Student Achievements
Third-Year Student Wins AAMC Scholarship
Nereida Esparza (second from right) and fellow Nickens Medical Student Scholarship recipients at the AAMC Annual Meeting
Nereida Esparza, a third-year student, was chosen as one of just five medical students in the country to receive the prestigious Herbert W. Nickens Medical Student Scholarship, given by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). This scholarship seeks to recognize “outstanding students entering their third year of medical school who have shown leadership in efforts to eliminate inequities in medical education and health care and demonstrated leadership efforts in addressing educational, societal, and health care needs of minorities in the United States.” Nereida was honored at the AAMC Annual Meeting on November 3, 2008 in San Antonio, Texas.
Illinois American College of Physicians Meeting
Shashank Sinha
Megan Prochaska
Jacky Kehler
John Paro
Several students participated in the Illinois American College of Physicians Meeting held this October in Chicago. Shashank Sinha, MS4, won first place for his oral clinical vignette “Not All Chest Pain is Angina,” while Megan Prochaska, MS2 won first place in the poster competition for her poster “Inpatient-Ambulatory Care Transitions: The Patient Perspective.” Jacky Kehler and John Paro, both MS3s, presented at the forum, along with third-year Internal Medicine resident Dr. Harshal Sheth, who won second place for his oral clinical vignette “Steal Your Heart Away” in which he described a case of coronary microfistulae.
Student Success at NAPCRG Meeting
Chelsea Dorsey
Nereida Esparza
Lexie Haughey
Three Pritzker students who worked with faculty in the Department of Family Medicine during the summer of 2007 were accepted for poster and oral presentations at this year’s annual North American Primary Care Research Group (NAPCRG) Meeting. The meeting was held in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico November 15-19.
Chelsea Dorsey, a third-year student, was the first author on “Availability of Specialists for Referral from Primary Care in an Urban Underserved Population,” which was accepted for oral presentation. Lexie Haughey, also a third-year student, researched “Why Do Physicians Work in Underserved Areas?” which was accepted for poster presentation. Chelsea and Lexie, along with fellow third-year student Nereida Esparza, also collaborated on “Point-of-Care Information Technology Use by Community Health Center Physicians,” which was accepted for poster presentation. Chelsea, Lexie, and Nereida contributed to all three accepted projects.
Shailesh Agarwal
Third-year student Shailesh Agarwal served as first author on the publication “The Use of Resorbable Implants for Mandibular Fixation: A Systematic Review,” which was accepted in the Journal of Craniofacial Surgery. Shailesh was second author on the publication “Refining the Intrinsic Chimera Flap: A Review,” which was accepted in the Annals of Plastic Surgery. Dr. Russell Reid and Dr. Lawrence Gottlieb served as his mentors, respectively. Shailesh was also an author on the abstract entitled “Designing Chimera Flaps In Multiple Vascular Systems,” which was presented at the 7th International Conference on Head & Neck Cancer in San Francisco this past summer. Dr. Gottlieb mentored Shailesh on this project as well.
Finally, Shailesh first-authored “An Analysis of Reconstructive Frequency and Post-Reconstructive Survival Using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program,” which he presented orally at the American Society of Plastic Surgeons Annual Conference. Dr. Jayant Agarwal served as Shailesh’s mentor on this project.
Ravi Bamba
Ravi Bamba, a third-year student, had a poster accepted for presentation at the Triological Society Section Meeting to be held in January in Florida. His project “Clinical Presentation of Patients Undergoing a Minor Salivary Gland Biopsy for Sjogren’s Syndrome,” was a retrospective review examining clinical presentation of patients who underwent a lip biopsy for the diagnosis of Sjogren’s Syndrome. Dr. Elizabeth Blair was his mentor.
Colleen Denny
First-year student Colleen Denny was first author on an article published in the November 5th issue of JAMA. Colleen’s publication, entitled “US Health Aid Beyond PEPFAR: A Mother and Child Campaign,” was written during Colleen’s three-year fellowship at the NIH Department of Bioethics. The article suggests that newly pledged international health funding may be best directed at a new proposal program call the Mother & Child Campaign, which supports the treatment of simple but deadly diseases.
Sam Fuller
Sam Fuller, a fourth-year student, served as co-author on “Simplifying the SIEA Flap,” which was presented at both the American Society of Plastic Surgeons Conference in Chicago and the Society of Korean Plastic Surgeons Conference in South Korea. The video described the ongoing research of the SIEA Flap at the University of Chicago, including relatively new anatomical descriptions, utilization criteria, and patient pre-op, intra-op, and post-op findings. Sam was mentored by Dr. David Song and Dr. Eric Odessey.
Elaine Lin
Elaine Lin, a third-year student, was the first author and presenter of a scientific poster at the 62nd Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine (AACPDM). Elaine’s work, entitled “Communicative and Adaptive Functioning of Preschool Children with Developmental Delays or Autistic Spectrum Disorders: Family Priorities, Distress and Well-being,” was done with Dr. Michael Msall, Section Chief of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics.
Jina Youn, MS2 receives a Korean-American Medical Association (KAMA) Scholarship
Jina Youn, a second-year student, was one of 10 medical students in the country to receive a Korean-American Medical Association (KAMA) Scholarship. Jina was also invited to give a talk at the 26th Annual KAMA Scientific Convention held in August on the Royal Caribbean Cruise Line from Bayonne, New Jersey to Bermuda. Jina’s talk, entitled “Temporally Limited Role of Substantia Nigra-central Amygdala Connections in Surprise Induced Enhancement of Learning,” was a continuation of her master’s thesis from Johns Hopkins University, which was published in the European Journal of Neuroscience in June. The research explores the role of a specific brain circuit (Substantia Nigra & central nucleus of the Amygdala) in attention and associative learning.
