Dermatology Center Becomes Fourth Clinical Elective Site in Canada

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St. George’s University has signed an agreement with North Bay Dermatology Centre to expand opportunities for fourth-year students to gain specialized clinical training in Canada. The center is SGU’s fourth clinical site in the country and one of the more than 70 clinical sites across North America.

Students who choose to do a rotation at North Bay Dermatology Centre, located in North Bay, Ontario, will gain general dermatology experience including treating patients with different types and stages of skin cancer as well inflammatory skin conditions. Run by Dr. Les Rosoph, the Centre also sees patients with psoriasis, dermatitis, rosacea, actinic keratosis, infections, connective tissue diseases, hair loss, acne, benign lesions as well as rare conditions.

“We are thrilled to add North Bay Dermatology to our growing list of impressive elective sites in Canada for students,” said Sandra Banner, SGU’s director of admissions for Canada, adding that she first met Dr. Rosoph in Grenada during Family Weekend when he was visiting his two daughters who are also med students at SGU.

“Through a two-to-four-week rotation with Dr. Rosoph and his team, aspiring physicians will be mentored in a highly specialized field and be able to do procedures once they are comfortable with the practice,” she said. “This is a wonderful opportunity for our students seeking to learn more about the dermatology discipline and further gain experience in the Canadian healthcare system.”

Dr. Rosoph said by accepting fourth-year students through the elective rotation, students can get a strong hands-on experience in the field of dermatology, which can be beneficial to those who choose primary care or a specialized field.

“I really believe in giving people opportunity and letting them make their own future,” Dr. Rosoph said. “For students that want to dive right in, we have lots for them to do.”

He also hopes to entice aspiring physicians to come north once they graduate.

“There’s really a need to bring doctors to northern Ontario,” Dr. Rosoph said. “Canada is so short of physicians once you leave the larger centers, and there are huge numbers of patients that never have access to primary care here. I’m hoping students will come and see Ontario and they will decide to relocate here.”

Located three hours north of Toronto, North Bay’s hospital and several clinics, including the dermatology clinic, serve as teaching units for the North Ontario School of Medicine’s undergraduate students and postgraduate programs. Dr. Rosoph also teaches at North Ontario School of Medicine.

SGU has been building its clinical network north of the US border. In November, St. George’s University finalized an agreement with Pembroke Regional Hospital in Ontario that offers fourth-year students a range of disciplines to choose from for their clinical electives. SGU also recently announced agreements in Ottawa with Ottawa Cardiovascular Centre and Booth Neurology Clinic—further expanding the opportunities available to students to broaden their skills and knowledge in preparation for residency. The first student to rotate at Booth Neurology Clinic began earlier this month.

Canadians have flourished at SGU and beyond: 18 Canadians who applied through the Canadian Resident Matching Service (CaRMS) secured residencies this year in competitive fields ranging from anesthesiology and emergency medicine to pathology and psychiatry.

Applications for placement at North Bay Dermatology beginning in January are now being accepted. The center has the ability to take two students at a time.

–Laurie Chartorynsky

Doctors Making a Difference: SGU Grads Travel to Colombia for Medical Mission Trip

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The days were long yet the need to provide medical care to thousands of Venezuelan refugees living in Colombia was never more critical. Graduates from St. George’s University were among doctors and medical staff who recently travelled to Bogota and Cucuta to provide free medical services to the refugees.

Nathalie Briones, MD ’18, an emergency medicine resident at NewYork Presbyterian-Queens Hospital, was one of three SGU alumni who volunteered for the medical mission trip. “We saw a lot of communicable diseases, people dehydrated from having poor sanitation, parasites in children, and severe malnutrition,” said Dr. Briones. This was her second medical mission trip with trip organizers, Centurion Medical Missions. “We didn’t expect how acutely ill so many patients would be when we got there. Many of them were suffering from diseases that we had only ever seen before in our textbooks.”

Despite the dire conditions of the refugees in Colombia, she added that the team left each day more humbled and grateful than ever before. “The hardest part was hearing their stories about having to leave their homes. Many educated people—including doctors, lawyers, and engineers—were diminished to cleaning toilets or selling candy on the streets just to keep their children alive. These people once had everything, and now they have nothing. Many of us had to hold back tears during patient interviews because we knew that there was nothing we could do to change their circumstances.”

