04 WHITE COAT
CEREMONY PHOTOS
06 JANUARY 2019
INCOMING 2023 CLASS
10 NEW STUDENT INTERVIEWS
The
January Vol u m e 8 , I s s u e No. 8
2019
XAVIER TIMES
A Medical School E xperience on an Island unlike any other in the reg ion!
Xavier University School of Medicine Spring 2019 White Coat Ceremony! On January 18th, 2019 Xavier University School of Medicine held its spring semester white coat ceremony. Chief Academic Officer Dr. Dubey opened the ceremony by welcoming the students and their families and congratulated them on reaching this remarkable achievement. He also noted how this is only the beginning for them and that this white coat symbolizes a commitment to medicine. Dr. Dubey’s remarks were followed by speeches from Dr. Majhi and Dr. Gil Apacible who spoke on the importance of focusing on their stud-
ies and dedicating themselves to this career. duct, which signifies their pledge to be This hit home with many of ethical and committed in the students who remarked aftheir medical careers. For ter the event on how they felt many this was the highlight a great deal of pride as well as of the ceremony as the famiresponsibility after receiving lies who attended cheered and putting the white coat’s for their son’s and daughon for the first time. One Stuter’s. A select group of student, Rajan Bhatt, stated “The dents from each class were white coat ceremony remindalso honored during the ed me that providing healthceremony as a result of thicare to others is an honorable er hard work and excellent privilege. It was a humbling Dr. Dubey addressess the students and thier grades from the previous experience which motivated families during the white coat ceremony semester. Once all the stume to provide amazing healthcare to my dents had received their white coat, the future patients.” The students were then ceremony concluded and the friends named one by one to come up to the stage and families of the students joined and were presented with their white coats them and the faculty for a reception to and signed their Pledge of Professional Concelebrate.
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OFFICIAL NEWS PUBLICATION
IN THIS ISSUE MESSAGES DR.DUBEY/DR.PESTELL
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GRADUATION 2019 SAVE THE DATE
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SPRING SEMESTER ORIENTATION
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WHITE COAT CERMONY PHOTOS
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INCOMING XAVIER JANUARY CLASS
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STUDENT WHITE COAT EXPERIENCES NEW STUDENT INTERVIEWS
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DR. VERNON CURRAN HIGHLIGHT 11 NEW FACULTY SPOTLIGHT
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GUEST LECTURE
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STUDENT GOVERNMENT ASSOCIATION
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BS/BI STUDENT PERSPECTIVE
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FACULTY BLOGS
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NEW CLINICAL FACULTY
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MEET OUR STUDENT EDITOR
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FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA Xavier University School of Medicine
@xusomaruba
@XUSOM
Xavier University School of Medicine
JOIN OUR FACEBOOK GROUPS XUSUOM Student Group XUSOM Alumni Group
Message from the Chief Academic Officer
Dear Students and faculty,
XUSOM Aruba is proud to announce that we received the highest level of accreditation by The Caribbean Accreditation Authority for Education in Medicine and other Health Professions (CAAM-HP) in the year 2018. This recognition puts us amongst the top tier schools in the Caribbean. We also are accredited by The Accreditation Commission of Colleges of Medicine (ACCM)and both these accreditation bodies are recognized by The World federation for medical education (WFME) and The National Committee on Foreign Medical Education and Accreditation or NCFMEA. The quality assurance approvals by these accreditation bodies establishes that we offer quality MD program and training to our students, which is on par with the top medical universities worldwide. Another milestone that we achieved in 2018 is the addition of Research Elective training for our students at the “Baruch S. Blumberg Institute in Philadelphia.” This opportunity will make our students more competitive in their career plan and residency applications. We have continued to improve on the success rate of our students in all the USMLE’s. Our step 1 passing rate for the year 2018 is close to 96 percent. Our faculty, students and administration have all worked together in great synergy to achieve these milestones and I am sure that we will reach many others in near future. Wish you a very happy and successful new year 2019.
