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SIMULATION CENTER SPOTLIGHT
A five-day old child with a ductal-dependent heart lesion in need of urgent intervention by doctors. A patient who attempted suicide by ingesting a toxic substance. A child with a tumor that is causing refractory seizures. Those were just a few of the simulated scenarios resident physicians from across the state of Michigan faced on Wednesday, April 26, 2023, as they took part in the Michigan College of Emergency Physicians Emergency Medicine Residents’ Association of Michigan SimWars Competition in the 91�� Simulation Center. A team of emergency medicine residents from Trinity Health Muskegon – Angelic Dye, MD; Bernadette Dazzo, DO; Justin Staley, DO, and Ryan Brandt, DO – took home the first-place plaque at this year's SimWars Competition. A total of 10 teams, including one team from 91��, participated in SimWars this year. The annual event features several simulated exercises to test residents’ skills and abilities in high-pressure, emergency situations. “Even for teams that didn’t win, we found out today that the experience has been really good for them and they enjoyed it,” said John Hoyle, MD, the medical school’s assistant dean for Simulation, who led and organized this year’s competition. “This competition gives them the experience of doing cases, a lot of which they’ve never seen before.” This year marked the first time in the competition’s 12-year history that 91�� has hosted SimWars. The medical school sent a team of residents to compete in SimWars for the first time in 2021, which was the last time the event was held prior to this year’s gathering. In 2021, the team from 91�� won the competition. The top two teams in the SimWars Competition participated in a final simulated case involving a pregnant woman who was the victim of domestic violence and suffered a placental abruption. This year, a team of emergency medicine residents from Trinity Health Muskegon – Angelic Dye, MD; Bernadette Dazzo, DO; Justin Staley, DO, and Ryan Brandt, DO – took home the first-place plaque. A team of residents from Central Michigan University – Ana Camagay, MD; Rebecca Dimanche, MD; Andrew Namespetra, MD, and Andrew Simon, DO – finished in second place. The competition began with each team taking part in five 12-minute scenarios. Following that initial round, the top two teams moved on to a final simulated case involving a pregnant woman who was the victim of domestic violence and suffered a placental abruption. During the scenario, the residents were faced with trying to deliver the woman’s baby while also attempting to revive the woman after she went into cardiac arrest. “I think we can all agree that this day simulates some of our worst fears as ER doctors and this is the best way to train for it because we are really acting out what it would look like to take care of these patients – patients that are really rare but that you don’t have a chance of taking care of unless you’ve at least tried to take a crack at it before,” said Josh Recknagel, MD, who was part of the team of residents from 91�� who took part in this year’s SimWars competition. The team from 91��, which included Eric Hovda, DO; Nahal Massoudi, DO; Zachary Paquin, MD, and Josh Recknagel, MD, finished in the top five at this year’s SimWars competition. “They do an excellent job of making this as true to life as they can,” Dr. Recknagel added. The team from 91��, which also included Eric Hovda, DO, Nahal Massoudi, DO, and Zachary Paquin, MD, finished in the top five at this year’s SimWars competition. Even though the team from 91�� did not repeat as winners this year, the doctors said they still drew a lot of value from the experience. “Especially with this many residents involved, it was great to talk about cases afterwards, to go over them afterwards, and it allows us to share that decision-making,” Dr. Paquin said. “A lot of these cases don’t have one right answer. There are certain things you have to do but the way you do them is very important too.” “This is definitely something you can learn a lot from without winning,” Dr. Recknagel added.