Added Dr. Briones: “Some moments you knew that you saved someone’s life by being there to treat them, and other moments you just wished you could do more.”

 

View Videos and Photos from the Colombia Medical Mission Trip on Instagram

 

As one of the largest humanitarian crises in recent histories, more than four million Venezuelans—approximately 13 percent of the country’s population—have fled the country due to political instability, poor living conditions, and high crime since the revolution began in 1999. According to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), more than 1.3 million of those refugees have sought asylum in Colombia, leaving behind loved ones and most of their possessions to search for a better life.

However, once they arrive in Colombia, all is not what it seems. During a site visit this past spring, trip organizers visited one hotel where they encountered at least 100 refugees to a floor, with eight to nine people living in each room.

“All they have with them is what’s in their backpack,” said Gib Gerlach, vice president of humanitarian strategies for Centurion Medical Missions, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. “When they get to Colombia, their money is worthless. One of the greatest things they need is medical care and if they need it, they have no money to pay for it. We saw a great need to help out.”

The trip, which took place December 9 to 13, included Dr. Briones, Chelsea Hoenes, MD ’13, and Yalda Hazrat, MD ’16, as well as a local physician, an emergency medical technician, and support staff. Volunteers flew in on Sunday, December 8 and spent the next four days seeing approximately 1,000 patients. The clinic welcomed all comers, including those with high blood pressure, acute respiratory issues, open wounds, malnutrition, urinary tract infections, and pregnant women, among other cases. The group purchases all of its medicine in country to help the local economy and to help build relationships, Mr. Gerlach said.

Dr. Hoenes also shared her perspective of the trip: “On arriving in the heart of Bogota, it is easy to see how the Venezuelan people are suffering one of the largest humanitarian crises in the world. Starvation and disease are their everyday reality. The medical care we provide is excellent but imperfect: the goal of our mission is to provide acute care, immediate access to imperative health resources, and hope, until permanent health infrastructure can be achieved for the growing refugee population.”

Centurion Medical Missions has previously performed medical clinics in La Vega, Dominican Republic. Of the six trips that Centurion Medical Missions has completed to La Vega since March 2018, 18 SGU doctors have so far travelled with the group, and many of them return for multiple trips. However, the need is so great in Colombia that the organization will be solely focusing on the country in 2020.

“We’re really happy to have to that relationship with SGU,” said Bill Honeycutt, founder of JET ICU, an air ambulance provider offering medical evacuation, medical repatriation, and other air medical transport services for patients worldwide and the parent company of Centurion Medical Missions. “It opens a lot of doors for the students and residents to build something down the road and eventually when they go into practice, they can continue to work to help thousands of people around the world.”

Dr. Briones said she hopes to inspire others to volunteer their services and training on future medical mission trips.

“I have always believed that every person in healthcare should try to do some kind of humanitarian work with underserved communities,” Dr. Briones said. “You really won’t know how much you can help until you go and see how much you actually do help.”

Visit SGU’s Instagram page for more images detailing the medical mission trip. 

– Laurie Chartorynsky

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SGU Diagnostics Vet Protects the Health of Food Animals

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Katie Woodard, DVM ’14Raised in Houston, Texas, Katie Woodard, DVM ’14, grew up raising show pigs for Future Farmers of America (FFA). Not only was it a big part of her childhood, the experience later fueled her interest in swine medicine, and eventually spurred her on toward a career in veterinary medicine.

Today, Dr. Woodard resides in rural Iowa with her husband and three children, working as a veterinary specialist at the Iowa State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory (ISU VDL). At one of the largest food animal diagnostic labs in the country, her job is to support food animal veterinarians in the field and provide quality service to the food animal agriculture industry.

“Growing up as I did, I never developed much interest in the small animal side of veterinary medicine,” said Dr. Woodard. “And I knew, even then, that I wanted to be involved in safeguarding the health of food animals, a role perhaps I was always destined for.”

