Dean's Newsletter
Archive of previous newsletters
Alpha Omega Alpha, Part 2: The Inductees
February 28, 2007
In Part 1 of this newsletter, I provided a brief history of AΩA and the inspiring keynote lecture by Arthur Moss, M.D., entitled "The Four Faces of Medicine." Part 2 is devoted to the inductees. February 7, 2007 marked a special day in which we recognized the achievements of some of our most extraordinary students, residents, faculty and alumni. There were warm feelings all around, enhanced by many of the families who were able to attend the lecture and induction dinner. Listed below are our 2007 AΩA inductees, as introduced at the dinner.
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Photo key: front row from left to right: Back row from left to right: |
Student Inductees
The following students were introduced by their advisor, Lawrence Guttmacher, MD:
Jessica Felt--Jessica is a Seattle native who attended Carleton College. In addition to her superb academic record, she has a number of major outside interests. She met her significant other, Dan, while they worked on technical theater in college. After her graduation from Carleton, she remained in Minnesota, working in a local emergency room while Dan finished up. Dan has been working at GEVA and will probably enter graduate school in electrical engineering. Jessica has also been quite active with the martial art, aikido, and has been very involved with UR Well at St. Joe's, where she has been on the steering committee working to oversee their medication procurement and distribution. While working with Operation Smile in Ecuador after her first year, she found herself gravitating towards the head of the table and her interest in anesthesia as a career was born.
Alicia Jacob-Zysman (now Zysman-Cromwell)--The daughter of Nan Jacob and Jules Zysman, long-time family practitioners in Honeoye Falls. Alicia took her undergraduate education at Princeton, with a major in molecular biology. She spent the summer after her first year working on HIV/AIDS research in Cameroon. She briefly attempted to resist genetic and familial influences, but found herself pulled inexorably back to family medicine. She attributes her choice of specialty to being more passionate about prevention than treating acute illness. She has been Vice President of the Class Student Council, has been an alternate on the Honor Board, and managed to continue to perform as a dancer while in medical school. Her significant other, Matt, who has been employed at Excellus, recently purchased a house with her in the South Wedge. We might take this homesteading as a subtle indication of her long-range residency interests.
Waseem Khan--Waseem had the misfortune of growing up as the son of an Associate Dean--in his case his father was Associate Dean of the School of Engineering at the University of Portland. He managed to overcome this obstacle and graduated from the same school, maxima cum laude, with a 3.99 GPA. He spent a year after graduation doing research and traveling around North America, Pakistan, and Hong Kong. After his first year, he married a woman with a Masters degree in nonprofit finance. Waseem was one of the two recipients of the Lange Publishing Medical Student Award given to the top students in the first year. For a good time, he reads 19th century Russian literature.
Joy Knopf--This will need to be a literate summary since Ms. Knopf holds a masters degree in English Literature from Wake Forest. Her thesis was on gender and the crisis of authority in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. She had previously received her BA in English Literature from William Smith College. After finishing her master's degree, she began to work for city government in Winston-Salem. She also began to volunteer at a local hospital and a free clinic and this experience, as well as being present at her sister's delivery, led her to realize that medicine would offer her meaning and satisfaction in her work. She completed premedical studies and then entered the U of R. To her utter surprise, she found herself fascinated by surgery and by urology in particular. She became involved with urologic research here, participated in several publications, and learned that this is what she wanted to do with her life.
The following introductions were written by their advisor, Elizabeth Naumburg, MD. Dr. Naumburg could not attend the AΩA dinner and her comments were read by Dr. Guttmacher:
Ben McClintic is so easygoing and self-effacing that it is easy to be unaware of his extensive accomplishments. But in every arena--research, leadership, community service and academic achievement--Ben has excelled. He has participated in research continuously through medical school, producing a published abstract and has other manuscripts in process. He has served as the Vice President for class council for three years, performed as a member of "On Call", the medical school a cappella group, and volunteered as a math tutor for 6th and 7th grade students and at UR Well, the student-run free clinic. In addition to AΩA he was inducted into the Gold Humanism Honor Society. He is an unfailingly kind and reliable individual, which has garnered him the respect of his teachers and his classmates. He could be cast as the quiet hero in a Western, a la Gary Cooper or Jimmy Stewart, the one with an easy smile and soft spoken manner, who saves the town and wins the "girl" in the end.