-Dr.Dubey, MBBS,MD
Message from the Vice President of Academic Affairs and Dean of Clinical Sciences
Dear Students, Graduates and Faculty
This last year has seen remarkable new progress at XUSOM. Since joining the XAVIER family in 2018 I have enjoyed the friendship and support of talented faculty, students and support staff. The high quality values are the cornerstone of the Medical School. The hard work and high expectations of the students has been met with success both in building the school’s reputation and continued success in the exams. More and more I hear of our reputation students and faculty are being built for “going the extra mile”. The scores of the students in each of the basic and clinical exams has continued to improve. The clinical sites have been carefully reviewed and new relationships forged. The coming year provides further excitement. The new campus has broken ground on a spectacular new site. A unique program for clinical translational research at the prestigious Baruch S. Blumberg Institute has commenced, with excellent results from the first group of students. In the coming year I look forward to working together to build the XAVIER community, and for the graduates to move forward as respected doctors to serve their patients in a meaningful way. This is certainly an exciting time for XAVIER! For Xavier students and faculty lets go that extra mile that failures refuse to travel. It is far better to be exhausted from success than to be rested from failure! A Happy and successful new year to you all!
-Dr. Pestell, MB,BS,MD,PhD,MBA,FRACP,FACP,FRS,FAAAS 2
Xavier By the Numbers: Xavier University School of Medicine USMLE First Time Pass Rate
96%!! Graduation 2019 Save the Date!
Our 2019 Graduation ceremony is only a few short months away!
When: June 15th, 2019 Where: The D’Angelo Center at St.John’s University in New York Time: 5pm EST Visit our website: https://xusom.com/graduation-2019/ to register
Xavier is proud to have one of our Students named in the USMLE Step 1 Student Guide Book! This textbook is used by Universities all over the world and it is an honor for Both Jacqueline Bekhit and Xavier University School of Medicine to be mentioned in it!
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Xavier White Coat Ceremony Photos
Dr.Mahji (left) and MD 1 student Nadiya Sharifi( right) signs her Pledge of Professional Conduct
Students recieve awards for thier hard work the past semester From left to right: Larab Naqvi MD 3, Sathvik Samudrala MD 3, Faisal Alabdally MD 3, Swathi Arunachalam MD 3, Rajanbir Singh MD 3
From left to right: Hamza Chohan, Farina Khan, Destiny Szymecko recite the Pledge of Professional Conduct with thier fellow students
New MD 1 students Ayushi Mukhopadhyay (left) and Navneet Dhaliwal (Right)
SGA Board celebrates the white coat ceremony with the new students
Rajan Bhatt and his family take time to celebrate after receiving his white coat
Xavier White Coat Ceremony Photos
Destiny Szymecko (left) and Vakeanand Gopaul (right) take a moment to celebrate after the ceremony
From left to right: Kai Ackley MD 6, Uchechukwu Obi MD 1, Muna Mohamed MD 6 and Ann Anonye MD6 pause for a photo during the ceremony
Mohammad Khalaila MD 1 (left) and Victoria Galli MD 1 (right) before the white coat ceremony
From left to right: Dr. Gil Apacible, Sukhwinder Sarai MD 1 and Chief Academinc Officer Dr.Dubey
From Left to right: Ibad Arif MD 5, Layuren Moodley MD 6, Neeharika Thota MD 4 ,and Nimish Biswal MD 2
From Left to right Dr. Dubey, Atheer Al Janabi Premed 3, and Dr. Gil Apacible
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XAVIER UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE INCOMING CLASS JANUARY 2019
Manogna Allala MD1
Santhosh Kumar Bairineni MD1
Rajan Bhatt MD 1
Monika Boparai MD1
Hamza Chohan MD 1
Navneet Dhaliwal MD 1
Ashik Mohamed Dilip MD 1
Olivia Foster MD 1
Victoria Galli MD 1
Vakeanand Gopaul MD 1
Jasveer Hira MD 1
Mohammad Khalaila MD 1
Farina Khan MD 1
Muhammad Khan MD 1
Ayushi Mukhopadhyay MD 1
Uchechukwu Obi MD 1
Nathalie Pakbaz MD 1
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Sukhwinder Sarai MD 1
Nadiya Sharifi MD 1
Destiny Szymecko MD 1
XAVIER UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE INCOMING CLASS JANUARY 2019
Mariam Fadel Premed 1
Rhythum Shende Premed 1
Amruta Yalamanchili Premed 1
Noor Khurana Premed 1
Sanehdeep Sidhu Premed 1
Manroop Sahota Premed 1
Jasreit Sandhu Premed 1
Tiffany Anne Lewis MD 2
Marym Alabdally Premed 4
Mohammad Shalin Premed 4
Olivia Dix Premed 4
Lilianet Gonzalez MD 6
Jimmy Nguyen MD 6
Muna Mohamed MD 6
Dane Samuel MD 6
Nelson Falcon MD 6
Rachana Reddy MD 6
Chrissy Sharma MD 6
Ann Anonye MD6
Rayan ElHadi MD 6
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XAVIER UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE INCOMING CLASS JANUARY 2019
Kai Ackley MD 6
Matthew Porter MD 6
Nathalie Pakbaz, MD 1 and her family member celebrate at the White Coat Ceremony
Esther Booth MD 6
Olivia Foster MD 1 and her family at the White Coat Ceremony reception
The January Class of 2023 begin thier medical school journey!
