43 Physicians, Trainees Inducted into Gold Humanism Honor Society

The society is a program of the Arnold P. Gold Foundation, a not-for-profit organization that strives to elevate the values of humanism and professionalism in medicine worldwide.

All honorees — encompassing medical trainees and physician-teachers at various stages of their careers — exemplify excellence, compassion and dedication to the medical profession.

UB’s more than 800 residents and fellows may nominate their peers for induction into a branch of the UB chapter — one of only 14 graduate medical education sections nationally affiliated with the society.

Each inductee is eligible to receive a small grant for a creative project to infuse and support humanism in training programs and hospitals.

GHHS members and Resident and Fellows Branch co-advisers Colleen A. Nugent, MD ’09, clinical assistant professor of pediatrics, and Peter S. Martin, MD ’07, clinical assistant professor of psychiatry, led the induction of the following residents and fellows:

• Prerana Baranwal, MD (pediatrics)
  
• Milind Chaudhari, MBBS (internal medicine)
  
• Jacob Cukierski, DO (osteopathic family medicine)
  
• Centrael Evans, MD (ophthalmology) 
  
• Sarah Gibbons, MBBChBAO (child and adolescent psychiatry)
  
• Jacquelyn Gonka-Griffo, MD (urology)
  
• Nabeel Gul, MBBS (general surgery)
  
• Aasha Harish, MD (allergy and immunology)
  
• Mika Ito, MD (pediatrics/emergency medicine)
  
• Kiran Khalid, MBBS (psychiatry)
  
• Shalin Kothari, MBBS (hematology/oncology)
  
• AnneMarie Laurri, MD (internal medicine)
  
• Megan McLeod, MD (psychiatry)
  
• Kelly Noble, MD (obstetrics and gynecology)
  
• Abbas Peera, MD (internal medicine — Catholic Health Systems)
  
• Amanda Ribbeck, MD (cardiovascular disease)
  
• Jason Schoenfeld, MD (dermatology)
  
• Kristina Warner, MD (obstetrics and gynecology)
• Jane Zhao, MD (general surgery)

GHHS members and chapter co-advisers David A. Milling, MD ’93, senior associate dean for student and academic affairs, and Sergio Hernandez, MD ’06, assistant professor of psychiatry, and Marcia Sarkin, GHHS member and chapter liaison, led the induction of the following third-year medical students, who make up about 11 percent of the Class of 2018:

• Kristina Bianco
  
• Diva Bomgaars
  
• Sarah-Grace Carbrey
  
• Caressa Chen
  
• Rachel Engelberg
  
• Sara Goff
  
• Amit Jhaveri
  
• Brian Killeen
  
• Megan Lesperance
  
• Claire Maggiotto
  
• Heather Ross
  
• Ellene Sandoval
  
• Nora Serghany
  
• Daryl Spak
  
• Rebeccah Stevens
  
• Karina Vattana
  
• Matthias Williams
  

Nugent and Leonard A. Katz, MD, professor emeritus of medicine who founded the UB chapter in 2005, led the induction of the following faculty members:

• Jennifer S. Abeles, DO, clinical assistant professor of medicine with a focus on internal medicine – pediatrics
  
• Fred D. Archer III, MD, clinical assistant professor of pediatrics
  
• Jennifer M. Corliss, MD, clinical assistant professor of family medicine
  
• Faye E. Justicia-Linde, MD, clinical assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology
  
• John M. Kane III, MD, associate professor of surgery
  
• Brian J. Page, MD, associate professor of medicine with a focus on cardiovascular diseases
  
• Richard W. Schifeling, MD, clinical associate professor of medicine

Fourth-year medical student Sarah Morse, a 2016 inductee, received the Dr. Howard R. Goldstein ’74 Memorial Humanitarian Scholarship.

Michael E. Cain, MD, vice president for health sciences and dean, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, presented the award to Morse, who will remain at UB to pursue her residency in pediatrics.  

The annual award, which commemorates Goldstein’s contributions to medicine and his humanitarian spirit, provides one-year support for third- or fourth-year medical students.

In a previous award, Naz J. Zulqarni, MBBS, clinical assistant professor of pediatrics, was recognized as the winner of the 2016 Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Award. Medical students nominate outstanding role models for this award, which was presented during UB’s White Coat ceremony in August.

Known affectionately by her students as “Dr. Naz,” Zulqarni was described by one nominator as “the most compassionate, caring, loving physician and person I have ever come across in my life.”

Zulqarni was honored with the 2016 Louis A. and Ruth Siegel Award for teaching in the clinical program and also received an honorable mention in the volunteer teaching category for the same award in 2015.

Sponsored by the Arnold P. Gold Foundation, the Tow Award recognizes a faculty member who demonstrates outstanding compassion in the delivery of care; respect for patients, their families and health-care colleagues; and demonstrated clinical excellence.

Katz opened the ceremony with a chapter update, and Morse shared highlights from the past year.

Milling and Sarkin led inductees and members in reciting the Gold Humanism Honor Society oath.

The chapter is named in memory of Richard T. Sarkin, MD, EdM ’98, a former associate professor of clinical pediatrics known for his teaching expertise and passion.

The 2017 induction ceremony took place April 5 at the Buffalo Niagara Marriott Hotel in Amherst.