Catherine Moore is a delightful young woman and an astute clinician. She is the daughter of a clinical psychologist and electrical engineer, and I agree with her that she is a combination of those talents. A gifted teacher, she excels at synthesizing information and presenting it in an accessible fashion. This ability and a passion for serving others have led to many hours of community service at numerous settings: Sojourner House, Mercy Residential Services, UR Well, and the Alternatives for Battered Women Art Auction, to name a few. She has also tutored medical students and taught EEG administration to technicians in Rome, New York. If Kate were asked for the highlight of her medical school experience, my guess is that she would say the trip to Poland, where she interacted with medical students and had the chance to learn about the culture there. I see in her future serving as a course director or clerkship director- some combination of Barbara Davis and Ralph Jozefowicz.
Alexis Mottl has the kind of sparkling personality, positive energy and sensitivity to others that makes her a welcome participant in every situation. Her induction into the Gold Humanism Honor Society is a testament to this. During medical school she has fulfilled several leadership roles including: serving as Vice President and Treasurer for the University Chapter of AMSA, attending the AMSA Leaders Conference in Washington, DC in 2004, serving on the URSMD Selection Committee for AAMC Humanism in Medicine Award, and co-organizer of the Annual Fundraiser Art Auction for the Association for Battered Women. She also published a meta-analysis on the treatment of adolescents with Hodgkin's Lymphoma and tutored a teenager with learning disabilities. Allie was invited to give the student address at the "White Coat Ceremony", the culmination of orientation week for the class of 2010. Here are some of the things that she told that eager first year class.
In a story about Allie's first week of medical school and a fortune cookie fortune that said "The struggle is over", she said "It was as if that cookie knew how it feels to be a new medical student. It knows how hard we've worked to be here, how many hours and insecurities we've toiled through. It was as if the cookie said, "The wind is at your sails, go forth with ease… Yes, you are about to work very hard, but you've done that before. Yes, there will be obstacles, but you will rise to them, like you always have." Clearly Allie took that cookie's advice to heart and went on with the wind in her sails.
The following introductions, also written by Dr. Naumburg, were read by Dr. Frank Richeson:
Sara Peterson is "a quiet star", a particularly apt quote from her Internal Medicine evaluation. She possesses all of the attributes that are desirable in a physician; she is efficient, organized, reliable and takes a positive, can-do attitude towards work and life. She is also a committed athlete--running, swimming, playing tennis or most recently, golf, virtually every day. As an athlete, she started medical school with an interest in orthopedics and put in her time studying osteoclasts, osteoblasts and the like. But after some agonizing soul searching she shifted directions towards the specialty of medicine. She also found the time to participate in numerous service activities--from tutoring a 6th grade student and fellow medical students to organizational work like PAH MD. My prediction is that Ms. Peterson is going to continue on this path in residency, growing from a "quiet star" to a stellar clinician and shining leader.
Anthony Petraglia's personality traits of compassion, perseverance, and enthusiasm are complemented by humility and receptivity to learning from others. From the beginning of medical school, he talked about his love for research and his plans to pursue a career as a clinician-scientist. He has demonstrated his commitment and his abilities in the basic science arena, including a first-authored publication in the prestigious journal Nature Medicine and a CV that would make many junior faculty envious, with its list of abstracts, awards and grants. In addition, he has shown a steady commitment to community service and physician citizenship. For example, in his spare time he has collaborated with WXXI and will be the first presenter on a locally produced television series to educate the community through patient storytelling--all produced and run by medical students with faculty supervision. Anthony is truly motivated to be the best that he can be in everything that he does and has succeeded in multiple arenas. There is no doubt that he has a stellar future ahead as an academic physician researcher and that the University of Rochester is truly fortunate that he has chosen to stay here for his training in Neurosurgery.
The following students were introduced by their advisor, Frank Richeson, MD:
Since all four of my students are headed for residencies in Internal Medicine (and at least two are leaning toward Cardiology), I should begin by recusing myself from any role in the selection process. Moreover, I need to stipulate that I had no role in guiding them toward their career choice – I would ascribe it instead to their great intelligence and good judgment.
