PIONEERING MEDICAL EDUCATION
“A medical school’s first priority should be educating medical students.” Richard Moy, MD
In the early ‘70s, Founding Dean Richard Moy, MD, and the faculty at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine created a unique haven for educators. Today, SIU’s seasoned academic corps continue to be leaders in world-class medical education.
Objectives-based curriculum, problem-based learning, standardized patients and performance-based assessment are the areas that put the school on the map educationally. Clinical competency and professionalism are also indelible trademarks of the training here. SIU graduates are consistently strong clinically and professionally — a tribute to the interest and effort of our teaching faculty.
This unflagging devotion to medical education and research is what drew Debra Klamen, MD, MHPE, to the school. She is the senior associate dean for education and curriculum. “What vaulted SIU to international prominence is the quality and quantity of medical education research and curricular innovations that have come about because of it,” says the former University of Illinois professor. “It’s extremely rare to have a medical school that’s built around education as its No. 1 priority — usually it’s No. 3. I want to be sure that SIU keeps medical education No. 1.”
Explore this issue of Aspects and learn about some of the work that continues to build upon our achievements.
Behavioral Health Workforce Center launched
State and local officials joined Governor JB Pritzker on March 8 in Springfield as he announced ambitious plans for a new Behavioral Health Workforce Center (BHWC) to address the state’s mental health workforce and infrastructure needs. The center will be housed at SIU School of Medicine.
Academic staff will work in partnership with several other agencies, including the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC), the Illinois Board of Higher Education (IBHE), the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS), the Illinois Community College Board (ICCB) and the Illinois Student Assistance Commission (ISAC). The groups will work together to increase Illinois’ capacity to recruit, educate and retain behavioral health professionals. A $5 million annual investment from IDHS will support the center’s work.
At the announcement held at the Memorial Learning Center, Pritzker said the program will be a linchpin in his efforts to improve the state’s mental health services, ensuring that care is provided quickly and effectively in urban and rural areas statewide.
“From care portals and universal screenings to improved coordination of service delivery and increased statewide capacity, we are laying out a plan to build the best behavioral health system in America but in order to make all of that happen, we need a quality, robust workforce to meet the demands of the time.” - Governor Pritzker
Illinois has been facing a workforce crisis in mental health for years due to a shortage of behavioral health specialists. Local staffing levels were already critical in rural and small urban communities before the pandemic made matters worse globally, with a 25 percent increase in people seeking mental health care. Currently, 15,000 people are on waiting lists for community-based intellectual and developmental disabilities placement, according to a recent report by Capitol News Illinois, Lee Enterprises and ProPublica Illinois.
In addition to staff shortages, there is a need for training in evidence-based practices to support provision of high-quality services. In response, the IBHE and DHS created the BHWEC in 2022 to increase the number of behavioral health professionals across the state and meet the training needs of behavioral health providers.
Kari Wolf, MD, chair of psychiatry at SIU School of Medicine, will serve as CEO of the new center. “I’m honored to lead this initiative and look forward to working with our partners here today,” Wolf said. “I’m also ready to work closely with educators, providers, learners, advocates and regional partners around the state to address the behavioral health workforce needs in this state.”
Wolf said the project can be transformative, not just for the people of Springfield and Illinois, but for the nation as well, in terms of addressing shortages in the workforce for mental health and behavioral health facilities.
“Workforce shortages are something that’s not unique to Illinois; it’s something that exists across the country,” she said. “When I speak with my colleagues across the country, they are jealous of the work that we’re doing, that we have a dedicated emphasis and are building this center specifically to address the health care workforce in this community.”
The center is structured as a multi-site model. SIU School of Medicine serves as the administering hub and provides primary coordination of the consortium and support for building the behavioral health pipeline to increase entry into behavioral health. The UIC Jane Addams College of Social Work serves as a secondary hub to provide support for specific data collection and training initiatives. Additional institutions of higher education, including public and independent universities and community colleges in 10 regions, will be invited to participate as a consortium of educational partners.
Officials from many of the groups appeared alongside Pritzker, including IDHS Secretary Grace Hou, Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton, State Sen. Laura Fine, D-Glenview, State Rep. Lindsey LaPointe, D-Chicago, Springfield Mayor Jim Langfelder and SIU President Daniel Mahony to discuss the impact the program will have on mental health services statewide.
Number of children ingesting marijuana edibles spikes
The volume of cases of children accidentally consuming cannabis edibles has grown alarmingly over the past five years, according to a new study in the Journal of Pediatrics. Marit Tweet, MD, a medical toxicologist and emergency medicine physician at SIU School of Medicine, led the research.
During that time period, the number of states allowing adult recreational use more than doubled, and accidental ingestion by children age 6 or younger increased 1,375 percent.