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STUDENT SPOTLIGHT
When he began his address to the MD Class of 2024, Saad B. Omer, MPH, PhD, MBBS, took the students back to when they began medical school, reminding them of how their journey started in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. The MD Class of 2024 was honored during a commencement ceremony on May 9, 2024, at WMU's Miller Auditorium. And then, he immediately looked forward and spoke of how the last four years can help shape their futures as young physicians. Saad B. Omer, MPH, PhD, MBBS “It was not your choice to start your medical training surrounded by an enormous tragedy but it is your choice how you are shaped by it because the greatest of generations come out of the darkest of tragedies,” Dr. Omer said. ‘You are the first cohort of a generation of physicians and scientists molded by this adversity. You have the choice to be the greatest generation of physicians and scientists there ever was." Dr. Omer, who serves as founding dean of the Peter O’Donnell Jr. School of Public Health at UT Southwestern Medical Center, was the keynote speaker at this year’s commencement ceremony, which was held on May 9, 2024, at WMU’s Miller Auditorium. The event was a celebration for the medical school’s seventh class of new doctors, as well as graduates of the Master of Science in Biomedical Sciences and Medical Engineering degree programs. 91�� Dean Robert G. Sawyer, MD, congratulated the 84 MD graduates for selecting a career path “that will have a profound impact on the health of individuals and the communities where they will live.” “Each graduating class contributes to building our legacy and a rich history of excellence,” Dr. Sawyer said. “Your success as graduates is a measure of our success as a medical school. We look forward to all that you will achieve throughout your careers and watching how the work you do benefits our society.” 91�� Dean Robert G. Sawyer, MD Students from the MD Class of 2024 arrived at 91�� in July 2020 in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. As she addressed her classmates, M4 Amy Shao recalled the “scary, unprecedented time” and how the cohort met for lectures on Microsoft Teams and had to wear face masks and face shields during anatomy lab and Medical First Responder training. “People told us medical school would be tough, but it’s hard to conceptualize until you actually go through it, and over the next four years I know we all had days that absolutely sucked,” Shao said. “On the flip side, I know we all had days that were uplifting and fulfilling and reminded us why we decided to do medicine in the first place. “You navigated through all your bad days and rejoiced at all your better days and balanced everything in life to make it to today,” Shao added. “And now, you’re about to become empathetic, compassionate, and hard-working doctors, with some extra wrinkles and dark circles, and I couldn’t be more proud of the work you’ve put in. I’m sure residency will have its own good and bad days, but I’m confident you’ll make it through, and I can’t wait to see all the places you’ll go and accomplishments you’ll achieve.” In his remarks to the Class of 2024, Dr. Omer told the students that, as their journey as physicians gets underway, they must strive to do better than their predecessors. He said they must work to build a more just world, be active participants in the battle against global climate change, and create “a world in which your patients’ well-being is not continuously threatened by the ever-present demons of racism and authoritarianism.” At the same time, Dr. Omer told the students they will face many challenges in the coming years – life expectancy in the U.S. has dropped and access to quality healthcare remains unequal. Misinformation is also rampant, he said, and distrust in medicine and the healthcare system is unacceptably high. Amy Shao, MD “It is these challenges, medical and social, that you and your patients face,” Dr. Omer said. “Greatness is not achieved on cruise control. It is by rising to