June 4, 2013

Volume 1, Issue 2 The PC Connection

Our Panther

Communities:

• Anderson

Community:

Northwest Miami

• Hippocrates

Community:

Miami Gardens

• Pasteur

Community:

Opa Locka

• Semmelweis

Community:

Northeast Miami

Student Highlights:

* Mentorship Appreciation Month

* Third Annual HWCOM

Residency Fair

* Mammography Art Initiative

Provides First Mammograms

* HWCOM hosts Latin American

Medical Association Health Fair

* Business & Medicine Students host

Senator Rene Garcia

* HWCOM Partners with Health

Information Project (HIP)

* HWCOM Participates at the 4th

Annual Brain Fair

Student Highlights

January was National Mentoring

Month. The goal of the newly

revamped Medical Mentoring and

Leadership Program is to ensure

our mentors get recognized for

the time and energy they

contribute to our medical students

who are seeking insight, advice

and guidance in their chosen

career path.

On January, 22, Dr. Ansley

Splinter (mentor to M1 students,

Punta Narain and Krista Miller)

and Dr. Krieger (mentor to M2

student, Monica Polcz) were

invited to speak to the medical

students about “Work, Life and

Balance through the Eyes of a

Physician”.

“It’s important as a female to

know the importance of learning

how to balance family and a

demanding career so I can be

Mentorship Appreciation Month

successful at both,” said M2

Caroline Carreras. “This is why

I’m so grateful to have mentors

like this.”

HWCOM mentors were

recognized at the first annual

Mentor Appreciation and

Networking Dinner on January

24. Over 120 students and

doctor mentors from Miami

Dade and Broward were in

attendance. “Mentoring for a

medical student is powerful

beyond measure because you

are shaping the lives of those

who will eventually be saving

lives themselves,” says Carmen

Ellis, the program coordinator.

Throughout this year, students

have done a variety of activities

with their mentors including:

publications, shadowing in

hospitals, research, and even

taking a break from school

and grabbing some coffee.

One of the greatest things

about our mentoring program

is the opportunity to build

formal and informal

relationships with physicians

in the community.

Above: “Work, Life and Balance through the Eyes of a Physician” with Dr. Diane Krieger and Dr. Ansley Splinter

Above: Mentor, Dr. Ramiro Perez and first-year student Allie Kovar

Above: Assistant Coordinator Krystle Brown, Assistant Dean of OSA Dr. Dollinger, and Panther Community Coordinator Carmen Ellis Below: Over 120 students and doctor mentors from the area attended the first annual Mentor Appreciation/Networking Dinner

Editor: Jessica Lewis, MA Panther Community Coordinator

A newsletter created to promote and share the activities and experiences our students gain from opportunities provided to them by the Herbert Wertheim college of Medicine and the Panther Communities (PC).

* 2013 Student Choice Talent and Award Show

The PC Connection Page 2 of 7

Feb. 11th, a group of AMA members went to

Capitol Hill to meet with legislators and their staff

to discuss issues that affect medical students,

such as graduate medical education funding and

student debt. Over 350 medical students from

across the country attended.

HWCOM medical students

gathered at the Graham

Center on February 1st to

participate in the medical

school’s third annual

Residency Fair. Twenty-three

programs attended, including

those from local hospital

affiliates and North Florida

university hospitals.

Organized by the Panther

Communities, the purpose of

the fair was for programs to

seek talented HWCOM

candidates, and for students

to learn more about the

different residencies. The

Third Annual HWCOM Residency Fair

April 30th, members of the

Mammography Art Initiative

conducted their mammogram

session with the Jackson

mobile “Mammovan” at the

Pentecostal Tabernacle

Church, one of our

community partners in Miami

Gardens. The

Mammography Art Initiative

provided nineteen women

with mammogram screenings

in association with the

Jackson Taylor Breast Health

Center. All of this was made

possible through funds raised

from the 2012

Mammography Art Initiative Provides First Mammograms

event generated interest in

residency programs such as,

Pediatrics, Internal Medicine,

Family Medicine, Plastic

Surgery, OBGYN, and

Emergency Medicine.

