The News Stories that Defined the School of Medicine in 2020

2020 Top News Stories

For a wide range of reasons, 2020 is a year that we won’t soon forget—from the heroism on the front lines of medicine, powerful demonstrations surrounding racial equality, and the change to our day-to-day lives and our perspectives.

It was a monumental year in so many ways for St. George’s University School of Medicine, its faculty, staff, and students. SGU made history when students and graduates secured 1,124 residency positions across the US and Canada in 2020—a 95 percent residency placement rate for eligible 2020 US graduates who applied for US residencies* and a record for the University. Over the summer, approximately 450 of those grads began their residencies in New York-New Jersey area hospitals, some of the hardest-hit hospitals in the nation during the early days of the COVID pandemic.

SGU profiled many alumni across specialties and locales who tirelessly donated their time and services to help those suffering from the disease, some of those who sacrificed seeing their own families to help the sickest of COVID patients.

It was also a year in which diversity and equality was brought to the limelight. The University had frank discussions with its entire community about the importance of listening, learning, and supporting, not only in the current climate but going forward.

These are the stories that underscore the School of Medicine’s strengths and define us as a University as we aim to enhance student success and grow the number of healthcare professionals around the world. Read on to see the top news stories of 2020 on SGU.edu.

*SGU student data as of November 2020

Match Day 2020

Match Day 2020

With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, SGU students and graduates were called on to assist in the fight against the virus. On Match Day 2020 in March, they learned of where they would begin their career as physicians. Positions were secured across a wide range of specialties—including anesthesiology, emergency medicine, orthopedic surgery, pathology, and many more—and spanned across the United States.

All told, 1,124 SGU graduates had started residency in the US and Canada in 2020, which equals a 95 percent residency placement rate for eligible 2020 US graduates who applied for US residencies*—a record for the University—including some 450 SGU grads in New York-New Jersey area hospitals. They joined a proud network of 18,000 SGU physicians who have made a difference in healthcare around the world.

*SGU student data as of November 2020

 

A Conversation on Diversity in the Medical Profession: Thoughts from SGU’s Student National Medical Association

With the tragic deaths of people like George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and many others, and as social justice events were held around the world, SGU News connected with SGU chapter members of the Student National Medical Association (SNMA). The national organization is committed to supporting current and future underrepresented minority medical students by addressing the needs of underserved communities, and increasing the number of “clinically excellent, culturally competent, and socially conscious physicians.” SGU chapter members shared their perspectives on the world around us, the importance of the SNMA’s mission, and how students can get involved.

 

Wyckoff Hospital

SGU Adds New US Clinical Sites for Medical School Student Core Rotations

SGU’s clinical network is growing. This fall, seven US hospitals joined the SGU family, including several in California as well as a new venue into the South that allow third-year medical students to receive core clinical training during a crucial time in healthcare.

These hospitals included:

  • Baton Rouge General Medical Center in Baton Rouge, LA
  • Doctor’s Medical Center in Modesto, CA
  • Hemet Valley Medical Center in Hemet, CA
  • MacNeal Hospital in Maywood, IL
  • Mission Community Hospital in Panorama City, CA
  • Westchester General Hospital in Miami, FL
  • Wyckoff Heights Medical Center in Brooklyn, NY

 

Georgios Mihalopulos, MD '18

True Calling: From the Navy to the OR

Critical problem solving. A wide array of challenges. The operating room was exactly the type of workplace atmosphere that Georgios Mihalopulos, MD ’18, set out to find when he began working toward a career in medicine. It also mirrored his life as an officer in the Canadian Navy, a position that he held before and during medical school.

“I always say I love stress and I hate sleep, so that’s why surgery is the perfect field for me,” said Mihalopulos, now a third-year surgery resident at Waterbury Hospital in Connecticut. “It just seemed like the most natural thing in the world for me to do.”

 

SGU and Grenada partner to address COVID-19 pandemic

As the coronavirus pandemic spread throughout the world, SGU and the Government of Grenada worked hand in hand, developing and operating a COVID testing facility, and bringing in new devices to treat ill patients.

SGU President Dr. G. Richard Olds Publishes Op-ed on IMGs Amid COVID-19 Pandemic

An op-ed by SGU President Dr. G. Richard Olds was recently featured in The Orange County Register.

The article, “Physicians educated abroad can fill COVID-induced doctor shortage,” outlines how the coronavirus pandemic has exacerbated the country’s looming shortage of physicians. Many doctors are choosing to retire early, either out of concern for their health or financial struggles. This disproportionately harms rural areas, many of which already face provider shortages. Dr. Olds explains that internationally trained doctors can help meet these communities’ healthcare needs.

