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WMED SPOTLIGHT

FACULTY SPOTLIGHT
Several WMed faculty members recently made the list of Stanford University/Elsevier’s Top 2% Scientist Rankings, which identifies the world’s leading researchers. The highly prestigious list of top scientists uses Scopus data provided by Elsevier through ICSR Lab and encompasses standardized data on citations, h-index, and a wide range of bibliometric factors. The highly prestigious list of top scientists uses Scopus data provided by Elsevier through ICSR Lab and encompasses standardized data on citations, h-index, and a wide range of bibliometric factors. Scientists are classified into 22 scientific fields and 174 sub-fields according to the standard Science-Metrix classification. The latest list of top researchers draws from the October 1, 2023, snapshot from Scopus, updated to the end of citation year 2022. “We are pleased that our medical school faculty have been recognized amongst the world’s leading researchers as they contribute to the advancement of medicine and science through their research,” said Robert G. Sawyer, MD, the medical school dean. The following WMed faculty made the list of top researchers: Rajiv Tandon, MBBS, MD, MS (Professor Emeritus, Department of Psychiatry) Robert W. Rebar, MD (Professor Emeritus, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology) Thomas L. Rothstein, MD, PhD (Chair and Professor, Department of Investigative Medicine) Kevin A. Ault, MD (Chair and Professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology) Dilip R. Patel, MBBS (Chair ad Professor, Department of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine) Craig A. Beam, PhD (Professor, Department of Biomedical Sciences) Robert G. Sawyer, MD (The Hal B. Jenson, MD Dean; Senior Associate Dean for Research; Professor, Department of Surgical Services) Donald E. Greydanus, MD (Professor, Department of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine) Joseph A. Prahlow (Clinical Professor, Department of Pathology) For more information about the full list of scientist rankings, visit https://bit.ly/3X6VzI7.
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RESIDENT SPOTLIGHT
More than 70 resident physicians and fellows were honored in June for completing their residency and fellowship training at WMed. WMed boasts 10 residency programs in the specialties of Emergency Medicine, Family Medicine, General Surgery, Internal Medicine, Medicine-Pediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Orthopaedic Surgery, Pediatrics, and Psychiatry. There also are five one-year fellowships for Emergency Medical Services, Forensic Pathology, Hospice and Palliative Medicine, Simulation, and Sports Medicine. Several programs celebrated their graduates in private ceremonies. The graduates have spent between one and five years training in Southwest Michigan. WMed boasts 10 residency programs in the specialties of Emergency Medicine, Family Medicine, General Surgery, Internal Medicine, Medicine-Pediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Orthopaedic Surgery, Pediatrics, and Psychiatry. There also are five one-year fellowships for Emergency Medical Services, Forensic Pathology, Hospice and Palliative Medicine, Simulation, and Sports Medicine. Of the 76 residents and fellows celebrated this year, 13 will remain and work in the Kalamazoo area. Meanwhile, an additional 15 residents will work in other cities in Michigan. Others will work throughout the nation, while many will go on to fellowship training. Here’s a complete list of this year’s resident and fellow graduates, as well as faculty who received awards: Emergency Medicine Alicia Nicole Anderson, DO (Chief) Baturay Aydemir, MD Kenneth Alan Bridgmon, DO Corbin Dean Donham, MD Edwin Lauritz Fundingsland, DO Eric Alden Hovda, DO Erik James Krueger, DO Nahal Massoudi, DO David Anthony Piscitelli, MD Joshua Robert Recknagel, MD (Chief) Kevin Rajiv Richardson, MD Michael Merle Samborn, DO John Linden Shinners, MD Mariah Christine Smith, DO Justin Myrick Winkler, MD (Chief) Emergency Medical Services Fellowship Stephen Andrew Godfrey, MD Family Medicine-Battle Creek