Tweet became interested in the topic while doing a fellowship at the Illinois Poison and Control Center in 2019. That spring, Illinois state lawmakers debated and ultimately approved the recreational use of marijuana. Tweet collaborated on the research with two physicians at the IPCC, Michael Wahl, MD, and Antonia Nemanich, MD.
“The big buzz at that time was that cannabis was going to be legalized for recreational adult use on January 1, 2020 [in Illinois]" Tweet told NPR. Marijuana is now legal for medical use in 37 states and for recreational use in 21 states and Washington, D.C.
The group studied trends of children younger than 6 who ingested edible cannabis from 2017-2021. They found an increase in "acute toxicity" associated with the cases dating to the beginning of the pandemic, marked by critical care admissions and more patients admitted to noncritical care beds.
Tweet and the authors believe the increase resulted from more time being spent at home during the early months of the COVID-19 outbreak. Edible marijuana products are also offered in brightly colored, enticing packaging that is "identical in style to how candy and snack products are marketed,” they said in the study.
The National Poison Data System (NPDS) reported there were 207 cases of pediatric edible cannabis consumption in 2017. The number rose to 3,054 cases in 2021. Of those cases, 573 children were admitted to critical care units and 1,027 were admitted to noncritical care units. A total of 2,550 children were treated and released. "And those are just the reported cases," said Tweet. Drowsiness, breathing problems, fast heart rate and vomiting were the most common symptoms.
Several states have taken steps to reduce exposure by passing laws mandating childproofing packaging for marijuana products.
Tweet is hoping more states change their laws and change the packaging to make it less appealing to children. “When it’s in a candy form or cookies, people don’t think of it in the same way as household chemicals or other things a child could get into,” she said. “But people should really be thinking of it as a medication.”
► Read the study at bit.ly/3l8Vvqt
SIU Medicine adds Health Equity Scholars program
SIU School of Medicine has launched a new scholar track for medical students and staff who want to advance diversity and integration, reduce stigma and biases, and practice anti-racism and critical consciousness in health care.
The Health Equity Scholar Pathway is offered to physicians, staff and students as part of the 4-year curriculum in Carbondale and Springfield. Courses provide guidance in six program areas:
- Education
- Research & discovery
- Advancing patient care
- Challenging assumptions
- Social responsibility
- Community service
Learners pursuing a health equity scholarship can achieve three certification levels. Medical students who reach the third level will graduate with a Health Equity Scholar distinction at commencement.
“SIU Medicine wants our learners to develop patient advocacy skills that can empower their future training and careers,” said Kelly Hurst, equity strategist. “This newest scholar track emphasizes the importance of pursuing inclusive, bias-free medical education opportunities, and treating everyone with empathy and respect.”
Health Equity Scholars can explore and research various dimensions of diversity, including race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran status, age, socioeconomic status, ability and more.
Participants will attain knowledge and understanding of best practices in medical care through lectures, workshops and guided book studies, research, attending cultural or arts events that provide social connections to issues of equity or diversity, and online learning from podcasts, webinars or conferences. In addition, each student will be matched with a Health Equity mentor as they begin the pathway.
SIU School of Medicine Dean and Provost Dr. Jerry Kruse said, “Equity in health care has never been more important. The recent COVID-19 pandemic has shined a bright spotlight on the disparities within the U.S. health care system. Racial, socioeconomic and geographic challenges will need to be understood, and overcome, to reverse trends that show the U.S. is losing ground in significant health care categories among comparable countries.”
► For more information on the program, visit siumed.edu/diversity/health-equity-scholar-pathway.
A study in longevity: Dr. Don Caspary earns new 5-year NIH grant
In January 2023, SIU Professor Don Caspary, PhD, received official notice from the National Institutes of Health that his latest proposal to study how aging impacts how we hear speech-like sounds would be funded for the next five years. This is welcome news to any medical researcher who wants to be productive and stay employed. But for Caspary and the school of medicine, the new grant is yet another historic achievement. It marks an incredible 38-year run of federal funding for Caspary’s scientific experiments. When the new studies conclude, it will have spanned 43 years.
Associate Dean for Research Don Torry, PhD, is very familiar with all the challenges that medical researchers face, being one himself. “This is rarified air for sure — just amazing when you stop and think about it,” he says. “Don’s discoveries are a big part of why SIU is world-famous in the field of auditory research.”
What is just as remarkable is Caspary’s ongoing passion for the work, his admiration for his teammates and for the institution he calls home. He is one of SIU School of Medicine’s original research faculty.
In 1973, Caspary was invited to join a new medical school being built on the site of a defunct brewery in Springfield. The post doc from SUNY-Albany would be tasked with teaching and initiating the research programs at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine.