The fair also provided a venue

for residency programs to

network with regional

colleagues and further build

relationships between

institutions.

Next year, HWCOM will be

joining with other area medical

schools and hosting the first

South Florida Residency Fair.

Mammography Art Initiative

Art Show.

Miami Gardens is one of our

NHELP neighborhoods with a

high rate of late-stage breast

cancer diagnosis. Many

women at the event would

have been unable to get a

mammogram otherwise

because of lack of insurance,

the cost of copay, or inability

to travel to a radiology center.

The HWCOM Mobile Health

Center also provided services

at the Pentecostal Tabernacle

Church where NHELP

patients were able to see

their primary care providers and get

a mammogram at the same

appointment.

At a glance:

@FIUMedicine Instagram

Medical students volunteered to be part

of the ING Miami Marathon Medical staff

on January 27.

Balancing school and fun, medical students took part in an Xbox “Just Dance”

competition on March 6.

The 4th Annual Student

Ball was held on February 22nd. The MSC Social sub-committee chose “Masquerade Ball” as their theme this year. The ball was held at the Sonesta in Coconut Grove and sponsored by MSC and the Panther Communities.

Panther Communities:

Spring Ball!

Top: Jacksons “Mammovan” and the Mobile Clinic at Pentecostal Church. Above: Inside the “Mammovan”

The PC Connection Page 3 of 7

March 15th

, 2013 the HWCOM Latino

Medical Student Association chapter

(LMSA) co-hosted the national

conference with the University of

Miami and Miami Dade College.

LMSA actively promotes the efforts of

outreach programs for the local and

national Latino community, a

community that suffers from cultural

disparities in healthcare and access

to care. When the opportunity to co-

host conference arose, co-presidents

M3 Jennifer Pernas and M3 Silvia

Coronel were eager to undertake the

challenge. They knew that co-hosting

the conference would allow the

chapter to serve its mission, provide

ample leadership opportunities for its

members, and display FIUCOM’s

unique service-learning curriculum to

a national audience.

In Conjunction with the national

conference, the HWCOM LMSA

chapter hosted a health fair that took

place on March 17th

at Palm Springs

United Methodist Church. The event

exemplified the conference theme

“Tomando Acción: Ensuring health

equity for all!” Students provided

health information and resources to

attendees to improve their overall

health outcomes.

Several groups emphasized the

importance of prevention and early

detection to educate attendees about

how early intervention could facilitate

treatment improving overall health

outcomes. Students educated the

health fair attendees on breast health

HWCOM hosts Latin American Medical Association Health fair

January 31, The HWCOM student interest

iroup Business & Medicine (BMIG), invited

Senator Rene Garcia to visit the HWCOM to

speak to large group of students, faculty, and

staff. During his conversation, he challenged

students to consider the incredible difficulty in

balancing cost, access, and quality when it

comes to medicine from every perspective-

patient & physician, business, and political.

Most importantly, Senator Garcia advised the

audience to be active in the political arena as

both medical students and as physicians.

Senator Garcia speaks on Healthcare and Politics

as well as education on skin cancer

awareness by specifically targeting dark

skinned minorities.

“The most powerful realization I had

was the significance and uniqueness of

our contribution. There are many

resources in the community as well as

the internet, but we created a custom

made event tailored to fit the needs of

the Latin community. I’m still in awe that

one carefully planned day in the

community can added months, and even

years, to the lives of those who

benefited”, said Angelica Delgado, an

M2 LMSA member. “In the future, the

FIU LMSA chapter will most definitely

continue to organize and participate in

health fairs to improve the health of

Hispanics and decrease healthcare

disparities.”

In addition, the BMIG group also

hosted the CEO of Cleveland Clinic

Bernardo Hernandez, CEO of FIU

Health Dr. Fernando Valverde, and

Regional Medical Scientist of Novo

Nordisk, Anup Sebharwal, MD.