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Peniel Hambissa MD 6
SPRING SEMESTER ORIENTATION 2019 students could begin their classes they attended a three day orientation on the XUSOM campus in Aruba. The students were welcomed by the school faculty and administration as they listened to presentation given by Xavier faculty.
Dr. Bhat, Assistant Dean of Curriculum Development and Planning
The start of the new semester is always started by the orientation of the new students. Before the
Dr.Dubey, Dr. Bhat and Dr. Majhi were among the faculty members who spoke and presented to the students about the XUSOM curriculum, the rules and regulations of the school and what the students can expect for the semester. Some of the other topics that the
students learned about were how to best succeed at medical school and the importance of hard work and commitment. The three day orientation was a great way for the students to get to know the university, as well as they were also able get to know each other better and meet the Xavier faculty and administration! After the two days of orientation the students were eager and excited to begin thier studies for the semester and start thier medical journey!
Student White Coat experience
What was your experience at the White Coat Ceremony?: It was a wonderful experience. I really got a feel of the responsibility I am signing up for. Each speaker put emphasis on
the importance of these 4 years and the quality of education we will be receiving. I am looking forward to starting my medical school studies now! What was the most memorable moment for you?: The most memorable moment was of course when I was wearing my white coat and going to sign the oath! It was a great feeling. What are you most looking forward to now that you have officially started your medical school journey?: I am looking forward to the hands on experience
that we will get in the labs and actually learning and understanding the concepts that we have already glanced over. I can’t wait! How did you feel after putting the White Coat on?: I felt full of pride that I had finally made it to this point, and that my parents got to finally see me wear the white coat on the live feed. It was a great moment I won’t ever forget. -Farina Khan MD 1
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New Student Interview: Nadiya Sharifi MD1 What field of medical study are you looking to go into and why?: I would like to go into the field of neurology. The brain has interested me for many years and I have done quite a bit of research regarding the fly brain and the mouse brain. This research emphasized how little we know about the brain in modern medicine. This lack of understanding has only amplified my interest in the human brain and Why did you choose to become a excites me to explore these inner workings. doctor?: One of the biggest reason why I What made you choose to attend chose to become a doctor is that Xavier?: the intricacies of the human body Both of my cousins attended Xavihave always interested me specifi- er and were extremely happy with the school. This inspired me to cally, the brain.
start researching the school and I was pleasantly surprised to find that the class sizes are small. This was appealing to me because I enjoy working on a personal basis with faculty members, so that I may fully understand concepts. What are 3 interesting facts about yourself?: Three interesting facts about me are that: I have two published papers, I enjoy reading research articles, and that I love health and fitness. -Nadiya Sharifi MD 1
New Student Interview: Jasveer Hira MD 1 medical assistance and I also want to help individuals who are dealing with diseases that have greatly affected them and to help them get better.
Where are you from? I am from the United States of America Why did you choose to become a doctor?: The biggest reason that I wanted to become a doctor is that I want to help patients who are in need of
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What field of medical study are you looking to go into and why?: I am looking to go into Internal Medicine because I like the interaction between the patients and doctor. I feel as if I am also getting to know my patients on a deeper level and not just to be their doctor but also their friend.
phasis on their organ based curriculum. I feel as if this curriculum would give us a better understanding and knowledge of the human body. What are 3 interesting facts about yourself?: Three interesting facts about myself is that I used to be a emergency EMT volunteer, I love playing xbox live and I love the outdoors!
