Alan Boulos, MD, a longtime Albany Med neurosurgeon and 1994 graduate of Albany Medical College, has been named the 18th dean of Albany Medical College. He is the third alumnus to be named to the medical school’s top position. Dr. Boulos, of Glenmont, was approved as the college’s new dean by the Albany Med Health System Board of Directors on May 4. He succeeds Vincent P. Verdile, MD, ’84, the second-longest tenured dean of an American medical college, who received the honorary title of dean emeritus at the end of 2021. Learn more.

 

A University at Buffalo summer program launched by the Department of Surgery and designed to encourage underrepresented medical students to pursue surgery turned into a dramatic learning opportunity, for both the students and the department. Those lessons have fundamentally changed the program’s research component, influencing the work that this year’s summer fellows do and, potentially, guiding future research projects in the community. Learn more.

 

SUNY Upstate Medical University and Syracuse University’s Martin J. Whitman School of Management are launching a joint MD/MBA, which allows students to earn two valuable degrees in a coordinated five-year program. Applicants for this new joint program at Upstate Medical University/Syracuse University apply through the American Medical Common Application System (AMCAS) portal for the MD/MBA program application. Learn more.

 

Educators at the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University highlighted the success of their three-year, elective course in biodesign that has enabled students to expand their abilities as innovators to creating potential medical devices for the future. In a paper in Academic Medicine, a leading journal in medical education, the authors describe the program and approach, which may serve as a model for advancing medical education in the area of collaborative work using technology to design new medical devices. Learn more.

 

When she was 5 years old, Reine Ibala and her family moved to the United States as refugees amid civil war in their native Republic of the Congo. Her father later developed hypertension and faced challenges as he navigated the U.S. health care system. His physician was dismissive, Ibala recalled, and failed to address the real, personal and cultural reasons behind her father’s misgivings about his treatment plan. Learn more.

 

The approximately 1,600 Columbia University Irving Medical Center students and 240 faculty members who participated in this year’s Interprofessional Education (IPE) Day addressed the question of how health professionals can actively provide antiracist, inclusive, and equitable care through interprofessional teamwork. The theme of the April 5 day-long conference, which included more than 80 lectures and workshops, was “Interprofessionalism in Action: Strengthening Ethical, Responsive, and Accountable Care.” Learn more.

 

At the beginning of 2022 when the Mount Sinai Health System was experiencing a surge in COVID-19 patients, which included many members of its own staff, 60 students at the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai stepped up to lighten the load of non-medical staff as part of a Student WorkForce. It was the fourth time since the outbreak of COVID-19 that the Student WorkForce at Icahn Mount Sinai sprang into action to help alleviate staffing shortages. Learn more.

 

Michael Osei is a second-year medical student at the Zucker School of Medicine. Michael, who hails from New Jersey, was recently recognized as the Nassau County Medical Society’s Member of the Month. Here, Michael discusses the importance of health policy and how to explore your interests and get involved as a medical student. Learn more.

 

For her medical humanities scholarly concentration, an NYU Grossman School of Medicine student produced a photography project exploring some of the common ethical-humanistic tensions physicians experience in their clinical work. The result is Ten Tensions: A Photographic Exploration of the Physician’s Inner Life. Learn more.

 

When Mahmoud Elhagagy had the opportunity to move to the United States to practice medicine, he took it. Now, he’s preparing to graduate from the College of Osteopathic Medicine’s (NYITCOM) Émigré Physicians Program, a unique program that invites foreign physicians to become doctors of osteopathic medicine (D.O.) in the United States. Learn more.

 

New York State Health Commissioner Mary T. Bassett, M.D., M.P.H., will present the keynote address at Albert Einstein College of Medicine’s 2022 commencement. The ceremony will take place on Wednesday, May 25, 2022, at the Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall in New York City. Learn more.

 

Alumni from the inaugural class of the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell returned to campus for their first in-person reunion, hosted at the medical school on Saturday, April 9, 2022. The Class of 2016, the school’s second graduating class, joined the celebration. Learn more.

 

Weill Cornell Medicine honored a dozen faculty, trainees, students and staff April 25 for their outstanding service and leadership in promoting diversity at the academic medical institution The annual Diversity Awards, this year hosted virtually, honor exemplary contributions through research, clinical care, community service and advocacy to improve the health of populations that historically have had unequal access to care. Learn more.

 

Upstate physician Amy Caruso Brown has been awarded a grant to expand her work on addressing biases in healthcare education to advance health equity. The $25,000 President’s Grant from the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation will allow Caruso Brown to promote her Upstate Bias Checklist and further the work of the Bias Checklist Collaborative she created by funding the development of a website that will support users of the checklist. Learn more.

 

Mark Hurwitz, M.D., chair and professor of radiation medicine at New York Medical College (NYMC) and director of radiation medicine at Westchester Medical Center (WMC) has been chosen as the 2022 recipient of the J. Eugene Robinson Award by the Society for Thermal Medicine in recognition of his outstanding contributions to hyperthermic oncology. The J. Eugene Robinson Award is the highest and most prestigious award bestowed by the Society. Learn more.

 

On May 2, the College of Osteopathic Medicine (NYITCOM) hosted its first-ever Alumni Awards Dinner. The inaugural event celebrated several of the medical school’s illustrious graduates as well as NYITCOM faculty and staff for their service and dedication to students. The celebration took place at NYIT de Seversky Mansion. Learn more.

 

Jennifer Salcedo, M.D., M.P.H., M.P.P., FACOG, has been named designated institutional official (DIO) at NYMC. In her new role, which she will assume on August 1, Dr. Salcedo will maintain the institutional graduate medical education accreditation of the NYMC SOM by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) as well as the Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA), which includes overseeing 20 ACGME-accredited graduate medical education (GME) programs sponsored by the SOM and two CODA-accredited graduate dental programs. Learn more.

 

A group, mostly consisting of neuroscientists, meets bi-weekly outside the lab with a simple but powerful common purpose – to fundamentally change the bench. “This experience has been eye-opening,” said Manuel Gomez-Ramirez, Ph.D., assistant professor of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at the University of Rochester and chair of the Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience Diversity Commission. Learn more.

 

First-year students at the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons (VP&S) had an opportunity last week to meet with Roy Vagelos, MD, the 1954 VP&S graduate for whom the school is named. Vagelos is the retired CEO of pharmaceutical giant Merck. He is currently chairman of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals. VP&S Dean Katrina Armstrong, MD, gave remarks to welcome the students and Vagelos. Learn more.

 

Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine (TouroCOM) held its 13th biannual Health Fair on April 14th, 2022, a warm, sunny afternoon that brought hundreds of community members in Harlem, NY. The Health Fair to the Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. State Office Building Plaza, where they engaged with a wide range of free services and resources. Learn more.