Students in the group also submitted

articles to the American College of

Physician executives, the online

publication LeadDoc.com, and are

creating Aps with the Engineering

College for the Americas Venture

Capital Conference in December 2013.

Above: Dr. Eneida Roldan, M3 Melissa Cardenas, and

Panther Community Assistant Director Scarlett Aldana-

Bosch. Below: M2 Varsha Rumnarine, M3 Joshua

Kelley, Alumnus Miguel Flores, MD and other Health Fair

Participants

Above: M2s BMIG members Tyler Haertlein, Mark Haimes, Matt Franco, Senator Rene Garcia, Aws Al-Abdullah, Omer Shahab, Manesh Gopaldas

Above: M3 Joshua Kelley Below: M2 Annie Rouza, M2 Christina Gauthreaux, and Health Fair Participants

Above: Members of LMSA at the Palm Springs United Methodist Church Below: Alumnus Miguel Flores, MD

The PC Connection Page 4 of 7

April 4th was HIP Day, the

culminating event of the

Health Information Project

(HIP) program year, was

hosted by FIU HWCOM.

HIP Day gave high school

student peer health

educators from across

Miami-Dade County the

opportunity to discuss the

impact they have had on

the health and well-being

of their peers and their

school communities.

HIP, an official partner of

the Herbert Wertheim

College of Medicine, is a

not-for-profit organization

located in Miami, Florida,

home to the nation's fourth-

largest school district.

HIP's purpose is to educate

adolescents about their

health and to encourage

and assist them in

accessing existing

community health

resources. HIP educates

high school students

through an innovative

school-based, peer-to-peer

comprehensive health

education model.

HWCOM Partnership with HIP and HIP day!

& HIP Day!

March 23rd, The Herbert

Wertheim College of

Medicine participated for the

third year in a row at the

annual Miami Brain Fair at

the Miami Museum of

Science. The Brain Fair is a

community outreach

educational event designed

and coordinated by the

Miami Chapter of the Society

HWCOM Participates at the 4th annual Brain Fair

During the 2012-2013

school years, 300 HIP peer

health educators provided

comprehensive health

education to over 6,000 9th

grade students in Miami-

Dade County public and

private high schools. At its

partner public high schools,

students would receive no

health education at all if not

for HIP’s dedicated 11th

and 12th grade peer health

educators.

for Neuroscience (SFN). Of

the 279 local university

volunteers, 19 were faculty,

103 were postdoctoral fellows,

medical students or graduate

students, 132 were

undergraduates, and 25 were

high school students.

HWCOM provided services to

over 2,000 kids and their

families who attended this

annual event. The HWCOM

Neuroscience Interest Group

and Pediatrics Interest Group

students provided health

education on brain anatomy

and prevention of concussions

to the children and adults in

attendance. The HWCOM

medical students also assisted

Dr. Dollinger and Dr. Anthony

Oliva with preparing quiz

questions and served as

judges for the Brain Bee and

Brain Jeopardy high school

competitions that were held

throughout the day. Other

universities that participated in

the Miami Brain Fair were:

University of Miami, Barry

University, and St. Thomas

University.

Jan. 30,- Orthopedic Surgery and Sports Medicine ( OSSM) presented The Value of Timely Orthopedic Assessment with Dr.Alejandro Badia

Jan. 31, Business & Medicine (BMIG) hosted Healthcare and Politics – Senator Rene Garcia

Feb. 1, OB-GYN (OGIG) and Medical Humanities Club (MHC) host Ethics and Obstetrics Feb. 10-11, American Medical Association (AMA) attended Medical Student Advocacy Day, Washington, DC Feb. 14, Neuroscience (NSIG ) hosted “Sleep Medicine: Mayhem and Murder on the Midnight Express”

Feb. 15-17, Pathology Interest Group ( PaIG) members attended 39

th Annual Anatomic

Pathology Conference, Lake Buena Vista, Fla.