Working at the VDL for the past five years, Dr. Woodard’s case load consists of about 85 percent swine—a reflection of the large swine industry located in Iowa and across the Midwest. On any given day, the diagnostics lab processes between 400 and 500 cases, making for a dynamic and ever-changing work environment. In her current role, she is responsible for all client outreach and education, where she assists her clients with disseminating information coming out of the lab, IT innovations, and retrieving diagnostic data from the lab.

“Our clients are veterinarians, and my job is all about making the diagnostic lab/client interaction as streamlined and straightforward as possible,” Dr. Woodard said. “My position helps to bridge that communication between lab and real life.”

Additionally, each summer she takes on a veterinary student intern to work on a project related to the lab and/or the swine industry. This could include anything from collecting samples in the field to developing better testing protocols or testing different swab types in the lab to make more informed recommendations to her clients in the field.

Continuing her tradition of educating future veterinarians, Dr. Woodard has also chosen to give back to her alma mater. Now, a visiting professor at SGU, she teaches the swine portion of the three-year veterinary students’ curriculum in the School of Veterinary Medicine. In addition, she has interviewed students applying to the veterinary school for several years.

“St. George’s University was actually the only veterinary school I applied to,” stated Dr. Woodard. “Having worked at the Louisiana State University School Of Veterinary Medicine as a technician for two years, I was already familiar with the traditional US model, and wanted to see what other options were out there for schooling. This, combined with my impatience to get started, led me to choose SGU since it offered rolling admissions, a much-needed change of scenery, and a more hands-on approach to learning.”

According to Dr. Woodard, she looks forward to continuing to play her part in the training of young veterinary students and considers it a privilege to be able to introduce them to the work of swine medicine and all the industry has to offer. With her future interests turning toward biosecurity and transportation and the impact those practices have on the health of food animals, she still maintains her commitment to the education of food-animal-oriented veterinary students.

–Ray-Donna Peters

School of Graduate Studies Celebrates 25 Years of Excellence

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Seventeen years after establishing a successful School of Medicine, St. George’s University further evolved as an international center for excellence with the launch of the School of Graduate Studies (SGS). Spearheaded by SGU’s second Vice Chancellor, Dr. Keith B. Taylor, it was his vision for international expansion which led not only to forming SGS but to creating the Office of Research, the Panel on Research and Scholarly Activity and most noteworthy the founding of the Windward Islands Research and Education Foundation (WINDREF)in 1994.

This year, the school celebrated 25 years of excellence, having graduated more than 1,300 students.

“Dr. Taylor recognized that if a tertiary education institution wanted to enhance its excellence in medical education, this could be done through expanding its academic offerings,” said Dr. Calum Macpherson, dean of the School of Graduate Studies and director of research at SGU. “Today, SGS aims to achieve and sustain excellence in every area of its graduate programs, evolving its reputation as a world-class school, and enriching international, national, and regional communities through the outcomes of its programs and the skills of its graduates.”

At present, the SGS has 34 different graduate degree programs, including a Doctor of Philosophy, Master of Business Administration, Master of Arts, and Master of Education programs. In addition, students can earn dual degrees such as the DVM/MSc, DVM/MBA, MD/MSc, and MD/MPH, which has more than 1,000 graduates and is currently celebrating its 20th anniversary.

Established in 1999, SGU’s Master of Public Health program has been fully accredited by the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH) since July 2010, having recently earned CEPH re-accreditation of the MPH program through 2022. According to Dr. Christine Richards, chair of public health and preventive medicine, that makes it the only accredited program in the region and only one of five such programs accredited by the CEPH outside of the United States.

With approximately 25 percent of graduates hailing from Grenada, the School of Graduate Studies has had a significant impact on Grenada and research in the Caribbean as a whole—especially on the quality of jobs and the level of Grenadians entering senior posts in the country and within the region. Many SGU grads have gone on to hold high-profile positions in the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), occupy top placements in Grenadian financial and health institutions, and assume the role of Grenada’s Chief Medical Officer, including Drs. Carlene Radix and George Mitchell.

 

“Today, SGS aims to achieve and sustain excellence in every area of its graduate programs, evolving its reputation as a world-class school, and enriching international, national, and regional communities through the outcomes of its programs and the skills of its graduates.”