Gretchen Rickards
Gretchen pursued a non-traditional path to medical school. Having graduated from Princeton, she was well into a consulting career for a software company when the premature death of her father caused her to re-evaluate her life's goals. She decided to dedicate herself to the pursuit of healing. After completing the post-bacc curriculum at Bryn Mawr, we were lucky to attract her to Rochester, where her outstanding intellect and personal qualities have been stellar confirmations of her decision to become a doctor. Having won a military scholarship to medical school, Gretchen is the only student among this group who knows her address after July: she has matched to Tripler Army Medical Center in Honolulu.
Andrew Sauer
I have often said that my goal in life is to be half the man that my dog thinks that I am. I suppose a corollary of that will now need to be that I hope to be half the physician that I expect Andrew Sauer to become. Like me, Andrew is a Midwesterner; like me, Andrew has an interest in Cardiology; the similarities seem to break down after that, as Andrew is an accomplished researcher, has an exceptionally keen, analytical, and questioning mind, and has a warmth and humanity about him that would be a source of pride to George Engel.
John Scherer
As Michiganders would have it, John hails from the index finger DIP joint of the state. John's decision to enter medical school, I understand, was a great disappointment to his family, which believes that dentistry is the most noble profession, so John had to rehabilitate his stature within the family by excelling throughout his tenure here. John is a calm, easy-going guy who brings an air of quiet competence to the bedside of his patients. John has had great accomplishments throughout medical school, but perhaps the greatest accomplishment is to capture the heart of the next AΩA inductee, with whom he is "couples matching."
Karolina Zareba
It had been the case that Karolina's claim to fame was her parentage. Her father is a colleague of mine in the Cardiology Unit, and her mother is a toxicologist here. Since her arrival in medical school, however, Karolina has achieved a stature of her own making. Like her father, Karolina is an accomplished researcher (already bearing a long list of publications) and a fine, caring human being. Unlike her father, she is very attractive; I'm not certain about this, but I wouldn't be surprised if she's a better tennis player than he is.
The following student inductees were introduced by their advisor, David Lambert, MD:
Kim Corbin: Poise, professionalism and perfection--three words that describe Kim Corbin well. This Cornhusker left the Midwest to come to Rochester and we are all fortunate she did. While the description of her in the program covers some of her achievements--graduated University of Nebraska with high distinction in Biochemistry, and extensive community service while a medical student here--what it does not convey is her highly professional conduct and the poise and compassion with which she provides care. The importance of detail is clear to her as all she does is done with perfection as the goal. Don't let her academic and clinical skills hide her other side. She is as comfortable on a Harley motorcycle as she is on an oncology ward--and again equally adept in both worlds. Her contributions to community service included a program where children could turn in guns and swords for other toys. This led to the poignant tale of a young child in Rochester whose relative turned in his older brother's revolver and the young boy asked if he could get a toy in exchange. Sometimes the depth and impact of what students can accomplish is not always known. Kim will excel in her chosen field of radiation oncology.
Kate Blumoff: Arriving in medical school with a strong public health background, Kate Blumoff has contributed not only to her patients but also to her colleagues. Her voice in small groups could always be heard and I always liked the fact that I didn't have to ask her what she thought of a controversial issue. She presents her beliefs well with an appreciation and understanding of differing views. Perhaps it is the influence of being raised by a law professor and a chief financial officer, or just southern charm from her native Georgia. Whatever the reason, she is a gentle, kind, and effective advocate. Possessing a deep appreciation for diversity and autonomy, Kate has been in Israel, Poland, Honduras, Kenya and other locations around the world. The diligence she possesses to get a job completed is truly remarkable and she has a great endurance. Introspective and self-aware, in a discussion with her in the past she reflected and shared that in medical school she not only learned medicine but she also learned a lot about herself and grew tremendously. I have been fortunate to watch her arrive as a gifted student and soar to even higher levels. I look forward to her continued successes and adventures in the years ahead in the field of Family Medicine.
Alumni Inductee
James D. Cox, MD, Class of 1965 (Introduced by David S. Guzick, MD, PhD):
Dr. James Cox, Class of 1965, is Professor of Radiation Oncology and Director of the Division of Radiation Oncology at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, where he holds the Hubert and Olive Stringer Distinguished Chair in Oncology. The author of more than 400 publications, Dr. Cox is widely known for his ongoing leadership in the design, implementation and analysis of clinical trials in oncology, which have led to more effective therapy for a variety of cancers. He has served as President and then Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ASTRO), and has chaired the NCI's Committee of Clinical Trials Cooperative Group Chairs. He is past President of both the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology and the Society of Chairmen of Academic Oncology programs. We are extremely pleased to have Dr. Cox as our alumni inductee for 2007.
