Mount Sinai volunteers who returned from Puerto Rico saying goodbye to volunteers who joined them from other area health care providers

The first group of Mount Sinai Health System medical volunteers returned home from Puerto Rico on Thursday night, October 26, after completing their two-week deployment.

The 10-person team of doctors and nurses supported a hospital in Fajardo, Puerto Rico, where they were assigned a mission to help the Emergency Department. For many this was their first experience on a disaster recovery mission.

“The team worked long hours, without any days off, and saw more than 1,600 patients,” said Kevin Chason, DO, Clinical Director, Emergency Management, Assistant Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine, and Medical Director for The Mount Sinai Hospital Emergency Medicine Services. “Much of what they were treating was exacerbation of chronic conditions and illness due to the poor living conditions resulting from the destruction of basic infrastructure caused by Hurricane Maria.”

He added: “There were times when the local hospital lost power and the team would rush to the ICU to help maintain ventilator patients until the power returned. The conditions were slowly improving and the hospital was moving off generators and back on to the electrical grid. But the island still has a very long way to go to restore routine medical care.”

On Tuesday, October 24, a second Mount Sinai team, consisting of three doctors, two nurse practitioners, and five nurses, departed for San Juan. Both Mount Sinai teams were part of larger groups of providers from New York State coordinated by Governor Andrew Cuomo’s office, the New York State Department of Health, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Greater New York Hospital Association (GNYHA), the Healthcare Association of New York State (HANYS), the New York State Nurses Association, and 1199SEIU.

The two Mount Sinai teams met Wednesday, October 25, in Fajardo, where the first team briefed the team relieving them and then headed to San Juan to prepare for the flight home.

“We truly appreciate the departments and the staff at home who generously reorganized schedules and covered shifts to allow these volunteers to do this important work,” said Dr. Chason. “We are also extremely grateful for the sacrifices the team has made to help those in need in Puerto Rico on behalf of Mount Sinai and New York State.”

The second team from Mount Sinai preparing to leave for Puerto Rico. Front row, left to right: Tamairi Vildoso, RN; Madeline Hernandez, RN; Gail Haynes, RN; Stephanie Ortiz, MD. Back row: Samantha Rose, NP; Diego Giraldo, RN; Sarah Schaefer, MD; Trina Cosme, RN; Sam Kim, MD, and Annette King, NP.

Stephanie V. Blank, MD, at Mount Sinai Chelsea

Patients with gynecologic and breast cancers are finding advanced care and a peaceful oasis at the Women’s Cancer Program at Mount Sinai Chelsea, a clinical practice—located in the iconic Google building on 15th Street between 8th and 9th avenues—that was years in the making.

“The Women’s Cancer Program is unique in many ways,” says Luis M. Isola, MD, Gerald J. Friedman Chair in Oncology, and Director, Cancer Clinical Programs, Mount Sinai Health System. “In its location in New York, there are essentially no other cancer centers,” he says, referring to the west side of Manhattan south of 34th Street. “And certainly none affiliated with a major academic institution like the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.”

The Program is based at Mount Sinai Chelsea, an 80,000-square-foot site with pastel walls, comfortable seating, and artfully placed flowers and paintings. “It has a very zen, serene atmosphere,” Dr. Isola says. “On any given day, hundreds of patients go in and out of the center, but there is no noise, there are no lines or bottlenecks. It’s efficient, and for patients, it’s a very welcoming environment.”

The Program provides “one-stop” care for patients diagnosed with breast or gynecologic cancer, says Stephanie V. Blank, MD, Director of Women’s Health, Mount Sinai Chelsea, and Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Science, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

The practice emphasizes a team approach, she says, with the team composed of a gynecologic oncologist, a nurse practitioner, an infusion nurse, a genetic counselor, a nutritionist, a social worker, a psychiatrist, and a financial counselor, among others.

Breast surgeon Sarah P. Cate, MD, Assistant Professor of Surgery, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, with patient Abigail George at Mount Sinai Chelsea.

The Program also strives to see any patient newly diagnosed with cancer within 24 hours. “We’ll get them right in,” Dr. Blank says. “Our goal is to provide the most excellent patient-centered care and make the whole experience as easy and pleasant as possible for women and their families going through a trying time.”

Dr. Blank, a renowned physician-scientist, says the Program delivers advanced treatments by taking part in several clinical trials, including combination immunotherapy for “frontline” patients—those just diagnosed with cancer. Another trial, for recurrent ovarian cancer, delivers drugs with conjugated antibodies, which are designed to target and kill cancer cells and spare healthy cells. The Program is also inaugurating a sexual health clinic focused on cancer survivors and an onco-fertility clinic dealing with the reproductive challenges faced by women with cancer.

The gynecologic oncology practice works closely with the breast cancer practice, which provides similarly comprehensive care. “We have breast imaging and ambulatory surgery. Except for radical mastectomy with major surgery, all diagnostic and surgical treatment can be done here,” Dr. Isola says. “We have three excellent oncologists who exclusively treat breast cancer, and we have access to supportive oncology, including palliative care, nutritional counseling, and a psychiatrist who is very helpful with emotional support.”

In addition to the Women’s Cancer Program, Mount Sinai Chelsea offers a range of other services for both men and women, including a skin cancer program, hematology-oncology, ambulatory surgery, radiology, and an infusion center that treats patients with cancer and nonmalignant conditions. New spaces for phlebotomy and dermatology, and a lounge for patients, are expected to be completed in coming months.

The Mount Sinai Health System has long been planning for a “future of medicine” that includes improving access and increasing the quality of care for people south of 34th Street, close to where they live and work. “We made a very explicit decision to grow with this practice in Chelsea,” Dr. Isola says. “Here we are, a few years later, and it’s becoming a reality.”