Aron Thomas Chacko, MD Abbas Mokhtari, MD Priyanka Ajaysinh Rajput, MD Sojdeh Saber Hamishegi, MD (Chief) Suganiya Srikanthan, MD Layth Haitham Tumah, MD (Chief) Family Medicine-Kalamazoo Natan Harel, DO Syed Khairul Hussain, MD Lamiya Zehra Raghid, MD Jessel Lynton Ramdass, MD, MPH (Chief) Codi Alexis Sharp, DO (Chief) Mahsa Talebian, MD Wamidh Walid Tellow, MD Forensic Pathology Fellowship Haaris Iqbal, DO General Surgery Caitlyn Bo Cookenmaster, MD (Chief) Kyra Nicole Folkert, MD (Chief) Kent Matthew Grosh, MD (Chief) Sarah Ibrahim Khalil, MD (Chief) Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship Colleen Elizabeth Howing, MD Alexandra Elizabeth Ortiz, MD Internal Medicine Syed Ibaad Ali, MD (Chief) Krishna Chaitanya Amerneni, MD Stephen Earl Ames, DO Matthew Ryan Belardo, MD (Chief) Benjamin Ingo Bizer, MD Alec Michael Johnson, DO (Chief) Harmanpreet Kaur, MD Andrew John Koelper, DO Brian Nohomovich, DO, PhD Alana Pinheiro Alves, MD Michael James Terrio, DO Medicine-Pediatrics Faisal Ansari, DO Taylor Joann Cable, MD (Chief) Ian Thomas Crumm, MD Blair Colleen Graham, DO Obstetrics and Gynecology Gina Marie Bravata, MD Emily Elizabeth Dempsey Brittany Darchelle Lett, MD (Chief) Diamond Nicole Stevens, MD Orthopaedic Surgery George James Borrelli, MD (Chief) Brandon Joseph Stradel, MD (Chief) Matthew Christopher Sweet, MD (Chief) Pediatrics Hanan Nayef Alhyari, MD Hannah Brooke Asebes, MD Bilal Samir Assi, MD Nourhan Gamal Shafik Bayoumy Shafeey, MD (Fourth-Year Chief) Lubaina Ehsan, MD (Chief) Janine Chun Yee Fung, MD Judy Jasser, MD Yahia Khanfar, MD Shekha Sherin Nelliadi, MD Mandeep Kaur Takhar, MD Psychiatry Salman Mohammad Abdul Majeed, DO Amar Wael Arafat, DO Drew Daniel Elson, DO (Chief) Jamil Alexander Khondker, MD Eric Allen Klomparens, MD (Chief) Kailin Hollenbeck Kuo, MD Linda Saju, MD Sports Medicine Fellowship Michael Joseph Matthews, DO 2024 Teaching Awards Emergency Medicine James Hull, DO Mohamed Mohamed, MD Josh Recknagel, MD Family and Community Medicine Steve Pollens, MD Holly Schmidt, MD Kari Beth Watts, MD General Surgery Christian Ertl, MD Katherine Kelley, MD Gitonga Munene, MD Internal Medicine Ridwaan Albeiruti, MD James Hull, DO Corey Lager, MD Medicine-Pediatrics Neil Hughes, MD Corey Lager, MD Katherine Scott, MD Obstetrics and Gynecology Jennifer Carman, MD Jordan Wroblewski, DO Orthopaedic Surgery Cameron J. Vanlaningham, MD Pediatrics Jocelyn Deleon, MD Joseph Fakhoury, MD Nourhan Boyoumy Shafeey, MD Erica VanderKooy, MD Psychiatry Simhadri Botta, MD Elmira Yessengaliyeva, MD
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SIMULATION CENTER SPOTLIGHT
The WMed Simulation Center has been granted full reaccreditation by the Society for Simulation in Healthcare (SSH) for the next five years. News of the important milestone came in August following a site visit in May from a two-person team that participated in a tour of the Simulation Center, conducted interviews with leadership, staff and users of the Simulation Center, reviewed handbooks, procedures, case and training materials, and program evaluations and processes. John Hoyle, MD “It’s important and it shows that we meet a really high standard that’s been verified by SSH, an organization with the sole purpose of assuring that simulation-based education is done well,” said John Hoyle, MD, assistant dean for Simulation. “It’s exciting and it’s a reflection of all of our hard work.” The Simulation Center first received full core accreditation and full accreditation in teaching and education from SSH in 2018. SSH is the largest healthcare simulation accrediting body in the world. Dr. Hoyle said the reaccreditation process was a collaborative effort that involved every team member in the Simulation Center, including Connie Worline, director of Clinical Simulation; Neil Hughes, MD, assistant professor in the Department of Medicine who is a WMed alumnus and former simulation fellow; Ryan Richards, manager of Simulation Operations; Standardized Patient Coordinator Havilah MacInnes; Administrative Assistant Linda Bunting, and simulation center specialists. At WMed, simulation is a key component of medical education and serves as