generational challenges that you will become the greatest generation of physicians.” As he concluded his address, Dr. Omer reminded the students that as they become the greatest generation of doctors in the coming years, they also have a responsibility to make sure they do not remain the greatest generation for long. That torch, he said, must be passed to the next generation of doctors who will follow in their footsteps. “Not because of a greater tragedy but because you made sure that you passed on your wisdom by being better mentors than we ever were,” Dr. Omer said. “I am optimistic that you all can do this. To borrow from the Nobel Prize winning paster from Atlanta, you must act with the ‘fierce urgency of now’ because I often say hope is not a delusion, because you have the power to change things. “As Spiderman said, with great power comes great responsibility.”
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FACULTY SPOTLIGHT
Several 91�� faculty members recently made the list of Stanford University/Elsevier’s Top 2% Scientist Rankings, which identifies the world’s leading researchers. The highly prestigious list of top scientists uses Scopus data provided by Elsevier through ICSR Lab and encompasses standardized data on citations, h-index, and a wide range of bibliometric factors. The highly prestigious list of top scientists uses Scopus data provided by Elsevier through ICSR Lab and encompasses standardized data on citations, h-index, and a wide range of bibliometric factors. Scientists are classified into 22 scientific fields and 174 sub-fields according to the standard Science-Metrix classification. The latest list of top researchers draws from the October 1, 2023, snapshot from Scopus, updated to the end of citation year 2022. “We are pleased that our medical school faculty have been recognized amongst the world’s leading researchers as they contribute to the advancement of medicine and science through their research,” said Robert G. Sawyer, MD, the medical school dean. The following 91�� faculty made the list of top researchers: Rajiv Tandon, MBBS, MD, MS (Professor Emeritus, Department of Psychiatry) Robert W. Rebar, MD (Professor Emeritus, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology) Thomas L. Rothstein, MD, PhD (Chair and Professor, Department of Investigative Medicine) Kevin A. Ault, MD (Chair and Professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology) Dilip R. Patel, MBBS (Chair ad Professor, Department of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine) Craig A. Beam, PhD (Professor, Department of Biomedical Sciences) Robert G. Sawyer, MD (The Hal B. Jenson, MD Dean; Senior Associate Dean for Research; Professor, Department of Surgical Services) Donald E. Greydanus, MD (Professor, Department of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine) Joseph A. Prahlow (Clinical Professor, Department of Pathology) For more information about the full list of scientist rankings, visit https://bit.ly/3X6VzI7.
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RESIDENT SPOTLIGHT
More than 70 resident physicians and fellows were honored in June for completing their residency and fellowship training at 91��. 91�� boasts 10 residency programs in the specialties of Emergency Medicine, Family Medicine, General Surgery, Internal Medicine, Medicine-Pediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Orthopaedic Surgery, Pediatrics, and Psychiatry. There also are five one-year fellowships for Emergency Medical Services, Forensic Pathology, Hospice and Palliative Medicine, Simulation, and Sports Medicine. Several programs celebrated their graduates in private ceremonies. The graduates have spent between one and five years training in Southwest Michigan. 