Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society

National and Chapter News

Medical Student Service Project: The Everest Project at Dalhousie University

The Everest Project is an initiative by Dalhousie University Medical students’ society aimed at reducing the health-related consequences of inactivity. As you are likely well aware, Nova Scotia has the dubious honour of having amongst the highest levels of chronic disease in Canada—much of this burden of disease could be eliminated through the adoption of healthy, active lifestyles. As the physicians of the future we have put forth a program where medical students get actively involved in the health education of Nova Scotian youth.

The Everest Project is an interactive, hands-on program where medical students teach Grade 4 classes about the importance of physical activity and other healthy lifestyle choices. The project started in 2002. A curriculum and “tutor guide” for medical students was developed and modified based on feedback from several sources.

Fourth Annual Student Research Day at Upstate Medical University

The 4th annual Student Research Day was held in conjunction with the 21st annual Charles R. Ross Research Poster Session, on Thursday, November 28, 2007, in the atrium of the Institute for Human Performance at Upstate Medical University. The annual poster session, which was free and open to the public, provided an opportunity for Upstate Medical University to spotlight the biomedical research activities of students and faculty.

The Student Research Day is a student focused activity that is sponsored by members of Alpha Omega Alpha (AOA), the medical student honor society, Dr. Lynn Cleary, Sr. Associate Dean for Education and Councillor to AOA, Dr. Steven Scheinman, Senior Vice President and Dean of the College of Medicine and the Research Development Office.

Participation in this year's event included 19 research posters and six clinical vignettes representing all classes in the College of Medicine. The poster session was followed by a reception and awards program. The following students and their presentations were selected for awards:

Toby Anderton, "Treatment of Unstable Fractures of the Distal Radius with Volar Locking Plates: A Retrospective Study."

John Fisher, "A Novel Histologic Technique to Assess Heterogeneous Lung Injury."

Matthew Mason, "The Impact of Health Insurance on Early Diagnosis of Renal Cell Carcinoma."

Matthew Thornton and Stacy Cooper, "The Use of Opioid Agonist--Antagonist Nalbuphine in Sickle Cell Vaso-Occlusive Crises in Pediatric Patients."

We would like to thank the following individuals for serving as judges:
Lynn Cleary, MD
Jennifer Jarosz, MSIV
Steven Landas, MD
Steve Grassl, PhD
Connie Stein, PhD
David Turner, PhD
Ann Villari, MSIV

Special acknowledgment should be extended to the following individuals whose efforts helped to make this year's event a success: Chris Palmer, Chapter President of AOA, David Shi and Catherine Chung, 4th year medical students and members of AOA, Lynn Gleason, Administrative Assistant in the Research and Development Office, and Debbie Rexine and Sabra Snyder in Educational Communications.

Cheryl Alger, Administrative Director, Curriculum Office
Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, New York

Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine AΩA induction banquet

Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine Spring 2006 AOA induction ceremony was proud to have David M. Oshinsky as the keynote speaker. Dr. Oshinsky won a Pulitzer Prize in history for his book, Polio: An American Story. Above is a picture of Dr. Oshinsky with the newly elected AOA members. From left to right, Parviz Kavoussi, Andrew Bossen Vice President AΩA chapter, Christopher Chaput, John Myers, Matthew Brown, Robert Bour, Dip Jadav, Erion Qamrani, Christopher Bathurst President AΩA Chapter, David M. Oshinsky Keynote speaker, Mark Montgomery Chapter Councilor, Tate Nice, Ervin Lowther, Chad Housewright, John P. Eberts Honorary guest, Eric Zavaletta, Ellen Smith, Kelly Wright, Charles Gribshaw, Rocky Bilhartz.

