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.

She’s a grandmother to 16 grandchildren, she’s taking a cruise to the Caribbean, and she’s going to Miami to get a boat. These are details June Ryan wants her health care team at USF Health to know about what’s going on in her life so she wrote them on a large poster as part of the Tell Me More event that aims to improve communication between physicians and their patients.

June Ryan shares new details about her life with Dr. Kevin O’Brien.

Held Feb. 15 to 19, the event is part of Solidarity Week and is sponsored by the Arnold P. Gold Foundation to raise awareness for compassionate patient care. Using the “Tell Me More” prompt, patients write at least three things about themselves on a poster, offering details about their own lives that the health care team might not know. Collected and posted on walls within clinics, the written information serves as a reminder that patients are more than the symptoms they present.

“The details patients provide us about themselves help us start conversations with them and offer a better way to humanize their medical experience with us,” said Lucy Guerra, MD, associate professor and director of the Division of General Internal Medicine for the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine.

“Sometimes we miss these details and knowing them could impact the health care we provide. These details can give the health care team a better understanding of what’s going on in the patients’ lives and what might be affecting their health, details that otherwise might not have been presented. That information helps us define better health care plans that patients are more likely to follow through on.”

At the Byrd Institute, Jasmin Perry writes down her three points with Dr. Crystal Jacovino.

The annual campaign is held at medical schools, patient care facilities and other organizations across the country. At USF Health, health teams in the Division of General Internal Medicine, the Department of Family Medicine, and the primary care clinic at the USF Health Byrd Alzheimer’s Institute stepped up to participate in the week-long campaign. In addition to forms for writing their three personal details, patients were presented with information about Solidarity Week, a button calling for Solidarity for Compassionate Patient Care, and an apple.

Walter Chapin (far right) talks with his health care team, from left, Karin Hussein, first-year medical student, Santosh Reddy, MD, second-year resident, and Dr. Crystal Jacovino.

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Shenita Sanders, certified medical assistant for USF General Internal Medicine.

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