“International graduates also have a history of practicing in high-need areas,” he said. “Compared to doctors trained at US schools, IMGs are typically ‘more likely to look after underserved populations and to live and work in rural areas.'”

He argues that graduates of St. George’s are playing a particularly significant role in meeting the country’s current—and future—healthcare needs.

“Thousands of promising students graduate from international medical schools each year,” Dr. Olds said. “More than 1,100 graduates of the school I lead, St. George’s University in Grenada, began residencies in the United States this past summer.”

The Importance of Clinical Skills Training: Faculty Spotlight on Department Deputy Chair Dr. Anna Cyrus-Murden

Dr. Anna Cyrus-Murden

Successful physicians are not only strong diagnosticians and skillful when it comes to offering solutions to their patients’ ailments and illnesses, but they are also exceptional communicators.

This month’s faculty spotlight is on Dr. Anna Cyrus-Murden, the deputy chair and assistant professor of the School of Medicine’s Department of Clinical Skills. She is also the director of the Simulation Center. Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Cyrus-Murden has been responsible for organizing and implementing online clinical skills solutions for all terms.

She discussed with SGU News the importance of medical students learning to be proficient in clinical skills, so they are aptly prepared for their clinical rotations.

St. George’s University: What are some key clinical skills that are taught to SGU students?

Dr. Cyrus-Murden: Competency in clinical skills best occurs as an integrated and longitudinal educational process, meaning that clinical skills development must occupy a central position in medical education. As students obtain exposure to an incrementally challenging skills curriculum, they have the opportunity to progressively master that set of skills.

SGU emphasizes a patient-centered approach to patient care. As the name indicates, most of the student experiences are designed to be hands-on, including via small groups and hospital SIM lab visits, to offer students the opportunity to develop and become competent of their clinical skills.

In Clinical Skills (CS), students are taught to:

  • Develop their communication and interpersonal skills with patients, families, and other members of the care team, and examine patients;
  • Develop clinical reasoning skills;
  • Document findings from a patient encounter; and
  • Understand the important role of the doctor-patient relationship in patient care.

SGU: Why is it important to learn these soft skills before students start clinical rotations?

Dr. Cyrus-Murden: It is of the utmost importance for students to learn an effective communication skillset so that they can establish a strong patient-provider relationship that can positively influence patient satisfaction, cooperation, and health outcomes.

SGU: What are some best practices when it comes to speaking with patients?

Dr. Cyrus-Murden: Students should be able to:

  • Communicate and engage with patients to build a physician-patient relationship for the purposes of information gathering, guidance, education and support;
  • Demonstrate empathy and professional behavior throughout the encounter;
  • Consider the determinants of health when obtaining an appropriate history;
  • Use effective and empathic verbal and nonverbal communication (and avoid the use of medical jargon);
  • Verify the patient’s understanding and validate the patient’s concerns; and finally,
  • Summarize the clinical information and intended plan of action.

SGU: How have these skills been taught/measured in a virtual setting?

Dr. Cyrus-Murden: Creating online solutions for learning clinical skills as well as developing an online alternative for in-person OSCEs (objective structured clinical examinations) took primary importance in the early days of the pandemic. I was among the clinical skills team at SGU who successfully developed and implemented the Online Clinical Evaluation Exercise (OCEX) at SGU— an online alternative to OSCE.

We are using telemedicine cases as an alternative to the hospital/clinic visits, where students can interview real patients in real time—similar to virtual rounds—and virtually “shadow” physicians to perform their patient encounters. From this experience, they are able to gather enough information to develop a preliminary differential diagnosis and a diagnostic workup plan, as well as begin to develop an effective physician-patient relationship.

SGU: With the emergence of COVID-19, how has telemedicine become an important aspect of clinical skills training? 

Dr. Cyrus-Murden: The unprecedented impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has introduced a host of challenges for physicians. As a result, telemedicine, in many cases, is now conducted in lieu of hospital or doctor visits. Learning effective telemedicine strategies will provide students with the confidence to utilize this tool in their future practices and permits students to go beyond geographic and socioeconomic boundaries to deliver high-quality care to in-need patients. Telemedicine has become a necessary alternative to conventional acute, chronic, and preventive care.

 

 

–Laurie Chartorynsky

SGU President and Graduate Discuss Caribbean Medical Schools on Forbes.com

In the article “5 Things to Consider Before Selecting a Caribbean Medical School” on Forbes.com, St. George’s University President Dr. G. Richard Olds and alumna Gaelle Antoine, MD ’19, were shared why SGU offers an excellent “alternative pathway for US students to study medicine.”

