Residency recruitment was one of many areas disrupted during the COVID-19 pandemic, with traditional in-person interviews forced to change to a virtual format. In a nationwide study of fourth-year medical students, recently published in Family Medicine, New York Medical College faculty and students found that while the change in format offered financial and time-saving benefits due to the lack of need for travel, it proved challenging for students to assess their fit into the program. Learn more.

 

As medical schools across the country grapple with the arduous process of revising their curricula to be anti-racist, students at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have turned a critical eye on the very textbooks that have trained medical students for years. In their new paper, “A Framework for Antiracist Curriculum Changes in Nephrology Education,” published in Advances in Chronic Kidney Disease, these students worked with their faculty mentor to address a critical question: how to root out racism from bedrock curricula that have been used for decades? Learn more.

 

The unique challenges faced by Black faculty in academia are mainly due to systemic failures, and this leads to an ever-shrinking pipeline. Finding a suitable mentor may aid in circumventing some of these challenges, said Nikesha Gilmore, Ph.D., a Wilmot Cancer Institute faculty member. Learn more.

 

A Black Men in White Coats chapter has been established at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences and is named in honor of the late Jonathan D. Daniels, MD ’98, the school’s former associate director of admissions who died July 4 in a fire at his North Buffalo home. Learn more.

 

For the second year in a row, Albert Einstein College of Medicine has received a Health Professions Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award from INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine, the oldest and largest diversity-focused publication in higher education. This year, Einstein is one of 65 U.S. medical schools, health colleges, and universities selected for this honor, which recognizes institutions that demonstrate an outstanding commitment to diversity and inclusion. Learn more.

 

Diversity among U.S. physicians has improved in recent years, but entrenched racial disparities still persist. According to the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), more than half of all physicians are White and fewer than 5 percent are Black. For orthopedic surgery, the specialty that attends to bones, joints, muscles, tendons, and ligaments, the disparity is even more pronounced. Only 1.9 percent of practicing orthopedic surgeons are Black, and just 5 percent of orthopedic residents are Black. Learn more.

 

Columbia University’s Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons has established the VP&S Latino Association, a group dedicated to fostering the development, presence, and belonging of the Latino community at the medical school. VP&S faculty, department chairs, departmental diversity leaders, students from the Black and Latino Student Organization and Latino Medical Student Association, and high school scholars from NYP’s Lang Youth Medical Program celebrated the founding of the VP&S Latino Association on Tuesday, Nov. 15. Learn more.

 

Each year, Diverse Issues in Higher Education publishes lists of the top 100 producers of degrees, including at the doctoral level, awarded to minority students. The November 24 issue featured rankings for degrees awarded in the health sciences; based on 2020-2021 academic year data, NYITCOM topped the list for colleges of osteopathic medicine. Learn more.

 

The Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell hosted its seventh annual Diversity Night on November 10, 2022, entitled “More than Meets the Eye.” The event, supported by the Office of Student Affairs and the Office for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, in conjunction with many of the school’s student organizations, is one of the many ways the Zucker School of Medicine brings the aspects of diversity and inclusion to the forefront. Learn more.

 

The National Institutes of Health has awarded Albert Einstein College of Medicine a five-year, $6.6 million grant to lead a New York-based consortium of medical schools to train young scientists in kidney, urology, and hematology research. The grant establishes the New York Consortium for Interdisciplinary Training in Kidney, Urological, and Hematological Research, or NYC Train KUHR (pronounced “cure”), bringing together experts in research and education from Einstein, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University. Learn more.

 

The Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University will be part of a new medical school consortium in the New York metro region to train young scientists in kidney, urology and hematology research – crucial areas in medicine that involve special training and the need for more research, as kidney disease and conditions such as sickle cell disease affect millions and often disproportionally in marginalized groups. Learn more.

 

During a ceremony steeped in tradition and academic pageantry, Dr. Jonathan Woodson was inaugurated as the seventh president of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU) on Nov. 30. Woodson was officially sworn in as the university’s newest president in June, succeeding Dr. Richard W. Thomas, who served as president from 2016 until July of 2021, and Dr. William Roberts, who served as acting president from July 2021 until June 2022. Learn more.

 

Megan Gerber, MD, MPH, division chief, general internal medicine, has received national recognition for her work in advancing education and research on the health effects of violence and abuse on patients. The Academy on Violence & Abuse honored Dr. Gerber Thurs. Oct. 27 with the Vincent J. Felitti Distinguished Scholar Award, named after a renowned physician and researcher considered a leading expert in the study of childhood trauma and its impact on health across a patient’s lifespan. Learn more.

 

The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai announced the appointment of two new Laureates as part of its Biomedical Laureates Program, bringing the total to five appointments for this year and furthering its institutional commitment to broadening faculty diversity and mentorship opportunities. Learn more.

 

Four faculty members in the Department of Medicine at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons were elected in 2022 to the New York Academy of Medicine (NYAM). Fellows are top practitioners, academics, and policymakers in their fields and are elected by their peers to the academy. Learn more.

 

Allison Brashear, MD, MBA, vice president for health sciences at the University at Buffalo and dean of the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at UB, has been elected to the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) Council of Deans Administrative Board. Learn more.

 

Carmen Green, who has been a leader in medicine for the past 30 years, made Forbes “50 Over 50 Impact” list. Green and was named dean of the City College of New York School of Medicine in 2021 at age 61. Learn more.

 

On November 11, members of the College of Osteopathic Medicine community gathered in the Riland Auditorium on the Long Island campus to pay tribute to all who serve in the United States armed forces and reflect on the tremendous sacrifice made by these individuals and their families. Learn more.

 

Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine (TouroCOM) students and two dozen community organizations convened at the Adam Clayton Powell Jr. State Office Building Plaza in Harlem recently for the school’s 14th biannual Health Fair. Students and faculty provided a variety of health screenings and information, counseling and giveaways to over 100 attendees. Learn more.