39 minute read
Faculty News
Appointments, Honors & Awards
Jonathan Woodson, MD, Named President of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences
Jonathan Woodson, MD, was named the next president of the Uniformed Services University (USU) of the Health Sciences, assuming leadership of the school on June 21.
Woodson is the Lars Anderson Professor in Management and professor of the practice at BU’s Questrom School of Business and holds joint appointments as professor of surgery at the School of Medicine and professor of health law, policy & management at the School of Public Health. He also established and led the University-wide Institute for Health System Innovation and Policy.
As USU president, Woodson will be responsible for the university’s academic, research, and service mission, which includes more than 2,500 students from the F. Edward Hebert School of Medicine and its associated graduate programs in the biomedical sciences and public health; the Daniel K. Inouye Graduate School of Nursing; and the university’s Postgraduate Dental College and College of Allied Health Sciences. The university has more than 11,500 alumni, many of whom serve the nation as uniformed health providers or civilian scientists. Woodson will also oversee more than 15 research centers and the Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute.
“I am honored and excited to become the seventh USU president. I want to thank the Secretary of Defense for this vote of confidence, and I look forward to working with the talented USU community to build on its accomplishments of the past and chart a great future. Preparing the health and medical research leaders needed for the Military Health System and the nation is an extremely important mission to ensure we always care for those we ask to go in harm’s way,” Woodson said.
From 2010 to 2016, Woodson was assistant secretary of defense for health affairs and director of the Tricare Management Activity in the United States Department of Defense (DoD). He was the principal advisor to the secretary of defense for all health and force health protection-related issues and ensured the effective execution of the DoD medical mission.
Before his appointment to the DoD by President Barack Obama in 2010, he was professor of surgery and associate dean for diversity and multicultural affairs, and senior attending vascular surgeon at BUSM.
Woodson holds the rank of Major General, United States Army Reserve, and is Commander of the United States Army Reserve Medical Command in Pinellas Park, Fla. n
Naomi Y. Ko, MD, MPH, Receives Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Award
Naomi Y. Ko, MD, MPH, has received the Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Award, presented by the Arnold P. Gold Foundation to faculty who best demonstrate the foundation’s ideals of outstanding compassion in the delivery of care; respect for patients, their families, and healthcare colleagues; and clinical excellence.
A public, nonprofit organization founded by Arnold and Sandra Gold, the Arnold P. Gold Foundation perpetuates the tradition of the caring doctor by emphasizing the importance of the relationship between the practitioner and the patient. The foundation helps physicians-in-training become doctors who
combine the high-tech skills of cuttingedge medicine with the high-touch skills of effective communication, empathy, and compassion.
An assistant professor of medicine who has served on the faculty since 2013, Ko is codirector of the Breast Cancer Program as well as a medical oncologist at Boston Medical Center specializing in the care of breast cancer patients. According to a colleague, Ko is an astute and compassionate clinician with high expectations of her trainees. “She taught me that correcting a patient’s kidney function or deescalating antibiotics was only a part of my job, teaching me to always see beyond a patient’s problem list. She reminded me to honor the whole patient the way that I would want my own mother or son to be honored.”
Esteemed by her colleagues, patients, and medical students alike, Ko embodies the empathetic caregiver and approaches teaching with sensitivity and openness.
A nurse and coworker said, “Dr. Ko is the only person who works twice as hard to drop all expectations that her title will automatically gain the trust of her patients. She works for that trust at each encounter in person, during telephone calls, and via messages.”
With a lifelong passion for social justice, Ko participated in Teach for America followed by volunteer service at the Berkeley Free Clinic after completing her undergraduate degree. She then attended the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and School of Public Health, where she received both her MD and MPH degrees with a focus on epidemiology and biostatistics, to perform health outcomes research for vulnerable populations. After an internal medicine residency at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, she performed her fellowship in hematology/oncology at BUSM, which allowed her to specialize in oncology while conducting research in the context of caring for an underserved population within a large safety-net institution. She has consistently sought out meaningful projects that reflect her passion for oncology, service to the underserved, and academic research.
The translational focus of her research aims to understand the disconnect between scientific discoveries in cancer treatment and optimal delivery of evidence-based treatment to vulnerable, racial/ethnic minority women with breast cancer. She is investigating how tumor biology, poverty, communication, and medical mistrust influence breast cancer outcomes in diverse breast cancer populations. n
Maryann MacNeil, MA, Receives 2022 Stanley L. Robbins Award
Maryann MacNeil, MA, assistant professor of anatomy & neurobiology, has been recognized with the Stanley L. Robbins Award for Excellence in Teaching.
Established in recognition of the exceptional teaching and devotion to his students exemplified by Stanley L. Robbins, MD, former professor and chair of pathology, the annual award honors an outstanding educator who demonstrates the importance of teaching and a commitment to students and to education. It is BUSM’s highest teaching honor.
