2003-2004 Events May 13th, 2004: Chapter Meeting at the home of Dr. Gabe and Dr. Maria Virella The last meeting of the 2003-04 year was held May 13th at the home of Dr. Gabe and Dr. Maria Virella. Our secretary Mark Wimberly made a brief summary of the recent events and activities promoted by our chapter, including the AOA Medical Jeopardy competition and the EORO trip to watch the RiverDogs take on the Lake County Captains. The inter-chapter jeopardy game pitching an MUSC team and a USC team was held on May 29, 2004. This year's game was a nail-biter, with two opposing teams of excellent caliber. USC's team was ahead at the end of the first two boards, but MUSC's team won the event by answering correctly the final jeopardy question, on which they had bet all their gains! The two teams were invited to a late lunch at Vickery's, in Mount Pleasant, by our Councillor which allowed all the participating students to interact in a very friendly and collegial atmosphere. Ryan Butts has arranged to do an education talk at a private school in Mt. Pleasant. They have no school nurse, and thought our talk could be very helpful. We are scheduled to give the presentation on Thursday, May 20th at 2:45. If anyone is interested in helping Ryan Butts and Wayne Kelley with this project, email Ryan at butts@musc.edu Dr. Alan Brown, our treasurer, and Thel Lipscomb, our executive secretary, summarized the state of our chapter's finances. The dues collection totalled eight thousand dollars, enough to cover all the opperating expenses of the chapter, including the portion of the banquet cost that is subsidized by the chapter. We also did well in fundraising for the Pitts-Aiken Scholarship, raising over $18,000, in great part due to generous contributions from Dr. Aiken (Hugh Aiken's father) and Dr. Steve Schabel. In the following discussion it was decided not to charge dues to the newly elected student members and to create a small ad hoc committee to look into the possibility of instituting a second AOA scholarship. The committee will include Drs. Brown, Othersen, G. Virella, Ms. Liscomb and Mr. Bernard (COM4). Elections for the 2004-2005 officers were then held. Wayne Kelley was elected President, Ryan Butts was elected Vice-President, and Mike Bernard was elected Secretary. Dr. Alan Brown will continue his three-year term as Treasurer. The meeting was then ajourned by Mark Wimberly.
Ryan Butts adresses the audience From the left: Ryan Butts, Mike Bernard, Wayne Kelly April 29, 2004: AOA Medical Jeopardy The annual AOA Medical Jeopardy competition between the Alpha chapter at MUSC and Beta chapter at the University of South Carolina was held at MUSC on April 29th. After a slight delay caused by a flat tire, the Beta chapter arrived at MUSC and the heated competition began in BSB 202. The USC team took an early lead over the MUSC team, consisting of Peter Grayson, Bhisham Chera, Josh Hermsen, and junior Wayne Kelley. However, Josh started the "Double Jeopardy" round off with a bang, correctly answering the $1000 question. The game was tight throughout the Double Jeopardy round. MUSC won in Final Jeopardy! ("This is the hometown of Joseph Goldstein, the recipient of the 1985 Nobel Prize in Medicine), risking it all on their final question ("What is Sumter, SC?"). After the competition, all AOA participants from both teams were treated to lunch at Vickery's on Shem Creek by Dr. Virella.
The visiting Team from USC The home team. From the left: Bisham, Wayne, Peter, and Josh
The two contingents had lunch at Vickery's April 25th, 2004: AOA Takes EORO Out to the Ballgame As part of our annual service project, AOA hosted an outing with Each One Reach One to see the Charleston Riverdogs take on the Lake County Captains. The children had an opportunity to play catch on the field with the Riverdogs before the opening pitch at 5:05. Some of the children also had a chance to participate in on-field games between innings, and were able to meet the RiverDogs players for autographs after the game. April 16, 2004: Annual Banquet This year's banquet was held at the Embassy Suites Hotel, in Downtown Charleston. Our speaker was Dr. Ludwig Lettau of Lowcountry Infectious Diseases in Charleston, who gave a interesting talk on humor in medicine entitled "Laughter is Infectious." Our councillor, Dr. Gabriel Virella, was recognized for receiving the Robert J. Glaser Distinguished Teacher Award. The new student and faculty inductees were also recognized and presented with their AOA key and certificate. Tuesday, March 16th, 2004: Chapter meeting at the home of Dr. Key On March 16th, the monthly chapter meeting was held at the home of Dr. Lyndon and Dr. Janice Key. Sarah Wolpe was elected to receive the Hiram Curry Award, honoring a fourth year medical student who embodies the principles of service in medicine. Dr. Bert Pruitt was elected to receive the Volunteer Faculty Award for his mentoring of MUSC students in the field of Gynecology. The student election process was discussed and revised. Various models based upon the 2003-04 AOA election results were presented. Please see the following link for a summary of the newly approved election model for next year. Tuesday, March 