Honors Day Recognizes Student and Faculty Excellence

Faculty members and fourth-year medical students were recognized for academic and clinical excellence during Feinberg’s Honors Day, held on May 10 in the Hughes Auditorium.

“Being recognized at Honors Day is extremely humbling. I’m extremely proud of how much I have grown and changed as a person throughout medical school, both in my academic interests and life goals, and through that lens this award is incredibly validating. I feel honored that the work I have put in caring for patients, working on the wards and cultivating my passion for physiology are being highlighted by faculty for whom I have a tremendous amount of respect for,” said fourth-year medical student Austin Wang, who received the Neil Stone Award for Professionalism and Compassion in Medicine.

“Seeing all my friends go through medical school and finding their passions, interests, niches, and priorities that best suit them has been so rewarding. It seems crazy to me that at no single point did I, nor I believe any of my peers, feel that we were growing or learning, yet at the end looking back it feels like there is a mountain between where we are and where we started,” said Wang, who after graduation will begin his residency in Pediatrics and Anesthesiology at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore.

Eric G. Neilson, MD, vice president for Medical Affairs and Lewis Landsberg Dean, welcomed faculty, graduating medical students and their families to this year’s Honors Day ceremony.

“Today, we honor our fourth-year students for their leadership, extracurricular accomplishments, service and commitment to Feinberg, and achievements and excellence to clinical approaches. We also recognize some of our outstanding faculty members who have played an integral part in our student’s educational trainings,” Neilson said.

Fourth-year medical student Nivedita Potapragada said being recognized with the Beatrice Tucker, MD, Award in Obstetrics and Gynecology at this year’s Honors Day was extremely special to her because the award highlights the importance of service and advocacy in the field of reproductive health.

“Dr. Beatrice Tucker has a brilliant legacy in this area including her efforts to expand home birth access, fight for reproductive autonomy through legalized abortion, and improving equitable care for marginalized communities here in Chicago. Over the last few years, we’ve seen reproductive rights constantly being challenged in political and cultural arenas across the United States. This award reminds us that service and advocacy are integral to being a health care provider, within and beyond individual patient interactions, because it’s the only way we can ensure that we are providing thoughtful, equitable, and comprehensive access to health care for the patients we have the privilege of serving,” said Potapragada, who will begin her residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Northwestern’s McGaw Medical Center in the fall.

Faculty awards were presented by Marianne Green, MD, the Raymond H. Curry, MD, Professor of Medical Education, to four Feinberg faculty members for outstanding teaching in the classroom and clinic.

Michael J. Marcangelo, MD, professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences in the Division of Consultation Liaison Psychiatry, was selected by graduating medical students as this year’s Harry N. Beaty Honors Day Speaker.

During his speech, Marcangelo discussed the nature of excellence in medicine and affirmed to students that there are many paths one can take to achieve excellence, from administering care and building professional and personal relationships, to giving service, teaching and developing passions outside of medicine.

“Finding your path to excellence is one of the key goals you’re working towards now and into residency. Don’t let your mentors, your colleagues or your managers tell you how to do it. Don’t let them narrow your vision of the type of physician you want to be,” Marcangelo said.

“Achieving excellence is not an end goal or a product, it’s a process: If we are finding meaning in our lives and our work, we are in the process of becoming more excellent,” Marcangelo said.

George H. Joost Teaching Awards

• M1: Todd M. Hoagland, PhD, lecturer of Medical Education, for outstanding teaching in a large-group setting during the M1 year.
• M2: Tod S. Chambers, ‘92 PhD, associate professor of Medical Education and Medicine in the Division of General Internal Medicine, for outstanding teaching in a large-group setting during the M2 year.
• M3/M4 Clinical Teaching Award: Michael J. Marcangelo, MD, for excellence in the clinical teaching of medical students.
• The Michael M. Ravitch Award: Angelo A. Costas, MD, ‘94, ‘96 GME, assistant professor of Medicine in the Division of General Internal Medicine, for outstanding teaching in a small-group setting.