“Professor MacNeil is a valued member of our educator community,” a colleague said in praise. “She does not draw attention to herself or her work, and it is only through working with her for so many years that I have come to understand the scope and quality of her efforts. She is an unsung hero of BUSM and it is beyond time that she is recognized as the truly exceptional educator that she is.”
Her work ethic is described as second to none, with consistently high teaching evaluations with many comments such as:
“This material was pretty challenging but professor MacNeil did a nice job establishing continuity with what she had taught previously and distilling things down to the key concepts. Her syllabi are always helpful and well-written.”
“She is so warm and kind, her lectures are clear and concise. Embryology is so hard to understand and she really tried to make it approachable. I appreciate the repetition because it reinforced the topic.”
“I love the level of detail and the carefulness put into these lectures. They give wonderful examples with great videos, and I can always tell that so much thought has gone into them.”
MacNeil received her degree in physical therapy, summa cum laude, from Northeastern University, Boston. Her clinical experience was in neuro-rehabilitation, primarily with traumatic brain injury and pediatrics. She came to BUSM as a student in 2004 and based on her interest
in anatomy and particularly in research related to the neural response to aging, joined the anatomy and neurobiology department. Her research was in sleep physiology, specifically comparing circadian rhythms in young versus aged populations. After completing her Master of Arts degree in 2006, she was offered a faculty position in the department. She completed her Certificate of Advanced Graduate Study in Educational Leadership Management in 2019.
Much of her time is spent teaching and working with students. She covers the topics of gross anatomy, medical histology, and medical embryology in courses taught to medical, dental, and graduate medical sciences students. n
BUSM Names Educators of the Year
The BUSM Awards Committee has honored four faculty members as 2022 Educators of the Year. With nominees selected by students and faculty, the annual awards recognize BUSM educators who provide excellence in teaching and mentoring.
This year’s honorees are Omar Siddiqi, MD, Pre-Clinical Educator of the Year; Tejal Brahmbhatt, MD, Clinical Educator of the Year; Amy N. Brodeur, MFS, Educator of the Year in MA/MS Programs; and Matthew D. Layne, PhD, Educator of the Year in PhD Programs.
Siddiqi is an assistant professor of medicine in cardiovascular medicine, program director of the Cardiovascular Medicine Fellowship Program, and codirector of the cardiovascular module of the BUSM Diseases and Therapies (DRx) course. He earned his MD at Washington University School of Medicine and completed a residency in internal medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, followed by a fellowship in cardiovascular medicine at Boston Medical Center. As director of the cardiology fellowship curriculum, he is credited with developing an academic half-day for cardiovascular medicine fellows and developing an echocardiography curriculum utilizing the CAE ultrasound, efforts for which he was recognized with two Cardiovascular Medicine Fellowship Faculty Teaching Awards in 2015 and 2018. His research in medical education includes the development of simulationbased curricula and the integration of team-based learning in teaching electrocardiograms; clinical interests include cardiac amyloidosis and echocardiography. He is an attending cardiologist in the BU Amyloidosis Center.
According to Siddiqi’s nominators, “He was able to present very difficult topics in a fun and interesting way through group discussions incorporating reallife examples. The examples presented allowed students to think critically about the information we were learning, making the course even more relevant. He was also very open to feedback throughout the course and made changes accordingly.”
Brahmbhatt is an assistant professor of surgery, an acute care and trauma surgeon, and surgical intensivist at Boston Medical Center. He earned his MD from Windsor University School of Medicine in St. Kitts, West Indies, spent his residency in general surgery at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, and completed a fellowship in traumatology, emergency general surgery, and surgical critical care at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. His research interests include trauma and emergency surgery resource appropriation in an environment of dwindling resource allocation and surgical education.
His nominators said, “He is a true champion and advocate of his students and residents. He is an outstanding educator and mentor and a strong supporter of women going into surgery.”
Brodeur is an assistant professor of anatomy of neurobiology and associate director of the Biomedical Forensic Sciences (BMFS) program, coordinating classes and supervising research projects in the areas of crime scene investigation, forensic biology, physical evidence comparison, and bloodstain pattern investigation. She also administers and maintains the forensic biology laboratory, oversees the admissions committee, and is responsible for ensuring the BMFS program continues to meet the standards required to maintain accreditation.
Brodeur earned a Master of Forensic Sciences from the George Washington University before gaining forensic casework experience in the areas of mitochondrial DNA and STR analysis. Before joining BUSM, she conducted casework in the criminalistics section of the Boston Police Department Crime Laboratory, which included biological and trace evidence screening, gunshot residue testing, general evidence examination, and crimescene processing. Her current research focuses on optimizing presumptive biological testing and the detection and collection of evidentiary material from crime scenes.
A nominator lauded her dedication. “Professor Brodeur teaches us in a way that feels protective. She is always available to talk over assignments, quizzes,
and exams, and she reminds us of this frequently. It is very clear during her lectures that she is an expert in her field. Professor Brodeur often has to cold-call us in class because we tend to be a little quiet; this is a terrifying feature in a professor, but with her it feels more like she is boosting our confidence. Very few professors have this talent and it makes her constructive criticism all the more valuable.”
