Updated on Jun 30, 2022 | Community
From left: Alexander Preker, MD, PhD, Executive Scholar and Visiting Professor, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai; Elisabeth A. Brodbeck, MPH, MA, Administrative Director, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences; Nata Menabde, PhD; and Nils Hennig, MD, PhD, MPH, Director of the Master of Public Health Program, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
Special lectures and wellness events sponsored by the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai’s Graduate Program in Public Health were held throughout the Health System during the first week of April, in recognition of National Public Health Week.
Valentin Fuster, MD, PhD, Director of Mount Sinai Heart and Physician-in-Chief of The Mount Sinai Hospital, commenced the week with a discussion about novel approaches to cardiovascular health. Other events included a lecture on increasing Master of Public Health (MPH) student engagement with the international health community, led by Nata Menabde, PhD, Executive Director, World Health Organization Office at the United Nations, as well as a screening of Before the Flood, a documentary about climate change. Shirley Gatenio Gabel, PhD, MPH, Professor, Fordham University Graduate School of Social Service, led a conversation on social justice and “intersectional” womanhood, which examines the relationship between interconnected social identities and discrimination.
Graduate student Catherine Sinfield prepared meals at the New York City Rescue Mission.
Mount Sinai’s MPH students ended the week with a Day of Service, when nine of them served meals to the homeless at New York City Rescue Mission, the nation’s oldest shelter.
“As public health students, we are committing to professionally assisting communities as a whole through advocacy, policy, health care management, and research,” says Heather Omdal, a second-year MPH student and event organizer. “This opportunity allowed us to engage our academic interests with face-to-face interaction. It was a great union of including the issues that matter to us and engaging with the community on a personal level.”
Updated on Jun 30, 2022 | Community
Valentin Fuster, MD, PhD, center, with Roxana Mehran, MD, and George D. Dangas, MD, PhD.
Valentin Fuster, MD, PhD, Director of Mount Sinai Heart and Physician-in- Chief of The Mount Sinai Hospital, was awarded the 2017 Lifetime Achievement Award by the American College of Cardiology (ACC) in honor of his decades of leadership in service, teaching, and research.
“Dr. Faster’s invaluable contributions to the field of cardiovascular medicine show unparalleled dedication to excellence and boundless commitment to improving patient care,” said ACC President Richard Chazal, MD, who presented the award at the ACC’s 66th Annual Scientific Session in Washington, D.C., on Sunday, March 19. Dr. Fuster is a world-renowned cardiologist whose mission is to curtail the global threat of cardiovascular disease through early education. He has authored more than 900 scientific articles and has received honorary doctorates from 33 universities.
Dr. Fuster, the Editor-in- Chief of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, has served as President of the American Heart Association, and he is primary adviser to the U.S. President on the upcoming document, “Global Health and the Future Role of the United States.”
Mount Sinai became the first institution to win three top ACC awards in the same year, as two other leading physicians were honored: Roxana Mehran, MD, Professor of Medicine (Cardiology), and Population Health Science and Policy, and Director of Interventional Cardiovascular Research and Clinical Trials; and George D. Dangas, MD, PhD, Professor of Medicine (Cardiology), Professor of Surgery (Vascular), and Director of Cardiovascular Innovation.
Dr. Mehran received the 2017 Bernadine Healy Leadership in Women’s CV Disease Award, presented to a Fellow of the ACC who has demonstrated leadership and accomplishment in research, teaching, practice, or service. Dr. Mehran is internationally recognized for her work as a clinical trial specialist with complex data analyses and for her experience in working with regulatory agencies to conduct trials. Dr. Mehran is also the Chair of the ACC’s Interventional Scientific Council.
Dr. Dangas received the 2017 Distinguished Teacher Award, presented to a Fellow of the ACC who has demonstrated innovative, outstanding teaching methods and has made major contributions in cardiovascular medicine at the national or international level. An authority in nonsurgical cardiac and vascular interventions, Dr. Dangas was a founding Chair of the ACC’s Interventional Scientific Council, and served on the ACC Board of Trustees until 2016.
Updated on Jun 30, 2022 | Community
The Mount Sinai Health System recently began sharing its expertise in digestive health services with Jupiter Medical Center in South Florida, in a partnership that will expand the quality of gastrointestinal (GI) care for adults and children in the region. Mount Sinai’s Dr. Henry D. Janowitz Division of Gastroenterology, one of the oldest and most distinguished GI programs, is ranked seventh in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. In addition to providing therapeutic GI services, the new partnership with Jupiter Medical Center will include noninvasive diagnostics, research, education, and preventive health and wellness services, with a primary focus on irritable bowel disease and hepatobiliary disorders.
