Community | Mount Sinai Today

Transforming the Face of Pharmacy by Training Knowledgeable, Efficient Techs

Nov 30, 2023 | Community, Engagement, Featured

The first cohort of six students graduated from the Mount Sinai Health System Pharmacy Technician Training Program. The students holding certificates are, from left: Christian Cuatlal-Zempoalteca, Jacqueline Pierce, Millagros Verdejo, and Ekelly Huntley. They are joined by, from left, Irina Usherenko, PharmD MBA; Elone Winston, MPH, CPhT; Susan Mashni, PharmD, BCPS; John Ugbogbo, MS, RPh; and Brian Radbill, MD. Students Oprah Reid and Aishatou Coulibaly are not shown.

Pharmacy technicians serve as crucial team members who work alongside pharmacists to maximize the pharmacist’s scope and efficiency.

As technology and training have evolved, technicians have taken a more significant leadership role in hospital pharmacy operations. However, there is a severe shortage of qualified pharmacy technicians across the country.

To address the issue, the Mount Sinai Health System Pharmacy Technician Training Program launched earlier this year with support from Susan Mashni, PharmD, BCPS, Senior Vice President and Chief Pharmacy Officer, Mount Sinai Health System.

The program was begun under the leadership of Irina Usherenko, PharmD, MBA, Vice President, Pharmacy, Mount Sinai Morningside and Mount Sinai West, and Elone V. Winston, MPH, CPhT, Project Manager II, Mount Sinai Health System.

“We want to fill the pharmacy tech vacancies from within the Health System while providing career advancement opportunities to our Mount Sinai colleagues. Our goal is to fill those vacancies with the best trained, most qualified personnel,” said Dr. Usherenko. “Specifically, we need certified pharmacy techs who are registered and licensed in New York State and have hospital-based training or experience.”

To do that, they decided to create a comprehensive training program that would be accredited by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP).

“There are only four other ASHP-accredited programs in New York State,” said Mr. Winston. “We designed a program with didactic, simulation, and onsite rotations. It is what is necessary so that pharmacy technicians are prepared to work in a complex environment that operates 24/7.”

The first cohort of six students graduated in September. Students were recruited from Strive NYC and the Manhattan Educational Opportunity Center (MEOC)—organizations focused on providing pathways to life-changing careers that provide financial empowerment and stability.

Each student completed more than 400 hours of intense study that includes online classroom work, time in a simulation lab, and hands-on experience in the Mount Sinai Morningside pharmacy. The online topics included basic anatomy and physiology and pharmaceutical terminology. In the simulation lab, students learned about dispensing and filling prescriptions, sterile compounding, and hazardous medications. They also gained experience working in retail and hospital pharmacies.

The students must pass a certification exam before applying for licensure and registration. Once that is achieved, the technicians are ready to work in a hospital environment with a starting salary of close to $70,000 per year.

The training for the first cohort was provided tuition free, and the students were given a small stipend during their experiential phase of the training.

The next group of students is being recruited from existing hospital staff including Environmental Services, Throughput, Patient Accounts, and the Emergency Department. The 1199 Training Fund will support these students and they will continue to work part-time during the training program. There were more than 400 applicants for 15 spots.

To learn more, contact PharmTechTraining@mountsinai.org.

Mount Sinai Children’s Center Foundation Annual Benefit on November 12 Supports Pediatric Patients and Honors Our Nurses

Nov 6, 2023 | Community

The 36th annual Mount Sinai Children’s Center Foundation (CCF) Benefit returns to the Big Apple Circus on Sunday, November 12, for another fun-filled family day with a private performance of the Big Apple Circus, activities and gifts for the kids, and complimentary snacks.

Click here to purchase tickets.

This is the Mount Sinai Children’s Center Foundation’s (CCF) largest fundraiser and an opportunity to gather the Mount Sinai community of faculty, staff, patients, and friends. Ticket purchases and donations will support every aspect of family-centered care.

Proceeds from this year’s benefit will provide vital funding to enrich care, treatment, and support for sick children and their families. This includes critical hospital renovations to create an uplifting and nurturing environment of care to foster the best possible experience for all children and families, therapeutic support to ease anxiety and humanize a child’s stay at the hospital, and funding for promising young investigators working to find new cures and treatments.

