Students, faculty, friends and families of the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine (MCOM) came to the Oval Theatre at the USF Marshall Student Center to celebrate the newest inductees and award winners in three major honor societies: Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society, Gold Humanism Honor Society, and Robert A. Good Honor Society.
“Tonight is a celebration of academic excellence, research prowess and humane, empathetic care. It is a recognition of those attributes found among the finest physicians, those who aspire to meet the needs of our patients, our profession, and our society. It is a testament to the fact that medicine truly is a noble calling,” said Charles J. Lockwood, MD, MHCM, executive vice president of USF Health and dean of MCOM.”
Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society
Alpha Omega Alpha, founded in 1902, is the national medical honor society. The organization celebrates scholastic achievements of medical students, alumni, and faculty who have distinguished themselves in their careers. The AOA Gamma Florida Chapter at MCOM was established in 1976.
Students in the top 25% of their class are eligible for election, and 20% are selected. A select number of junior medical students are inducted. The remainder are elected during the fall of their senior year.
AOA members receive a green, white, and gold cord with an AOA charm to wear at induction and commencement ceremonies.
Class of 2024 (inducted as senior medical students):
- Omar Bishr
- Shaun Charkowick
- Collin Chase
- Gregory Fishberger
- Haider Ghumman
- Lila Gutstein
- Emily Heideman
- Sejal Jain
- Shirley Jiang
- Jamila Mammadova
- Erin McClure
- Grant Morrison
- Kedar Patel
- Apoorva Ravichandran
- Alexandra Refowich
- Diane Rodriguez
- Nidhi Sama
- Matthew Udine
- Carry Wang
- Chen Wang
- Caroline Ward
- Adam Weekley
- Thomas Wotherspoon
- Grant Yatzkan
- Stephanie Zhao
Class of 2025 (inducted as junior medical students):
- Nathan Einhorn
- Molly Monsour
- Nicole Natarelli
- Matthew Nester
- Madison Noom
- Naveen Perisetla
- Ellie Randolph
- Shelby Remmel
- Meghan Tahbaz
- William West
Alumni:
- Stephen Vernon, MD, class of 1974
- James Ralph Korndorffer, Jr., MD, MHPE, FACS, class of 1990
Faculty:
- Robert David Bennett, MD, Colorectal Surgery
- Claudia Busse, MD, Pediatric Hospital Medicine
- Alfonso Campos, MD, Pediatric Nephrology
- Alexis Cohen-Oram, MD, Psychiatry
- Clifton Gooch, MD, Professor and Chair, USF Health Department of Neurology
- Sarah Hoffe, MD, Radiology Oncology, Moffitt Cancer Center
- Anjali Joann Kaimal, MD, Obstetrics and Gynecology-Maternal Fetal Medicine
- Carol Lilly, MD, Pediatrics
- Emad Mikhail, MD, FACOG, FACS, Obstetrics and Gynecology
- Adham Saad, MD, FACS, Surgery
Fellows:
- Ahmad Arslan, MD, Pulmonary Critical Care
- Jetsen Rodriguez Silva, MD, Colorectal Surgery
- Claudio Schenone Giugni, MD, Maternal Fetal Medicine
Chief Residents:
- Eileen Glocer, MD, Psychiatry
- Andrea Lafnitzegger, DO, Pediatrics
- Ivy Wilson, MD, Pediatrics
Residents:
- Elizabeth Havlicek, MD, Pediatrics
- Timothy Herman, MD, Internal Medicine
- Nadia Khalil, MD, Neurology
- Ashley Perry, MD, MedPeds
- Emily Grimsley, MD, Surgery
Gold Humanism Honor Society
The Gold Humanism Honor Society is a community of medical students, physicians, and other leaders who have been recognized for their compassionate care. The honor society reinforces and supports the human connection in health care, which is essential for the health of patients and clinicians.
The Barness-Behnke Chapter of the Gold Humanism Honor Society was established in 2003. Lewis Barness, MD, was the founding chair of the Department of Pediatrics. Roy Behnke, MD, was the founding chair of the Department of Internal Medicine.