 

In terms of research, substantial work has been completed in collaboration with the Ministries of Health, Education, and Agriculture through WINDREF, also commemorating its 25th year. The foundation is a non-profit charitable trust which attracts considerable contributions of grants and donations from international organizations and private donors. WINDREF has hosted several dinners at the House of Lords in the UK with notable speakers, such as Lord Sebastian Coe, chairman of the London Olympic Games Organizing Committee. It has also held a number of fundraisers, including one in 2000 at the United Nations in New York, which raised US $400,000, of which $200,000 was donated to renovating Grenada’s General Hospital.

“WINDREF brings in approximately US $1.2 million a year in research funds,” said Dr. Trevor Noël, deputy director, WINDREF. “It is also one of the largest employers of our MPH graduates, providing not only employment but exciting research opportunities for Grenadians so they don’t have to move abroad to become research scientists. They now have the opportunity to work on well-funded research projects right here in Grenada.”

The foundation’s largest research projects have included partnerships with SGU’s Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine (DPHPM) and the Ministry of Health covering both noncommunicable and infectious disease research through the lens of their public health and epidemiological importance in a small island developing state. Appropriate, applied research has been the foundation’s focus with practical solutions such as instituting the Touch Toe Test—a simple examination to help diabetes sufferers detect loss of sensitivity in their feet. Along with a PSA, the program potentially reached thousands of Grenadians in hopes of resulting in a reduction of diabetic foot amputations.

Similarly, with the introduction of the Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) epidemic in 2014, WINDREF also collaborated with Drs. Clare Heath and Desiree LaBeaud of Stanford University to study the epidemiology and long-term effects on those infected with the virus. At present, the foundation has partnered with renowned Dengue expert, Dr. Timothy Endy from SUNY Upstate Medical University on an incidence study of infection within the SGU student population, as well as the immunology of the primary infection and the feasibility to support dengue vaccine development.

With much of the School of Graduate Studies’ research conducted on its True Blue Campus, SGU also houses the first WHO Collaborating Centre on Environmental and Occupational Health in the Caribbean, the Global Water Partnership (GWP)’s Caribbean network, and one of six regional collaborating centers of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in the world.

“One of the largest research focuses in the future will be the effects of climate change,” added Dr. Macpherson. “In addition to the environment, it’s going to have an impact on both human and animal health. We hope to be at the cutting edge of research into this global problem. Our capacity to develop research protocols and partnerships will certainly be of importance regionally but will also have relevance globally.”

– Ray-Donna Peters

MD Alum Grants Early Holiday Wish for Ailing Teen

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Through the Gift of Life program, Sean Levchuck, MD ’89, recently performed life-saving surgery on a Gambian teen suffering from a hole in his heart. Dr. Levchuck, the chairman of pediatric cardiology at St. Francis Hospital on Long Island, professed after the surgery that the young man “should be good to go.”

The patient and his father, Simon, will spend more than a month in the United States before returning to their home country. Newsday chronicled the family’s journey last month.

Read More About Dr. Sean Levchuck and the Gift of Life Program

Neurosurgical Spine Specialist Thriving in Syracuse

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For Upstate Medical University neurosurgical spine specialist Michael Galgano, MD ’10, with each operation he performs comes the opportunity to drastically improve the course of a person’s life.

There was the 40-year-old woman whose adolescent scoliosis had gone untreated. Debilitating back pain prevented her from completing workdays or from playing with her young daughter. A corrective procedure returned her to normal activity level.

Then there was the 17-year-old lacrosse player who suddenly had difficulty walking. It was discovered he had an osteoblastoma that was crushing his spinal cord, slowly paralyzing him. Dr. Galgano and his team removed the tumor and reconstructed his spinal column, allowing him to return to lacrosse a few months later after a remarkable recovery.

It’s that kind of impact that the 2010 St. George’s University graduate set out to make when he entered medical school, and what excites him the most about his role at Upstate.