What made you choose to attend -Jasveer Hira MD 1 Xavier?: I chose to attended Xavier because of small class sizes and their em-
New Student Interview: Sukhwinder Sarai MD1
Why did you choose to become a doctor?: I chose to become a doctor because doctors change people’s lives whether it is a big or small cure. Only a committed person can become a doctor and I have always looked to achieve my goal in becoming a doctor and helping people. Also the good health of a particular patient is the goal of medicine and
something that I believe I could help contribute to. What field of medical study are you looking to go into and why?: The field of medical study I am looking to go into is emergency medicine. I had the opportunity to volunteer at the Sutter Health, Sacramento ER for two months. One the fondest memories I have of my time at Sutter involved physicians and other members of the multidisciplinary team working together to stabilize a patient who presented with respiratory arrest. I was able to witness the importance good communication plays in these situations. One member of the medical team led the arrest and designated roles relating to the competency of each individual. This ensured protocol was followed smoothly. As well as this, physicians verbally hand-
ed over details of the patient case in a succinct manner to other colleagues. I learned that this is a vital part of patient safety. I found my time at Sutter Health to be very rewarding and made me drive myself to strive to one day work in this fast paced environment in the future. What made you choose to attend Xavier?: I chose Xavier because of how desirable the location is and I will be to fly back home easily as there are 150 flights per week to the United States and Canada. I have heard the faculty is very nice and 94% of students who take the USMLE pass the first time. I was excited to hear that the tuition is affordable and the school is based on the US curriculum.
- Sukhwinder Sarai MD 1
New Faculty Spotlight: Assistant Dean of Educational Development and Professor of Medical Education Dr. Vernon Curran Vernon Curran is Associate Dean of Educational Development and Professor of Medical Education with the Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University. Over the course of his academic career he has been principal author or co-author of 100 peer-reviewed journal articles, published monographs and book chapters, and lead presenter or copresenter of over 160 peer-reviewed oral presentations, workshops and posters at professional conferences and meetings. Dr. Curran also holds a cross-appointment with the Faculty of Education at Memorial University and teaches in the undergraduate and graduate degree programs in Adult, Health Professions and Post-Secondary Education. He teaches in the areas of adult learning and development, teaching and learning in medical education, research in post-secondary education, inter-professional education and collaboration in the health professions.
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New Faculty Spotlight: Dr. Michael Light, Assistant Dean of Clinical Science
Dr. Michael Light qualified at Guy’s Hospital, London in 1967. Following residency he spent 3 years in Europe in adult medicine in 4 countries before joining the Brompton Chest Hospital, London. There he did the equivalent of a fellowship in pediatric pulmonary and critical care. In 1973 he was invited to develop a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at the University of Hawaii and inherited at the same time the Neonatal ICU. The next 16 years in Hawaii he was a pedi-
atric pulmonologist, In 1989 he joined the University of California, San Diego and for 8 years directed the pediatric pulmonary program. He was director of the cystic fibrosis center and managed both pediatric and adult CF patients. The next 11 years from the year 2000 were spent at the University of Miami, 8 years in the pediatric pulmonary and 3 years in the adult pulmonary division. He continued his interest in clinical research particularly in the development of aerosolized antibiotics and other inhaled agents in cystic fibrosis. He was a member of the lung transplant team at UCSD, and this interest continued at the University of Miami. Dr. Light was chairperson of the pulmonary section of the American Academy of Pediatrics from 2004 to 2006 and one of the tasks of the committee was to develop a Handbook of Pediatric Pulmonology. This was published in 2011 and Dr. Light was editor-in-chief. He also authored “Clinician’s Guide to
Pediatric Chronic Illness” which was published in 2001. In 2011 Dr. Light joined Ross University Medical School (RUSM) in the Commonwealth of Dominica, West Indies and was asked to improve the student health services on campus. For the next 3 years he was medical director of the student health clinic which involved upgrading the clinic and developing emergency services on campus. Dr. Light joined the faculty of the University of Florida (UF) in July 2015 in the division of Pediatric Pulmonology. From April 2016 to the present he has been chief of pediatric pulmonology at UF. During his time with UF the division has improved 11 places to 22nd nationally in the World News medical school rankings.
New Faculty Spotlight: Dr. Sheetal Naik, Assistant Professor of Physiology I was a Senior resident and Lecturer in the Department of Physiology at St Johns Medical college and Research Institute, Bengaluru, Karnataka. I was also Junior Medical Officer (JMO) in the Department of Internal Medicine at Bangalore Baptist Hospital, Bengaluru, Karnataka.
Where you from are and what educational institution(s) have you attended? I am from Bengaluru, India and I have attended Rajiv Gandhi University Of Health Sciences, for my MD in Physiology. What other Hospitals or Medical Institutions have you worked at?
