Abigail Geisinger Scholars Program Newsletter - Sept. 2020

Sept. 2020

Abigail Geisinger Scholars Update Welcome back!

Primary care scholar spotlight

We hope the new academic year is off to a great start for you.

Two encounters with medicine inspired Sophia Costan, MD Class of 2024, to become a doctor herself.

When she was 13, she was troubled by a barrage of mysterious symptoms — severe anxiety, weight loss, palpitations. A calm and reassuring family doctor solved the problem, discovering that Sophia has Grave’s disease. “She was so great,” Sophia said. “She took a scary situation and turned it into a learning opportunity.”

Just a friendly reminder to contact your mentor or mentee if you haven’t already done so.

As medicine evolves, so do programs to support the physicians of the future.

We believe that future lies in robust primary care — care that anticipates and prevents disease, focuses on wellness and recognizes mental health and wellbeing as fundamental to stronger, more resilient communities. That’s why all loanforgiveness programs offered by Geisinger Commonwealth are now known simply as the Abigail Geisinger Scholars Program.

The Abigail Geisinger Scholars Program also affirms we recognize how vital our mind, emotions and mood are to overall well-being by adding psychiatry as a specialty our Scholars can choose. We know good medicine respects the link between mind and body — now our Scholars program does, as well.

Sophia was eager to emulate her doctor’s knowledge and kindness, so she pursued dual degrees in cell & molecular biology and psychology at Chatham University in Pittsburgh. There, she also pursued another of her passions: serving the community. It was while volunteering as a front desk clerk at Catholic Charities Health Care Center that she found her next source of inspiration. “I loved working at the center and found that you can have a huge impact just by being kind,” she said. “However, I was lucky to have the chance to shadow a doctor at the center. He was retired and was working full time at the clinic for free. In his retirement, he could have been doing anything and he chose this. That really made an impression on me.”

As Sophia was researching medical schools, Geisinger’s focus on community captured her attention. “I was looking for schools with a community emphasis and was thrilled as I explored programs like the Fresh Food Farmacy. I had already applied to Geisinger Commonwealth when I learned about the scholars program and I was just floored. I want to focus on internal medicine, so it’s incredible that on Day 1 I will be immersed in primary care opportunities. I can also focus on what’s important to me — making medicine accessible to everyone. I am so excited. I’ve been dreaming of this since I was a teenager.”

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Abigail Geisinger Scholars Update | September 2020

Primary care leadership spotlight Greg Burke, MD, finds remarkable synergy between his work as chief patient experience officer at Geisinger and his continued role as an internist treating patients, some of whom have been under his care since the mid-1990s.

“Good communication, hospitality and compassion are key to ensuring a great patient experience. And all of these things are essential to building relationships,” he said. “We know patients respond to doctors who see them as a whole person and can forge connections. But it’s not just patients who are rewarded. When we look at resilience in doctors, all data points to ‘feeling in a relationship’ with a patient as necessary to handling the losses as well as the victories.”

physician education at Geisinger. For this reason, he was eager to help build the Abigail Geisinger Scholars program.

“One thing about the program I really like are the mentors. I think they are a move in the right direction,” he said. “In medicine, finding a mentor usually does happen organically — but it might not occur until residency. I like that the School of Medicine is being proactive and making it happen when our future doctors are still medical students.”

As a mentor in the program himself, Dr. Burke said he hopes to share his love of primary care. “I enjoy taking the long view,” he said. “Primary care requires a broad interest in disease, but mostly a set of timeless skills, those personal qualities required to build long-term relationships. I am happy to talk about the struggles — documentation, evolving models of care, regulations — but I’d rather focus on the things that make primary care so gratifying. For example, a patient I’ve been seeing since the 1990s just received a much-needed kidney transplant. Seeing his joy was very fulfilling. There are losses and they can be emotionally draining, but victories like this more than compensate.”

Dr. Burke’s goal is to make good communication, cultural competence and what he calls “hospitality” central to his contributions to both the patient experience and

Save the date Wednesday, Oct. 21, 7 – 8 p.m.

Senior Leader Seminar Topic: “Connecting with Residency Programs” The Abigail Geisinger Scholars Program will be offering Part 2 of its “Introduction to Primary Care.” In this session, scholars will learn more about Geisinger’s residency programs, their leadership and current residents.

Those participating in the session include: • • •

Wasique Mirza, MD Jameson Woodard, MD Sayeda Abbas, MD

This is a virtual event — information to join will be sent out before the seminar.

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Abigail Geisinger Scholars Update | September 2020

Walk with a future doc

Geisinger joins a growing list of communities nationwide that have started local Walk with a Doc (WWAD) programs.

WWAD was created by David Sabgir, MD, a cardiologist with Mount Carmel Health Systems in Columbus, Ohio. He has walked with patients and community members every weekend since 2005.

On Saturday, Aug. 22, Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine’s Family Medicine Interest Group hosted a walk that brought about 25 medical students (including many Abigail Geisinger Scholars), residents, doctors and the public together to get some exercise together. The event, held at the Lackawanna Heritage Trail along the Lackawanna River, was inspired by Walk with a Doc, a national nonprofit organization whose mission is to encourage healthy physical activity in people of all ages and reverse the consequences of a sedentary lifestyle in order to improve the health and wellbeing of the country.

Learn more about Walk with a Doc at WalkWithADoc.org.

Why walk?

According to the American Heart Association, walking as little as 30 minutes a day can provide the following benefits:

These walks are free, open to the community and don’t require pre-registration. Walkers enjoyed a refreshing and rejuvenating walk with medical students and healthcare professionals, who provide support to participants and answer questions during the walk.

