Student spotlight: Niraj Vyas, MBS '19

The College of American Pathologists (CAP) awarded Niraj Vyas, a member of Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine’s class of 2024, its 2023 Distinguished Medical Student Award.

The CAP Distinguished Medical Student Award recognizes pathology knowledge and engagement and is given to a medical student for outstanding achievement, great aptitude and interest in pathology.

Vyas is a member of Geisinger Commonwealth’s Medical Research Honors Program (MRHP), a longterm, hypothesis-driven research program. Students who complete the program and remain in good academic standing receive an honors distinction upon graduation.

As a program participant, Vyas won second place in the educational scholarship category of Geisinger’s 27th Annual Scholarship Days in 2022. He was the only medical student among the 18 winners. Research in emergency medicine helped him hone his skills in implementation science, which he described as “one step beyond quality improvement.” He researched ways to apply Geisinger’s muchcelebrated surgical ProvenCare® program to patients with pneumonia.

“I like the detective aspect of pathology. To me that’s the thrill,” he said. “Pathology is where clinicians go to find answers to help their patients. The number of patients you help every day in pathology is incredibly high, it might be the highest in the hospital. It’s fulfilling to me to be able to serve so many patients all at once.”

Vyas is honored to receive the award but says it’s more a reflection on the excellent mentoring and research opportunities he has received at Geisinger from pathologists Sara Monaco, MD, and Renee Frank, MD, as well as from Chadd Kraus, DO, system director of Emergency Medicine Research, and Donna Volk, PhD, division chief of molecular and microbial diagnostics and development.