16th, 2004: AOA Medical Jeopardy On March 16th in the 2West Amphitheater, we had the annual AOA Medical Jeopardy Competition. Competing this year were 3 teams of formidable intellect. Team Red was Dr. Stephen Schabel from Radiology, Dr. Donna Johnson from OB/GYN, 4th year Brandon Runyan, and 3rd year Jason Clark. Team green was Dr. Jay Brzezinski of Internal Medicine, Dr. Roger Newman from OB/GYN, 4th year Natalie Massie, and 3rd year Wayne Kelley. Team Yellow was Dr. Jan Basile from Internal Medicine at the VA, Dr. Sam Kini from Emergency Medicine, 4th year Josh Hermsen, and 3rd year Kathleen Williams. It was a heated competition, filled with witty banter and buzzer issues, but was overall a successful event. Finally, the yellow team prevailed due to impressive performances by all, but especially by the soon-to-be surgeon Josh Hermsen. The next big event is the annual MUSC vs USC College of Medicine AOA Jeopardy Challenge. This event will take place on April 29th. Wednesday, March 12, 2004: Education Project As part of our continuing monthly service project, AOA students Robert Hooker, Peter Grayson, Ryan Butts, and Wayne Kelley spoke at Windsor Hill Elementary to approximately 85 faculty members on "Common Medical Problems Encountered in the Classroom." February 18, 2004: Chapter meeting at the home of Dr. David Soper The February meeting was held at the home of Dr. Soper. Faculty and housestaff were elected into AOA after a discussion of CV's and qualifications. Dr. Gerard Silvestri and Dr. Prabhakar Baliga were elected as faculty members. Dr. Christopher Robinson, Dr. Lejla Aganovic, and Dr. Patrick Thomas were elected as housestaff. Wednesday, January 28, 2004: Education Project The AOA monthly service committee spoke at Windsor Hill Elementary school to a group of guidance councilors representing several schools around the lowcountry. AOA students Peter Grayson and Ryan Butts delivered the talk on "Common Medical Problems Encountered in the Classroom." The Windsor Hill guidance councilor immediately rebooked AOA to speak at a Windsor Hill faculty meeting on March 10th at 2:30 pm. January 22nd, 2004: Chapter Meeting at the Home of Dr. Steven Schabel The January meeting was held at the home of Dr. Steven Schabel. The evening was highlighted by a presentation on the history of scotch given by Dr. Schabel and a scotch tasting. January 2004: Congratulations to Our Councillor Dr. Gabe Virella was recently awarded the Robert J. Glaser Distinguished Teacher Award. This award is given jointly by AOA and the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) and recognizes excellence in medical student teaching. The honor echoes the many teaching awards Dr. Virella has received while at MUSC, including several "Golden Apples" for his efforts in the field of Microbiology and Immunology. Along with the award, MUSC received a check for $5,000 dedicated to teaching activities, and our AOA chapter received a check for $1,000. For more information, please visit the following link Wednesday December 17th: AOA students kicked off the Education Project Three AOA students (Stephanie Eschenbach, Chris Pruitt, and Peter Grayson) delivered a lecture to the faculty of Knightsville Elementary school on "Common Medical Problems Encountered in the Classroom." For a copy of the lecture please click here. The lecture was given to a packed house of over 75 faculty members. The students fielded questions regarding the current state of the Physician-Teacher relationship. Roger Lee, a writer for the Summerville Journal, wrote an article about the event. AOA is currently looking to present the talk to more schools on a monthly basis. December 2003, Holiday Spirit This past December has marked a very active time in the Chapter's committment to service. AOA members participated in the Each One Reach One (EORO) project as described in the entry below. AOA members will continue to participate in future EORO events on a monthly basis. Further, many thanks go out to Robert Hooker for his efforts in organizing the AOA Christmas toy drive. We were able to provide the Department of Social Services (DSS) with many toys to help brighten the holidays for some underpriviledged children. Finally, many thanks to Dr. and Mrs. Reves for hosting our annual Christmas Party. At the party, we raised $2,120 in donations to the Kids Path Program of Hospice of Charleston, including a sizeable donation from Dr. Bruce Thiers. This money will also help the EORO program, a subsidiary of Kids Path. Anne-Marie Shores, the founder of EORO, has expressed deep gratitude for AOA's efforts as a founding donor to her program. Monday, December 8th: AOA students participated in the launch of Each One Reach One AOA students started a collaboration with Each One Reach One (EORO), a division of the Kids Path Program Hospice of Charleston. The students participated in taking 20 children to the James Island festival of lights. After that, the children returned to Hospice of Charleston and had cookies and hot chocolate prepared by Johnson and Wales students. AOA students also helped run an arts and crafts table for the children to construct journals and photo albums to document the event. Pictures of