The Class of 2021, including Benjamin Adegbite, left, and Daniel Afonin, center, read an oath expressing their ideals.

In a symbolic celebration that marked the beginning of their medical education, 140 first-year students at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai gathered on Monday, September 18, for the 20th Annual White Coat Ceremony. Family and friends cheered the Class of 2021 as the students walked to the stage of Stern Auditorium to be draped in white coats by faculty; they received their first stethoscopes just after the jubilant event.

“I know you have it in you to become the leaders of our profession and the world at large,” Dennis S. Charney, MD, Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Dean, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and President for Academic Affairs, Mount Sinai Health System, told the class in his welcoming address. “You come to Mount Sinai from top undergraduate colleges and universities and have mean GPA and MCAT scores as high as any other students in the nation. But you are much more than that. It is not the academic accolades that convince me you have it in you to change the world. It is the fire in your eyes I see today that lets me know we are in capable hands.”

The incoming students—whose ages range from 21 to 36—represent diverse backgrounds and experiences. Nineteen percent identify as underrepresented minorities, and 50 percent are women. The class includes a Marine, a rabbi, a pastor, an ultramarathon runner, a sailor who has traveled one-third of the way around the world, and a student who grew up in Carver Houses, the public housing project across the street from The Mount Sinai Hospital. Dr. Charney said of that student, “It was a short walk across the street, but a long road to get here. She is an inspiration.”

Keynote speaker Paul R.G. Cunningham, MD

Valerie Parkas, MD, Senior Associate Dean for Recruitment and Admissions, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, administered an oath written by the students that expressed their ideals. The class pledged “to understand our patients’ diverse backgrounds and identities and treat them as partners in their care” and “to build upon the pillars of medicine through evidence-based practices and innovation.”

The keynote speaker was Paul R.G. Cunningham, MD, President of the North Carolina Medical Society, and Dean Emeritus of the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina. Dr. Cunningham outlined his long career as a surgeon and educator, and he fondly recalled his residency at Mount Sinai, where he was mentored by Arthur H. Aufses Jr., MD, retired Chair of the Department of Surgery, whom he called his “professional father” and a “surgeon’s surgeon.” In their own professional journey, Dr. Cunningham advised the class to focus on outdoing themselves instead of merely competing with others, and to keep sight of their “why”—the vision that led them to study medicine.

Dr. Charney urged the Class of 2021 to “dream big.” And he posed challenges for the years ahead: translating the breakthroughs in DNA sequencing and precision medicine into clinical care; finding treatments for mental illness, substance abuse, and Alzheimer’s disease; and finding ways to treat, and even cure, the most common cancers.

“It is to your generation that we now turn, to guide us toward a new age of insight and discovery,” Dr. Charney said. “And it is our job, as your teachers, to guide you.”

Manjil Chatterji, MD, Assistant Professor of Radiology, and Medical Education, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, bestowed a white coat on Courtney Connolly.

From left: James F. Holland, MD; Hanna Irie, MD, PhD; Donna Berizzi, RN, MSN, presenter of the Team Recognition Award; Amy Tiersten, MD; Julie Fasano, MD; Aarti Sonia Bhardwaj, MD; and Frances Cartwright, PhD, RN-BC. Not pictured is Charles L. Shapiro, MD.

Before a celebratory audience of faculty and staff, and family and friends, nine physicians at The Mount Sinai Hospital were honored by nurse colleagues and Nursing leadership with the 30th Annual Physician of the Year Award. The ceremony, held Tuesday, September 26, at Hatch Auditorium, is a yearly salute to physicians who excel in patient care—and more—and take leadership roles in creating strong collaborative partnerships with nurses.

“There is nothing more validating for a clinical physician than to have the respect and admiration of your colleagues in nursing,” said David Reich, MD, President and Chief Operating Officer, The Mount Sinai Hospital.

Presentations included heartfelt and sometimes humorous recollections from nursing colleagues that spotlighted extraordinary examples of kindness, outstanding patient care, leadership, collegiality, and respect. For only the second time, a Team Recognition Award was presented—to the medical oncology attendings at the Dubin Breast Center of The Tisch Cancer Institute.

The team includes legendary oncologist James F. Holland, MD, the Distinguished Professor of Neoplastic Diseases, and Professor of Medicine (Hematology/Medical Oncology), and Oncological Sciences, who is considered one of the founding fathers of cancer chemotherapy.

Umesh K. Gidwani, MD

Laura K. Stein, MD

Throughout the ceremony, recipients emotionally detailed the familial bonds developed between physicians and nursing. “I have learned so much about what it means to take care of patients but also what it means to take care of your colleagues and friends,” said Laura K. Stein, MD, Department of Neurology, recipient of the Fellow Award.

Added Frances Cartwright, PhD, RNBC, Edgar M. Cullman, Sr. Chair of the Department of Nursing, and Chief Nursing Officer and Senior Vice President for Patient  Care Services, The Mount Sinai Hospital: “A growing body of evidence shows that when physicians and nurses have a trusting, open, and collaborative relationship, we have improved patient safety and quality of patient experience.”

The 2017 honorees were:

Team Recognition Award: Medical Oncology team, the Dubin Breast Center of The Tisch Cancer Institute

Aarti Sonia Bhardwaj, MD

Julie Fasano, MD

James F. Holland, MD

Hanna Irie, MD, PhD

Charles L. Shapiro, MD

Amy Tiersten, MD

Attending Award: Umesh K. Gidwani, MD, Associate Professor, Medicine (Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine)

Fellow Award: Laura K. Stein, MD, Department of Neurology

House Officer Award: Jeffrey D. Nusbaum, MD,PGY-4S, Department of Emergency Medicine.