44 Physicians, Trainees Honored for Humanism and Dedication

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

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.

UB’s more than 800 residents and fellows may nominate their peers for induction into a branch of the UB chapter — one of only 15 graduate medical education sections 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:

• Raed Alnaji, MD (internal medicine)
  
• Sidra Anwar, MD (palliative medicine fellow)
  
• Ashish Arora, MBB (neurology)
  
• Philip Carriere, MD (family medicine)
  
• Jessica Donhauser, MD (pediatrics)
  
• Apta Errabelli, MBBS (internal medicine)
  
• Manisha Garg, MBBS (endocrinology, diabetes and metabolism)
  
• Ryan Jaber, MD (ophthalmology)
  
• Nathan Johnson, MD (otolaryngology)
  
• Sikandar Khan, MBBS (surgery)
  
• Allison Khavkin, MD (obstetrics and gynecology)
  
• Jae Kim, MD (otolaryngology)
  
• Adam Klein, MD (urology)
  
• Demytra Mitsis, MD (hematology/oncology fellow)
  
• Victoria Neudecker, DO (pediatrics)
  
• Jessica Nokovic, DO (obstetrics and gynecology)
  
• Christina Padgett, DO (internal medicine/pediatrics)
  
• Charlotte Rivers, MD (radiation oncology)
  
• Karim Velji, MD (family medicine)
  
• Paul Washburn, MD (internal medicine — social and preventive medicine)

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 clinical professor of psychiatry, and Marcia Sarkin, GHHS member and chapter liaison, led the induction of the following third-year medical students, who make up less than 12 percent of the Class of 2017:

• Nicole Beers
  
• Caroline Brotzki
  
• Maxwell Diddams
  
• Jesse Fodero
  
• Alana Koehler
  
• Anna-Claire Marrone
  
• Meghan McLaughlin
  
• Joseph Modica
  
• Sarah Morse
  
• Tanya Orellana
  
• Nina Paroff
  
• Vincenzo Polsinelli
  
• Patrick Rooney
  
• Kathleen Soltis
  
• Alexandra Taffany
  
• Ellen Tokarz
  
• Emily Ulrich

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:

• Hiroko Beck, MD, assistant professor of medicine, who specializes in electrophysiology
• Susan J. Gallagher, MD ’82, associate professor of internal medicine
• Vicki Ip, MD
• Jody Leonardo, MD, assistant professor of neurosurgery
• Alan J. Lesse, MD, senior associate dean for medical curriculum and associate professor of medicine
• Susan M. Orrange, MEd, PhD ’15, assistant dean for education and resident services in the Office of Graduate Medical Education
• Howard C. Wilinsky, MD ’61, volunteer clinical associate professor of psychiatry
  

Fourth-year medical students Steven Gangloff and Chelsey Ciambella, both 2015 inductees, 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, which he said recognizes “demonstration of humanitarian character throughout their time at our medical school.”

Gangloff and Ciambella are co-founders of Prescription for Warmth, a non-profit group that uses donations to purchase hats, gloves and socks for frostbite victims. They were inspired to create the organization after witnessing the devastating effects of frostbite during their vascular surgery rotation at Erie County Medical Center.

Gangloff will pursue his residency in neurology at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and Ciambella will continue her training as a general surgical resident at Rhode Island Hospital/Brown University.

The award commemorates Goldstein’s humanitarian spirit and contributions to medicine.

In a previous award, Archana Mishra, MD, associate professor of medicine, was recognized as the winner of the 2015 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.

Mishra trains and mentors medical students and teaches residents as well as trainees in the pulmonary disease and critical care fellowship and the sleep medicine fellowship. She is involved in designing humanistic curriculum, and she facilitates sessions with second- and third-year medical students to support and foster humanism.

Her clinical research interests include asthma in the elderly and the impact of passive smoke on respiratory health.

Gallagher, the faculty speaker, talked about what humanism means to her and said she thought anyone who has ever worked with her knows “the patient comes first and we drop everything when our patients need us.”

Katz opened the ceremony with a chapter update, and Gangloff and Ciambella 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 2016 induction ceremony took place April 20 at the Buffalo Niagara Marriott Hotel in Amherst.