the event can be found here. Thursday, Nov. 20, 2003: Chapter meeting at the home of Dr. Karl Byrnes The meeting was called to order by Peter Grayson. Peter thanked Dr. Byrnes and his wife for hosting meeting. Mark Wimberly spoke about upcoming service project being held on Dec. 8th to benefit Hospice of Charleston. Robert Hooker spoke on monthly service project. Robert told members that there will be a collection box for gifts to be placed in location around campus. One will be in the office of Thelma Lipscomb with a second box in the Student Programs Office. Peter Grayson then introduced guest speaker Dr. Casey Fitts. Dr. Fitts spoke about the state of the insurance crisis within our country. He also told about a pilot program he started to benefit the medically uninsured who did not qualify for Medicaid. Meeting was then adjourned by Peter Grayson. Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2003: AOA FALL LECTURE Dr. John Sleasman, Robert A. Good Professor of Immunology and Chief of the Division of Allergy and Immunology, Department of Pediatrics, University of South Florida, College of Medicine, was our Fall Speaker. Dr. Sleasman gave the opening lecture at the 11th AIDS Symposium. The topic of his lecture was "The Interaction between HIV and the Immune System: Implications in Treatment and Vaccine Development". The Basic Sciences Auditorium was full to capacity and the lecture was very well received. Saturday, November 8: Our councillor is recognized as Distinguished Teacher Dr. Gabriel Virella, Professor of Microbiology and Immunology, and councillor for our AOA chapter, received the AOA Robert J. Glaser Distinguished Teacher Award at a black tie dinner offered by the Association of American Medical Colleges, during their annual convention. Dr. Virella was one of four honorees recognized for their contributions to Medical Education.
The Awards banquet. At the left, Dr. Virella, Dr. Michael Drake (AOA President), and the three other award recipients: Dr. Joel Felner from Emory University School of Medicine, Dr. Lawrence Wood, from the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, and Dr. Barry Mann from Drexter University College of Medicine. At the right, MUSC's contingent: Drs. Amy Blue, Jerry Reves (Dean), DelBene (Associate Dean of Education) and Virella. Saturday, September 27: AOA Heart walk Several members of AOA helped in this walk for charity. Pictures and narrative to follow soon. Saturday, October 18: Annual Picnic The picnic was at Dr. and Mrs. Peter Gazes home. It was a great success. There were approximately 60 people in attendance. We held a brief meeting welcoming the new inductees and briefly discussing each committee. Wayne Kelley took the first sip of adult beverage, and he has been elected the arduous task of drinks coordinator for the upcoming year. September 19: New Inductees Meeting The new members of AOA met at the recovery room for a brief meeting to sign up for committees. Attendance was very good, and there was a lot of excitement to start working on upcoming projects. September 11: First Meeting and Elections Junior AOA members and several faculty convened at Dr. and Mrs. H.B. Othersen's house for our first meeting of the academic year and new member elections. After a short time socializing and catching up with friends, members got down to business electing the new senior and junior members into AOA. As there were many fine candidates this year, the discussion was long and at times heated. The end result, however, was a great class of inductees. August: CV Workshop Mark Wimberly MS4 and the Center for Academic Excellence put on this workshop to help students perfect and polish their well-padded CV's. Especially useful for the third and fourth years getting ready for residency applications, the workshop focused on style, formatting and things to leave on and off this important document. For those that did not make the workshop, please see the CAE on the web or in person for crucial help in making your CV perfect. In the Academic Year of 2003-04 the alpha chapter of AOA in South Carolina instituted a $8,000.00 scholarship, known as the AOA Pitts-Aiken scholarship, honoring the memories of Dr. Pitts, whose generous endowment to AOA funds the scholarship, and Dr. Hugh Aiken, AOA member of the class of 1996, whose tragic and early death we still mourn. The recipient of the scholarship was selected by a committee of AOA members (students, faculty and alumni) from a list of candidates provided by the Dean's Office. Outstanding academic qualifications and other attributes that suggest potential for leadership in the profession and community were considered in selecting the recipient of the scholarship. The first recipient of the Scholarship, James Ken Byrd, graduated Magna cum Laude from the Honors School at USC with a major in Chemistry and minors in Biology and Medical Humanities. During his career at USC he was eleected to Phi Beta Kappa, served as Student Senator, Vice-President of membership for Omicron Delta Kappa, and Director for Academic Affairs of Delta Tau. He was also involved in fundraising and community service activities.
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