Dear Colleagues-Friends,

Spring brings milestone events to the medical school, and I thought you would like to know about some particularly noteworthy items:

  • With 54 medical students participating, the 2018 Medical Student Research Day showcased more posters than ever before. Michael Donnenberg, M.D., our senior associate dean for research and research training commented that “We saw everything from ion channels to Twitter.” Top prize went to the Class of 2020’s Hameeda A. Naimi for her research conducted under the mentorship of Surgery’s Adam P. Klausner, M.D.  Naimi’s first place finish comes with an award of $1,000 that’s made possible by the G. Watson James III, M.D. Scholarship Endowment.
  • As the medical school marks its 100th anniversary of admitting women, the family of Cristina Page is marking its own milestone. The Class of 2018’s Page is the third-generation of female physicians in her family. “I am so fortunate to have a couple of generations of women ahead of me who showed me that it’s all possible,” she says. “There is nothing holding me back.”
  • The second annual Medical Education Symposium provided an opportunity to showcase and share with colleagues unique projects and practices for education innovation. Presentations included the use of holographic “enhanced reality” technology to help teach urogynecological surgical procedures, teamwork-building in first-year medical students and leadership-skill development among pediatric residents.

I hope you’ll enjoy reading their stories.

Warm Regards,

Peter F. Buckley, M.D.
Dean, VCU School of Medicine
Executive Vice President for Medical Affairs, VCU Health System