“The tremendous support that the Mount Sinai Kravis Children’s Hospital and the Jack and Lucy Clark Department of Pediatrics receive from the Mount Sinai Children’s Center Foundation and our annual benefit helps us in our mission of delivering innovative care, research, and education that equitably advances health for children and families,” says Fernando Ferrer, MD, Chief Operating Officer, Mount Sinai Kravis Children’s Hospital. “We are incredibly grateful for the efforts of the Mount Sinai Children’s Center Foundation, and together we can lead the way to a healthier future for every child.”

This year the nurses of Mount Sinai Kravis Children’s Hospital and the Jo Carole and Ronald S. Lauder Newborn Intensive Care Unit are being honored. Nurses were chosen because of their phenomenal care of thousands of children, babies, and families across New York City and the communities we serve.

Learn more about the Mount Sinai Children’s Center Foundation

A New Fellowship Program at Mount Sinai Will Help Shape the Next Generation of Health Care Leaders

Updated on Oct 25, 2023 | Community, Featured, School

The Graduate Medical Education (GME) program at the Icahn School of Medicine and the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences have announced the launch of the Health Care Administration, Leadership, and Management Fellowship for early career stage physicians.

This ACGME-accredited fellowship program is designed to offer physicians a comprehensive experience combining the academic rigor of the school’s Masters of Health Administration (MHA) program with hands-on training in Graduate Medical Education. This collaboration will provide fellows with a well-rounded education encompassing leadership development, health care administration, quality improvement, and patient safety, among other critical areas.

“I want to grow as a leader in the next three to five years. I see myself as a physician executive who can help make decisions on how to make health care better and create new health care delivery models that are equitable.” — Shantheri Shenoy, MBBS

“The fellowship is unique because it brings together excellent classroom-based learning and unique rotations across the Mount Sinai Health System, which makes for a physician who is poised to lead,” said Brijen Shah, MD, Fellowship Director, Associate Dean for Graduate Medical Education, and Professor, Medicine (Gastroenterology) at Icahn Mount Sinai. “This program provides a unique chance to get a peek behind the curtain of how health care is delivered and to advance and be part of diverse teams to solve health care problems.”

Shantheri Shenoy, MBBS

The MHA program provides the academic and curricular side of the fellowship requirements, while GME provides experience on the clinical side through rotations in various departments within the Health System.

The fellow will gain practical insights into the operational aspects of managing a health care organization while collaborating with a diverse team of health care professionals. Additionally, the fellow will have access to a network of faculty members, accomplished alumni, and industry experts, who will provide mentorship and guidance. Upon completing the program, the fellow will receive a Masters in Health Administration degree.

The inaugural fellow is Shantheri Shenoy, MBBS, who started the fellowship in September and will be in the program for two years. Dr. Shenoy is the Associate Division Chief of Hospital Medicine at Mount Sinai West and Assistant Professor, Medicine (Hospital Medicine, Nephrology) at Icahn Mount Sinai. She completed her internal medicine internship and residency at Maimonides Medical Center followed by a fellowship in nephrology at New York Medical College – Westchester Medical Center. Dr. Shenoy completed the Greater New York Hospital Association Clinical Quality Fellowship Program in 2019. She has planned and implemented several projects on high-value care and patient safety, and she has presented them at national and international conferences.

“I want to grow as a leader in the next three to five years. I see myself as a physician executive who can help make decisions on how to make health care better and create new health care delivery models that are equitable” she said. “Addressing the social determinants of health and patient safety are focus areas for me.”

Dr. Shenoy said the fellowship offers valuable experience. “I’ve been meeting leaders in my hospital and throughout the Health System,” she said. “My experience was at the hospital level, so this is giving me a good sense of the health care industry overall. The courses are easy to accommodate with my schedule. The fellowship gives me a hands-on experience for what I’m learning in my courses. You get to see what you have learned in theory.”