Feb. 25, PaIG hosted Dr. Hyma, Medical Examiner for Miami-Dade

Feb. 26, Internal Medicine (IMIG) hosted “Cardiac Cauterization & Electrophysiology” with Baptist Cardiology

Feb. 27, Family Medicine Interest Group (FMIG) presents “Why where you live determines your health”

Feb. 28, BMIG presents: Physician in the Executive Office – Bernardo Fernandez, M.D.

Mar. 6, Internal Medicine (IMIG) hosted “The Best of Both Worlds: Advances in Gastroenterology” with Dr. Pedro Greer

Mar. 13, Military Medicine (MMIG), PaIG hosted Dr. Marty, Tropical Medicine, Infectious Disease Pathology, and Disaster medicine

Mar. 15-17, American Medical Women’s Association (AMWA) members attend 98

th

Annual National Conference, New York City AMWA

Mar. 27-31, 2013 Annual Medical Education Conference for Student National Medical Association (SNMA) in Louisville, Kentucky Apr. 11, BMIG presents: Physician Executive and Entrepreneurship – Fernando Valverde, M.D., CEO of FIU Heath Network

Apr. 12, IMIG hosted “An introduction to Thoracic Surgery” by Dr. Mark Block

Apr. 17, NSIG presented An Overview of President Obama's Call to Advance Neuroscience Research

Apr. 17, Latin Medical Student Association (LMSA) sponsors Medical Spanish Workshop

May. 1, AMWA presents: Removing Barriers to Care for Women who partner with Women – Dr. Nan Van Den Bergh

May 1, AMSA/AMWA presents the screening of the Trevor Project, a documentary about crisis intervention services for LGTBQ

Highlights:

Student Interest Groups

HIP peer health educators enjoying HIP day at FIU – sponsored by HWCOM

Above: Dr. Dollinger, Scarlett Aldana-Bosch, HIP Director Risa Berrin, and

M3 Veronica Alvarez

Left: M3 Louis Carrillo and M2 Bridgette Lasser

Right:

M2 Carl Wilkins

The PC Connection Page 5 of 7

Panther Community

Anderson trekked out of their

community in Northwest

Miami on Feb. 9 to

Southwest Miami; Zoo Miami!

Twenty-five students along

with new faculty member, Dr.

Irmanie Eliacin, volunteered

their Saturday to provide

patrons free blood pressure

screenings. After their

volunteer shift, the student

had free access to enjoy the

rest of their day at the zoo.

PC Anderson also combined

efforts with LMSA for their

National Conference health

fair that took place on March

17th at Palm Springs United

Methodist Church. Keeping

with the conference theme,

students provided health

information and resources to

attendees to improve their

ANDERSON – MIAMI NORTHWEST

Panther Community

Hippocrates finished the

year off strong with over

85% of its members

volunteering in their

community. Project Pipeline

was an extraordinary

program this year with an

event held every month.

Members of Hippocrates

tutored and presented

science activities to grade

students in Miami Gardens

in an effort to encourage

more science interest

among the youth.

Members of PC

Hippocrates were also in

attendance for the first

annual Orange Bowl

Community Health and

Wellness Fair at Dolphin

HIPPOCRATES – MIAMI GARDENS

overall health outcomes. In

addition to various

contributions to their

community and volunteer

organizations throughout

Miami-Dade, PC Anderson

was the recipient of the

Panther Community of the

Year award at this year’s

HWCOM Talent and

Award Show on May 24th.

Stadium that took place on

April 6th. At the health and

wellness fair, students

joined forces with the

Mammography Art Initiative

to educate women on the

proper ways of doing breast

check exams, as well as

performed blood pressure

screenings with Dr. Cheryl

Holder. In addition to

community outreach and

other events, Hippocrates

Assistant Faculty Director

Dr. Frederick Anderson,

was also recognized at the

HWCOM Talent and Award

show for his dedication to

the medical students by

receiving the award for

Faculty Mentor of the year.