Resident and faculty inductees are chosen by the students. Here are their choices for 2007, along with their comments:
Resident Inductees:
Chris Burke, MD, PGY3, Department of Neurology (Introduced by AΩA inductee, Catherine Moore): Dr. Chris Burke is an outstanding resident who served as an excellent role model and teacher during our weeks on the Neurology Wards. Dr. Burke has an interest in Interventional and Endovascular Neurology, and is currently investigating the clinical application of transcranial Doppler in stroke. In addition to his impressive academic pursuits, Chris has managed to excel in the musical and theatrical arena, performing as Caiaphas in New Orleans production of Jesus Christ Superstar and as the pianist for Mirabeau (meer'-a-boo) Avenue Jazz Trio in New Orleans while in medical school. Perhaps most impressive is Dr. Burke's ability to foster an intellectually rigorous work environment, full of enough humor and sharp wit to keep colleagues and medical students alike on their toes. It truly is an honor to present this award to Chris.
Tran La, MD, Chief Resident, Department of Medicine (Introduced by AΩA inductee, Katherine Blumoff): When we were first told that our chapter could select residents for teaching awards, I immediately thought of Dr.Tran La. She was, without a doubt, the single best teaching resident I have ever worked with. She used each and every teachable moment to help both her medical students and junior residents grow professionally and personally; she is a stellar example of both humanism in medicine and technical excellence. Tran was born in Vietnam, and spent a year in a refugee camp in Malaysia, before being sponsored to Salt Lake City UT where she grew up. She went to college on a full scholarship at the University of Maryland, and then back to Utah for medical school. She came to Rochester for her internal medicine residency and is currently a chief resident. She received the Pulsifer award for excellence in primary care and hopes to work in primary care after a few years as a hospitalist. Whatever she does in the upcoming years, her patients and their families will be incredibly lucky to have such a caring and intelligent physician. I hope that her career includes teaching, so that others can benefit as I have. It gives me great pleasure to present this award to Dr.Tran La.
Ryan Nelson, MD, PGY 2, Department of Medicine (Introduced by AΩA inductee, Karolina Zareba): Ryan Curtis Nelson was born and raised in Webster, NY. He graduated from Webster High School and attended Cornell University where he majored in Biology. As an undergraduate he participated in research in the Department of Applied and Engineering Physics, where he helped develop a protocol for imaging chromaffin cells. Ryan then attended medical school at the University at Buffalo where he met his future wife, Carrie, as well as developed an interest in internal medicine and cardiology. His passion for medicine took him to Hungary for a forensic pathology course; however, as I learned from a mutual friend his big achievement was sampling every single beer made in Eastern Europe. He then followed his wife to the University of Rochester for an Internal Medicine Residency. He is currently involved in research exploring the link between pulmonary hypertension and renal failure in obese patients with right-sided volume overload. He is applying for a fellowship in cardiology. Congratulations, Ryan!
Faculty Inductees:
John Bisognano, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine, Division of Cardiology (Introduced by AΩA inductee, Andrew Sauer): Dr. John D. Bisognano is originally from upstate New York. He began his education at MIT and ultimately obtained degrees in Biology, Political Science, and Chemistry followed by a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry and an M.D. at SUNY Upstate. He trained in Internal Medicine at the University of Michigan followed by a fellowship in Cardiology at the University of Colorado. He was soon recruited by the University of Rochester Medical Center to become Director of Cardiac Rehabilitation and Preventive Cardiology. He has been a prolific investigator, publishing numerous articles in both basic and clinical translational research journals. He is an expert in the management of refractory hypertension. Among students, residents and fellows he is recognized as an exemplary teacher. Prior teaching awards include the Lawrence Kohn Fellowship for Teaching Excellence, the Kuhn Teaching Fellowship for Outstanding Medical Student Teaching and the University of Rochester Bauman Award for Best Faculty Teaching in Internal Medicine.