The fellowship is the result of the Graduate School’s partnering with GME on this first-of-its kind, ACGME-accredited program, according to Brian Nickerson, PhD, JD, who is the MHA Program Director and Senior Associate Dean for Master’s Programs. “It is a truly unique collaboration reflecting Mount Sinai’s commitment to building leadership for tackling today’s complex health care issues,” he said.

“This fellowship will serve as a stepping stone for aspiring physician leaders who seek to make a significant impact in the health care industry,” he added. “By fostering a deeper understanding of health care management principles and fostering strong clinical acumen, fellows will be uniquely positioned to address the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead in health care delivery.”

To learn more about the Health Care Administration, Leadership, and Management Fellowship for early career stage physicians, contact Fellowship Director Brijen Shah, MD, Fellowship Director, or Brian Nickerson, PhD, MHA Program Director.

Congratulations to the 2023 Mount Sinai Emergency Nurse Awardees

Updated on Oct 10, 2023 | Community, Featured, Nursing

The Department of Emergency Medicine at Mount Sinai celebrated the Second Annual Emergency Nurse Awards in recognition of Emergency Nurses Week.

At Mount Sinai, there are more than 700 emergency nursing team members committed to caring for our patients within our Emergency Departments and across the Mount Sinai Health System.

The ceremony, held Tuesday, October 9 in the Hatch Auditorium at The Mount Sinai Hospital, honored 40 emergency nursing team members across seven categories.

Opening remarks by Mount Sinai leadership included Robin Ferrer, MBA, MSN, RN, System Vice President of Emergency Medicine; Beth Oliver, DNP, RN, FAAN, Chief Nurse Executive and Senior Vice President, Cardiac Services; and David Reich, MD, President of The Mount Sinai Hospital and Mount Sinai Queens who spoke about the positivity and optimism displayed every day by emergency nurses.

Afterwards, awardees and their families gathered with fellow team members to celebrate.

Rookie of the Year Award

The recipient for this category has eighteen months or less experience working in the Emergency Department and consistently displays confidence, initiative and high potential in providing clinical care and contributing to the team’s success.

Mount Sinai West: Katherine Schuerger

Mount Sinai Brooklyn: Jennifer Yun

Mount Sinai Queens: Saskia Moore (not pictured)

The Mount Sinai Hospital: Donovan Carey

Mount Sinai Morningside: Xinyue Zheng

Mount Sinai Beth Israel: Nicole Brophy

Mount Sinai South Nassau: Gianni Lise Delgado-Gaines

Preceptor of the Year Award

The recipient for this category serves as a resource and mentor for team members and new hires by sharing knowledge and skills and exemplifying best practices in providing care to our community of patients.

Mount Sinai West: Emma Frankel

Mount Sinai Brooklyn: Valerie Merrell (not pictured)

Mount Sinai Queens: Eric Peterson

The Mount Sinai Hospital: Rachel Miguel

Mount Sinai Morningside: Corine Lamy

Mount Sinai Beth Israel: Hermia Bertrand

Mount Sinai South Nassau: Meghan Evans (not pictured)

Support Staff Member of the Year Award

The recipient for this category demonstrates support of and collaboration with nursing staff through effective teamwork, clear communication, focus on patient safety, and enhancing the overall experience for patients and families.

Mount Sinai West: Vincent Love

Mount Sinai Brooklyn: Gilbert Quiocho (not pictured)

Mount Sinai Queens: Jessica Vicuna (not pictured)

The Mount Sinai Hospital: Hamid Usman (not pictured)

Mount Sinai Morningside: Alicia Clayton(not pictured)

Mount Sinai Beth Israel: Edgardo Calderon (not pictured)

Mount Sinai South Nassau: Ricardo Ventura

Resilience and Wellness Award

The recipient for this category serves as a role model for resilience and wellness by exemplifying healthy habits and lifestyle, and also helps to promote Mount Sinai resiliency resources and engages others in healthy habits.