Recently, donors and physicians, in photo, left, were among those attending a ribbon-cutting event at the Jupiter Medical Center’s newly renovated Frenchman’s Creek Digestive Health Center, a state-of-the-art facility made possible by the philanthropic support of the Frenchman’s Creek Men’s Health Day Golf Tournament.
Updated on Jun 30, 2022 | Community
From left: Michelle S. Cespedes, MD, MS, Associate Professor of Medicine (Infectious Diseases), Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai; Lisa Eiland, MD, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, and Director of Newborn Services, Mount Sinai West; and second-year students Monica Amoo-Achampong and Yvonne Okaka.
More than 50 students and faculty members at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai shared a festive meal and built valuable connections recently at the second annual Sinai Women of Color in Medicine and Science dinner. The mentoring event, sponsored by Students for Equal Opportunity in Medicine and the Patricia S. Levinson Center for Multicultural and Community Affairs, was held on Thursday, March 16, at Red Rooster Harlem.
“We look forward to continuing this event as an annual tradition at Mount Sinai. We expect it to grow in size as we work to recruit and retain women of color faculty and students,” says Ann-Gel S. Palermo, DrPH, MPH.
Updated on Jun 30, 2022 | Community
Michael Glenn received a screening from Vincent Carrao, MD, DDS, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Division Chief at The Mount Sinai Hospital.
A record number of participants received free oral, head and neck cancer screenings at The Mount Sinai Hospital (MSH) and Mount Sinai Beth Israel (MSBI) during Oral Cancer Awareness Month in April. The screenings, held on two consecutive days, were sponsored by Mount Sinai’s Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery and supported by the Head and Neck Cancer Alliance, for which Mount Sinai serves as the New York Chapter. Physicians and staff screened a total of 323 participants at both hospitals—245 at MSH and 78 at MSBI—and recommended 50 for follow-up care.
Head and neck cancers usually begin in the squamous cells that line the moist, mucosal surfaces inside the mouth, nose, and throat. Cancers also begin in the salivary glands, but less frequently. The National Cancer Institute estimates that 65,000 people in the United States will be diagnosed with head and neck cancers in 2017. There is an 80 percent survival rate when these cancers are detected early.
Updated on Jun 30, 2022 | Community, School
Plans are underway for the 2017 Program for Post Graduate Trainees (PGME): Future Academic Clinician-Educators, sponsored by the Institute for Medical Education (IME) at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, the Harvard Macy Institute, and the Boston Children’s Hospital.
The program supports residents and fellows on their path to becoming clinician-educator leaders and facilitates skill development in teaching, learning, and medical education scholarship. Applications for the next PGME course are due in June; acceptance is announced in July.
The course is held annually at The MGH Institute of Health Professions in Boston, a graduate university of health sciences founded by Massachusetts General Hospital.
“The program allowed me to think about the paths available as a clinician educator and the skills that make pursuing medical education more attainable,” says School of Medicine alumna Laura Stein, MD, PGY-4, Chief Resident for Quality Outcomes. “In addition to offering me concrete ideas for continued medical education projects and scholarship, the weekend allowed me to meet and learn from fellow residents with similar interests and leading experts in the field.”
PGME Course Co-Director, Reena Karani, MD, MHPE, Director, Institute for Medical Education, says the program represents a unique opportunity.
“We need innovative, skilled and committed educators in the future. The PGME course focuses on residents and fellows and is a unique offering targeted and tailored to this next generation of medical education leaders,” Dr. Karani says. “The IME is proud of our trainees who just completed the program. They all have a very bright future ahead of them.”
Last December, 19 house staff members from the Mount Sinai Health System were accepted at the program, with two participants receiving an IME tuition scholarship to attend: Kamron Pourmand, MD, Gastroenterology Fellow, and Jacqueline Paulis, MD, PGY-3S, Emergency Medicine. They will also have an opportunity to present their work at Medical Education Grand Rounds and at Education Research Day.
“The course allowed me to learn and practice a variety of skills that are critical to a successful career in medical education,” says Dr. Pourmand.
Andy Coyle, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine and Associate Program Director for Ambulatory Care, Internal Medicine Residency Program, at the School of Medicine, says the course has been a wonderful resource for trainees.
“They return from the course equipped to implement valuable and scholarly educational projects, with support and mentorship from fellow participants and Harvard Macy faculty,” he says. “Most importantly, they come back inspired and prepared to excel in clinician-educator career pathways.”
Brijen Shah, MD, Assistant Professor of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine, Assistant Professor of Medicine, and Chief Medical Officer and Vice President for Medical Affairs at Mount Sinai Queens, says the program is a valuable source of networking, medical education related knowledge, and skill development for rising clinician educators.
“The most striking impact this program has made on learners has been the legitimacy and confidence it provides to early clinician educators who are launching their careers,” he says.