The article, written by college counselor Kristen Moon, explains that schools like SGU provide fantastic opportunities and support to their students. She also highlights an interview she conducted earlier this summer with Dr. Antoine, a 2019 graduate of St. George’s.

“According to Moon Prep’s interview with Dr. Gaelle Antoine, SGU graduate and current anesthesiology resident at Brown University, St. George’s University provides endless research opportunities for students … She even took advantage of a six-week study abroad program in Europe to see how healthcare worked in a foreign country.”

SGU Vice Chancellor Dr. Richard Liebowitz Featured in KevinMD

An op-ed by SGU Vice Chancellor Dr. Richard Liebowitz about the importance of internationally trained doctors within the U.S. physician workforce was recently featured in KevinMD.

In the article, “We need more doctors. International medical schools can provide them,” Dr. Liebowitz outlines the increasingly competitive nature of U.S. medical schools. He explains that although our country’s doctor shortage is growing rapidly, these institutions have been unable to respond to the increase in demand. U.S. schools received almost 900,000 applications in the 2019-2020 cycle, but enrolled less than 22,000 new students.

“Consequently, thousands of promising U.S. students who would make excellent doctors are victims of a cruel numbers game,” he writes. “According to a 2019 survey from U.S. News and World Report, the average acceptance rate at 122 U.S. medical schools was just 6.7 percent. And the odds of admission could grow even longer, as the pandemic motivates people to consider careers in medicine.”

Dr. Liebowitz outlines how top-tier international medical schools are resolving this educational bottleneck — and producing the doctors of the future.

“Already, thousands of U.S. citizens head abroad for their medical training. And that number has been growing in recent years. Three-quarters of students at the school I lead are U.S. citizens. Most of them return home to the United States to practice; more than 1,000 started residencies in the United States this summer.”

For a full list of the 2020 residency matches, visit our residency archive. More information about SGU’s admissions deadlines and scholarship programs can be found here.

SGU Instagram Takeover: Emergency Resident Says “Be Willing to Be Open, Take Risks, and Invest in Yourself”

Chris Reilly, MD '20

What’s it like to be an emergency medicine resident?

In a recent takeover of St. George’s University’s Instagram page, Chris Reilly, MD ’20, unveiled what life is like as a PGY-1 in emergency medicine at HCA’s Brandon Regional Hospital in Brandon, FL.

 

 

Dr. Reilly also answered viewers’ questions in a follow-up live Q&A for which he addressed topics like:

  • Why he chose emergency medicine as a specialty;
  • Tips to help students secure an EM residency;
  • How to study and be successful in med school; and
  • Opportunities for personal and professional growth in emergency medicine.

His biggest piece of advice for students? Keeping an open mind about what specialty to enter.

“You’re going to have so many different experiences from first year through fourth year,” Dr. Reilly said. “Really try to enjoy every rotation you are on and try to really envision yourself being in that specialty because that will give you perspective. If you can have an appreciation for and perspective for that specialty, then it was a successful rotation.”

The Instagram Q&A has been viewed by more than 2,300 people as of early December.

 

A First of its Kind: SGU Launches Center for Integrative Medicine

 

Amid a global pandemic, St. George’s University’s School of Medicine recently launched the Center for Integrative Medicine—the first of its kind for the University and the island of Grenada. The virtual center aims to broaden patient-care training for SOM clinical students by teaching them non-traditional methods of care.

Officially launched on September 14, clinical students can learn non-surgical, non-pharmacological, alternative therapies like tai chi, qigong, yoga and meditation for chronic healthcare concerns including cardiovascular and respiratory ailments, osteoarthritis, and musculoskeletal ailments such as back pain.

While SGU has always offered courses on non-traditional medicines as selectives, the establishment of the Center for Integrative Medicine provides a look at all alternative methods of patient care.

“Our mission is to teach medical students how to offer alternative therapies to patients who are ill or want to stay healthy,” according to Dr. Stephen Weitzman, dean of the School of Medicine. “It is important for our students to know and understand how to use all different kinds of therapy and that integrative medicine exists in order to best treat and care for their patients.”

Instrumental to the establishment of the Center is Mr. Michael Weitzman, director of Thai Services, and Dr. Robert Hage, a senior professor of anatomy, who also is the Center’s director. Both lectured integrative medicine selectives to clinical students in the past.