Mount Sinai West: Virginia Torres

The Mount Sinai Hospital: Cynthia Mendez

Mount Sinai Morningside: Larissa Leonardo

Mount Sinai South Nassau: David Lee

Emergency Department Clinical Nurse of the Year Award

The recipient for this category is a staff nurse who adheres to nursing standards of practice, and consistently demonstrates exceptional patient care and professionalism. This nurse helps facilitate positive team engagement and high-quality patient outcomes.

Mount Sinai West: Rosemarie Yetman

Mount Sinai Brooklyn: Yelena Shneyder (not pictured)

Mount Sinai Queens: Amparo Sullivan (not pictured)

The Mount Sinai Hospital: Joel Madrid and Nicole Kostakis

Mount Sinai Morningside: Charles Hillman

Mount Sinai Beth Israel: Judy Louie

Mount Sinai South Nassau: Megan Probst

Emergency Department Nurse Leader of the Year Award

The recipient for this category demonstrates excellent leadership skills by serving as a resource through effective communication, working to inspire passion, and promoting professional development. This leader motivates, supports, and creates a high-performance culture for the team.

Mount Sinai West: Nicole Ferrell, Assistant Nurse Manager

Mount Sinai Brooklyn: Lilibeth Pansoy, Clinical Staff Nurse (not pictured)

Mount Sinai Queens: Eileen Brown-Mighty, Nurse Manager (not pictured)

The Mount Sinai Hospital: Olivia Sgambellone, Interim Nurse Manager

Mount Sinai Morningside: Anthony Duncan, Director of Nursing

Mount Sinai Beth Israel: Shari Weisburd, Nurse Manager

Mount Sinai South Nassau: Christopher Brown, Assistant Nurse Manager

Emergency Nursing Team Award 2023

This new category was awarded to The Mount Sinai Hospital Emergency Department Team in recognition of their work and dedication when in August they were selected as a 2023 Lantern Award recipient by the Emergency Nurses Association. The prestigious Lantern Award is a symbol of an emergency department’s commitment to quality, safety, a healthy work environment, and innovation in nursing practice and emergency care. The Mount Sinai Hospital is one of 53 emergency departments in the United States recognized with the Lantern Award.

VF Society Gathers to Celebrate Mentor Valentin Fuster, MD, PhD, and Share Insights in Cardiology

Oct 5, 2023 | Community, Featured

Valentin Fuster, MD, PhD, with physicians in the VF Society, an association of alumni that recently held its 18th Anniversary Dinner.

The Valentin Fuster (VF) Society, a nonprofit alumni association composed of graduates of the Zena and Michael A. Wiener Cardiovascular Institute, recently held its 18th Anniversary Dinner at the New York Academy of Medicine. One-hundred-twenty alumni attended the event to discuss academic and clinical ideas, reconnect with former colleagues, and express profound appreciation of Valentin Fuster, MD, PhD, President of Mount Sinai Heart and Physician-in-Chief of The Mount Sinai Hospital.

Graduates who have trained with Dr. Fuster created the VF Society to strengthen the bond among alumni and The Mount Sinai Hospital. More than 250 alumni who have trained under Dr. Fuster since 1981 belong to the VF Society. The anniversary dinner is generally held every two years, drawing VF Society members from across the United States and Canada. This year’s gathering was the first since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Besides being an extraordinary clinician and mentor, Dr. Fuster takes a genuine interest in each and every fellow’s life. They keep in touch with him and seek his guidance throughout their distinguished careers,” said Martin Goldman, MD, the Dr. Arthur M. and Hilda A. Master Professor of Medicine (Cardiology), Program Director of the Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship Program, and an organizer of the event.

The evening included a panel discussion on the current and future state of cardiology with Dr. Fuster and Eugene Braunwald, MD, the Hersey Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, moderated by Deepak L. Bhatt, MD, MPH, Director of Mount Sinai Heart and the Dr. Valentin Fuster Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine, and Dr. Goldman. Dr. Bhatt said, “It was an extraordinary, once-in-a-lifetime event to see these two cardiovascular legends discuss the key issues in cardiovascular medicine.”

“This celebration was an important opportunity to share scientific information and insights in our field and to strengthen the camaraderie unique to fellows that I have had the privilege to train,” said Dr. Fuster.