“I treat a population of patients with a wide array of complex spinal disorders, ranging from tumors of the spinal cord and vertebral column, to scoliosis and other deformities,” Dr. Galgano said. “I am drawn toward these types of surgeries that require a significant amount of pre-surgical planning and strategizing. Each complex case I do has its own unique spin, and requires some degree of creativity to achieve an ideal outcome. Improving the quality of life in my patients is ultimately what drives me. It is difficult to get bored with this job.”

At Upstate, located in Syracuse, NY, his responsibilities are many—assistant professor of neurosurgery, director of spinal oncology and reconstructive spinal deformity surgery, as well as the medical school neurosurgery clerkship program. Although Dr. Galgano sub-specializes in spine surgery, he also treats neuro-trauma, in addition to brain tumors.

 

“Each complex case I do has its own unique spin, and requires some degree of creativity to achieve an ideal outcome. Improving the quality of life in my patients is ultimately what drives me.”

 

Four days a week, Dr. Galgano rounds on his inpatients before logging six- to 10-hour sessions in the operating room on surgical procedures. As a professor, he holds weekly didactic learning sessions for which he lectures to the university’s neurosurgery residents and medical students.

“When I run into the occasional SGU student completing a sub-I at our hospital and they find out I am also an alum, their eyes light up,” he said. “I tell them all to be proactive, and to outwork everybody they can on their rotations. At the end of the day, it boils down to being nothing short of determined to match into the field you are most passionate about, whether that is family medicine or neurosurgery.”

Dr. Galgano performs his craft and extensive research at the very location where his neurosurgery career began as a resident in 2010, weeks after graduating from SGU. He spent seven years in residency at Upstate, and even earned the Outstanding Neurosurgery Resident of the Year Award. In 2017, he went on to complete a complex and oncological spine surgery fellowship at Brown University in Providence, RI.

Dr. Galgano had always had his mind set on entering neurology, but the surgery element came into focus as a medical student when he rotated with general surgeons at Overlook Hospital in New Jersey—one of more than 70 clinical sites available to SGU students. So, for his career, he combined his two passions.

“The rotation centers I went to were fabulous,” he said. “Rotating at a number of different hospitals exposes you to a wide variety of pathology. Instead being at a single institution, you see a diverse case load and patient population, and learn from physicians with different backgrounds. You grow comfortable working with a new set of instructors every few weeks. It keeps you on your A-game.”

Dr. Galgano added: “During neurosurgical training, the more surgeons you get to experience operating with, the better surgeon you become. You take a bit of knowledge from each mentor, and incorporate concepts and techniques you learned from them into your style. That’s kind of the way I look at SGU. We are taught medicine from doctors all around the world, increasing the diversity of our experience. SGU really is an all-star medical school. There is no doubt that our students graduate ready to hit the real world. SGU offers not only a medical education, but a unique and profound life experience. The end product of having received a medical education at SGU is something to be proud of.”

– Brett Mauser

Grenada-Born SGU Alum Returns Home To Care For His Nation’s Heart

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For Diego Humphrey, MD ’84, the road to achieving his dreams of becoming a doctor was not an easy one. Although fraught with obstacles, especially financial ones, he never deviated from his path to one day practice medicine.

Now with more than 35 years as a practicing cardiologist, the native Grenadian serves the retired men and women of the US Armed Forces at the Jack C. Montgomery Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Muskogee, OK.

Dr. Humphrey was born in Birchgrove, St. Andrew’s, but grew up in the bustling industrial area of Grand Anse after his mother moved their family so she could be closer to her job at a nearby hotel. Upon completing secondary school, he received partial sponsorship from the Grenadian government to attend SGU, graduating in 1984 as one of the original members of the first class of Grenadian-born SGU alumni.

After graduating, he spent two years at the General Hospital serving the Grenadian people. That’s when he stepped out of his comfort zone.

“In 1986, I felt destined to venture out for additional training and took a big chance in relocating to the US,” he said. “In those days—unlike today—it was very difficult to get into a residency training program as an international medical graduate. It took three years before I got an internship/resident position at Episcopal Hospital in Philadelphia. Once I got my foot in the door, my passion, drive, and hard work paid off when I became one of the first to be accepted into the cardiology fellowship program.”

SGU students now have access to clinical training opportunities at over 70 leading hospitals and clinical centers in the United States, Canada, Grenada, and United Kingdom, and secure quality US-based residencies every year, including more than 960 first-year positions in 2019 alone.