Layne is an associate professor of biochemistry and earned his PhD at BUSM. His laboratory focuses on identifying novel pathways that control extracellular matrix (ECM) synthesis and assembly as they relate to fibroproliferative and connective tissue diseases. Fibroproliferative responses are similar to wound-healing processes involving accumulation of contractile myofibroblasts and ECM secretion and assembly.
As assistant dean for research, Layne is dedicated to facilitating, monitoring, and evaluating research experiences for medical students with the goal of expanding and enhancing student research opportunities at the school. Among other enthusiastic recommendations, one of Layne’s nominators said, “He epitomizes the mission of the award in that he certainly goes above and beyond
expectations for our teaching mission. He challenges our students to acquire skills critical to their development as scientists and delivers exceptional education to them, as his commitment to their learning is unrivaled.” n
Carter Cornwall, PhD, Appointed Professor Emeritus of Physiology and Biophysics
The Department of Physiology & Biophysics celebrated Carter Cornwall’s appointment to professor emeritus at a department meeting held in December 2021.
Chair ad interim William Lehman, PhD, thanked Cornwall for his valued service to the department and School of Medicine. “Carter is a wonderful colleague, excellent teacher, and esteemed researcher who has made fundamental contributions to the field of visual transduction. Beyond his own scientific contributions, Carter’s scientific impact is also reflected by the number of eminent academic researchers, both in the US and abroad, he originally trained,” Lehman said.
Associate Professor of Physiology & Biophysics Clint Makino, PhD, a Cornwall recruit, toasted Cornwall, noting that “wherever Carter travels, he’s got one suitcase for personal items and a second filled with wires, nuts and bolts, and an occasional oscilloscope” ready to provide service far and wide.
Cornwall was on the cusp of becoming a member of the department’s R01-50s club, having enjoyed 46 years of NIH support. Among his future plans, he will continue to assist Makino in research and advise students and junior Physiology & Biophysics faculty members.
Abdul Saied Calvino, MD, MPH, Receives American Cancer Society Award
Abdul Saied Calvino, MD, MPH, assistant professor of surgical oncology and associate
Dr. Tornetta is renowned for his teaching prowess and unflagging efforts to advance orthopaedic education and training.
director for the surgery clerkship, has received the 2021 American Cancer Society Lane W. Adams Quality of Life Award.
The award recognizes individuals who consistently provide excellent and compassionate care, and also address the complex needs of cancer patients and their families, by going above and beyond the expected to ensure a “warm hand of service,” a concept Lane W. Adams emphasized when serving as executive vice president of the American Cancer Society.
Calvino earned his MD from the University of Panama School of Medicine and his MPH from the University of IllinoisChicago. He completed his surgical residency at the University of Illinois-Chicago and a two-year fellowship in complex surgical oncology at Roger Williams Medical Center in Providence, Rhode Island, a BUSM clinical affiliate where he currently serves as a surgical oncologist.
He was chosen for his insight, advocacy, and unwavering commitment to patient care for underserved populations in Rhode Island. He and his team have worked to educate and increase awareness of colorectal cancer screening, treatment, and prevention by holding more than 20 outreach events for Hispanic, Southeast Asian, and Native American communities.
With colleagues at Roger Williams Medical Center, he developed and launched a community outreach and navigation program for Hispanic people in Rhode Island focused on increasing colorectal and breast cancer screening rates. More than 800 patients have enrolled in the program, with screening completion rates above 85 percent and 90 percent of surveyed patients stating that they would not have completed the procedure had it not been for the program. Calvino has worked closely with the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network to pass a bill in Rhode Island that would remove financial barriers to colorectal screening.
Cancer caregivers have been recognized through the Lane W. Adams Quality of Life Award since 1998. n
Paul Tornetta III, MD, Named to AAOS Board
Paul Tornetta III, MD, has been named second vice president of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) board of directors, a position he will assume following the AAOS 2022 annual meeting in Chicago. His role is the first in a four-year volunteer commitment that will include serving as president of the academy in 2024–2025.
Chair of orthopaedic surgery at BUSM and chief of orthopaedic surgery and director of orthopaedic trauma at Boston Medical Center, Tornetta describes himself as a “blue-collar surgeon” who takes pride in promoting a shared decision-making model with patients and fostering lifelong professional learning in surgeons.
His reputation for fairness and transparency has earned him longtime recognition as a Castle Connolly Top Doctor every year since 1999 and a Boston Magazine “Top Doc” since 2006. He is past president of the Orthopaedic Trauma Association and served on the executive committee of the American Orthopaedic Association (AOA) for more than a decade. n
Kenneth Grundfast, MD, Receives 2021 Jerome Klein Award for Physician Excellence
Kenneth Grundfast, MD, has received the 2021 Jerome Klein Award for Physician
Excellence at Boston Medical Center (BMC) in recognition of his commitment to education, mentoring, and clinical excellence, and for his dedication to BMC’s mission and most vulnerable patients.