Public Health and Racial Justice Program Encourages Girls of Color to See Themselves As Agents of Change

Oct 4, 2023 | Community, Engagement, Featured

The Mount Sinai Department of Health Education, with support from The Blavatnik Family Women’s Health Research Institute, hosted its first in-person cohort of the Public Health and Racial Justice Program. Over the course of six weeks in July and August, 15 youth participants, all identifying as girls of color, met daily at The Mount Sinai Hospital to explore a variety of public health issues through a racial justice lens.

The Public Health and Racial Justice Program emphasizes the power and importance of civic engagement, community organizing, and youth activism in addressing the inequities that drive health disparities. The program aims to build skills, foster pride, and nurture community connection so that participants understand themselves as lifelong stakeholders invested in shaping the policies, institutions, and structures that affect the health and well-being of their families and their communities.

“Hearing from both younger people and people who were actively involved in their communities and making a difference was inspiring and presented tangible ways for me to get involved in the community.”

The Public Health and Racial Justice Program was designed and launched in the spring of 2020 as a direct response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement. Due to pandemic restrictions, the previous four cohorts participated in a part-time version of this program over video conferencing.

With generous support from the Helen Gurley Brown Foundation, and in partnership with The Blavatnik Family Women’s Health Institute, the Department of Health Education was able to significantly expand this summer programming, offering a full-time opportunity with a stipend for participating youth.

More than 80 guest speakers—primarily women of color—from across the Mount Sinai Health System, and from local and national organizations, spoke on a variety of issues, broadening participants’ understanding of the many different pathways one can follow into health equity and social justice work. The program featured union labor organizers, doulas, scientists, clinicians, sexuality educators, grassroots activists, researchers, and leaders from city agencies, including the Bureau of Health Equity Capacity Building at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, and the New York City Public Advocate Office.

“My favorite part was hearing from the different activists and non-profit workers,” said one participant. “Hearing from both younger people and people who were actively involved in their communities and making a difference was inspiring and presented tangible ways for me to get involved in the community.”

Another participant added, “I loved meeting all the guest speakers and organizations. The most meaningful part was the new relationships I made and learning more about how to help my community.”

Participants completed a culminating project reflective of their summer experience. Each participant selected a public health issue affecting their community, which they documented using a unique photography application. They were then led through a series of semi-structured, dialogue-based activities with staff and peers to support their development of a complementary narrative. This narrative included suggested action steps for those inspired to get involved.

Participants presented their projects at a celebratory symposium on the final day of programming, attended by Mount Sinai staff, community partners, and their family and friends. Their work was featured in a gallery at The Mount Sinai Hospital, and guests were invited to explore.

For many of the participants, spending the summer in a safe space with other girls of color was a profound experience.

When asked about the most meaningful part of the program, responses included:

“Having that space to be myself and being able to express what I am thinking at the moment. Being vulnerable and having that respect that most of the time adults don’t give to teenagers. I loved the relationships that were built in such a short amount of time.”

“Feeling comfortable and welcomed into this space and meeting all these wonderful and intelligent people who inspire me to embrace who I am.”

“Getting to know other people of color that are around my age and listening to everyone’s different opinions and perspectives.”

For some participants, learning about the relationship between racism and health was new and eye-opening.

“All the things we talked about and learned about in the program were all new information to me so everything surprised me,” said one. “It surprised me that we aren’t taught these things in school but if we want to gain more knowledge on these topics, we have to learn it on our own or from a program like this. I learned a lot about Black maternal health, homelessness, workers’ rights.”

Many of the participants also appreciated learning more about the various career paths that can contribute to health equity.

“At first I thought I knew what career I wanted to be, to become a nurse practitioner. But I met really nice people in the program who talked about their careers and that gave me more options to be open to my opportunities,” said one. “I also thought that many professionals had one path and that they knew they were going to be where they are now but I learned that there is nothing wrong with switching to a different field and it’s all about being happy that you’re doing that job.”

When asked to share their final thoughts on the program, one participant said, “I truly appreciated having the opportunity to be a part of such a wonderful program. I learned so much from the positive and caring program leaders/educators, the speakers, and the other girls in the program.”