A half-century later, Caspary is an SIUC Distinguished Scholar and professor of pharmacology. His research throughout has focused on age-related hearing loss, central sensory plasticity, tinnitus, sensory pharmacology, anatomy, physiology and neurochemistry of the auditory pathway.
During the medical school’s 50th anniversary celebration in 2020, Caspary was asked the secret to his academic longevity.
“That’s an easy question,” he said. “If I couldn’t get my grants funded or my papers published, I wouldn’t still be doing this. Science is a fairly competitive game, and if your colleagues allow you to compete and you have wonderful people working with you in the lab, it’s kind of hard to stop.”
Pictured: Kevin Brownell, Rui Cai, Dr. Don Caspary and Lynne Ling
New doctoral degree program for physician assistants
Physician assistants (PAs) interested in advancing their career and education have a new option. Initially launched in 2021, SIU School of Medicine’s Doctor of Medical Science (DMSc) degree program takes one year to complete and is fully online. It’s also one of the most affordable PA doctoral programs in the U.S. “The curriculum is designed specifically for PAs, so students are able to work full-time while learning,” said Program Director Jacob Ribbing, DMSc. “They will have greater career options going forward, too. They’ll be more prepared, adaptable and marketable in the evolving health care landscape.”
The program was designed to prepare graduates to excel as leaders and advocates in health care, higher education, research and innovative industries, disaster response, and public and private agencies. Graduates will be thoroughly grounded in their respective career paths’ ethical and legal implications, said Ribbing.
PAs created the advanced degree. It uses online learning activities and provides the choice of a clinical or educational practicum for a deeper dive into the type of profession the learner wants to pursue.
Jennifer Orozco, DMSc, is the current president of the American Academy of Physician Associates and a graduate of the program (Class of 2022). “The flexibility and pace allowed me to balance work, school and family, along with my duties as AAPA president. I’d highly recommend this program to any PA seeking to advance their career and the profession,” she said.
Two cohorts are offered each year, beginning in January and May.
► To learn more about the Doctor of Medical Science program visit, siumed.edu/dmsc.
'Ectopic banking’ saves Jacksonville man's hand
A new surgical technique at SIU Medicine helped save a man’s hand after a farming accident in rural Jacksonville in the autumn of 2022.
When silage equipment severed nearly half of 31-year-old Benjamin Heinemann’s hand, Tim Daugherty, MD, a plastic and reconstructive surgeon with the Department of Surgery, didn’t hesitate. The School of Medicine alum-turned-faculty performed an “ectopic banking” procedure to preserve Heinemann’s chances of keeping his hand. Ectopic banking is a revolutionary technique that temporarily reconnects an amputated body part to the patient for later replantation.
Daugherty was on call for his first weekend of hand trauma emergencies at SIU Medicine plastic surgery. He had just returned to Springfield after completing an extensive hand fellowship in Baltimore, Maryland, at the Curtis National Hand Center.
“I had them send me some photographs and I immediately started planning the surgery,” said Daugherty. A portion of the hand and fingers were damaged but in one piece.
As the surgical team at Springfield Memorial Hospital prepped Heinemann for surgery, Daugherty focused his attention on the amputated portion of the hand. During this initial operation, the doctor and his team used microsurgery to repair structures in the hand, tagging tendons and nerves for later identification. Daugherty then attached the amputated portion of Heinemann's left hand to his right forearm. The surgery took 8 hours.
This was the first time the ectopic banking procedure had been performed in the Midwest.
Over the next 6 weeks, Heinemann recovered at Springfield Memorial Hospital while his medical team closely monitored the banked portion of his left hand. Once the blood vessels in his fingers had grown into the fingers, Daugherty determined the left hand was ready to reattach. During this 12-hour surgery, Daugherty and a team of surgeons and residents from the Institute for Plastic Surgery lifted the fingers from the right forearm and reattached them to Heinemann’s left hand using microsurgical anastomosis, a technique requiring optical magnification through an operating microscope or loupes.
Throughout his recovery, Heinemann and others have been surprised that such a revolutionary and complex surgery is available in central Illinois. For Springfield native and SIU School of Medicine alumni Daugherty, it was a well-known fact — and one that led him to return to the Land of Lincoln following his Baltimore fellowship.
“SIU being a smaller place you would think that they wouldn’t be known at the national level like they are for hand surgeries. So I’m very fortunate to have trained at some of the best institutions for hand surgeries, and I’m glad that I can continue that tradition,” Daugherty told WICS Newschannel 20.
The replantation surgery was successful. Heinemann was released from inpatient care and given time for his bones and tissue to heal. He will undergo months of hand therapy at the Institute for Plastic Surgery. Future surgeries will reconstruct nerves and reinsert tendons. The hope is that he will regain function and dexterity as well as sensation, Daugherty said.