Established in 2010 to commemorate Klein’s 50 years of service, the Jerome Klein Award for Physician Excellence is presented annually to a physician who shares Klein’s dedication to excellence and commitment to service. Winners are nominated by their colleagues and chosen by department chairs.
Ravin Davidoff, MBBCh, former senior vice president and chief medical officer at BMC, presented Grundfast with the award, saying, “Ken has always been so proud to care for our patients and to ensure that we welcomed every patient who wanted to get care at ‘the BMC.’ His department was ahead of so many by opening up slots each day for add-ons, for keeping appointments open for patients seen in the ED the day before, and for promoting a real sense of team in his department . . . he believed BMC could and should compete with any of our neighbors in Boston and elsewhere and that we delivered the best care possible.
“I have marveled at your dedication and contributions to this medical campus and our patients, and you are so, so deserving of this recognition.”
A member of the BUSM/BMC community for 22 years, Grundfast has served in numerous roles at both institutions, including chief and chair of otolaryngology; lead for BMC’s physician training for patient experience; assistant dean of student affairs; academy medical educator; and chair of the faculty appointments and promotions committee at BUSM. He also has served on 32 Medical Campus committees and a wide variety of committees in his specialty societies and has published more than 100 peer-reviewed articles, 37 book chapters, and two books.
According to his letter of recommendation signed by 12 of his colleagues, “We can think of no other person at BMC who better embodies the values of persistence and dedication that are described in the Klein award. Grundfast has made important contributions to clinical care, leadership, education, and research on our campus for so many years. Throughout his tenure, he has been a beacon of professionalism and collegiality.”
Peter Burke, MD, Steps Down as Chief of Acute Care, Trauma Surgery; Tracey Dechert, MD, Named Successor
Peter Burke, MD, chief of acute care and trauma surgery, stepped down from clinical practice at the end of June. He will remain a member of the Department of Surgery’s research faculty. Burke has been practicing for more than 30 years, nearly all of them at Boston Medical Center (BMC). He joined the BMC/BUSM community in 1999 and was appointed to chief and promoted to professor of surgery in 2008.
A highly respected clinician and colleague, Burke excels in all aspects of academic medicine. In recognition of his many contributions to BMC, he received the hospital’s 2019 Jerome Klein Award for Physician Excellence. He is returning to basic science and clinical research integral to his work as a surgeon-scientist.
Tracey Dechert, MD, succeeds Burke as chief of acute care and trauma surgery. Dechert joined BMC/ BUSM in 2010 as assistant professor of surgery and was promoted to associate professor in 2018. Her established record of clinical excellence, superb teaching, and leadership led to positions of increasing responsibility, including her appointment in 2019 as director of BMC’s Surgical Intensive Care Unit (SICU) and chief of surgical critical care. Committed to education and mentorship, she previously served as associate director of the General Surgery Residency Program and currently serves as director of the Surgical Critical Care Fellowship.
Tejal Brahmbhatt, MD, will succeed Dechert as SICU director, chief of surgical critical care, and director of the Surgical Critical Care Fellowship. n
IN Memoriam
Richard Saitz, MD (MED’87), MPH
Richard Saitz, MD, MPH, professor of medicine/GIM and professor & chair of community health sciences at BUSPH since 2014, passed away on January 15 from pancreatic cancer. He was 58.
A Double Terrier (CAS’87, MED’87) and lifelong member of the BU community, Rich joined the BUSM faculty in 1993.
Rich had an international reputation in both alcohol and drug addiction research; his mantra was “follow the evidence.” His landmark article, “Individualized Treatment for Alcohol Withdrawal: A Randomized Double-blind Controlled Trial,” changed practice regarding the approach to treating the common problem of alcohol withdrawal syndrome. At his core, Rich was a dedicated physician committed to his patients and to our mission. He directed Boston Medical Center’s Clinical Addiction Research and Education Unit for more than a decade, was coprincipal investigator of BU’s Clinical and Translational Sciences
Institute, and chaired an Institutional Review Board.
In addition to numerous honors and awards, his work and leadership in the addiction world included serving as associate editor of the Journal of the American Medical Association, editor-in-chief of the Journal of Addiction Medicine, section editor and sole author of key chapters for UpToDate® on unhealthy substance use, editor of The ASAM Principles of Addiction Medicine, editor emeritus of Addiction Science & Clinical Practice, editor of Evidence-Based Medicine, author of more than 200 peer-reviewed publications, and former president of the Association for Medical Education and Research in Substance Abuse.
Rich was committed to advancing junior colleagues and served as a mentor to many, both in the US and internationally. His critical, thoughtful understanding of medical literature regarding addressing alcohol and drug addiction issues—particularly as it related to chronic medical problems including HIV infection—distinguished him as a renowned authority in the academic community.