“Our mission is to teach medical students how to offer alternative therapies to patients who are ill or want to stay healthy.”

– Dr. Stephen Weitzman

 

“The Center was created to ensure that students can receive training in a group of therapies that are essential today,” said Mr. Weitzman. “The biggest health issues of our times can have these eastern self-care healing therapies as part of the treatment process—from stress, obesity, back pain, and cardiovascular disease to lowering one’s risk of dying from COVID. The four modalities I teach in my selectives should be an essential aspect of any medical students training.”

Students have demonstrated significant interest in non-traditional patient care methods. “This past summer, I taught two online selectives—Tai  Chi and Qigong, and Yoga and Meditation as Integrative Medicine,” said Mr. Weitzman. “Over a period of six weeks, there were approximately 200 students who registered and participated in the Yoga and Meditation selective alone.”

To learn more about the SGU’s Center for Integrative Medicine, register for a virtual information session, which features a live question-and-answer segment featuring current students and alumni.

– Tornia Charles

Showcasing SGU Doctors: University’s New Marketing Campaign Features Real-Life Graduate Success Stories to Prospective Students

For more than four decades, St. George’s University continues to educate highly qualified physicians who are helping to alleviate the physician shortage in the US and around the world.

Recently, 13 School of Medicine graduates including emergency medicine doctors, anesthesiologists, vascular surgeons, cardiologists, pediatricians, and others, participated in a two-day photo and video shoot in New York City that will allow SGU to showcase alumni success in its upcoming digital marketing campaign. Candidates were asked to share their career paths and SGU experiences in video.

“SGU-educated physicians are well positioned to make a positive influence on the global healthcare system—particularly during the COVID pandemic,” said Nadav Levinton, who led this marketing initiative for St. George’s University. “There is no better way to celebrate our impressive graduates than by stepping up to tell their stories in the same way they would: without hesitation, with a primary concern for the well-being of others, and with well-planned teamwork.”

Robert Alig, vice president of alumni affairs for SGU, said: “We thank all of the alumni who participated in the photoshoots. With busy schedules both personally and professionally, we greatly appreciate their time and candor. Hearing about the wonderful work they’ve done, and the paths taken to get where they are in their careers, is truly inspiring. We know these testimonials will inspire those individuals who are eyeing a career in medicine themselves.”

SGU is cognizant of the precarious and difficult situations that healthcare workers everywhere are facing as a result of COVID. As a result, the University took strong precautions to keep both the subjects and the crew safe while completing the photo/video shoot. Such precautions before, during, and after the photoshoots included:

  • Each subject and crew member was required to have a negative COVID test result prior to filming.
  • The production crew was kept to a minimum to lower the number of people interacting with each other. All were required to wear masks, sterile suits, hair nets, and booties provided by the clinic where filming commenced. Crew members were provided eye protection as well.
  • The medical clinic received a special cleaning the night before and again after SGU completed the filming.
  • SGU had a COVID compliance coordinator on site taking temperatures and asking questions before anyone entered the location.
  • Subjects were required to wear N95 masks for the majority of the time on location. Photographers only shot a few takes with masks off.

 

Using the tagline “Are You In?” the images and interviews will be on display starting in mid-December through various digital ads as well as on SGU’s website and social media pages. SGU News will highlight the final assets in the December issue of the SOM alumni newsletter.

SGU is hoping to schedule additional photo shoots in the US and Canada in 2021. Details will be forthcoming on how alumni can participate. In the meantime, visit SGU’s Alumni Association website to learn other ways that SGU graduates are invited to get involved.

 

–  Laurie Chartorynsky

 

 

Working in underserved communities “resonates with the soul”

Jeremiah Madedor, MD ’20

From up close, and from a young age, Jeremiah Madedor, MD ’20, has gained intimate knowledge of the disadvantages that stem from a lack of healthcare access. His mother, who immigrated to the United States from Nigeria, pushed him to volunteer at the local veterans affairs hospital and homeless shelter, and he also went on mission trips with the family’s church. Then as a medical student at St. George’s University, he got hands-on experience working with the homeless population in New York City, as well as those who struggled to make ends meet.

“Those things really resonate with the soul and need to be addressed,” said Dr. Madedor. “I feel that, as a physician, I can do that.”

Now a first-year internal medicine resident at Spectrum Health in Grand Rapids, MI, Dr. Madedor sat down with SGU News to discuss ongoing healthcare issues in underserved communities, as well as his experience entering medicine in an especially challenging time.

St. George’s University: What are the most significant problems facing healthcare in underserved communities?