91�� boasts 10 residency programs in the specialties of Emergency Medicine, Family Medicine, General Surgery, Internal Medicine, Medicine-Pediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Orthopaedic Surgery, Pediatrics, and Psychiatry. There also are five one-year fellowships for Emergency Medical Services, Forensic Pathology, Hospice and Palliative Medicine, Simulation, and Sports Medicine. Of the 76 residents and fellows celebrated this year, 13 will remain and work in the Kalamazoo area. Meanwhile, an additional 15 residents will work in other cities in Michigan. Others will work throughout the nation, while many will go on to fellowship training. Here’s a complete list of this year’s resident and fellow graduates, as well as faculty who received awards: Emergency Medicine Alicia Nicole Anderson, DO (Chief) Baturay Aydemir, MD Kenneth Alan Bridgmon, DO Corbin Dean Donham, MD Edwin Lauritz Fundingsland, DO Eric Alden Hovda, DO Erik James Krueger, DO Nahal Massoudi, DO David Anthony Piscitelli, MD Joshua Robert Recknagel, MD (Chief) Kevin Rajiv Richardson, MD Michael Merle Samborn, DO John Linden Shinners, MD Mariah Christine Smith, DO Justin Myrick Winkler, MD (Chief) Emergency Medical Services Fellowship Stephen Andrew Godfrey, MD Family Medicine-Battle Creek Aron Thomas Chacko, MD Abbas Mokhtari, MD Priyanka Ajaysinh Rajput, MD Sojdeh Saber Hamishegi, MD (Chief) Suganiya Srikanthan, MD Layth Haitham Tumah, MD (Chief) Family Medicine-Kalamazoo Natan Harel, DO Syed Khairul Hussain, MD Lamiya Zehra Raghid, MD Jessel Lynton Ramdass, MD, MPH (Chief) Codi Alexis Sharp, DO (Chief) Mahsa Talebian, MD Wamidh Walid Tellow, MD Forensic Pathology Fellowship Haaris Iqbal, DO General Surgery Caitlyn Bo Cookenmaster, MD (Chief) Kyra Nicole Folkert, MD (Chief) Kent Matthew Grosh, MD (Chief) Sarah Ibrahim Khalil, MD (Chief) Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship Colleen Elizabeth Howing, MD Alexandra Elizabeth Ortiz, MD Internal Medicine Syed Ibaad Ali, MD (Chief) Krishna Chaitanya Amerneni, MD Stephen Earl Ames, DO Matthew Ryan Belardo, MD (Chief) Benjamin Ingo Bizer, MD Alec Michael Johnson, DO (Chief) Harmanpreet Kaur, MD Andrew John Koelper, DO Brian Nohomovich, DO, PhD Alana Pinheiro Alves, MD Michael James Terrio, DO Medicine-Pediatrics Faisal Ansari, DO Taylor Joann Cable, MD (Chief) Ian Thomas Crumm, MD Blair Colleen Graham, DO Obstetrics and Gynecology Gina Marie Bravata, MD Emily Elizabeth Dempsey Brittany Darchelle Lett, MD (Chief) Diamond Nicole Stevens, MD Orthopaedic Surgery George James Borrelli, MD (Chief) Brandon Joseph Stradel, MD (Chief) Matthew Christopher Sweet, MD (Chief) Pediatrics Hanan Nayef Alhyari, MD Hannah Brooke Asebes, MD Bilal Samir Assi, MD Nourhan Gamal Shafik Bayoumy Shafeey, MD (Fourth-Year Chief) Lubaina Ehsan, MD (Chief) Janine Chun Yee Fung, MD Judy Jasser, MD Yahia Khanfar, MD Shekha Sherin Nelliadi, MD Mandeep Kaur Takhar, MD Psychiatry Salman Mohammad Abdul Majeed, DO Amar Wael Arafat, DO Drew Daniel Elson, DO (Chief) Jamil Alexander Khondker, MD Eric Allen Klomparens, MD (Chief) Kailin Hollenbeck Kuo, MD Linda Saju, MD Sports Medicine Fellowship Michael Joseph Matthews, DO 2024 Teaching Awards Emergency Medicine James Hull, DO Mohamed Mohamed, MD Josh Recknagel, MD Family and Community Medicine Steve Pollens, MD Holly Schmidt, MD Kari Beth Watts, MD General Surgery Christian Ertl, MD Katherine Kelley, MD Gitonga Munene, MD Internal Medicine Ridwaan Albeiruti, MD James Hull, DO Corey Lager, MD Medicine-Pediatrics Neil Hughes, MD Corey Lager, MD Katherine Scott, MD Obstetrics and Gynecology Jennifer Carman, MD Jordan Wroblewski, DO Orthopaedic Surgery Cameron J. Vanlaningham, MD Pediatrics Jocelyn Deleon, MD Joseph Fakhoury, MD Nourhan Boyoumy Shafeey, MD Erica VanderKooy, MD Psychiatry Simhadri Botta, MD Elmira Yessengaliyeva, MD
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LATEST NEWS & EVENTS

Robert G. Sawyer, MD

Putting the Top Down

Daniel Stulberg, MD

91�� strengthens community engagement efforts with new Division of Outreach Medicine

Eric Edewaard, MD

91�� alumnus Eric Edewaard, MD, to be honored by MI-ACP with 2024 Dr. Jan Rival Early Career Physician Award

91�� Well-Being Promotion Symposium

7:45 a.m.-1:30 p.m., W.E. Upjohn M.D. Campus

Class of 2028 White Coat Ceremony

3:00 p.m., Chenery Auditorium

Healthcare Credits for Michigan Licensure 2024

8:30 a.m.-4:40 p.m., Virtual Event

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