His research focused on screening and brief interventions, integrating substancerelated and general healthcare, and improving the quality of care, particularly in general health settings. He validated single-item screening questions recommended by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
In addition to his outstanding contributions to the Boston, national, and international scientific communities, Rich was a devoted and treasured friend, colleague, and collaborator. We will miss his warm and engaging personality, keen intellect, easy laugh, and zest for life. Our deepest condolences to Angela Jackson, MD, their two daughters Isabella and Tatiana, and to their family, friends, and colleagues.
On April 4, members of the BUMC community joined Rich’s family and friends at a hybrid event celebrating his life. To honor his legacy, BUSM has established the Richard Saitz, MD (MED’87) MPH Memorial Lecture Fund, which will support an annual Medical Campus lecture, “Richard Saitz, MD, MPH Memorial Lecture: Controversies in Medicine—Show Me the Evidence.” Part of General Internal Medicine’s Grand Rounds also will feature speakers who reflect his passion of “following the evidence” to address controversies in medicine and public health. n
Charles Michael “Mike” Bliss, Sr., MD (MED’63)
Charles Michael “Mike” Bliss, Sr., MD, passed away peacefully on June 14 at Boston Medical Center (BMC) after a brief illness.
Mike grew up in Lincoln, Massachusetts, and received his bachelor’s degree from Amherst College in 1958. A member of the BUSM Class of 1963, he completed his internship at Boston City Hospital, was drafted into the US Army in the middle of his residency, and served in Vietnam as a physician. Upon his return, he completed his residency in Colorado and entered the BU gastroenterology fellowship program, at that time run by Dr. Franz Ingelfinger. Mike joined the BUSM faculty and the medical staff at Boston City Hospital upon completing his fellowship. A dedicated and beloved attending at Boston City Hospital, Mike was committed to his patients. His initial research work was with Dr. Donald Small, founder of the Biophysics Institute. He served his entire career at BUSM and what became BMC after the merger of University Hospital and Boston City Hospital. He served on the BUSM admissions committee for many years and was a beloved friend and colleague as well as a mentor to many medical students, residents, and gastroenterology fellows. He received the 2001 Distinguished Clinician Award from the American Gastroenterology Association. Upon his retirement, Mike enjoyed spending time with his many friends and loving family. Our deepest condolences to his wife Barbara, their sons Chip and Dan, and their grandchildren Ariel, Matthew, Mary, Hannah, and Tucker. n
During their first two years of medical school, members of the Class of 2022 displayed remarkable enthusiasm for collaborating with faculty and sharing their varied cultures with each other. Then, the pandemic turned their medical education upside down, repeatedly delaying their first major licensing exam and the start of longanticipated clerkships.
When students eventually began clinical rotations, they often did so with extra layers of personal protective equipment (PPE) and the added anxiety of uncertain schedules and possible COVID-19 exposure. “Medical school is hard. It’s hard on a good day,” says Associate Dean for Student Affairs Angela Jackson, MD, pointing out that medical students not only endure intense academic pressure but deal with the extremes of human experience. “Emotionally, it’s difficult.”
For the Class of 2022, that emotional stress was compounded by constant changes in plans and protocols as the school tried to keep students learning while also keeping them safe.
“We all had to pivot on a dime to create resources and experiences for them,” Jackson says. “And they had to do the pivoting as well.” Students accepted changes and disruptions with grace, she says, “and that ability is something that’s absolutely applicable to the rest of their professional lives.”
She says that good doctors know how to make do with imperfect circumstances and uncertainty, and how to respond gracefully in emergencies. “That ability to think quickly, to rework your plans and move forward—this class got a lot of practice with that.”
FIRST YEAR
Members of the Class of 2022 began medical school as most students do, focused on building study habits and social ties. At the time, they couldn’t have known how those habits would be tested, or how important those ties would become.
The school hosted a White Coat Ceremony for the 160 class members on August 2, 2018, after a summer filled with news about immigrant families separated at the US/Mexico border and Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s royal wedding. Speakers at the ceremony noted the diversity of the class: 50 percent were women, and 22 percent were from groups underrepresented in medicine. Class members were born in 19 countries and came from 36 different states. Almost 85 percent spoke more than one language, and as a group spoke 26 different languages.
During that first year dominated by cycles of studying and taking tests, class members made an effort to get to know each other.
“That was a highlight of first year for me—all the social gatherings with our classmates,” says Max Vaickus (MED’22). “And that was pre-COVID, so socializing could happen then.”
Class members held impromptu gatherings in their homes and at restaurants and bars to celebrate and unwind after exams. They also organized ski outings, hiking trips, and skit nights.
“Getting people engaged in the social aspects of medical school is a great way to address the isolation you can feel when you’re studying all the time,” says Jae Cho (MED’22), a social leader of the class. “Having events where you get to form relationships is really important. You need that support structure when you’re in a challenging environment.”
It’s especially helpful to build community early in your medical training, adds Delia Motavalli (MED’22). “Medical school gets progressively harder; you have less time the farther along you go,” she says. “So, the time that I really valued these relationships was when I was a third-year and had so little time but was on the wards with people who I could talk to and trust.”