Heinemann is just happy to be back to his normal routine.
“I can’t believe that I would ever complain,” he said. “I’m more grateful for everyday things, because I know it can all change very, very quickly.”
In conclusion: Dr. Christine Todd retires
Christine Todd, MD, chair of the Department of Medical Humanities, retired at the end of January 2023. Her professional career was spent almost exclusively at SIU School of Medicine, her alma mater (’93).
Todd was a first-generation college student from Downers Grove, Ill., and earned her BA in English Language and Literature at the University of Chicago. As a student at SIU School of Medicine, she says she knew the school was different — with its emphasis on problem-based learning and a focus on the patient — but it wasn’t until her residency that she realized the depths of these differences.
“SIU is kind of special in terms of ‘walking the walk.’ It attracts people with its innovative medical education, and then can produce high-quality clinicians who are empathetic, good communicators and have the right priorities and values."
She completed residency training in internal medicine at the University Hospitals of Case Western Reserve University and the Cleveland VA Medical Center, serving as chief resident at both institutions. From 1997-2000, Dr. Todd was in private practice in Mason City for a three-year public service contract. As a volunteer SIU faculty during that time, she received the Dr. Richard Allyn Memorial Award for Best Community Faculty of the Year from the Department of Internal Medicine (IM).
When former IM Chair David Steward, MD, MPH, offered Todd a faculty position at the end of her service term, she jumped at it. Steward had been the department’s residency director when Todd was a student and she had deep admiration for the physician. “I welcomed the opportunity to participate in what Dr. Steward was building here,” she says.
Among many, Dr. Steward and Dr. Sergio Rabinovich (former IM chair) were Todd’s favorite mentors. “I call them my Doctor Dads,” she says. Besides being ever-supportive and personable, Dr. Rabinovich “always led with curiosity, and I could see how it paid off. I thought that’s the right way to interact with people.” Todd engrained it into her professional approach.
In partnership with SIU and St. John’s Hospital, Todd and colleague Robert Robinson, MD, pioneered the new IM in-house physician position of “hospitalist” in 2003, caring for all hospitalized patients who had SIU internists as their primary care physicians, plus referrals. From 2006-14, she directed the program. She was cross-appointed to associate professor of both internal medicine and medical humanities in 2008.
While a busy clinician, Todd served as an associate program director for the internal medicine residency program. She introduced reflective writing in both residency and student curriculum, born from her personal interests in writing and the arts. She was a frequent contributor to Scope, the medical school’s literary arts magazine, and became its faculty advisor after being named chair of the Department of Medical Humanities in 2014.
The move from internal medicine to medical humanities was a realignment of her work-life balance, Todd says. As a founding faculty hospitalist for SIU HealthCare (now SIU Medicine), she felt she accomplished what she wanted to do, and was ready for a different challenge. As part of that balance, she reconnected with her former Downers Grove classmate Mike McCullough, a Chicago attorney, in 2013. The two married in 2022.
Most recently, Todd took on new duties as the chief wellness advocate for the Center for Human and Organizational Potential (cHOP), founded at SIU School of Medicine in 2019. In that role, Dean Jerry Kruse called her “the conscience of SIU Medicine,” embodying excellence in teaching, student evaluation and promoting equity in the school’s administrative processes. “Her pursuit of justice and organizational equity was unrelenting and effective,” he said. “Rather than waiting for leaders to arise, Dr. Todd taught us to actively seek out leaders for the future and provide them with the support they need for success.”
When Todd received the Leonard Tow Humanism Award in Medicine in 2012, her student nominators cited her enthusiasm, care and compassion, always acting in the patient’s best interests. “She set an amazing example for the residents and medical students, making us strive to become the best physicians that we could be.”
Through the shifting facets of her career, Todd’s dedication to “walking the walk” at SIU School of Medicine made her someone her colleagues and students all wanted to work beside and learn from.
New parents-to-be can receive at-home nurse visits
SIU Medicine is now offering personal nurses to qualifying families through the Nurse-Family Partnership of Sangamon County.
Registered nurses are available to provide support, advice and information to first-time parents to ensure a safe pregnancy and a healthy baby, while learning how to become great parents. Nurses regularly visit the new families starting early in the pregnancy until the child’s second birthday.
Nurse-Family Partnership is a national, evidence-based program model locally funded through the Community Foundation for the Land of Lincoln, private donations to the SIU Foundation, the Sangamon County Department of Public Health, and a grant from NurseFamily Partnership. “These collaborations are an important step in enhancing the health of children and families in Sangamon County,” said Lindsay Sleade, RN, program coordinator in SIU’s Office of Community Care.