Panther Community Highlights

Above: Anderson Zoo Crew Above: M3 Jennifer Pernas

Above: M2 Ryan Shay

Above: CJ Kwan at Project

Pipeline

Above: PC Hippocrates Coordinator Jessica Lewis and Faculty Director Dr. Frederick Anderson

Right: PC Hippocrates Mayor M2 Mark Haimes at Hippo

Bash

Page 6 of 7 The PC Connection

Dec. 1st, members of Panther

Community Pasteur

participated in the "Youth

Empowerment Summit" at

Robert Ingram Elementary

School in Opa-Locka, one of

Pasteur’s favorite community

partners. A panel of medical

students spoke to the Ingram

classes during a segment

called "So you want to be a

Doctor: The true story of

medical school and benefits of

the program", where members

of Pasteur encouraged and

guided grade students on a

science oriented path to

succeed in getting into medical

school.

On March 16th, PC Pasteur

took part in Opa-Locka’s Pop-

up Park Health Fair, one of

Pasteur’s last events of the

year. The Pop-up Park is a

community partnership that

develops temporary parks with

PASTEUR – OPA-LOCKA

Panther Community

Semmelweis was very

successful this year

collaborating with the Health

Information Project (HIP). In

addition to coordinating a

productive HIP day on April 4,

members of PC Semmelweis

helped HIP student Peer

Health Educators (PHE) plan

their objectives for next year.

Members of Semmelweis will

take on HIP as their Capstone

and bring together PHEs from

across Miami Dade, help

Peer Health Educators collect

quantitative and qualitative

data, discuss health issues in

their schools and

communities, and help PHEs

improve their skills to have a

bigger impact on their

classmates. In addition to the

HIP program, PC

Semmelweis has always

strived to promote healthy

eating, exercise and nutrition

in their community to prevent

SEMMELWEIS – MIAMI NORTHEAST

recreational activities, art and

cultural programs, health fairs

and farmers markets until the

parks and playgrounds are

completed in the Magnolia North

neighborhood of Opa-locka.

Pasteur was also represented at

this year’s HWCOM Talent and

Award Show, as one of its

members Lisa Podolsky won the

student award for Outstanding

Community Service of the Year.

diabetes, a prevalent health

issue in their community. In

keeping with that theme, on

April 22nd Semmelweis

members traveled to Christian

Academy in Miami-Northeast to

perform blood pressure

screenings on attendees and

educated them on food nutrition

and diabetes prevention.

Semmelweis also recently

completed a nutrition DVD - a

project that combined efforts

with FIU dietetic students.

Above: Luv Hajirawala dancing with

community partners at the Pop-Up Park

Left: PC Anderson members at Robert Ingram Elementary

Right: Winner of the Outstanding

Community Service Award, Lisa Podosky,

at the Pop-Up Park

Above: Student Peer Educators from all over Miami Dade gather at FIU Graham Center for HIP day

Above M2s Krista Miller, Nibris Chowdhury, Jason Alvarez, and Cecily Koppuzha at the Christian Academy health fair in Miami-Northeast

The PC Connection Page 7 of 7

Congratulations to the Winners and Performers of

This Year’s Student Choice Talent and Awards Show

Faculty Advisor/Student Mentor of the Year

Dr. Frederick Anderson

Student Tutor of the Year Clare Stevens

Outstanding Community Service of the Year – Class of 2014 Karla Diaz-Allyon

Outstanding Community Service of the Year – Class of 2015 Yoko Young Sang

Outstanding Community Service of the Year – Class of 2016

Lisa Podolsky

Outstanding Medical Student of the Year – Class of 2014

Elena Rueda-de-Leon

Outstanding Medical Student of the Year – Class of 2015

Michelle Abou-Jaoude

Outstanding Medical Student of the Year – Class of 2016

Anna Kuan-Celarier

Panther Community of the Year Panther Community Anderson

Outstanding Student Organization of the Year

American Medical Student Association (AMSA)