Students took time that first year to learn about the interests and cultures of their classmates. A group of dance enthusiasts, for example, started a weekly dance interest group to learn different choreographies, ranging from Afrobeats to Indian folk dances. In January 2019, the school’s various cultural groups hosted the first-ever BUSM Culture Show, with the dance interest group featured in the finale.
The show led to one of Maria Suarez-Gama’s favorite med school memories. As a volunteer for the Delivery Resources, Education, and Advocacy for Moms program, she spent most of that day in the hospital supporting an expectant mother through labor—and nervously watching the clock. The baby was born just in time for her to hurry to Hiebert Lounge to perform.
“It was such a memorable day,” Suarez-Gama (MED’22) says, “to run over and change into my dance outfit and put on my makeup. The show goes on, right?” Using her Spanish language skills to assist with a birth and then sharing her Colombian heritage all in one day confirmed to her that BUSM was where she belonged. “I really felt like I was in the right place, where I needed to be,” she says.
As the academic year progressed, class members got involved with existing efforts to improve the curriculum, and several students approached deans with new ideas for enhancing medical education at BUSM. Megan Alexander (MED’22) asked about better integrating lifestyle medicine—including nutrition, exercise, stress management, and healthy sleep habits—into courses and was thrilled to find the administration receptive. Alexander’s work has already resulted in changes to the way the school teaches medical interviewing and patient counseling. She’s also working with faculty to update instruction on lifestyle medicine involving hypertension, diabetes, and other conditions
The Class of 2022 is... 160
Class members
50%
Women
22%
From groups underrepresented in medicine
The newly minted physicians recite the Hippocratic Oath, signaling their entrance into the practice of medicine.
and incorporate it into standard curriculum alongside pharmaceutical interventions, rather than have it separated into its own module or elective.
“That’s the really important idea,” she says.
A group of social justice–minded students suggested examining systemic racism’s impact on the school and its curriculum. Administrators helped the students form a Racism in Medicine Vertical Integration Group (VIG), which later published an exhaustive 139-page report that includes numerous recommendations for removing racist beliefs and stereotypes from medical education. Their work also resulted in the publication of a paper, authored by numerous members of the class and faculty, “Deconstructing Racism, Hierarchy, and Power in Medical Education: Guiding Principles on Inclusive Curriculum Design,” published in Academic Medicine in November 2021.
SECOND YEAR
Class of 2022 members began their second year of medical school with the increasing confidence of experienced medical students and ended their year facing many unknowns.
Members of the Racism in Medicine VIG knew their curriculum-development project would take time, but they wanted to make immediate impact. They spent the summer before their second year creating an enrichment series they
19
Countries of origin
36
States of origin
26
Languages spoken
5
Average amount of times students had their Step 1 exams rescheduled
named Creating Leadership in Education to Address Racism (CLEAR).
“It was a six-series course that we rolled out over the next semester for students who are interested in learning more about racism in medicine—the history of it, how to identify it, how to combat it, how we even talk about race in medical education,” explains Sabreea Parnell (MED’22). “We had about 40 students sign up for the course, which was incredible.”
Many class members used their free time to lead student groups and volunteer in the community, riding the Outreach Van to take hot meals and basic medical care to immigrant communities in East Boston, providing comfort to newborns suffering through opioid withdrawals, and offering tax-filing help to low-income families visiting the medical center’s pediatrics wing.
Rachel Rockers (MED’22), who was balancing schoolwork with family responsibilities during her second year, didn’t have time to join her classmates in such activities, but was awed by their energy and passion.
“I am shocked and inspired by how proactive my younger classmates are in trying to make the world a better place,” she says. “That my classmates have this type of conviction and aren’t afraid to show it, I think is very inspiring for the future of medicine.”
As classes wound down and students were beginning the intensive study period before their crucial Step 1 licensing exam, the COVID-19 pandemic began, sending everyone into lockdown.
At first, says Vaickus, the quarantine didn’t disrupt students’ lives all that much, as they were already planning to shut themselves inside to study. Then, their tests got canceled and repeatedly rescheduled.
“It’s such a finely orchestrated study plan that we put together,” Vaickus says. “Everything was laid out and structured, and then COVID threw a wrench into all of that.” When Bostonarea testing centers closed their doors, Paige Curran, assistant dean for student affairs, worked around the clock to help students regroup.
“Several of these students were canceled, not once, not twice, but—on average—five times to sit for this exam,” she says. “Many
showed up at their testing site under the impression that they were scheduled to take the exam, and the testing center was locked.”
Many students managed to take their Step 1 that spring, either at a typical testing center or at temporary testing campuses that area medical schools worked together to set up at BUSM and Brown University. Others ended up waiting months to take the eight-hour exam, severely testing their ability to retain knowledge and maintain intense study.