 

“I am proud to be part of a program that, since its inception in 2008, has provided millions of dollars in service to the Grenadian people and has saved countless lives.”

 

After achieving much success in the US, Dr. Humphrey, who never forgot his roots, turned his eye back to Grenada, officially joining the SGU-Physician Humanitarian Network (SGU-PHuN) in 2016. He now returns each year, donating his time and expertise to the program that enables St. George’s University alumni and friends to aid the Ministry of Health and Government of Grenada in providing cost-free healthcare services such as ophthalmology, podiatry, endoscopy, and cardiology among others to the country’s citizens.

“Dr. Diego Humphrey is unique to us at SGU-PHuN in that he is our only Grenadian cardiologist within the adult cardiology program” said Brendon La Grenade, vice provost for institutional advancement. “As one of the first Grenadian graduates of St. George’s University School of Medicine, he continues to support his home country by providing desperately needed cardiology services. SGU and the island of Grenada are extremely proud and grateful for the work that he has been doing for us and wish to have him on board for many years to come.”

“The work we do here in Grenada is priceless,” stated Dr. Humphrey. “I am proud to be a part of a program that, since its inception in 2008, has provided millions of dollars in service to the Grenadian people and has saved countless lives. In the future, I would like to go a step further and develop a registry of cardiovascular medicine, which would allow us—the Grenadian medical community—to know how we’re doing in managing this chronic disease that poses such a danger to us.”

To that end, Dr. Humphrey, who also practices preventive medicine, has founded Green Heart Mobile Clinic, an organization created to spread information from parish to parish on maintaining a heart-healthy lifestyle, as well as provide essential cardiology services such as diagnosing, monitoring, and treating cardiovascular disease island-wide.

“Attention needs to be paid not just to treating the problem but to preventing the problem in the first place,” stated Dr. Humphrey. “My mission is to go around the island, especially the rural communities, informing people of the status of their cardiovascular health to help prevent congestive heart failure, heart attack, and stroke.”

He hopes to one day see these efforts culminate in a competition between the parishes for the title of Healthiest Parish in Grenada.

– Ray-Donna Peters

Major Canadian Hospital Joins SGU’s Burgeoning Clinical Network

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Pembroke Regional Hospital, Ontario, CanadaAdding to more than 70 clinical training locations across North America and the United Kingdom, St. George’s University has finalized an agreement with Pembroke Regional Hospital in Ontario, Canada that will offer fourth-year students a range of disciplines to choose from for their clinical electives.

SGU is the first Caribbean medical school to secure an agreement of this kind with Pembroke. Students will be able to apply for an elective at Pembroke starting in early 2020, selecting from a menu of specialties spanning radiology, surgery, anesthesiology, and more to be announced in the new year.

With more than 80 percent of SGU’s Canadian students from the Ontario area, “this is a golden opportunity for SGU Canadian students to do electives in a major hospital near their home,” said Charles Furey, SGU’s director of admissions for Canada. “Electives are important because of two major reasons—it gives the students the clinical experience and ability to network in a hospital, as well as the opportunity to achieve a letter of reference which is solid gold when seeking residencies.”

Added Furey: “In addition, the agreement also provides an opportunity for Pembroke to have a look firsthand at the quality at SGU students and attempt to recruit them following their residencies. It’s a win-win.”

Located 150 kilometers northwest of Ottawa, Pembroke Regional Hospital delivers a broad range of acute, post-acute, outpatient, and diagnostic services to a mixed urban and rural population of approximately 55,000 residents in the city of Pembroke, the town of Petawawa, and surrounding municipalities, including Petawawa Military Base.

“The medical staff at the Pembroke Regional Hospital are excited to provide an opportunity to SGU students to experience medical practice in a community hospital,” said Dr. Tom Hurley, chief of staff at Pembroke Regional Hospital. “Fourth-year students will be introduced to the Canadian healthcare system through a variety of specialties ranging from internal medicine to surgical subspecialties. Teaching well-trained students is one of many ways we ensure our physicians remain current in their areas of expertise.”

