Two Florida State University College of Medicine Internal Medicine Residency Programs and a third-year medical student from the Sarasota Regional Campus turned in winning performances at a recent competition held by the Florida Chapter of the American College of Physicians (ACP).

The internal medicine residency team at Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare, composed of Drs. Gizem Rehanoglu,  James Brown, Joseph Tubito, and Mohsan Khan, won the “Doctor’s Dilemma” team competition, which tested their collective medical knowledge. They were under the guidance of program director Claudia A. Kroker-Bode, M.D., Ph.D., and Vincent Riesgo, M.D., who served as the team’s coach and mentor.

Andrew Win, M.D., representing FSU’s internal medicine residency program at Sarasota Memorial Hospital, collected top honors in the Resident Scientific Poster Competition. Win was the principal investigator on the project titled: Complete Blood Cell Count Parameters Differentiate Mortality Risk in Sepsis. Karen Hamad, M.D., is the Sarasota program director.

Brittany Long was the Medical Student Clinical Research Poster Session winner for her submission titled: “Two Minutes for Plants” – Changing the Health of Type 2 Diabetic Patients with a Brief Plant-Centered Intervention in a Non-Primary Care Practice. Long collaborated with Sarasota faculty member Allison Menezes, M.D., on the research project.

The TMH team, Win and Long advanced from regional competition as finalists for the Oct. 28-29 event, held in conjunction with the Florida ACP chapter’s 55th Annual Scientific Meeting at The Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay. With their respective victories, they will represent the Florida Chapter at the ACP National Competition in Internal Medicine, scheduled for April in Boston.

(Caption: Left, Andrew Win, M.D., representing the internal medicine residency program at Sarasota Memorial Hospital, won the Resident Scientific Poster Competition. Right, third-year medical student Brittany Long, from the Sarasota Regional Campus, was the Medical Student Clinical Research Poster Session winner.)

 

Florida State University College of Medicine Associate Professor Gregg Stanwood is being honored with a Rising Star Award from the Academy of Science, Engineering and Medicine of Florida (ASEMFL) at the organization’s annual meeting Nov. 3-4 in Orlando.

Stanwood, a behavioral neuroscientist and developmental neuropharmacologist, explores the effects of gene and environmental interactions on brain development. In a recent study, his lab showed that the receptors targeted by drugs that treat metabolism, diabetes and obesity — Ozempic is one popular example — are also involved in the addictive effects of cocaine and other drugs of abuse. An upcoming project funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will examine the interactions of harmful chemicals and psychosocial stressors such as adverse childhood experiences on children in the southwestern Florida community of Immokalee.

“I’m really excited to be part of a team that’s gathering new sources of data to assemble to make new models for cumulative risk exposures,” Stanwood said. “I think this is very impactful and can change lives positively, not just for members of the Immokalee community, but can also be adapted for other communities across the state and across the nation. Our team is uniquely positioned to evaluate both chemical and nonchemical stressors jointly – for the first time.”

Stanwood and Mariana Fuentes, an associate professor in FSU’s Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science in the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS), are among 11 faculty members from Florida universities who will be honored as rising stars. Other honorees come from the University of Florida, University of Miami, University of Central Florida, and Florida International University.

The academy also nominated two additional FSU faculty members, one from CAS’s Department of Psychology and one from the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, for membership in this year’s class.

To be selected for ASEMFL membership, individuals must live or work in Florida and be a member of the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine, or be nominated by an ASEMFL member and have an outstanding record of accomplishments, national and international recognition.

Established in 2018, ASEMFL works to inform Floridians of current and future science, engineering and medicine issues and address associated challenges. The organization provides unbiased expertise for issues that concern the state and helps facilitate scientific interactions.  

Visit asemfl.org for more information about the organization and this year’s meeting.

Opportunities to sit and rest are rare for Florida State University College of Medicine medical and physician assistant students and staff.

An idyllic setting, under the oak trees outside the Fort Pierce Regional Campus buildings, now has a special place when those opportunities do arise.