NFP programs have been in place across the country for nearly 40 years. Data from a 15-year follow-up study to a trial program showed that 48 percent of children were less likely to suffer child abuse and neglect, and 67 percent were less likely to experience behavioral and intellectual problems at age 6.
Adding a personal nurse to a new mother’s health care team can improve these statistics. Parents who are a part of the Nurse-Family Partnership program have shown an 18 percent decrease in pre-term deliveries. The family will learn and practice methods to improve confidence in parenting, and get tips on breastfeeding, nutrition, child development, safe-sleep practices and more. There is no cost to qualified families.
Series invites participants to be 'co-liberators'
Each February, SIU School of Medicine hosts a series of events to honor Dr. Alonzo Kenniebrew, the first Black physician in the United States to build and operate a private surgical hospital. The 2023 Kenniebrew Lecture and Forum was expanded to include an all-day medical conference on Friday, February 17.
Ann-Gel Palermo, DrPH, was the featured speaker and visiting professor for the week. Palermo is the senior associate dean for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) at the Icahn School of Medicine, Mt. Sinai. During the Kenniebrew Lecture on Thursday evening, she presented ideas to move people from awareness to action in her talk ‘Reimagining Strategies to Achieve Health Equity.’
Palermo believes the majority of DEI initiatives miss the mark because they do not identify differences that matter and the context involved. She encouraged participants to recognize the big picture when inequities are present, and focus on creating holistic solutions. “Make frequent anti-racist choices daily. Co-liberation is not about who you are, it’s about what you do,” she said.
A pair of awards were announced that evening to honor an individual and a group who continue the groundbreaking work that Dr. Kenniebrew modeled. Charlene Aaron, PhD, and SIU’s Center for Human and Organizational Potential (cHOP) received the Kenniebrew Equity Awards, in recognitionof their efforts to actively promote inclusive excellence and equitable practices.
Dr. Aaron is chancellor and professor at St. John’s College of Nursing in Springfield. She has dedicated much of her work to promoting diversity, inclusion and cultural development at the college, the Hospital Sister’s Health System, and in the surrounding community.
Among her achievements, she initiated a diversity and inclusion plan for the college that focused on recruitment strategies for diverse students. She started outreach for first generation college students to identify learning needs, implement support resources and offer recognition awards. Under her leadership the school’s diversity level has increased from 3% to 13%.
Aaron was instrumental in initiating the development of an LPN to BSN Transition Pathway that is the first and only one in the state of Illinois. She also created the Nursing Pipeline Preparatory Program (NP3) for the development of future nurses to enter the Springfield-area workforce. The after-school program invites Sangamon County high school students to learn about health conditions that nurses manage in the hospital, community and patients' homes.
CHOP at SIU School of Medicine was launched in 2019 to advance professional development for our faculty, learners, staff and the local community. Well-being and belonging are central to its mission, so cHOP group leaders made equity, inclusion and belonging foundational at the outset. They formed a key partnership with the Office of EDI, and the two teams regularly collaborate, resulting in a myriad of projects and accomplishments.
CHOP’s success stories include: an internal grant program focused on measures to enhance EDI on campus and in Sangamon County; broadening the medical school’s Employee Engagement survey to encompass questions on bias and racism; active participation on the SIU Anti-racism Task Force, P4 Advisory Committee and Anti-bias Curriculum Committee; strategic partnerships with Human Resources to address diversity, equity and inclusion in recruitment and retention as well as challenges faced in working relationships and the work environment. CHOP also works with several medical student affinity groups to bring cultural awareness and humility to SIU Medicine.
► Read more about the forum at bit.ly/401k3jX.
Fourth-year medical students gathered with family, friends and faculty at the Memorial Learning Center on March 17, to discover their next-level training destinations on Match Day 2023. The soon-to-be graduates, along with nearly 43,000 students at other medical schools across the United States, received results from the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP). A total of 65 SIU students secured residency positions.
The students have experienced a unique journey through medical school, disrupted by a pandemic that made learning more challenging and adaptability paramount. With the endpoint in sight, organizers planned a memorable morning. Festivities for the Match Day on St. Patrick’s Day included a champagne toast, personalized cupcakes, colorful decorations and a countdown clock ticking the seconds off to 11 a.m.
Associate Dean of Student Affairs and Admissions Haneme Idrizi, MD, distributed the NRMP letters to the students around 10:50. She said, “This is a special day, a day you need to always remember, after all the hard work you put in and the many sacrifices you made to get here. It has been my honor to work with you for the past 8 months ... and no matter what you read when you open these envelopes, know that we are so proud of you and know that you will accomplish great things.”
Match results also were announced for SIU’s residency programs in Springfield, based at the school’s two affiliated hospitals – Springfield Memorial Hospital and HSHS St. John’s Hospital. With the match, 80 starting positions in Springfield were filled. The first-year residents will join more than 260 senior residents and fellows already in training at SIU programs in Springfield.
“We’re delighted with the match outcome,” said Karen Broquet, MD, associate dean for graduate medical education. “Residents and fellows are integral to the community and our mission. SIU School of Medicine and our partner hospitals in central and southern Illinois continue to attract a talented and dedicated group of accomplished physicians to the region.”
Bloomington-Normal native and fourth-year medical student Emilee Gibson is a force. The Class of 2023 president, medical student representative to the Illinois State Medical Society’s Government Affairs Council, and future OB-GYN is advocating for women on a personal level as well as at local, state and national levels.
TELL US ABOUT YOUR EDUCATION PRIOR TO SIU. I attended the University of Iowa and earned a Bachelor of Science in human physiology with minors in global health and Spanish. I loved my time in Iowa City cheering on the Hawkeyes and studying a wide variety of topics. I especially enjoyed the classes I took for my global health minor, learning about foreign aid and sustainable development. Iowa City will always hold a special place in my heart.
PRIOR TO STARTING YOUR MEDICAL EDUCATION, WHAT WERE YOU DOING? I took two years off between my undergraduate studies and medical school. During this time, I worked as a research assistant in the neurology department at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. I helped coordinate more than 20 clinical trials, including studies looking at aneurysm treatments, multiple sclerosis, ALS and Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease to name a few. I loved my job and working with patients.
Another thing I was heavily involved with during my gap years was being the lead advocate for the United Nations Foundation Shot@Life Campaign for Iowa, Illinois and Nebraska. This campaign aims to increase access to vaccines around the globe. In this role, I lobbied state and federal lawmakers to increase federal funding for global vaccine programs and met with members of Congress and their staff with the UN Foundation. Through this experience, I found a passion for health policy and health care legislation. I even went to Uganda with the UN Foundation to observe its vaccine program and meet with health officials there. I’m still involved, but on a lesser scale since I’ve been busy with medical school.
TELL US ABOUT YOUR RESEARCH INTERESTS. I am currently working with Dr. [Jongjin] Martin in the SIU OB-GYN department on an IDPH-sponsored project to look at breastfeeding disparities in Sangamon County. We are working to improve breastfeeding initiation rates by increasing education and follow-up on breastfeeding support for new mothers. I’m really interested in exploring different health disparities in OB-GYN and looking at how they affect access to care, contraception, birthing support, and breastfeeding.
WHAT DO YOU LIKE MOST ABOUT THE PROGRAM AND YOUR CAREER PATH? One thing I really love about OB-GYN is that it gives me the opportunity to empower women through all stages of their life and health. I’m excited to be able to perform surgeries, practice different procedures and form relationships with patients. I was also drawn to OB-GYN because it not only combines all aspects of medicine that I love, but it also has ample areas to work in the space of health policy. I am passionate about health policy and believe physicians should be involved in writing policy and legislation that improves the lives of patients. Whether it is maternal mortality rates, contraception access, breastfeeding support or the HPV vaccine, OB-GYN has so many areas that need a strong advocate and hopefully to fill that role one day.
I am excited and passionate about the intersection of health care and the law. I want to be very involved in health care policy as a future OB-GYN and use my experiences with patients and health care systems to help write laws and policies that better serve patients and providers, working with organizations like the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG) and government agencies. I hope to eventually end up in Washington, D.C. to do this work and might even consider running for elected office someday as well, who knows! I believe there is a great need and opportunity for physicians to get involved with health care policy and I’m excited to see where my career takes me.
WHAT MIGHT WE FIND YOU DOING OUTSIDE OF SCHOOL? Outside of school, I spend a lot of time with my friends. We have a very close group of about 12 friends who have really become like a second family throughout our time in medical school. We go to the gym together, plan theme parties, have game nights, watch sports, and even plan trips together. I also really enjoy taking care of all of my plants; I’m up to 14 plants in my apartment. My favorite are my orchids! I also enjoy walking around the farmers market during the summer months and hanging out in the local coffee shops in downtown Springfield.
TELL US ABOUT YOUR EXTRACURRICULARS. I am the Class of 2023 president so I am involved with student assembly and planning events for the school/class. I’m also president of the Health Policy Interest Group, where I organize students to talk about policy issues, and OB-GYN interest group, where I help set up skills labs (such as birth simulations) and help coordinate volunteer events with the local domestic violence shelter. Additionally, I am involved with the Sangamon County Medical Society and Illinois State Medical Society. I am the sole medical student representative to the state medical society Government Affairs Council where I vote on resolutions and stay up-to-date on current legislation that might affect the practice of medicine in Illinois.
TELL US ABOUT YOUR FAMILY. I am the daughter of Mark and Kathy Gibson, both still in Bloomington. My dad is a professor of marketing at Illinois State University and my mom is an aide to elementary school kids with special needs. I have one younger brother, John, who works on the business side for the Chicago Cubs. We are a big baseball family, and I have been a die-hard Cubs fan my whole life!
WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE QUOTE? “Women belong in all places where decisions are being made. It shouldn't be that women are the exception.” — Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
I have long admired RBG for how she tactfully and cleverly fought for gender equality in the courts. RBG was one of only a few women in law school and went on to fight sexist precedents in the law - that inspires me to speak up in rooms where I am the only woman. Her career has empowered me and helped ignite my passion to empower my patients as well.
REFLECTIONS ON TEACHING AND LEARNING THROUGH A PANDEMIC
By Debra Klamen, MD, MHPE, senior associate dean for education and curriculum from a 2022 Center for Human and Organizational Potential Wellness Conference presentation; transcription by Steve Sandstrom
“May you live in interesting times.” - ancient Chinese curse
The COVID-19 pandemic of early 2020 certainly made for very interesting times in education. All of us were affected by it. There was no avoiding it.
Do you remember where you were when the world shut down? I was just coming back from a conference in Kuala Lumpur. We got back on March 5. On March 11, the WHO declared COVID-19 a pandemic. On March 13, everything shut down.
The impact on education was going to be immediate. But we caught a break: The first-year students were literally on their spring break. That bought us a week.
My first problem: We had a bunch of international students from Japan rotating with us, in fourth-year electives and doing problem-based learning with our second-year students. I was terrified that these young people were going to be stuck with us for the duration of the pandemic. We had seen the writing on the wall, and by March 6 they were all on a plane headed home. That was a load off my mind.
But looking at what was ahead was daunting.
Course work had to become virtual over the weekend. An annual Teaching and Learning Symposium was canceled because they didn’t have the technology to do it remotely. Our fourthyear’s Match Day plans were scuttled. And with all the unknowns surrounding the virus, the fear level was huge.
The work on the educational component put me at the office for two weeks straight, 12-to-18-hours a day, to try to get everything organized, online and squared away. The first- and second-year curriculum involves lectures and tutor groups (small groups of 6 or 7 students in a room with a tutor for a couple hours twice a week). The third- and fourth-years have a lot of scheduled encounters with patients in clinical settings, many of which we feared were about to be inundated with COVID patients. All of that had to be addressed.
As I’d learned from my time running a psychiatry in-patient unit, if I looked disturbed, alarmed, upset or that I somehow didn’t know what I was doing, there’s a ripple effect. I needed to get things rearranged while trying to look calm. I brought in my pillow and blanket and slept in the office for four consecutive days. It was easier, because the time it took me to commute and then figure out how to do things on the computer when I wasn’t terribly literate wasn’t worth it.
Everything was crazy that first week. Nobody knew what was going on. No one knew anything about COVID but you’d hear these scary stories coming out of Europe. I thought back to when we were in Kuala Lumpur. The first couple of days looked like a normal conference. By the third day you saw an increasing number of people wearing masks, which is more common in Eastern countries than it is in the United States. By the second-to-last day, everyone except the people from North America had donned masks. We knew it was serious.
At SIU School of Medicine, we’re devoted to education. In the midst of all this confusion in Week 1, something glorious and typical of SIU School of Medicine happened: Everybody stepped up to the plate. IT folks and medical library staff worked doubletime to make sure everyone could get connected and access things. Our clerkship directors, unit directors and year directors were all on high alert and on speed dial. Three of us would get on the phone and make a major decision. We didn’t have time to do things through the usual channels. We shut the whole place down and rebooted in 2 weeks.
The year 1 students got an extra week of vacation. The year 2 students got two weeks vacation. Neither group complained.
The most challenging problem at the start should not come as a surprise. It was the faculty’s use of technology. Those who are older and less adept at using all the apps on phones encountered problems. The students for the most part didn’t. They’d grown up with this stuff.
We already had some courses that were online within the curriculum. But this was EVERYTHING being put online in 2 weeks.
At that time, I don’t think I’d ever used WebEx or Zoom before. I’d certainly never run a tutor group that way. Those of us in the educational leadership roles at universities were talking to each other and trying to find the way forward. Some schools that had never incorporated virtual learning were closed down for as long as 8 weeks.
The timing of the pandemic was out of our control, but we caught another lucky break. SIU’s core third-year rotations take 8 months to complete. Some medical schools spread them out over 12 or 18 months. For our students, the 8 months ended in March. All of our third-years had completed their core rotations before the shutdown occurred.
Necessity is the mother of invention (and creativity). The pediatrics department started doing virtual rounding, using a mobile workstation that they rolled around from room to room in the hospital.