SGU has been building its clinical network north of the US border. SGU recently announced new agreements with two Canadian facilities—Ottawa Cardiovascular Centre and Booth Neurology Clinic—further expanding the opportunities available to fourth-year students to broaden their skills and knowledge in preparation for residency.

Canadians have flourished at SGU and beyond, with 94 percent of eligible students and graduates applying for residency in North America successfully obtaining one in 2019. Eighteen Canadians who applied through the Canadian Resident Matching Service (CaRMS) secured residencies this year in competitive fields ranging from anesthesiology and emergency medicine to pathology and psychiatry.

“St. George’s University is committed to preparing our students with the foundation of knowledge and clinical skills to prosper in their medical careers,” said Dr. Richard Liebowitz, vice chancellor at St. George’s University. “Adding a premier institution like Pembroke Regional Hospital to our clinical network is a major feather in our cap for students who wish to return to Canada to obtain a valuable and rich experience across a wide variety of disciplines.”

– Laurie Chartorynsky

SGU Alum Promotes Advances In Women’s Healthcare In Grenada

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OB/GYN specialist Philip Lahrmann, MD ’81 (left)According to OB/GYN specialist Philip Lahrmann, MD ’81, if it wasn’t for St. George’s University, he wouldn’t be a doctor today. And as a proud graduate of SGU’s Charter Class, Dr. Lahrmann has dedicated more than 16 years to providing essential women’s health services to the place where he began his medical career almost four decades ago.

“SGU and Grenada gave me the chance that I wouldn’t have gotten elsewhere to be a physician,” said Dr. Lahrmann, a practicing obstetrician and gynecologist at Hartford Hospital in Connecticut. “I feel a strong sense of obligation to give back, and even though there are other places I could go, I always choose to come here. Whenever I come back, I’m always welcomed from everyone on the campus to the people I meet out in the community. I especially enjoy meeting up with familiar faces and friends from my time here.”

Returning twice a year, Dr. Lahrmann routinely presents lectures at SGU’s clinical teaching unit at the Grenada General Hospital, in addition to regularly donating vital family planning supplies, including intrauterine devices which are frequently in short supply on island.

During his most recent visit, Dr. Lahrmann also brought along his son and fellow alum, Jeffrey Lahrmann, MD ’15, currently a fellow in the UCONN/Hartford Hospital Neurology Department. The duo was invited to give an alumni talk to SGU students entitled, “Life Beyond the Caribbean.” The talk spanned their respective experiences attending SGU, general guidelines for succeeding in a medical career, and discussed their individual specialties.

“It was one of the proudest days of my life to share the podium with my son,” said Dr. Lahrmann. “It was a unique opportunity for both of us, as parent and child and being a grad myself I know that the number of legacy students enrolling at SGU continues to grow each year. My son actually visited SGU as a high school student—this was before the creation of SGU’s Med-Vet Summer Leadership Academy. I’m honored that he chose to follow in my footsteps.”

As the lead OB/GYN, Dr. Lahrmann visits are arranged through the SGU-Physician Humanitarian Network (SGU-PHuN), a program whereby a collection of St. George’s University alumni donate their time and expertise to providing much-needed healthcare services such as ophthalmology, podiatry, endoscopy, and cardiology among others at no cost to the Grenadian public.

“Programs like the SGU-PHuN are extremely beneficial not only to the people of Grenada but to the University community as well and need to continue,” added Dr. Lahrmann. “In addition to our continual efforts to further advance the level of care for women’s health in Grenada, we should also strive to strengthen our connection to the Grenadian medical community and reinforce the bond between the University and its host country. As graduates, we have a unique opportunity to act as ambassadors.”

“Dr. Lahrmann is one of our cherished SGU graduates,” said Brendon La Grenade, vice provost for institutional advancement. “He holds SGU and Grenada very close to his heart. This is evident in both his personal and professional life. In addition to his son also being an SGU grad, Dr. Lahrmann has continued to give back as a volunteer physician returning to the island of Grenada with the SGU-PHuN, supported SGU growth initiatives through the Alumni Admission Mentor Program (AAMP), provided academic support with the basic sciences department, and he features SGU prominently in his profile as his alma mater.”