Rockers chose to delay her exam until the fall, which she says was both a blessing and a curse. During spring 2020, she was caring for her ailing mother, mourning the loss of her father-in-law, and without childcare for her newborn and toddler. While she would have liked to cross Step 1 off her list earlier, she says, she appreciated the opportunity to care for her family during quarantine, knowing she had the flexibility to test later.
Curran was impressed by the grace with which students accepted such a major disruption to their academic schedules and their willingness to collaborate with faculty and staff to make new testing plans.
“The fact that they did not lay down and stay down is just remarkable,” she says.
THIRD YEAR
COVID influenced nearly every aspect of the Class of 2022’s third year of medical school, just as it did nearly every aspect of American life at that time.
A highlight of the medical school experience, third-year clerkships, were set to begin in May 2020. Boston Medical Center and affiliated sites and practices, however, were so overwhelmed with COVID patients that it didn’t make sense to begin clerkships then, increasing the density of healthcare workers in limited spaces and putting students at risk of exposure. Assuming hospitals and practices would be in better shape come fall, school administrators quickly reworked the third-year curriculum so the class could delay its clinical start but still graduate on time. Clerkships are typically a mix of classroom and hands-on learning; for this class, all classroom lectures took place virtually over the summer. When students later entered the hospital for clinical experience, most of their rotations were shortened by two weeks but were entirely focused on hands-on learning. Faculty worked hard to make the virtual learning period as productive as possible, says Associate Dean for Medical Education Priya Garg, MD, walking students through virtual cases and even mailing them sewing kits for suturing practice.
While creating the two-week virtual modules from scratch on such short notice was a huge amount of work, says Assistant Professor of Pediatrics Rachel Thompson, MD, who directs pediatric clerkships, BUSM faculty didn’t face the challenge alone.
“So many people across the country were going through something similar,” she says. “There was an incredible amount of knowledge sharing and sharing of resources on the medical educators’ listservs. Places were offering cases they had done; models they had used.” It was heartening, she says, to see such a spirit of sharing in the medical education community.
The school solicited feedback on its initial virtual modules and then did its best to incorporate student suggestions into later modules.
“One of the things we learned,” says Thompson, “was that students really wanted more small-group opportunities.” With more than 150 students enrolled in a module simultaneously, however, she recalls that trying to find enough faculty to supervise small groups was mind-boggling until a colleague at Boston Children’s Hospital mentioned that COVID shutdowns had left their fellows with little to do. “So, I staffed a huge number of our small-group sessions with fellows from Boston Children’s who volunteered their time.”
The virtual modules were a challenge for students as well as faculty, especially given the intensity surrounding the summer of 2020.
“Some of us were doing virtual rotations on Zoom while trying to juggle studying for Step 1, so that was definitely a chaotic time,” says Motavalli.
Following news coverage of Black Lives Matter protests made focusing on academics difficult for many students that summer, especially students of color. Parnell remembers how exhausting it felt to be Black in America during that time, and yet still needing to find the energy for hours of online class sessions each day.
Even the logistics of taking online courses was challenging for some students. When lockdown loomed in the spring, Meshelle Hirashima (MED’22) booked a flight home to Hawaii.
“There was no way I was going to quarantine in Boston,” she says.
She chose to stay safely in Hawaii through the summer, which meant logging in to virtual learning modules at three in the morning.
Students were thrilled to finally begin in-person clerkships in late August. Despite their shortened rotations, they had the formative experiences typical for third-year medical students, including interviewing patients face-to-face, assisting in their first baby deliveries, and witnessing death for the first time.
The presence of COVID-19 affected some clerkships more than others. Cho says his rotation through minimally invasive surgery (MIS) was drastically impacted by the cancellation of elective surgeries.
“Despite spending a month on MIS, I did not see a single bariatric surgery, which was crazy because that’s 90 percent of what they normally do,” he says.
Initially, students weren’t allowed to treat COVID patients or even see patients presenting with COVID symptoms because faculty felt they should first be familiar with the hospital and clinical care to be sufficiently prepared for the experience.
“I did two weeks of outpatient pediatrics,” says Vaickus, “and they didn’t let us see any person who had a runny nose or an ear infection or a slightly suspicious cough, which is, you know, all kids.”
Parnell says her most trying third-year experience was the time she spent in the medical ICU.
“In the beginning, there were almost no patients that I could actually see because everyone had COVID,” she says. “I still had patients that I was rounding on in the morning, but I couldn’t go into their rooms, so I’d have to stand outside the door looking through the windows to see how my patients were doing.”
COVID especially complicated rotations for students forced to quarantine after catching the virus or being exposed, leaving them to make up lost time during vacation breaks.
“Accidental exposures happened,” says Motavalli, “but overall, I felt very protected.”
Stephanie Vaughn (MED’22) agrees that BUSM struck the right balance between education and safety, and she appreciated being shielded from COVID exposure.
“There truly isn’t that much educational value in taking care of COVID patients,” she says, “because you just follow an algorithm, and the cases are usually quite straightforward. So, the residents
would say, ‘This is COVID. It’s just risky and not interesting. You should not take that patient.’”