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What sparked your interest in the field of medicine? I had a relative who always shared her experiences while in medical training, which fascinated me, and eventually paved the path for me. Why did you decide to enter academics and become professor? Academics keeps me updated on the newer concepts in my field and as a professor I get to interact with younger minds, instill
curiosity and inspire them to pursue their dreams or venture into something new. What Makes Xavier stand out to you? First and foremost the location of the campus, the Students seem to be very inquisitive, the facilities provided by the university especially the study materials are impeccable and finally the cordial environment What piece of advice would you give to a student who is considering medical school? There is loads of hard work required, but then if one loves what one is doing, it’s definitely a piece of cake. Enjoy what you learn!
Guest Lecture: Dr. Roel Jonkhoff, Associate Professor of Medicine (Hematology) cussions with the MD4 students. The students and faculty were very grateful for him to offer so much of his time to the school. Dr. Jonkhoff started from the scratch of the disease process, and slowly took it to the level of intricate understanding of the complexities and intricacies of multiple disease processes including all types of anemias, leukemias, lymphomas and much beyond that. All of the Xavier University School of Medi- cases he discussed were from his cine was proud to host Dr. Roel own clinical practice in his long Jonkhoff, an internist-hemato-on- spanning career. He not only procologist from Horacio Oduber Hos- fessed about the pathophysiologipital in Aruba. He visited Xavier cal aspects of the hematological University School of Medicine on disorders, but also mentioned the 22nd, 26th, 27th and 28th of about the therapeutics of these November 2018 as a guest lectur- disorders, which ignited a lot of er, to hold a total of eight hours of enthusiasm and medical curioshemato-oncology clinical case dis- ity amongst the XUSOM students.
The students especially benefitted immensely from his clinical dimension to the hematological cases, and actively interacted with him. All the sessions were attended in person by myself, in the capacity of System Chair of Hematopietic and Lymphoid System. A few others were also attended by the Chief Academic Officer, Dr. Dubey. Dr. Jonkhoff’s lecture at XUSOM will most certainly have a positive impact on the students as they continue towards their degree and even further into their medical careers. -By Dr.Vishal Saxena Professor of Pathology
Alumni Global Meet 2019
Xavier is excited to annouce that our 3rd annual Alumni Global Meet Weekend for 2019 will be held from October 3rd- October 5th 2019 at our campus in Aruba! Stay tuned for more details! 13
SPRING 2019 STUDENT GOVERNMENT ASSOCIATION OFFICERS
President: Jonathan Rogers Vice President, Med: Lakisha Haran Treasurer: Marie-Claire Larmonie Secretary: Faisal Alabdally Social Director: Deepali Razdan
Student Government Association The Student Government Association at Xavier University strives first and foremost to be a voice of the students. While not every request and suggestion can be implemented immediately, we try to take into account everything involving student life on the island through direct feedback from students. We encourage each new student to contact any of our members directly with anything that they feel needs to be addressed. We also take time to undertake outreach events such as healthfairs and learning symposiums. We are facilitating another soc-
cer/beach BBQ event in February similar to the one we did last September. SGA is always looking for more ways to address the needs of students and the mental-health stresses that come with moving away from home and working hard to do well at school. Medicine is a challenging course to say the least and as such, SGA is always trying to ensure that they are a robust support system for those students in need of support. -Jonathan Rogers, SGA President
Welcome Committee Director: Emily Viglianco Welcome Committee Coordinator: Chitra Salgame Alumni Coordinator: Eleanora Nkwanyuo
Student Government Board Mmebers, From left to right: Emily Viglianco, Mostafa Hagrass, Taylor Heverly, Deepali Razdan and Jonathan Rogers
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Barcuch S. Blumberg Instutute Student Perspective Xavier University School of Medicine is happy to announce that the University and the Baruch S. Blumberg Institute (BS/BI) have entered into a collaboration agreement with each other. The goal of the institute is to discover new and innovative ways to manage and cure chronic hepatitis and liver cancer. This agreement will provide Xavier students with a unique and exciting opportunity to participate in research electives alongside scientists in both the academic and commercial fields. As a future physician and scientist, it is an honor to walk the halls and rub shoulders with some of the most distinguished scholars in the research world. ¬Being on the frontline in the scientific community as we combat deadly pathogens, one is able to appreciate the trials and tribulations that a young aspiring academic endures in order to succeed. Only few people in the scientific community can say they trained in an environment conducive to the discovery of ground breaking anticoagulants, cutting-edge anti-epileptics as well as curing chronic diseases such as Hepatitis B and C. As future doctors, the patient is always our number one focus and our practice of medicine begins here. As Sir William Osler stated, “He who studies medicine without books sails an uncharted sea, but he who studies medicine without patients does not go to sea at all.” That being said, there are two sides of a coin and inherently medicine follows suit. At the Blumberg institute, we change lives through discovery by bringing medications to doctors so they may better manage and even cure patients from debilitating and even deadly diseases. As a medical research fellow, I presented my discovery involving the STING Pathway and its role of apoptosis and necroptosis in chronic disease to my principal investigators and fellow colleagues at the institute. These findings helped me to bear witness to science in action as my biochemistry textbooks and algorithms came to life. In addition, I have come to appreciate the full particulars of medicine and will carry forward with me the appreciation for all the research efforts made by our colleagues and scientific pioneers. Never in my wild imagination did I expect to be on the frontlines of cancer research, but here I am. From growing hepatocellular carcinoma cell cultures to treating mice with anticancer medications, the opportunities to grow are endless.