About Dr. Lahrmann

Dr. Philip Lahrmann graduated from St. George’s University School of Medicine in 1981 and completed his residency at Sisters of Charity Hospital, in Buffalo, NY. He began his career with a solo obstetrics and gynecology practice in Connecticut, which eventually expanded to five physicians and three certified nurse midwives. After serving as the lead physician for 25 years, his interest in teaching led him, in 2010, to a full-time position at Hartford Hospital, where he teaches medical students at the University of Connecticut and Dartmouth University as well as residents in the University of Connecticut’s obstetrics and gynecology program.

In Dr. Lahrmann’s work he focuses on patient safety and adoption of new techniques, including advanced laparoscopic techniques in the hospital and in office-based surgery. He currently practices at the Women’s Ambulatory Health Services (WAHS) clinic at the Hartford Hospital Campus in Connecticut. Dr. Lahrmann also has a medical practice in West Hartford, CT named “A Woman’s Life Center”.

–Ray-Donna Peters 

SGU Veterinary Students Present Research at Parasitology Conference and Heartworm Symposium

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SGU Veterinary Students Present Research at Parasitology Conference and Heartworm Symposium

St. George’s University School of Veterinary Medicine student Rebecca Howell has stayed the course. An animal aficionado from a young age, she shadowed a veterinarian in both middle school and high school, and later worked in a vet’s office.

Now in her sixth term at SGU, the aspiring veterinarian seized the opportunity to present her first poster at the 27th Conference of the World Association for the Advancement of Veterinary Parasitology (WAAVP) in Madison, WI. Her research titled, “Leptospira: Asymptomatic Carrier Status and Seroprevalence in Unvaccinated Canines Presented for Elective Sterilization to the St. George’s University School of Veterinary Medicine Junior Surgery and Anesthesia Lab” focused on spreading awareness of the zoonotic bacteria, which poses a serious public health concern since it can be transmitted from animals to humans, as well as encouraging exercising safe practices when cleaning up after pets, since the disease is spread through their urine.

“Attending my first-ever conference was a great experience,” Ms. Howell said. “In addition to connecting with fellow vet students and analyzing research from all over the world, I also learned about new technologies being used in the field today. For example, in Europe there’s an app that allows pet owners and veterinarians to report ticks, therefore it can help track the migration of ticks from one country to the next. This is something that is useful in animal adoption, especially from other countries, because when you adopt an animal, you adopt their diseases as well.”

Also representing SGU at her first international conference was fellow SVM fifth-term student Kathleen Kila. She presented her poster at the 16th Triennial Heartworm Symposium, in New Orleans. Titled, “Reducing ambiguity in canine heartworm disease classification” Ms. Kila’s research unveiled a new classification scheme for identifying heartworm disease in dogs.

“Attending the American Heartworm Society’s meeting was a big deal for me,” stated Ms. Kila. “Getting the chance to present our research on the international stage has been an invaluable experience. With this study, we hoped that by making the process of classifying the different stages of heartworm disease easier, it would remove much of the overlap between classifications that was found within the old system. Our goal was to improve the system by getting rid of that ambiguity thereby making it more objective when evaluating each clinical case of the disease.”

The research conducted by Ms. Howell and Ms. Kila both stemmed from their Veterinary Research Investigator class, a series of SVM core curriculum courses developed in order to enhance student exposure and involvement in research. Students from terms 1 through 4 were placed into small research groups and paired with a faculty mentor, together with whom they worked through each step of designing and implementing a small research project—tackling a different phase of research each term, including writing a manuscript and creating a poster.

“I think the opportunity for our students to conduct research is beneficial because it exposes them to research methodology,” said Dr. Tara Paterson, associate professor in the Department of Small Animal Medicine and Surgery. “Having the knowledge of how research is conducted allows them to gain a better understanding of evidence-based medicine, which is what we encourage throughout our curriculum so that our students learn to be more critical in their review of scientific work.

“For Rebecca and Kathleen, I believe allowing them the opportunity to present their work to the wider veterinary community at these conferences has not only boosted their self-confidence but has also helped to validate the work they’ve done during this series of courses.”

– Ray-Donna Peters