4 minute read
Faculty news
Faculty advancement
Kevin R. Scott, MD, has been named academic chair of Geisinger College of Health Sciences’ Emergency Medicine Department. He transitioned to his new role after serving as an associate professor of emergency medicine, associate residency program director and fellowship director for education scholarship at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.
Jason R. Woloski, MD, has been named chair of Geisinger College’s newly established Family Medicine Department.
With the appointment, he is now a member of the College Executive Committee. The department was created to meet the goal of creating a primary care center of excellence. Dr. Woloski was chosen to lead the department because he is an outstanding representative of family medicine and its contributions to research, education and advocacy.
Leaving a legacy of integrity
Jackie Ghormoz, beloved assistant dean of students, retired in 2024. Colleagues saluted her contributions to Geisinger.
“Her legacy is the relationships she formed with students. She is a tireless advocate for them in all capacities, from personal wellbeing to academics. She has an open-door policy with students, and they go to her in their happiest of times — but then also in their most challenging and hardest times.”– Julia Kolcharno, assistant dean of student affairs
“The kindness and empathy Jackie is so well known for come from her ability to listen and hear what her colleagues and students are saying. Good listening doesn’t mean agreeing, but it guarantees others feel heard.” – Julie Byerley, MD, MPH, Geisinger College president and Geisinger chief academic officer
Taking the lead: Faculty sets the agenda for AAMC’s Group on Student Affairs, Careers in Medicine
Geisinger School of Medicine leaders were on the podium and presented research at the 2024 Association of American Medical Colleges’ (AAMC) Group on Student Affairs (GSA), Careers in Medicine (CiM) and Organization of Student Representatives (OSR) meeting in April in San Francisco. Christin Spatz, MD, assistant dean of student affairs and MD career advising, serves as AAMC’s chair of the CiM Advisory Committee and helped plan the program. She also spoke during a plenary session on the first day, addressing the nearly 900 attendees.
At AAMC conference on regional campuses, Geisinger leads the conversation
At AAMC conference on regional campuses, Geisinger leads the conversation
Just a little more than 30% of U.S. medical schools have regional campuses. The model is new and growing. And Geisinger School of Medicine is taking the lead in shaping the increasingly important role of the regional campus model in modern medical education. School leadership and faculty were prominent at the recent Association of American Medical Colleges Group on Regional Medical Campuses annual conference in Washington, D.C.
Julie Byerley, MD, MPH, Geisinger College president and School of Medicine dean, was the plenary speaker, addressing all attendees with a moving talk on “Lessons I Never Sought: Leading During Difficult Times.”
Geisinger College leader named president of the Academy for Professionalism in Health Care
Michelle Schmude, EdD, vice provost for enrollment management at Geisinger College, was named president of the Academy for Professionalism in Health Care (APHC). Dr. Schmude and our School of Medicine are nationally recognized leaders in professional identity formation education.
APHC has its roots in a major national project undertaken to evaluate how medical ethics and humanities play a foundational role in professional formation in medical schools. Its mission is to optimize patient care through professionalism education, scholarship, policy and practice in all healthrelated fields.
Geisinger’s Department of Medical Education faculty takes top prize at IAMSE conference
Congratulations to the School of Medicine’s Department of Medical Education faculty for taking the “outstanding faculty poster presentation” award at the International Association of Medical Science Educators’ 28th annual meeting in Minneapolis. The poster detailed the faculty’s work in systematically linking foundational science to patient care across the curriculum.
AAMC taps Geisinger School of Medicine to conduct research on health equity
Our School of Medicine is one of just 5 study teams nationwide chosen to access public opinion polling from the Association of American Medical Colleges’ (AAMC) Center for Health Justice to conduct health equity research. These 5 studies will produce “innovative, actionable, relevant research that uses the available data to answer important health equity-focused questions and inform health policy,” AAMC said. Amanda Caleb, PhD, MPH, professor of medical humanities, is principal investigator for the school’s team.