- By Dr. Omar Nawab
AMSA brings Christmas cheer to Casa On Saturday November 24th, 2018, XUSOM’s American Medical Student Association (AMSA) members descended on Casa Cuna Orphanage to bring some Christmas cheer. Casa Cuna is one of several orphanages on Aruba that provides care for about 30 children under the age of 12. AMSA originally held a dress down day fundraiser on October 31st and the student body came out in force to help a good cause. With a small donation the students were able to be out of school uniform for a day and many came with their Halloween spirit in full force. They were Dressed as Wednesday Adams from the Adams family to a Unicorn when they descended
the halls of XUSOM.
with the help of the children
With community support from the Do It Center, AMSA was able to purchase a 6-foot Christmas Tree for the Casa Cuna Orphanage to enjoy for years to come. In addition, in part due to the generous support of the student body, AMSA was able to provide everything to decorate the tree, diapers, baby wipes, groceries, and gifts – educational toys, educational supplies and toys. On November 24th, AMSA members took a few hours off from studying and became Santa’s elves and provided some Christmas cheer at Casa Cuna. AMSA members, decorated the tree
and delivered the gifts for the children to open on Christmas morning. Bon Pasco. Merry Christmas. Happy Holidays. -Megan Rivera, AMSA Secretary
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Pharmacovigilance and its importance In the 1950’s, a Pharmaceutical company in Germany developed the drug Thalidomide for convulsion, however it was found to make the patients relaxed and sleepy. It subsequently entered the market as a wonder drug for insomnia, cough, cold and headache. Pre-clinical testing of this drug had proven that the drug could not kill a rat even at high doses and thus the drug was deemed safe and marketed and sold over the counter widely based on its safety profile, thus becoming very popular. Thalidomide first entered the German market around 1957 and by 1960, it was marketed in 46 countries. It was also discovered that Thalidomide was very effective in controlling the morning sickness in pregnant women and because of its safety profile it was widely consumed by pregnant women with morning sickness. However, in late 1950’s and early 1960’s there were increasing reports of babies that were born with deformed limbs and several reports linking the consumption of thalidomide to the abnormal increase in the birth defects in the children whose mothers has consumed thalidomide during pregnancy. It is estimated that, in Germany alone, 10,000 babies were born affected by Thalidomide. Subsequently the drug was banned and withdrawn from the market. This disaster was averted in the US by then FDA inspector Ms. Francis Kelsey who prevented the drug’s approval within the United States. Kelsey felt the application for thalidomide contained incomplete and insufficient data on its safety and effectiveness. Dr. Francis Kelsey later received President’s award and was praised by then President of USA John. F. Kennedy who regarded her as heroine for averting the disaster. Thalidomide tragedy is no doubt one of the darkest episodes of modern medicine which taught us several lessons about pharmaceutical prescriptions. Few critical ones are that: 1. Medications could pass the placenta and cause deformities in the fetus. 2. Drugs could have differential effects in animals and humans. 3. Approval of marketing the medication has to be thoroughly regulated. 4. Elaborate preclinical and clinical testing has to be performed prior to approval of medications. 5. A continuous monitoring system has to be established after marketing a medicine to identify any harms or adverse effects that may be detected post marketing the medication which may have not been initially detected. In the view of the last mentioned point, a Pharmacovigilance program was established by WHO for International Drug Monitoring in response to the thalidomide disaster along with a Collaborating Centre for International Drug Monitoring, Uppsala. Pharmacovigilance is defined as the science and activities relating to the detection, assessment, understanding and prevention of adverse effects or any other drug-related problem. By the end of 2010, 134 countries were part of the WHO Pharmacovigilance program. The aims of Pharmacovigilance are to enhance patient care and patient safety in relation to the use of medicines; and to support public health programs by providing reliable, balanced information for the effective assessment of the risk-benefit profile of medicines. Ever since its inception, Pharmacovigilance has played a key role in identifying some expected (Augmented) and Unexpected (Bizzare) drug reactions to medications thus altering their safety profile, approval status, warnings and precautions, and labelling. This has also given us a better insight into the various mechanisms and interactions of a drug in human body resulting in a betterment of the science of drug development by the manufacturers and prescription by the physicians. It has also corroborated the stance of the regulatory authorities in implementing and adhering to stricter policies in approval of medications for use. One of the notable instances which resulted in withdrawal