Vaughn adds that COVID had much less impact on her clerkships than she initially feared. “I think there’s a sense among doctors that we need to keep prioritizing education even in a pandemic, because if we don’t make time and space for that, we’re going to have a generation of doctors who are unprepared.”
Even while busy with clerkships, members of the Class of 2022 found ways to help with pandemic relief. To pay tribute to his grandmother, who died of COVID early in the pandemic, Tyler Kalajian (MED’22) spearheaded a fundraiser to buy masks for the homeless community in Boston’s South End.
“We thought we’d be able to donate 1,000 or so masks,” Kalajian says, “but we got such an outpouring of support from both the South End and Boston University communities that we were able to give seven to eight times as many as we expected. It was so humbling to see a community come together and help a very vulnerable population in our neighborhood.”
With proper PPE, vaccines, and treatments available to blunt the impact of COVID-19, the Class of 2022 saw a near return to normalcy in its fourth year of medical school. Students were allowed to see patients with COVID-19 symptoms and schedule “away” rotations in outside hospital systems. Elective surgeries returned.
The geriatric rotations required of all fourth-year students remained impacted by COVID-19, and students wore gowns, N-95 masks, and eye protection when they made home visits.
“The biggest barrier with PPE is that we’re communicating with a lot of patients who have sensory and cognitive impairment,” says Assistant Professor of Medicine Megan Young, MD, who directs the geriatric clerkships. Knowing their patients may struggle to hear and understand them, she says, pushed students to improve their communication skills.
“We’ve gotten a lot better emoting with our eyes, since nobody can see the rest of our face anymore,” says Cho, only half-jokingly.
Rockers, who plans to specialize in pediatrics, says many of her fourth-year patient appointments have been telemedicine visits, at least partially because the Omicron variant of SARSCoV-2 caused a spike in virus cases and a temporary return to cautiousness.
“I think they’re also trying to train us in telemedicine because they realize it’s more convenient for a lot of the patients to do telemedicine,” she says, “so it’s a skill they want us to have.” And despite the initial awkwardness of trying to conduct a child’s neurological exam over a computer screen, she says, she’s become adept at it over time.
Garg believes that their ability to master telemedicine is evidence of the exceptional clinical skills these students possess. Because clinicians can’t examine patients during a telemedicine visit, she says, they must rely more on asking patients the right questions. “That takes a lot of clinical acumen, to know what’s the right question to ask,” she says. And phrasing questions in
Happy, newly minted MD Michelle Hirashima at the end of the convocation ceremony.
a way that patients will understand requires impressive communication skills.
With COVID-19 restrictions easing, members of the Class of 2022 have generously used their time to help underclassmen organize much-needed social and professional events.
“When the current second-year class came in, all group events were canceled; all indoor gatherings were canceled,” says Cho. “The feedback I’m getting from them is they really feel they suffered in their social connections and in their connectedness to the community as a whole.”
Class members have also volunteered at COVID-19 vaccine clinics. Members of the Latino Medical Student Association spent time in Chelsea, a primarily Spanish-speaking Boston suburb, helping with patient recruitment, education, and registration.
“I didn’t directly give out the vaccine,” says Suarez-Gama, “but it was still very rewarding to volunteer there, as I was usually one of maybe two Spanish-speaking volunteers in the clinic, and they very much needed to have bilingual staff.”
Members of the Class of 2022 completed their fourth year as all medical students do, balancing their final clerkships with residency interviews. But theirs were not typical interviews.
“You’re sitting there in your suit top and your blouse,” says Rockers, “but then you have pajama bottoms on.”
All interviews happened virtually this year, so instead of booking flights and hotel rooms, students fussed with their lighting, hoped their internet service wouldn’t drop, and tried not to appear fidgety on camera. To help students prepare for virtual interviews, BUSM Student Affairs developed a range of resources, including mock interviews for each student with specific feedback.
“I was really disappointed that the interviews were virtual again this year,” says Vaughn. “I’m going to be moving with my partner, and I don’t want to move him somewhere we’ve never been.” On the other hand, she says, virtual interviews saved time and money, valuable commodities for most medical students.
Despite their awkwardness and other downsides, virtual interviews may be here to stay. Students say they appreciate that virtual interviews reduced their carbon footprint, made scheduling easier, eliminated the stress of flight delays, and—perhaps most importantly—helped level the playing field for students of lower socioeconomic status.
This group of students has always focused on advocacy and equity, says Garg, so she’s not surprised they’ve spent time thinking of ways to make residency interviews more equitable.
Garg confirms that this class’s passion for helping improve medical education remains strong. Even as fourth-year students in their final weeks of medical school, class members continue to approach her with ideas for curricular improvement.
“I’m just so impressed,” she says. “Many students would have been so fatigued and burnt out by the experiences of COVID and medical school in general, but they just keep going. It gives you a lot of confidence and hope for the future of medicine.” n