a bridge for students between the classroom and clinical area. In addition to its integration into the undergraduate curriculum at WMed, the Simulation Center also supports simulation-based exercises for graduate medical education and regularly hosts training events for Kalamazoo’s two hospitals, Ascension Borgess Hospital and Bronson Methodist Hospital. Currently, first-year students at WMed complete more than 90 hours of simulation-based training as part of their Medical First Responder course, Dr. Hoyle said. In 2022 and 2023 combined, the Simulation Center hosted more than 14,000 learners who logged more than 67,000 hours of training. “We see and interact with every student and every resident in the institution,” Dr. Hoyle said. The Simulation Center is made up of more than 25,000 square feet of space between two locations – the W.E. Upjohn M.D. Campus and Ascension Borgess Hospital – with a staff of 20, including two directors, two coordinators, simulation specialists and technicians, and more than 70 standardized patients. At the W.E. Upjohn M.D. Campus, the Simulation Center boasts more than 24,000 square feet and includes a 13-bed virtual hospital with a large operating room and three debriefing rooms, a 12-room ambulatory clinic, two large control rooms, two procedure labs, two classrooms, an ultrasonography suite, and a virtual endoscopic surgery room. Additionally, the center is an American Heart Association authorized training center for Basic and Advanced Life Support an and an authorized training site for Pediatric Advanced Life Support. The Simulation Center is also authorized to provide remote testing for the Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery. The Simulation Center at Ascension Borgess Hospital opened in 2016 and includes 4,100 square feet with a two-bed clinical room with advanced equipment and high-fidelity manikins, a procedure room, an FLS Surgery training room and classrooms. Dr. Hoyle said that as simulation-based learning at the medical school continues to expand, he and his team in the Simulation Center are working to provide the best learning experience possible. Over the last year, he said a number of adult and pediatric human patient simulators have been replaced and later this year, the audiovisual system in the facility at W.E. Upjohn M.D. Campus will be overhauled and upgraded. “The more training we can do and the more high-risk cases we can simulate for our learners, the more we can help provide safer patient care,” he said.
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STUDENT SPOTLIGHT
When he began his address to the MD Class of 2024, Saad B. Omer, MPH, PhD, MBBS, took the students back to when they began medical school, reminding them of how their journey started in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. The MD Class of 2024 was honored during a commencement ceremony on May 9, 2024, at WMU's Miller Auditorium. And then, he immediately looked forward and spoke of how the last four years can help shape their futures as young physicians. Saad B. Omer, MPH, PhD, MBBS “It was not your choice to start your medical training surrounded by an enormous tragedy but it is your choice how you are shaped by it because the greatest of generations come out of the darkest of tragedies,” Dr. Omer said. ‘You are the first cohort of a generation of physicians and scientists molded by this adversity. You have the choice to be the greatest generation of physicians and scientists there ever was." Dr. Omer, who serves as founding dean of the Peter O’Donnell Jr. School of Public Health at UT Southwestern Medical Center, was the keynote speaker at this year’s commencement ceremony, which was held on May 9, 2024, at WMU’s Miller Auditorium. The event was a celebration for the medical school’s seventh class of new doctors, as well as graduates of the Master of Science in Biomedical Sciences and Medical Engineering degree programs. WMed Dean Robert G. Sawyer, MD, congratulated the 84 MD graduates for selecting a career path “that will have a profound impact on the health of individuals and the communities where they will live.” “Each graduating class contributes to