Class of 2024 inductees:
- Iman Awan
- Sabrina Awshah
- Vayda Barker
- Karina Bowers
- Jessica Cobb
- Sarah Cool
- Zeegan George
- Monique Girgis
- Lila Gutstein
- Mckenzi Heide
- Anna Hemminger
- Sejal Jain
- Grace Johnson
- Doniya Milani
- Irene Nguyen
- Kedar Petal
- Apoorva Ravichandran
- Amornrat Sawangkum
- Monica Stevens
- Suzanna Tom
- Alexandra Varnum
- Carrie Wang
- Berwin Yuan
Class of 2025 inductees:
- Kaitlyn Cox
- Allison Dumitriu Carcoana
- Lauren Dyer
- Dominique Edebes
- Samaa El-Kolalli
- Emily Evangelista
- Marjorie Fitzsimmons
- Karla Geigel
- Jose Malavet
- Molly Monsour
- Payton Mulkey
- Valerie Nemov
- Tam Nguyen
- Madison Noom
- Pranit Singh
- Meghan Thabaz
- Andrea Vrionis
Class of 2025 (SELECT):
- Ayesha Anwer
- Jorden Barrow
- Ghazal Hashemipour Moussavi
- Nicole Natarelli
- Nora Newcomb
- Roger Rochart
- Ahsan Usmani
- Putt Vithayaveroj
- Aishwarya Vuppala
Faculty:
- Andrew Galligan, MD, MS, Pediatric Hematology Oncology
- Ryan Hidalgo, MD, Urogynecology
- Joseph Sujka, Gastrointestinal Surgery
Faculty (Lehigh Valley):
- Drew Keister, MD, Family medicine
Fellow and Residents:
- Cassandra Gross, MD, Internal Medicine Resident
- Roshini Pudhucode, MD, Pediatrics Resident
- Jonathan Slimovitch – MedPeds Resident
- Kristen Tessiatore, MD, Gastroenterology/Gastrointestinal Fellow
Residents (Lehigh Valley):
- David Finch, MD, Psychiatry
- Aaron Jacobs, MD, Plastic Surgery
Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Award:
- Monica Stevens, student recipient
- Amy Brown, MD, Obstetrics and Gynecology, faculty recipient
Robert A. Good Honor Society
The Robert A. Good Honor Society was established in 2017 by the MCOM Office Research, Innovation and Scholarly Endeavors (RISE) to recognize and honor medical students, faculty and alumni who have demonstrated exemplary commitment to improving health outcomes through research, innovation, and scholarly endeavors.
The goals of RGHS are to:
- Establish a community for the exchange of ideas and opportunities for continues scholarly growth.
- Foster a spirit of lifelong scholarly approach to the practice of medicine.
- Support the USF system goal regarding excellence in research and national prominence.
- Commit to model, support, and advocate scholarly activities at MCOM.
Robert A. Good, MD, PhD, DSc, FACP, was a key MCOM leader and physician scientist who spear-headed scholarship locally, nationally, and internationally. He was internationally known as the “father of modern immunology.” He authored, co-authored, or edited more than 2,000 peer-reviewed scientific papers, abstracts, and book chapters. He’s described as always exhibiting enormous enthusiasm in the pursuit and debate of biomedical research.
Students:
- Jaclyn Abraham
- Jacob Albers
- Sabrina Awshah
- Vayda Barker
- Jeffrey Brown
- Jonathan Charles
- Collin Chase
- Konrad Cios
- Joel Cohen
- Rachel Cruz
- Gregory Fishberger
- Bailey Hamner
- Trenton Lippert
- Amelia Llerena
- Brian Longbottom
- Jamila Mammadova
- Ashley Mason
- Eric McClure
- Karthik Pittala
- Diane Rodriguez
- Eric Solomon
- Monica Stevens
- Victoria Tay
- Mallika Varkhedi
- Carrie Wang
- Caroline Ward
Faculty:
- Roberta “Bobby” Collins, Office of RISE founding director
- Bela Kis, MD, PhD, Diagnostic Imaging, Moffitt Cancer Center
- Charles Lockwood, MD, MHCM, USF Health executive vice president, MCOM dean
- Lynette Menezes, PhD, USF Health International
Fellows and Residents:
- Mohammed Hassan Nour El Dine, MD - Neurosurgery Resident
- Libby Havlicek, MD - Pediatrics Resident
- Sherri Huang, MD - MedPeds Resident
- John Mayfield, MD - Diagnostic Radiology Resident
- Robin Park, MD - Hematology/Oncology Fellow
- Michael Rogers, MD - Surgery Resident
- Zaker Schwabkey, MD - Hematology/Oncology Fellow
Steven Specter Award for Outstanding Contributions in Scholarly Achievement and the Advancement of Medicine:
- Bailey Hamner
Martin and Ruth Silbiger Research Award:
- Erin McClure
More images from the event:
