Academic Excellence Day at St. Joseph's Reaches 5th Anniversary

Academic Excellence Day at St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center saw 15 medical students, nursing students, residents, nurses, researchers and physicians receive honors from the hospital's Department of Academic Affairs.

More than 150 participated in the 5th Annual Academic Excellence Day on May 9 and the awards were given the areas of Case Reports, Clinical Research, Outstanding Medical Students, Clinical Case Reports, Research Reports and Patient Safety. The event was sponsored by a grant from MICA, a physician-owned and directed mutual insurance company. 

"Academic Excellence Day is one of the most exciting events we hold at St. Joseph's every year," says Jaya Raj MD and co-chair for the event. "It gives us an opportunity to showcase the very best work in research, patient care, and patient safety being done by our faculty, residents, students and nurses. We come together as a community to learn from each other, support each other's work, and celebrate the incredible talent we have in our nurses and physicians in training."

St. Joseph's Department of Academic Affairs began in 1936. It was the first American Medical Association recognized internship in the state of Arizona. "Academic Excellence Day provides a unique opportunity for those in the St. Joseph's community to share the scholarly work in which they are engaged. Such an event is consistent with the values of the organization and of the professions of medicine and nursing. In addition, the topics and strategies displayed and discussed are focused on improving outcomes for our patients, which is our highest calling," says Carol Hatler, PhD, RN and co-chair of the event.

This year's winners are listed below:

POSTER PRESENTATIONS

Case Reports

1st Brian Beck, MD, Neurology PGY-3 
Post-Ictal Lateralized Hyperkinetic Motor Behavior

2nd David Hill, MD, General Surgery 
Minimally Invasive Robotic Right Hemidiaphragm Plication: A Case

3rd Courtney Schusse, MD, Clinical Neurophysiology/Epilepsy Fellow 
Hemispherectomy in Adults with Intractable Epilepsy: A Report of 5 Cases

Clinical Research

1st Rohit Khanna, MD, Diagnostic Radiology PGY-2 
Tarlov Cyst Prevalence in PudendalNeuralgia

2nd Christopher Dardis, MD, Neuro-Oncology Fellow 
A Bayesian approach to the Analysis of Clincal Trial Data Using Logistic Regression: Example from a Randomized Placebo-Controlled Crossover Trail of Propranolol for Migraine Prevention

3rd Lisa Hughes, RN, MSNEd., CNOR 
Comparing Forced-Air Warming Devices

Outstanding Medical Students

1st Megan Hamre, MSIII 
A Rare Case of Breast Carcinosarcoma with Lymphatic Metastasis

2nd Staci Shepard 
Cogenital Cytomegalovirus Improved with Hyperimmune Globulin Therapy in an HIV Positive Mother

3rd Mario Mitkov 
The role of HLA Genotype in Carbamazepine-induced cutaneous reactions

ORAL PRESENTATIONS

Clinical Case Reports

1st Mohan Kumar, MD, Internal Medicine PGY-3
An Uncommon Cause of Cholestatic Hepatitis - Epstein Barr Virus

2nd Shaghayegh Khayambashi, MD, Internal Medicine PGY-2 
A Devastating Complication of Newly Diagnosed Granulomatosis with Polyangitis

Research Projects

1st Eric D. Woolf, BNI Research Fellow 
The Ketogenic Diet Potentiates radiation Therapy in a Mouse Model of Glioma: Effects on Inflammatory Pathways and Reactive Oxygen Species

2nd Varun Mehta, MD, Internal Medicine PGY-2 
Cell Phone Text Messaging to Support Diabetes Mellitus self-management

Patient Safety

1st Nicole Hooft, MD, General Surgery PGY-2 
Saccadic Eye Movements Reflect Surgical Resident Fatigue Level

2nd Dawn Flynn, RN, BSN 
Infection Prevention: A Case for the Disposable Telemetry Lead Sheath