of a drug is the case of Rofecoxib (Marketed as Vioxx). Rofecoxib a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, was hoped to be safer than previous nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, due to its lower risk of GI bleeding was approved by the FDA in 1999. Rofecoxib gained widespread acceptance among physicians treating patients with arthritis and other conditions causing chronic or acute pain. On September 30, 2004, the manufacturer withdrew Rofecoxib from the market because of concerns about increased risk of heart attack and stroke associated with long-term, high-dosage use. ADRs are one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in health care. Several studies conducted on hospitalized patient populations estimate that there are more than 2,216,000 serious ADRs in hospitalized patients, causing over 106,000 deaths annually. If true, then ADRs are the 4th leading cause of death—ahead of pulmonary disease, diabetes, AIDS, pneumonia, accidents, and automobile deaths. These statistics do not include the number of ADRs that occur in ambulatory settings. Also, it is estimated that over 350,000 ADRs occur in U.S. nursing homes each year (1). It is the onus of the healthcare professionals to spread awareness and to council the patients and other stakeholders to always be vigilant of any reaction caused during to the consumption of a medication and report the same to the health authorities appropriately in a timely fashion so that burden of the disease can be minimalized.
-By Dr. Prasad Vijayashankar, Assistant Dean of Student Affairs, Assistant Professor of Pharmacology
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Xavier Faculty presents New development conference New development presented at the conference Organization of conference: “20th Congress of the International Society for Human and Animal Mycology” took place in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. ISHAM is the tri-annual joined meeting which this time was organized and co-hosted by the Netherland Society of Medical Mycology (NVMy). The conference was a great success, not only based on the statistics, but also on the feedback from numerous participants. In total more than 1250 participants from 75 countries were gathered at conference. There were multiple plenary sessions and scientific talks and almost 550 E-poster presentation, seven workshops which convened renowned speakers from several countries and also additional industry symposia. I was the only one participant from the country Aruba.
New developments presented at the conference: International experts from different parts of the world delivered invited guest lecture that threw light on the wide group of pathogenic fungal members and their phenotypic, genotypic characters and antifungal susceptibilities. Immunological parameters of fungal pathogenesis were also discussed in different panel discussions. Recent methods in the diagnosis and management of fungal infections were also covered. Poster presentations by the delegates gave an excellent platform for a healthy interactive session. The learning process at this International conference was very fruitful. Another interesting part of the conference was the chance given to attend to young scholars like myself with Young-ISHAM scholarships and a separate session as YISHAM session. Brain storming sessions made the delegates aware of the existing fungal pathogens and their clinical implications.
New developments resulting from the conference: ISHAM is one of the most important meetings in the field of fungal infections, a forum in which medical mycologists, microbiologists and clinicians from all over the world exchange research results and opinions on medical practice. The detailed structure of the conference being divided into Clinical Aspects of Medical Mycology; Fundamental Aspects of Medical Mycology; Translational Aspects of Medical Mycology and Special interest working groups were very informative and were a great forum of learning. The structure of the scientific programme with plenary sessions, parallel workshops, meet-theexpert sessions and E-poster and poster-pitch presentation sessions was well received. And also the sponsored symposia were very well appreciated and attended. The E-poster session encouraged one-to-one discussions between faculty, presenters and delegates and was well visited.
Benefit derived from attending the conference My travel was sponsored by Xavier University School of Medicine- Aruba. I presented E-poster on “Molecular typing of Malassezia restricta, Malassezia arunalokei and Malassezia globosa isolated from seborrhoeic dermatitis/dandruff patients and healthy controls by Fluorescent Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (FAFLP)”. The paper attracted interest among the delegates at the conference, which led to the active discussion with the persons working in this area. I also got a chance to discuss with senior mycology scientists from the Netherlands who got interested to collaborate with our students in near future. The well-known Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute (CBS) in Utrecht may provide easy access to Dutch Caribbean to conduct Mycology research. The Netherlands group of scientists were also interested in conducting mycology workshop in Aruba.