Sanford School of Medicine of the University of South Dakota AΩA induction banquet

The Alpha South Dakota chapter held its induction banquet on May 10. New members shown in the photo are: Back row, left to right: Niels Harden, Abdallah Elias, MD (house staff), Jason Noble, Michael Brekhus, Tim Ridgway, MD (AΩA councilor), Joel Farmer, Robert Sage (AΩA president), Kevin Whittle, MD (alumnus), Dusty Thorpe. Front row, left to right: Lori Hansen, MD (faculty), Leann Maska, Carmen Schwartz, Heather Spader, Jill Sternquist.

Boston University AΩA awards

New Jersey Medical School Beta chapter day and
induction dinner, April 23, 2007

Professor Stanley Cohen receiving certificate and key as
faculty inductee from nominator W. Clark Lambert and
AΩA councilor Dr. Robert Schwartz.

AΩA Visiting Professor, Harvard Professor of Pediatrics Gerard T. Berry lunched with Chapter President Ines Wu, Vice President Andrew Azer, Sigma Xi President and AOA member Prof. W. Clark Lambert and Councilor Prof. Robert A. Schwartz before meeting NJMS eminent interim dean and professor and chair of pediatrics Robert L. Johnson. Prof. Berry then delivered a one-hour erudite distinguished professor oration on galactosemia.

The evening began in a beautiful Catholic Church converted into an elegant restaurant named the Priory with 115 in attendance. AΩA councilor Dr. Schwartz gave a welcoming speech to the new inductees, informing them that they had been chosen not by whom they knew, but rather what they knew. He noted that NJMS is in its fifty-first year, having begun in the fall of 1956 as the medical school of the superb university Seton Hall, then 100 years old. It was the sixth medical school in the Newark-New York metropolitan area.

Dr. Schwartz reviewed the history of the AΩA, noting the global character of NJMS’s chapter members. President Ines Wu, for example, was born in Belgium into a family originating from the Republic of China on an island so beautiful that the Portuguese named it Formosa (“beautiful” in Portuguese), while Vice President Azer hails from one of the cradles of civilization, Egypt. Chapter secretary, Nagaswami S. Vasan, D.V.M., Ph.D., is from Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, and Dr. Schwartz’s wife, a voluntary member of the faculty, was born and raised in Poland, while Dr. Schwartz is from California, the Golden Bear Republic, the fifth richest economy in the world.
President Wu and Vice President Azer, along with AΩA councilor Dr. Schwartz, Secretary Vasan, Immediate Past Chapter Councilor Professor Kenneth G. Swan, and Director of Student Support Services Marcia Tabakin presented the keys and certificates to the student inductees from the NJMS Classes of 2007 and 2008. Prof. Swan then introduced the house staff inductee, Eugene K. Kim, while Professor W. Clark Lambert introduced the faculty inductee Professor and Pathology Chair Stanley Cohen (who coined the word “cytokine” and its concept thirty years ago), and Associate Dean George Heinrich alumnus inductee presented the key to Clinical Professor Joseph V. DiTrolio.

The keynote address by Professor Berry, entitled "Expansion of newborn screening for genetic diseases and the American Health System," lamented the challenges facing American medicine and urged us all to fight for a brighter future.

Robert A. Schwartz MD, MPH
Councilor, AΩA Beta Chapter, New Jersey

Medical Student Service Project Award: Student Outreach Clinic
Alpha Nevada, University of Nevada School of Medicine

The University of Nevada School of Medicine operates the Student Outreach Clinic, a free student-run clinic founded by students in 1996 and operated by students under the guidance of licensed physicians since.

The clinic provides free health care to underserved patients, as well to anyone who comes to the clinic. Services provided include general health exams, Head Start physicals, blood pressure readings, STD treatment, women’s health screening, tuberculosis testing, gynecological and breast exams, referral services, pregnancy testings, and limited diagnosis and treatment. Medical students receive hands-on experience in treating patients from the very first day of medical school. The Student Outreach Clinic is operated in cooperation with the Salvation Army, Med School Associates North, and Head Start, and is partially funded by an AΩA Medical Student Service Project Award.