosi
Courtney Uhlar
Lauren Uichanco
Joseph Wasselle
Chelsea Wilson
Damien Zreibe

Photos by Eric Younghans, USF Health Office of Communications.

The Florida Department of Health (DOH) has been a long-standing partner of the USF College of Public Health. This year that bond grows stronger with the DOH’s recent accreditation.

In March, the state’s DOH became the first in the nation to achieve national accreditation through the Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB)’s integrated local public health department system application.

The DOH’s state health office in Tallahassee, in addition to all 67 local health departments, became accredited as a one centralized system. This effort required a huge undertaking by both central office and local health department staff and the various PHAB site reviewers.

“Obtaining accreditation status demonstrates our collective efforts to continuously improve the quality and performance of the public health services we provide on a daily basis to our local community,” said Douglas Holt, MD, professor and director of the Division of Infectious Diseases and International Medicine, USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, and director of the DOH in Hillsborough County.

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