Notable Commencement Speakers Set to Address the Class of 2023

The 164th Commencement is just one month away and the NYMC community is ready to celebrate the Class of 2023. This year, the GSBMS welcomes Jeffrey M. Friedman, M.D., Ph.D., (right), Marilyn M. Simpson Professor at The Rockefeller University, investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and director of the Starr Center for Human Genetics, who will speak to GSBMS on Monday May 22 at 2:00 p.m.; Machelle H. Allen, M.D., (left), senior vice president and deputy chief medical officer of NYC Health + Hospitals Corporation, who will speak to the SOM on Tuesday, May 23 at 1:30 p.m.; and Ann Kurth, Ph.D., RN, CNM, M.P.H., FAAN, FACNM, (center), president of the New York Academy of Medicine, who will speak to the SHSP on Wednesday, May 24 at 12:00 p.m. All are respected leaders in their fields with decades of experience contributing to research, medicine and public health. The ceremonies will take place on the Valhalla campus and will be livestreamed for remote viewers. Read more about commencement and view the commencement website.

First-Year Gross Anatomy Experience Yields Publications for SOM Students

Several SOM students gained more than just hands-on experience in the gross anatomy lab during their first year of medical school. They also had the opportunity to impact future medical practice with the recent publications of case studies on Petit’s (inferior lumbar) hernia in the Medical Student Research Journal and on renal and gonadal vasculature in the International Journal of Medical Students. “These studies underscore the value of the cadaver dissection program that is offered at NYMC versus a virtual or holographic experience. None of those latter modalities show variations or anatomic anomalies such as those reported in these two studies,” said Daniel F. Peters, M.D., FACS, associate professor of cell biology and anatomy and director of anatomy and embryology, who served as advisor to these students. Read the full article on studies generated from gross anatomy class experiences. 

Neil Schluger, M.D., Marks Milestone in Treating Pulmonary Disease in Africa

This February marked a milestone for Neil Schluger, M.D., the Barbara and William Rosenthal Chair of the Department of Medicine and professor of medicine, as he traveled to Ethiopia to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the East African Training Initiative (EATI), which he founded with colleagues in 2013. The two-year fellowship training program in pulmonary and critical care medicine is the first training program of its kind in Ethiopia and the broader East African region. Before the launch of EATI, Ethiopia had only one pulmonologist for its 110 million people. To date, EATI has graduated 18 specialists, including two pediatric pulmonologists and two physicians from Rwanda and Tanzania, who have assumed leadership roles at hospitals across East Africa. Read the full story on the EATI.

Center for Disaster Medicine Hosts Two-Day CBRNE Training 

The CDM hosted the Medical Management of Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosive (CBRNE) Events on March 30 and 31, instructed by the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service and funded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The course taught participants in identifying threats and hazards in a hazardous/active threat environment utilizing the RAPID-Care algorithm when responding to a hazardous/active threat environment; personal protective equipment and protective measures for the hazardous/active threat environment; recognizing casualties exposed to a CBRNE agent; decontamination considerations and treatment for casualties exposed to a CBRNE agent; and triage and medical management of casualties during a CBRNE, active shooter or other violent events. Participants included members of fire services, law enforcement, emergency medical services, physicians, nurses, public health services, emergency management organizations and community emergency response teams throughout Hudson Valley, New York City, Long Island and upstate New York. 

NYMC Goes All In For FIMO’s Spring Food Drive

The FIMO club loaded two trunks filled with cereals, canned fruits and vegetables, bags of rice and other non-perishable food items collected during their Spring Food Drive on March 27 to April 4. The NYMC community gathered food items for families facing food insecurity. Collections were donated to the Mount Kisco Interfaith Food Pantry, which serves more than 400 Westchester food insecure families weekly and assisted nearly 100,000 people during the COVID-19 pandemic. Read the full article on the food drive.

Robert W. Amler, M.D., M.B.A., dean of the School of Health Sciences and Practice and vice president for government affairs, served as moderator for the Westchester County Association’s Fourth Annual Regional Workforce Development Summit on April 13. The event welcomed leaders from business, education, economic development, workforce development, nonprofits and foundations for a discussion on regional economic and demographic trends that are reshaping the workforce.

Mill Etienne, M.D. '02, M.P.H., FAAN, FAES, vice chancellor for diversity and inclusion, associate dean for student affairs, and associate professor of neurology and medicine, is one of 20 fellows accepted to the The OpEd Project’s Public Voices Fellowship, through the Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans. The one-year program aims at increasing the public impact of top underrepresented thinkers in the nation to help shape the important conversations of our time.