Updated on Jun 30, 2022 | Community, School
Ian Thomas McNeill, MD, right, with Aldrin Bonilla, Deputy Manhattan Borough President, who presented the award.
Ian Thomas McNeill, MD, a fifth-year Neurosurgery resident at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, was honored recently at the 48th annual African American Day Parade for his service in New York City at large, and at Mount Sinai. Dr. McNeill is the founder and leader of Doctors Reaching Minority Males Exploring Neuroscience (DR. MMEN), a summer mentorship and immersion program for black and Latino young men entering their senior year in high school.
“We are very proud of what Dr. McNeill has achieved in launching the DR. MMEN program,” says Joshua B. Bederson, MD, Professor and Chair, Neurosurgery, Mount Sinai Health System. “It is important that we promote diversity and the advancement of talented individuals who might not otherwise have these opportunities.”
Oct 12, 2017 | Community, School
Ernest Barthelemy, MD, and Ian McNeill, MD, (left and right center, respectively) with students who participated in a six-week clinical program in neurosurgery, from left: Saimon Acevedo, Roydon Rodrigues, Alexis Rodriguez, and Jonathan Joasil.
Since 1975, the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai’s Center for Excellence in Youth Education (CEYE) has been preparing minority and disadvantaged youth for careers in science and medicine. This year’s annual summer research and clinical internship programs attracted a record number of 108 high school students from across New York City with hands-on classes in Fruit Fly Genetics and Genomics, and Nanotechnology, for example, along with a new clinical offering for young men of color: participation in a six-week clinical rotation in neurosurgery. Doctors Reaching Minority Males Exploring Neuroscience (Dr. MMEN), a partnership between CEYE and the Department of Neurosurgery—with support from Joshua B. Bederson, MD, Chair, Neurosurgery, Mount Sinai Health System—was led by Ian McNeill, MD, PGY-5 neurosurgery resident, and Ernest Barthelemy, MD, PGY-4 neurosurgery resident. “The number of African American men who applied to medical school in 2014 was actually less than the number who applied in 1978,” says CEYE Program Director, Alyson Davis, LMSW, “which is why specific and targeted interventions like this are needed.” In addition to rotations in the operating room, the neurosurgery intensive care unit, and outpatient office hours, the four Dr. MMEN students participated in weekly seminars led by Dr. McNeill that explored topics such as mental health and wellness, vision and goal-setting, and handling racism and bias as they pursue a professional career. Says participant Jonathan Joasil: “Dr. McNeill and the Department of Neurosurgery have given us an opportunity to stand out. They have empowered us to think that we can go anywhere.”
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.
Dec 2, 2016 | Featured, Inside, Research, School
Keynote Speaker George Church, PhD, Professor of Genetics, Harvard Medical School
The increasingly important role that academic medical centers play in the discovery of treatments for human diseases was the central theme of the Fifth Annual SinaInnovations conference held Tuesday, October 25, and Wednesday, October 26, at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. (more…)
Nov 23, 2016 | Inside, Research, School
First-place winners in the MedMaker Challenge included, from left, second-year medical students Taylor Miller, Davis Zhou, Dong Yao, and John Di Capua. Not pictured, team member Ryan Neff.
SinaInnovations hosted its first MedMaker Challenge this year, a two-day competition to “democratize innovation” that drew 75 participants—including students from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and other institutions, and engineering and software professionals. The goal of the competition was to create a high-tech approach to managing, monitoring, and treating health problems associated with pain and fatigue. In all, 14 teams worked on solutions over a 48-hour period. A panel of judges from Mount Sinai chose first-, second-, and third-place winning teams that received prizes of $3,500, $2,500, and $1,500, respectively. (more…)
Nov 10, 2016 | Inside, Research, School
Alison M. Goate, DPhil
Two prominent researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Alison M. Goate, DPhil, and Lynne D. Richardson, MD, recently were elected to the prestigious National Academy of Medicine, formerly named the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Goate is the Willard T.C. Johnson Research Professor of Neurogenetics, and Director of the Ronald M. Loeb Center on Alzheimer’s Disease. Dr. Richardson is Professor and Vice Chair of Emergency Medicine, and Professor of Population Health Science and Policy. (more…)