Garrett Riggs, MD, Assistant Professor of Neurology (Introduced by AΩA inductee, Anthony Petraglia): Dr. Riggs completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Kentucky in Linguistics with High Distinction and Departmental Honors. He then went on to get his masters in Communicative Disorders at the University of Louisville, where he also received both his medical degree and PhD in Anatomy and Neurobiolgy. (The common thread here is brain and language relationships.) After medical school he took his neurology training at the University of Alabama at Birmingham; and then came to Rochester to complete a fellowship in Experimental Therapeutics as well as a second fellowship in Cognitive & Behavioral Neurology. Dr. Riggs has accomplished a tremendous amount in such a short period of time. He most recently received the A.B. Baker Neurology Teaching Award from the American Academy of Neurology and has won numerous other teaching honors. He is a busy academician with a devotion to his patients, research, and students. Dr. Riggs' clinical practice is focused on disorders of cognition and behavioral neurology. A physician-scientist in the truest sense, Dr. Riggs research interests include everything from Neuroethics to Neurolinguistics, which involves trying to determine how the brain works to produce insight, judgment, and our ability to reason and remember things. He has authored numerous peer-reviewed publications and has been invited to give more than 100 presentations. In his spare time, Dr. Riggs is an avid reader and if he's not reading, he's collecting and restoring antique books. He is also an accomplished musician, playing both the flute and piano, and enjoys hiking and outdoor photography. It is clear that Dr. Riggs practice as a physician exemplifies and embodies what it means to be elected to membership in AΩA. He exhibits professionalism, scholarship, leadership and service; the four core visions of AΩA.
Jules Zysman, MD, Clinical Volunteer Faculty (Introduced by AΩA inductee Alicia Zysman-Cromwell): I am very excited to be able to present the award for Clinical Volunteer Faculty to Jules Zysman who, as many of you know, happens also to be my father. Jules, a Family Physician, was born and raised in Newark, NJ. He completed his undergraduate degree in biology at Rutgers University, graduating Phi Beta Kappa. He continued at Rutgers University for medical school, where he met and married his wife, Nadette Jacob. Upon graduation in 1977, he was elected to AΩA. He completed his residency in the newly created field of Family Medicine at Highland Family Medicine, serving as Chief Resident during his final year. After residency, Jules and Nadette went into private practice in Honeoye Falls, NY where they have been serving Southern Monroe, Ontario and Livingston Counties for the past 26 years. Teaching has always been one of Jules' passions. As a Clinical Associate Professor at UR, he has been teaching medical students and residents for the past 26 years. He is currently one of the only members of clinical faculty who has volunteered to simultaneously have 1st and 2nd year Ambulatory Clerkship students as well as 3rd and 4th years on their clinical electives. His teaching style is unique--hands on and interactive. He assigns his students continuity patients, makes sure to bring them in to see interesting findings, and gives heart murmur and EKG reading talks that clarify things for even the most confused medical students. His student reviews have consistently been so glowing that he was recently asked to lead a class for ACE instructors on how to be a better preceptor. In recent years his teaching activities have extended to include writing a PBL for the Molecules to Cells course, giving a lecture based on this PBL, and PBL and small group tutoring. All this, mind you, is done purely as a volunteer. Amazingly, after 26 years leading the hectic, and often underappreciated, life of a small town family doctor, Jules Zysman, is still energized, idealistic, and loves his patients. A striking testament to his passion and belief in primary care is that just about every member of our graduating class who is planning on pursuing primary care (be it Family, Internal Medicine, etc) has rotated with him at some point in their 4 years.
I just want to finish up with a quick story to exemplify Jules' spirit of precepting:
My parents' practice is a semi-rural family practice, and because of this there are times when people arrive at the office with conditions that would have made most of us call 911 and head straight to Strong. A few years ago, a patient drove himself to the office after a pretty bad Foot versus Chain-saw accident. As the nurse hurriedly led the patient back to the surgical room, she urgently called out for Dr. Zysman. Hearing this, he poked his head out of an exam room, took one look at the bloody boot prints leading down the hall and yelled the first thing that came to mind- "Someone get the Med Student!!." Congratulations on this award. In addition to this certificate, your name will be added to a plaque of previous clinical volunteer faculty recipients, located in student services at the medical school. Dad, as a physician, father and human-being, you are truly inspirational to me and so many of my class mates. Congratulations. I am so proud of you.
Meliora,
David S. Guzick, MD, PhD
Dean, School of Medicine and Dentistry
