Florida State University College of Medicine - Electronic Medical Review (EMR) -

M.D. STUDENTS, GRADUATE STUDENTS, POSTDOCS, RESIDENTS

MEDICAL STUDENTS

Twenty students from the Class of 2012, along with Dean John Fogarty, have been elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society for the Delta Chapter at the College of Medicine. They are Katie Alonso, Tara Chumbris, Mark Cogburn, Casey Cosgrove, Laura Diamond, Christina Dornshuld, Aaron Hilton, Adam Holers, Joseph Lesnick, Diana Mauldin, Maegan McCarthy, Paul McLendon, Sarah Mike, Brian O'Hara, Jiwon Park, Monica Pena, Coley Sheriff, Michael Silverstein, Helen Travis (pictured here) and Mary Walch.

The motto of Alpha Omega Alpha is “Be Worthy to Serve the Suffering.” The organization recognizes and advocates for excellence in scholarship and the highest ideals in the profession of medicine. Its values include honesty, honorable conduct, morality, virtue, unselfishness, ethical ideals, dedication to serving others and leadership.

A ceremony will be held this spring to celebrate the newly inducted members. In his announcement to the medical school, Clinical Sciences Chair Ricardo Gonzalez-Rothi added, “To those who have had the pleasure and privilege of mentoring and interacting with these wonderful students over the past four years, thank you for your contribution to their achievements.”

The illustration “Invent Yourself,” by medical student/artist Zach Folzenlogen (Class of 2013), appears on the cover of the current issue of Academic Medicine.

Shermeeka Hogans-Mathews (Class of 2015) has received a $1,000 New Leaf Market Memorial Scholarship. The Matthew Tansey Scholarship is awarded annually to a student

enrolled in a health, healing or nutrition program. The scholarship organizers wrote: “Shermeeka … is married, a mother of three, and was teaching at West Gadsden High School. She also volunteers at her church as bookkeeper, assistant youth choir director, substitute Sunday school teacher, church publicist, and assistant secretary to the pastor. In the past she had her own academic consulting and tutoring service.... Shermeeka also gained a wealth of clinical experience during her years of employment at Thagard Student Health Center. Shermeeka would like to specialize in family medicine, and incorporate preventive medicine in her daily practice.... She was once an underserved patient, and has walked in the shoes of many of the patients she now seeks to serve.”

Monica Chatwal (Class of 2013) received a $1,000 Edward R. Annis, M.D. Medical Student Scholarship through the Florida Medical Association.

Rick Sims (Class of 2014) was inducted into the Seminole Torchbearers, an organization that recognizes distinguished student leaders for their

involvement on campus. The detailed nomination letter cited Sims’ involvement in FSUCares, the American Medical Association, the Christian Medical Association, the Curriculum Development Committee and more. It outlined his volunteer work in the community, such as preparing and serving food at The Shelter, recruiting student volunteers for Neighborhood Health Services, mentoring a prospective medical student and remaining active in his church. The nominator wrote, “He is an exemplary manifestation of a true Seminole.”

Every year, organizers of the Rural Education Orientation Program introduce new College of Medicine students to rural North Florida. They hope the students’ first look won’t be their last. So they were delighted in August when they received this photo from Judy Barber with the Liberty/Calhoun Health Department. Sheldon Brown, left, and John Hahn were among eight s

tudents who had gone back to Blountstown on a Saturday to help out with a Children’s Fair. Chris Leadem, associate dean for student affairs and admissions, said the volunteer effort was

arranged by Paula Domino (Class of 2015, pictured at right), who heard about the health fair during their REOP visit, then recruited seven classmates to help out. She said about 700 kids and their families attended. “We really appreciate the contribution of the students,” Peggy Deason-Howland, R.N., of Calhoun-Liberty Healthy Start, said in an email to Professor Gail Bellamy, director of the Center for Rural Health Research and Policy. “Their enthusiasm was contagious.” Bellamy replied: “When Dr. [Maggie] Blackburn and I envisioned ... the half day that the students spent with you in Calhoun County, we hoped the students would connect with the community they visited and get involved. We were thrilled to get Judy’s note and photos AND grateful for your involvement, enthusiasm and support.”

Brett Thomas, president of the Class of 2014, has been invited to present his paper “Contributors of Black Men’s Success in Admission to and Graduation from Medical School” in February at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York.

These are the Class of 2015 officers for 2011-12: Geami Britt, president (pictured here); Jonny Salud, vice president; Nicole Miller, secretary; Adam Engel, treasurer; Ryan Brosch, social chair; Laura Irastorza, historian chair; Joanna Meadors, hospitality chair; An Lawrence, gala chair; and Steven Lambrou, IT/Library chair.

UNDERGRADUATES
Max Richardson, Assistant Professor Sanjay Kumar’s undergraduate honors student, has received a Bess Ward Honors Thesis Award of $967 from the FSU Honors Office to support academic work that will lead to his honors thesis.

GRADUATE STUDENTS

Ph.D. candidate Azariyas Challa has had a manuscript published in Molecular and Cellular Biology, titled “A Novel Role of Vimentin Filaments: Binding and Stabilization of Collagen mRNAs.” In addition, an image from his paper has been selected for the cover.

Find more about the image as well as a link to the original article.

POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWS
Postdocs Hyeong-min Lee and Rongmin Chen, both from the lab of Assistant Professor Choogon Lee, Ph.D., have published a research article titled “The period of the circadian oscillator is primarily determined by the balance between CK1 and PP1” in PNAS. They are the first co-authors.

SACRED HEART HOSPITAL RESIDENCY PROGRAMS
The Journal for Minority Medical Students’ Residency Match Guide for 2011 had on its cover a beaming young woman holding up her “Congratulations, you have matched!” letter. If you peer closely at the letter, you can see that Patricia Onuegbu of Mercer University matched in pediatrics with the College of Medicine’s residency program at Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola. Also in the online issue are the smiling faces of two members of the College of Medicine’s Class of 2011, Marlisha Jackson Edwards and Cara Prier.

Fourth-year Ob/Gyn resident Sasha Siassipour tied for third place in the Florida Ob/Gyn Society/ACOG District XII all-resident research competition. Her research was “Prevalence of high-risk HPV in the oropharynx of high-risk patients.”


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