building our legacy and a rich history of excellence,” Dr. Sawyer said. “Your success as graduates is a measure of our success as a medical school. We look forward to all that you will achieve throughout your careers and watching how the work you do benefits our society.” WMed Dean Robert G. Sawyer, MD Students from the MD Class of 2024 arrived at WMed in July 2020 in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. As she addressed her classmates, M4 Amy Shao recalled the “scary, unprecedented time” and how the cohort met for lectures on Microsoft Teams and had to wear face masks and face shields during anatomy lab and Medical First Responder training. “People told us medical school would be tough, but it’s hard to conceptualize until you actually go through it, and over the next four years I know we all had days that absolutely sucked,” Shao said. “On the flip side, I know we all had days that were uplifting and fulfilling and reminded us why we decided to do medicine in the first place. “You navigated through all your bad days and rejoiced at all your better days and balanced everything in life to make it to today,” Shao added. “And now, you’re about to become empathetic, compassionate, and hard-working doctors, with some extra wrinkles and dark circles, and I couldn’t be more proud of the work you’ve put in. I’m sure residency will have its own good and bad days, but I’m confident you’ll make it through, and I can’t wait to see all the places you’ll go and accomplishments you’ll achieve.” In his remarks to the Class of 2024, Dr. Omer told the students that, as their journey as physicians gets underway, they must strive to do better than their predecessors. He said they must work to build a more just world, be active participants in the battle against global climate change, and create “a world in which your patients’ well-being is not continuously threatened by the ever-present demons of racism and authoritarianism.” At the same time, Dr. Omer told the students they will face many challenges in the coming years – life expectancy in the U.S. has dropped and access to quality healthcare remains unequal. Misinformation is also rampant, he said, and distrust in medicine and the healthcare system is unacceptably high. Amy Shao, MD “It is these challenges, medical and social, that you and your patients face,” Dr. Omer said. “Greatness is not achieved on cruise control. It is by rising to generational challenges that you will become the greatest generation of physicians.” As he concluded his address, Dr. Omer reminded the students that as they become the greatest generation of doctors in the coming years, they also have a responsibility to make sure they do not remain the greatest generation for long. That torch, he said, must be passed to the next generation of doctors who will follow in their footsteps. “Not because of a greater tragedy but because you made sure that you passed on your wisdom by being better mentors than we ever were,” Dr. Omer said. “I am optimistic that you all can do this. To borrow from the Nobel Prize winning paster from Atlanta, you must act with the ‘fierce urgency of now’ because I often say hope is not a delusion, because you have the power to change things. “As Spiderman said, with great power comes great responsibility.”
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LATEST NEWS & EVENTS

Peds Literacy Program

WMed Health Pediatrics brings smiles and joy to children through clinic-wide literacy initiatives

Donor Remembrance Ceremony 2024

‘Ultimate servants to their community’: WMed honors body donation program donors during annual Donor Remembrance Ceremony

Marc Jenkins, PhD

Marc Jenkins, PhD, to visit WMed in November for Seminars in Investigative Medicine

Thanksgiving Day

All WMed campuses closed

Day After Thanksgiving

All WMed campuses closed

Dean's Circle Winter Reception

4:30-6:30 p.m., W.E. Upjohn M.D. Campus

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ACCESSIBILITY & PRIVACY

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HEERF REPORTING

© 2024 Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine
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