As a final philanthropic gesture before disbanding, the Treasure Coast Seminole Club presented Fort Pierce Regional Campus Dean Juliette Lomax-Homier, M.D., with a hand-crafted, 350-pound concrete bench at an Oct. 25 dedication ceremony.

The shaded resting place, nestled within the Indian River State College’s main campus, will serve as a perpetual remembrance of the Treasure Coast Seminole Club, which at one point was recognized as the state’s best for three years running. The group has also been a supporter of Fort Pierce campus, which began training third- and fourth-year medical students in 2007.

Club member Chris Berkeley brought the idea to Fort Pierce campus officials in the spring and donated funds to commission a local artist, Anita Prentice, to create the bench. Adorned with her signature glass, title and stone mosaics, the bench features the Florida State University seal over a heart rhythm signature. A pair of plaques commemorate the gift.

College of Medicine Interim Dean Alma Littles, M.D., who was visiting the campus, joined Lomax-Homier and a half-dozen Treasure Coast Seminole Club members at the dedication.

Caption: College of Medicine Interim Dean Alma Littles, M.D. and Fort Pierce Regional Campus Dean Juliette Lomax-Homier, M.D., flank Treasure Coast Seminole Club members (left-to-right), Chris Berkeley, Kathy Pancoast, Richard Pancoast, Garrison Dundas, Jean Bridges and Jack Bridges, behind the commemorative bench. Top right, Artist Anita Prentice, poses with the bench she was commissioned to design. Bottom right, the bench includes dedication plaques to the FSU College of Medicine's Fort Pierce Campus and from the Treasure Coast Seminole Club.
 

In a little more than two months, 59 students from the Florida State University School of Physician Assistant Practice Class of 2024 will begin clinical rotations at one of the College of Medicine’s six regional campuses –  the final phase of their 27-month program. Once there, they will be fully immersed in the interprofessional health-care experience, learning and working alongside physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners and registered nurses.

Recently, the PA Class of 2024 got a  glimpse of what that will look like, thanks to an interprofessional education experience in the simulation lab at the FSU College of Nursing. The  activity was arranged by College of Medicine Associate Professor John P. Bastin, DMSc, PA-C, and College of Nursing Simulation Director Carla Dormeus, Ed.D., and it was the first time PA students used the lab.

“The sessions included an introduction to neonatal resuscitation,” Bastin said. “The students had the opportunity to practice resuscitation of a simulated newborn who was not breathing, which was followed by the emergency childbirth simulation.

”Using the high-fidelity simulators, students were given the opportunity to perform a prepartum assessment, observe the stages of delivery, then deliver the baby and placenta.”

The event, part of PA students’ emergency medicine instruction block, was divided into four sessions to accommodate the entire class in the simulation lab. Amanda Baxley, R.N. – one of a half-dozen College of Nursing personnel participating in the joint effort – led each of the sessions.

Count PA student Star Emison among those who was both impressed and enlightened by the experience.

“The nurses and nurse practitioners that led the activity were highly knowledgeable,” Emison said. “Not only did they teach us the mechanics of childbirth and resuscitation, but they also gave us insight into how to communicate with patients experiencing these emergencies.”

That type of information will soon have even greater value.

“The session prepared the PA students for clinical rotations starting in January, as well as entering clinical practice upon graduation,” Bastin said. “As an emergency medicine PA, I benefitted from the training, as well.”

The benefits extend beyond the actual medical training.

“Anyone who works in health care knows that nurses are relied on heavily,” Emison added. “There is a lot of value in working with nurses early in our education as it helps foster the respect that is necessary to provide team-based care.”

Bastin hopes to provide additional interprofessional experiences for PA students in the College of Nursing’s simulation lab in the future.

“I hope this is just the beginning for the collaboration between the two colleges,” Emison added. “There is so much we can learn from each other, especially in the setting of the simulation center that looks and feels like a real hospital.”