Nine house officers honored at GME Research Symposium

More than 50 residents and fellows presented their research in oral or poster formats.

The Fourth Annual Graduate Medical Education Research Symposium was held on May 4 in the Truhlsen Events Center. 











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Brendan Coutu, MD



Erin Dennis, MD

More than 50 residents and fellows presented their research in oral or poster formats. Presentation content ranged from original research to reviews, meta-analyses and case reports. The presented research abstracts covered a wide range of topics that included clinical outcomes, patient safety, quality improvement, basic science, education, health policy/advocacy, health care business practices, global health, wellness and other topics relevant to graduate medical education. 











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Tate Johnson, MD



Jason Lizalek, MD

Abstracts presented at the symposium will be included in the Graduate Medical Education Research Journal (GMERJ), Volume 4 Issue 1, which is set to be published in June.

Awards were given for the best presentations in both oral and poster categories. The award winners were:

  • Brendan Coutu, MD, resident, radiation oncology
  • Erin Dennis, MD, resident, neurology and Joseph Menousek, MD, resident, neurosurgery
  • Tate Johnson, MD, fellow, rheumatology  










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    Joseph Menousek, MD



    Frank Mezzacappa, MD

  • Jason Lizalek, MD, resident, general surgery
  • Frank Mezzacappa, MD, resident, neurosurgery                       
  • Spriha Pavuluri, MD, fellow, epilepsy (not pictured)
  • Jonathan Ryder, MD, fellow, infectious diseases
  • Kelsey Tieken, MD, resident, general surgery

"Research tends to be the one of the earliest casualties when clinical demands are excessive," said Chandra Are, MBBS, associate dean for graduate medical education.











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Jonathan Ryder, MD



Kelsey Tieken, MD

"It is commendable that these house officers continued with their research despite the multiple stressors associated with the pandemic. We wish them the best for the future research endeavours."

On behalf of the GME Office, Dr. Are thanked all the judges, moderators and others who helped to make the event a success, as well as Kari Nelson, PhD, Vicki Hamm, Erin Snow, Rachel Nelsen and Amy Guziec from the GME Office for their work organizing the event.