News briefs

Dr. Abdouch elected as alternate delegate to AAFP Congress of Delegates

Department of Family Medicine Associate Professor Ivan Abdouch, M.D., was recently elected as an alternate delegate to the American Academy of Family Practice Congress of Delegates. He is one of four physicians elected to the policy-making body. Two voting delegates and two alternate delegates represent each constituent chapter. The Congress of Delegates set national policy as well as elect new AAFP officers and members of the board of directors. For more information, check out the Family Medicine blog

Department of Family Medicine holds Resident Research Symposium

The 3rd Annual Resident Research Symposium on March 30, featured 19 poster presentations and three oral presentations from Department of Family Medicine house officers. The top presenters are recognized at the annual event attended by faculty, residents, and staff. This year's winners were: 

Oral presentation

  • First: Chris Jensen, M.D., for "Rapidly Growing Mycobacterial Infection in Previously Undiagnosed Sarcoidosis"
  • Second: Stephanie Larson, M.D., for "Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer: Paternal vs Maternal Inheritance" 

Poster presentation

  • First: Geoffrey McLeod, D.O., for "Chronic Hip Pain in Adolescent Female Athlete"
  • Second: Rustin Rawlings, M.D., for "Porokeratosis: A Rare Side Effect of Topical Corticosteroids" 

The Kash Patil Award for Excellence in Research/Scholarly Activity will be announced at the graduation banquet on June 26. 

Medical student honored in poetry competition

Third-year medical student Catherine Tran recently won second place in the 2016 William Carlos Williams Poetry Competition sponsored by the Northeast Ohio Medical University. 

Her poem, titled "They Buried Him in California," was one of hundreds of entries selected on the basis of craftsmanship, originality and content. The poem is about illness and death from the perspective of both the patient and the health care provider, Tran said. 

"It explores the process of dying, which can be so lonely and painful for patients and their families, but can become part of the day-to-day for health care providers. I wanted to remind myself how overwhelmed and scared I felt when it was my family member in the hospital." 

Tran said she writes to bring herself clarity and peace. "Medicine can be incredibly rewarding and difficult, and writing is a way to honor the good and process the bad." 

Orthopaedic residents shine in national exam
The UNMC Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Rehabilitation residency program scored in the 89th percentile for the 2015 Orthopaedic In-Training Exam. This score measures the residents' knowledge and competency in all areas of orthopaedic surgery, compared to 238 other orthopaedic programs nationwide.