-By Dr. Prasanna Honnavar, Assistant Professor of Microbiology and Immunology 17
Meet our new Clinical Faculty from Horacio Oduber Hospital!
Dr. Roel Jonkhoff Hematology Department Dr. Stefanie Lubbes Emergency Medicine Department Dr. Niloufar Rahim, Emergency Medicine Department Dr. Rhiannon Blanchette Acute Care Department Dr. Chris Franca Gastroenterology and Hepatology Department Dr. Zaheeb Choudhry Nephrology Department 18
Meet Our Student Editor:Himani Patel Life experiences can have both a good and a bad impact on one’s life. I have had two major experiences in my life that I believe are the reasons why I want to become a doctor. To start of, my family is originally from India, so I have been there a few times. During one of my visits to India I met a girl named Mina. Mina was only ten years old when I met her is a small village, in India. For more then half her life she has not been able to walk on her own two feet. When I asked her what happened to her feet she told me, this was a result of a disease she has called Polio. Mina is suffering from polio merely because her parents were not aware of the fact that there is a vaccine that can prevent it. I was stunned. I had been under the impression that polio has been eradicated from the world. After doing some research I learned that I was wrong. Even though there is a vaccine that helps prevent polio, thousands of children in Asia and Africa are affected by it. When I realized that children who are growing up in third world countries do not have the same privileges I had while I was a child, because of the lack of knowledge and facilities in those countries, I wanted to do something for those children. At that time there was not much I could do because I had no one to guide me. However, once I started high school opportunities opened up. All throughout high school I was involved in a leadership club that was closely associated with an organization called Free The Children. Through this leadership club I had the privilege to attend WE DAY. At WE DAY, the Kielburger brothers shared the story of how they came up with this idea of Free The Children after reading an article about how Iqbal Masih got murdered because he spoke out against child labour. The Kielburger brothers were touched by Iqbal’s story just the way I was touched by Mina’s story. After hearing their story I got the motivation to do something for those children who are suffering through so much just because they are living in third world countries. Through my high school’s leadership club I also became familiar with UNICEF. This organization not only focuses on saving children’s lives but it is also trying to ensure that every child receives their basic rights. Which is exactly what I plan to do in the future. However, I felt that just joining a humanitarian organization like UNICEF to help those children is not enough, I wanted to do something more. That is how I came across another organization called Doctors Without Borders. After doing research on Doctors Without Borders I learned that they are a group of doctors who travel around the world to provide medical help to those who need it. I realized that if I became a doc-
tor I would also have the opportunity to personally help children all around the world just like they do. These two organizations shaped my dream, of providing medical help to children around the world, and turned it into a goal. By pursuing a career in medicine I want to ensure that every child in the world gets the medical rights they deserve. No child should have to suffer from any condition because of the lack of knowledge and facilities in the country they live in. I believe that all children should have the same privileges and the country they live in should not be a factor in determining whether they should or should not receive those privileges. I feel that I should not take the privileges I had for granted and that is why I want to make use of these privileges to start an organization that contains elements from both UNICEF and Doctors Without Borders. I want this organization to consist of pediatricians whose focus would be on children’s health and survival and they should be willing to travel the world in order to make this possible. The field of medicine has always fascinated me but my encounter with Mina was the first step towards me wanting to become a doctor. Since then, countless other experiences, such as, working with Free The Children and learning about UNICEF and Doctors Without Borders, have made we realize that the knowledge of medicine can help me in improving the lives of children all around the world because with this knowledge I can personally care for those children. The thought of personally helping those children gives me a sense of satisfaction and this has strengthened my strive to pursue a career in medicine.
Xavier Times Team Student Editor: Himani Patel Faculty Editors: Dr. Prasad Vijayashankar Dr. Patricia Brumley Student Contributors: Sukhwinder Sarai Farina Khan Nadiya Sharifi Jasveer Hira Jonathan Rogers Megan Rivera Omar Nawab Faculty Contributors: Dr. Richard Pestell Dr. Arun Dubey Dr. Michael Light Dr. Vernon Curran Dr. Vishal Saxena Dr. Sheetal Naik Publisher: Andrew Sheldon
-Himani Patel MD 5
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