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Improve blood pressure and blood sugar levels

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Help maintain a healthy body weight and lower the risk of obesity

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Enhance mental well-being

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Reduce the risk of osteoporosis

Abigail Geisinger Scholars Update | September 2020

Scholar spotlight Alexa Bolock, MD Class of 2021, is looking forward to Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine’s Match Day with a sense of freedom and confidence that comes from having a measure of certainty about the future. As an Abigail Geisinger Scholar, she knows what she’ll be doing for the next 6 years — and for many years thereafter. “Having the financial burden removed was a weight off my shoulders,” she said.

“But what’s really freeing is knowing I’ll have a job. I can choose the residency program that’s right for me rather than worrying about a resume.”

Alexa intends to pursue interventional radiology (IR), a field she fell in love with when she was exploring oncology in her undergraduate days at the University of Pittsburgh. “IR is the very definition of personalized medicine,” she said. “And a big factor that attracted me is the direct patient contact. That was very important to me. I also like the interprofessional aspect of IR. I will enjoy being part of a multidisciplinary team.”

A strong attraction to teamwork also defined Alexa’s career at Geisinger Commonwealth. Her peers elected her as a national delegate to the American Association of Medical Colleges’ Organization of Student Representatives for the Northeast Region.

She’s held leadership positions in the school’s student club, Physicians Representing Inclusivity, Diversity and Equality, as well as its Diversity Taskforce. Most recently she was chosen to attend Society of Interventional Radiology Foundation’s 6-week virtual GEMS (Grants for Education of Medical Students) Program. The program provides the eight selected medical students with an opportunity to have an in-depth learning experience with an emphasis on health equity and diversity while developing relationships with GEMS mentors and broadening their professional network.

“In the future, I hope to bridge my two passions — IR and diversity,” Alexa said. “The GEMS program will show me how I can help increase diversity in my chosen field.” She also noted the connection between good patient care and inclusion, which both require a person to be a “positive light” in order to succeed. “That’s not always easy,” she said.

“But it’s something I work hard at. One of my proudest moments at Geisinger Commonwealth was being named by my class as ‘most likely to brighten your day.’” It’s a quality she hopes will translate to future success as a doctor, a team member and an advocate.

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Our scholars volunteering United Neighborhood Centers’ (UNC’s) Scranton Council of Literacy Advance provides free adult literacy and English as a Second Language education to the community. This vital service relies on a cadre of volunteers, including many Geisinger Commonwealth students, to operate. When COVID-19 prevented tutors and students from meeting for in-person lessons at UNC’s south Scranton offices, School of Medicine mentors, led by Rachel Evans, MD Class of 2023, quickly adapted to conducting their teaching via phone or Zoom.

Socially distanced tutoring came with some challenges for Rachel, a member of the Abigail Geisinger Scholars program, and other Geisinger Commonwealth tutors. Many of their students didn’t have the technology necessary to continue their English lessons via Zoom. Connecting by phone became the norm and many tutors found themselves devoting more than the few hours a week recommended by the Scranton Council of Literacy Advance.

At a time when these student mentors were getting used to new ways of “pandemic” learning themselves, adding to their volunteer hours could have been synonymous with adding to their stress. The students insist, however, that serving Scranton’s vulnerable population is energizing and reinforces their commitment to community. “COVID-19 forced a lot of people to stay away from their work and their social life. We didn’t want to leave our neighborhoods without the needed services at UNC as well,” Rachel said.

Abigail Geisinger Scholars Update | September 2020

Leadership spotlight His title isn’t “chief happiness officer,” but it could be. As Geisinger’s chief provider experience officer, Stephen Paolucci, MD, focuses on the professional development and wellness of providers across the system, be they doctors, nurses or anyone who cares for patients. He said he draws on his knowledge as a psychiatrist and from personal experience to help providers maximize their potential and, above all, find happiness at Geisinger. At present, he is also leading efforts to connect Abigail Geisinger Scholars from Geisinger Commonwealth with system mentors — and he sees a lot of synergy between his roles.

“What I do for the scholars mirrors my work with the system,” he said. “My job is to keep people here by being sure they are happy here. For the scholars, having a great mentor is a wonderful start.”

Dr. Paolucci relates with humor his own “mentor-less” introduction to being a physician.

“When my wife and I first moved to Danville 30 years ago, we had both just gotten out of the military. We were young doctors expecting our second child ... and we moved into the Pine Barn Inn days before our child was due,” he said. “It was chaos. We didn’t have a home.

I didn’t know my way around and I didn’t know who to call.” He said simple questions like where to grocery shop or get the best coffee or even buy furniture were left up to him and his wife to figure out — at a time when just about everything else in their lives was in turmoil. He believes having a mentor at that time would have been a priceless gift and he wants to be sure new doctors entering the system get that crucial support.

“My vision for the mentors is that they be there for the scholars to answer the ‘dumb’ questions that students are often too intimidated to bring to a preceptor,” he said. “They can give advice on everything from finding balance in life to being more effective in rotations. As medical students, our scholars have each other and that’s great, but there’s just no replacement for talking to someone who has been through it all before.”

Dr. Paolucci is confident his students will be in good hands. As ‘chief happiness officer,’ he was touched and amazed by the number of his colleagues who volunteered to support Geisinger’s mission to enrich the provider experience by cultivating the next generation of doctors. “We were overwhelmed by the response we got to our call for mentors,” he said.

“There is no shortage of Geisinger docs who want to help our medical students. I think that’s because we all know what we’re aiming for: for the students to be the best doctors they can be and for them to stay here.”

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