Dr. Jeremiah Madedor: Means and access. Patients usually fall into those two categories. In terms of means, we’re talking about money, resources, insurance, and connections to get to a primary care provider or the medical help you need. For financial reasons, a lot of patients don’t see physicians. An emergency department visit can cost thousands of dollars even without surgery, and with surgery, you can be looking six or seven figures for the cost.

Access is just as bad as means, because people may have the money or insurance, but if they don’t have the time to go for care, then nothing will be done. Several patients I see in the clinic skip appointments because they don’t have a babysitter or they work long workdays, and the list could go on.

SGU: What was it like entering medicine in the thick of a coronavirus pandemic? How would you describe the hospital and the community in Grand Rapids?

Dr. Madedor: My hospital has been preparing for COVID spikes since March, and has handled it as well as you can. Residents are educated on cases with didactics, and MICU/pulmonary attendings have been instrumental in learning managements of COVID. During my clinic, I have been tasked with seeing COVID patients with virtual visits, and while on the intensive care unit I have been seeing patients firsthand and managing them with the guidance of pulmonary attendings. It’s definitely been a life-changing experience seeing the complications firsthand of this new disease.

SGU: How has the recent social justice movement energized or changed you personally and/or professionally?

Dr. Madedor: I don’t believe it has energized or changed me personally because I have always fought for those disenfranchised or less fortunate. As an African American, I live this fight every day, so with my patients, I can empathize with them. I relate to them on a personal and ethnic level. A lot of people say ‘hi’ to me on the hospital floors or in the clinic and are happy to have their skin color represented by the physician they see.

“SGU took a student who was a potential diamond in the mine and refined him.”

 

SGU: Is there a case or experience that you can point to that brought your career path into focus?

Dr. Madedor: When I worked at Brooklyn Hospital as a medical student, there are incidents I can always lean on that fueled my fire. Working with Dr. Mansur and Dr. Bakshi is something I will always cherish. They taught me not see a patient as a pit stop but, as a physician, you become their conduit who will guide them to their next destination. So with that in mind, I did my best to learn their cases better and do thorough chart reviews so I could prevent potential oversights. Then in the rooms, I treated them like human beings, because patients are more than stats, and sometimes we forget that with a busy schedule.

SGU: How would you describe your experience at SGU, and how has it prepared you for your career?

Dr. Madedor: SGU was one of the most challenging and exhausting journeys of my life. I wouldn’t change that for the world because it prepared for me the roadblocks ahead. Now, as I sit here in the ICU, we had two patients code, two admissions, and I had to follow up on multiple patients throughout the night. Without the tools and guidance I received at SGU, I don’t think I would be capable of this feat. SGU took a student who was a potential diamond in the mine and refined him. Now he is a resident living out his dreams amongst the elite in his craft. From the days of eight- to 10-hour study dates, student support sessions, and rounding as a medical student, SGU provided the necessary environment for me to grow. With great resources, teaching, and great hospitals to rotate at, my experience couldn’t have been any better.

– Brett Mauser

On Match Day 2020, Dr. Madedor shared the news that he was headed to Grand Rapids, MI, for an internal medicine residency with Spectrum Health.

SGU grad takes to skies to save lives in Florida

It was the fall of 2012 when Larissa Dudley, MD ’13, then an SGU medical student on an emergency medicine/EMS clinical rotation at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, accompanied helicopter crew on an airlift. It not only left an impression; it changed the course of her life.

“I happened to fly very shortly after Hurricane Sandy, and I was amazed by not only the view but by the amazing responsibility that these flight nurses and medics had,” she said. “Those in the aircraft risk their health and wellbeing to be available 24/7 to triage, stabilize, and safely deliver the most critical patients to their destinations, whether it be an emergency department, trauma center, or to the catheterization lab or operating room for definitive care.”

Dr. Dudley, now an emergency medicine physician in Florida, also serves as the assistant medical director of Health First’s First Flight, a helicopter program that makes approximately 700 flights per year covering the state’s Space Coast. First Flight is called for pre-hospital transports, often for severely injured trauma patients where the crew performs life-saving procedures and stabilization, as well as inter-facility transports. Dr. Dudley’s leadership role means that she is teaching and reviewing cases and best practices, updating and adjusting protocols, and maintaining relationships with local cities and towns to help coordinate seamless care.

“My heart is in EMS—all facets of EMS,” Dr. Dudley said. “As a physician, the oversight is nothing short of imperative, and the responsibility to maintain the crew’s education, clinical competencies, and best practices is humbling.”

– Brett Mauser