Student Awards

• James Kozlowski Award for Excellence in Urology: Jonathan Aguiar, presented to a graduating student with the most outstanding performance in urology.
• Paul C. Bucy Medical Student Award: Nathan Shlobin, for outstanding contributions by a graduating student in the field of neurological surgery.
• Frederick and Harriett Stenn Award for Humanism in Medicine: Tulsi Patel, nominated by a classmate for demonstration of humanism and compassion in the practice of medicine.
• Neil Stone Award for Professionalism and Compassion in Medicine: Roger Smith and Austin Wang, nominated by a clerkship director in recognition of commitment to professionalism and compassion in medicine.
• Kenneth M. Viste, Jr., ’66 MD, Student Service Recognition Award: Lena Volpe, in recognition of outstanding service and contribution to Feinberg School of Medicine.
• Daniel Hale Williams Diversity and Inclusion Award: Michael Chidueme, in recognition of a graduating student who excelled in promoting diversity and inclusion at Feinberg School of Medicine.
• Phi Rho Sigma Dennis Award: Elizabeth Adams, Margaret Danziger, Frances Ho and Lena Volpe, for outstanding performance in junior year clerkships.
• Diane B. Wayne, MD, Award: Devyn Coskey, for outstanding performance in the junior medicine clerkship.
• John T. Clarke, MD, Award: Trisha Kaundinya, for an outstanding graduating student pursuing a career in internal medicine.
• Eugene Bauer, MD, Award for Excellence in Dermatology: Trisha Kaundinya, for the best overall performance in dermatology by a graduating medical student pursuing a career in dermatology.
• Beatrice Tucker, MD, Award in Obstetrics and Gynecology: Nivedita Potapragada, in recognition of outstanding commitment, service, and advocacy in the field of women’s health.
• Louis G. Keith, MD, PhD, Award in Obstetrics and Gynecology: Kai Holder, in recognition of clinical and academic excellence in the field of obstetrics and gynecology.
• Henry B. Betts, MD, Award for Excellence in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation: Hannah Martin, for best performance during the physical medicine and rehabilitation medical student clerkship rotation. 
• Stephen M. Stahl Award for Excellence in Psychiatry: Julia Moss, for an outstanding graduating student in psychiatry.
• Edward A. Brunner Medical Student Award in Anesthesiology: Erin Ellis, in recognition of the highest level of academic excellence demonstrated by a graduating student pursuing a career in anesthesiology.
• Sam Ung Ho, MD, Award for Excellence in Neurology: Mia Andreoli, for a graduating student who demonstrated excellence in neurology during the third-year clerkship as well as the selective experiences in neurology.
• Jan Reddy Excellence in Pathology Award: Cooper Hayes, for excellent effort and learning on the pathology elective rotation.
• Gayle E. Woloschak Medical Student Award for Excellence in Radiation Oncology: Jared Sullivan, for excellence in radiation oncology.
• James Thomas Case Radiology Award: Christina Shehata, for best overall performance in radiology by a graduating student pursuing a career in radiology.
• Clare Giegerich Award for Outstanding Promise in Orthopaedic Surgery: Cody Goedderz, awarded to a graduating student who demonstrated outstanding performance in the field of orthopaedic surgery.
• James A. Stockman III Award for Excellence in Pediatrics and Child Health: Emily Merrick, for outstanding performance in the pediatric clerkship and a passion for advancing the care of children through advocacy, education, and research.
• John P. Phair Award: Cooper Hayes, awarded to a graduating student who excelled on the infectious disease rotation in both the intellectual and human side of medicine.
• Julius Conn, Jr., MD, Award: Emily Suen, for outstanding performance in the surgery clerkship.
• Lee M. Jampol, MD, Award: Kyle Chan and Michael Drakopoulos, for outstanding achievement by a graduating student in ophthalmology, in clinical care and vision science research.
• Martin Lipsky Award for Excellence in Family Medicine: Michael Saporito, named for the inaugural chair of Family and Community Medicine and granted to a graduating student entering a family medicine residency who most exemplifies the characteristics of altruism, compassion, and intellectual curiosity.
• Society for Academic Emergency Medicine Excellence in Emergency Medicine Award: Jehannaz Dastoor, awarded to a graduating student who has demonstrated excellence in the specialty of emergency medicine.
• Harold J. Pelzer, MD, Award: Evan Edwards, awarded to a graduating student for outstanding achievement on the otolaryngology rotation.