The 15 University of Vermont College of Medicine Class of 2015 students who will be specializing in surgery following graduation presented their scholarly work during the 45th annual Surgery Senior Major Scientific Program on Thursday, May 7, 2015 in Austin Auditorium in the UVM Medical Center.
The program opened with a welcome from Peter Zvara, M.D., Ph.D., UVM associate professor of surgery and coordinator of the surgery senior major seminar. After the students presented their project abstracts, the event concluded with an awards banquet and reception held in the Hoehl Gallery. First prize was awarded to Adam Payne ‘15. Second and third place went to Ryan Hendrix ’15 and Nicole Meredyth ’15 respectively.
Led by UVM Associate Professor of Surgery Ted James, M.D., the Senior Major Program in Surgery gives students interested in a career in surgery the opportunity to focus on a variety of surgical experiences, including one scholarly project conducted with support from a faculty mentor. Through the project, students investigate an area of interest and prepare data “in the form of a scientific article acceptable for publication in a professional journal,” learning more about research methodology and scholarly work in the process.
Among the senior surgery majors presenting at the May 7 event were: Kovi Bessoff, Ph.D., Griffin Biedron, W. Christian Crannell, Ryan Hendrix, Colleen Kerrigan, Elizabeth Landell, Jessica Lane, Jessica Louie, David Mealiea, Marissa Mendez, Nicole Meredyth, Adam Paine, Kathryn Schlosser, Jessica Simon, and Justin Van Backer. UVM advisors, mentors and coauthors on the projects included: Wasef Abu-Jaish, M.D., assistant professor of surgery and director, bariatric surgery; Edward Borrazzo, M.D., associate professor and chief, general surgery; Peter Callas, Ph.D., research associate professor of mathematics and statistics; Peter Cataldo, M.D., professor of surgery/general surgery; Eric Clark, M.S., doctoral candidate, mathematics and engineering; Kristen DeStigter, M.D., professor and interim chair of radiology; Susan Durham, M.D., M.S., associate professor of surgery/pediatric neurosurgery; Larson Erb, M.D.’12, resident, surgery; Elise Everett, M.D., M.S., associate professor and clerkship director, obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences; James Hebert, M.D., professor of surgery/general surgery; Neil Hyman, M.D.’84, former professor of surgery; Robert Jacobs, M.D., resident, orthopaedics and rehabilitation; Ted James, M.D., associate professor of surgery/surgical oncology; Christopher Jones, Ph.D., assistant professor of surgery and director, Global Health Economics; Matthew Jordan, medical student, Class of 2016; John Lawrence, M.D., associate professor of surgery/pediatric surgery; Jennifer Lisle, M.D.’00, assistant professor of orthopaedics and rehabilitation; Carlos Marroquin, M.D., professor of surgery and chief, transplant surgery; James Michelson, M.D., professor of orthopaedics and rehabilitation; Jesse Moore, M.D., assistant professor of surgery and director, surgery clerkship; Turner Osler, M.D., professor of surgery; Brooke Schlappe, M.D., former obstetrics/gynecology resident; Michelle Sowden, D.O., assistant professor of surgery/surgical oncology; Mary Streeter, M.S., clinical instructor in radiology; and Rebecca Wilcox, M.D., assistant professor of pathology.
View the Surgery Senior Major Scientific Program agenda and project abstracts here.