The third-year medical students were now into the time in the calendar when they could pursue their personal education plan, which is selective. The fourth year is all elective. But patient contact was going to be removed from the equation. There was no vaccine. For reasons of safety, everything was going to have to be virtual. We had faculty and students meeting online to figure out what was the essence of the PEP they wanted. Some would meet outdoors in parks to discuss things in person, but from a safe distance.
At times I felt guilty working from home. It was as if I was missing something. Others noted a blurring of the lines between working from home and being home 24/7 during the lockdown. When there’s so much work that has to get done and there’s no longer social events on anyone’s calendar, when does the workday stop?
The death of George Floyd happened in May 2020. An SIU chapter of White Coats for Black Lives organized itself and a campus march in response. We’re proud of these learners for putting their conscience and courage into the fore. It was another example of people under pressure standing up and taking chances during the pandemic.
Before 2020, if I’d have proposed our faculty do a totally virtual tutor group, there’d have been some pushback. When the pandemic made it de facto, I did not hear a single complaint. The shift from tumult into teamwork was amazing.
The Center for Human and Organizational Potential (cHOP) was relatively new, launched in 2019, and was built to help people manage in difficult and not-so-difficult times. In the wake of the pandemic, its creation seemed prescient. Already part of the system, its team moved quickly to provide access to wellbeing resources and tools through Revamp, its employee forum on the intranet.
In June 2020, we let our students go back to seeing patients, but only non-COVID patients. January 2021 we got the vaccine. It was extraordinary to come up with an effective vaccine and have it in production in a year. We all knew people who had been sickened or killed by COVID. I lost three who were close to me.
There were some strange reactions in this first year as we grappled with personal protection vs. individual freedom. I saw someone shopping at Walmart wearing a garbage can. Not the bag; the can. Remember the ivermectin craze? It’s used for management of parasites in livestock. I ride competitive dressage – horse competitions – and we always have a large supply of it in the barn. It disappeared overnight.
The pandemic also gave us time for reflection, to take a breath and do some things we’d been putting off. For some of us, that involved writing. Submissions to our educational journal Teaching and Learning in Medicine increased 67%, according to Anna Cianciolo, PhD.
This ‘spare time’ aspect did not apply to all our faculty and staff, especially those who had young children at home. For many forced into a new home-educator role, it brought a whole different level of stress. By August 2020 many parents were eager for the schools to reopen. Perhaps no more so than their children, who were missing out on the socialization aspects that school offered.
By March/April 2021, anyone around the medical district who wanted the vaccine had access to it. Later in the year, tensions surrounded mandating the vaccine for school of medicine employees. It made perfect sense from a preventive medicine, epidemiological perspective and from data-driven evidence. Not everyone saw it that way.
My 92-year-old mom shared the thoughts of many when she told me, “My gosh, if people had reacted like this when I was a child during the polio epidemic, polio would still be here with us today.”
In October 2021, it was time for the Independent Student Analysis (ISA). The medical school is up for accreditation every 8 years from the Liaison Committee for Medical Education (LCME). If you aren’t accredited, you can’t graduate students who are MDs that can move on to residency programs. The ISA is a survey for students reflecting on their time here, and we provide no input other than a small financial incentive to increase participation.
The LCME’s ISA has room for individual school’s students to add questions of their own. Ours had added 10 questions that dealt specifically with how the students felt we responded to the COVID crisis. Questions like: Did we listen to them? Did we take their needs into account? Were we transparent in our decision-making?
I got the feedback in November. We did phenomenally well. More than 98% strongly agreed that we had done all the right things referenced in the 10 questions. Communication was tight. We were transparent. We had listened to their needs and wants and reacted where possible.
At the time, I felt I was barely keeping a lid on it, trying to grapple with everything thrown at us on both the academic and clinical sides, filling staffing gaps when people were out with COVID, etc. But through it all, the students felt supported and they were happy with us. I was thrilled.
It reminded me of something I have said many times before. Our students will learn despite what we try to do. They are determined people, here to get their degrees. We just need to give them the best tools and get out of their way.
Because I’m a doctor, I’d have friends call on me about what to do. I would explain the best evidence, give them my recommendation and tell them what I had done personally. Sometimes they’d give back a political or wholly emotional argument. At which point I would say, “You asked my opinion, here it is, I gave it. Feel free not to take it, but don’t ask me again.” I’m guessing like some of you, a few friendships were ended over these issues. I was given my biggest lesson in all of this: Fear trumps education.
Again, there’s some room for understanding. The rules for quarantining and treating COVID seemed to change all the time. Even we ‘experts’ in the medical community weren’t always sure what to do. The reason was because the data would change. Fortunately, our dean, Dr. Jerry Kruse, has a master’s in public health. He helped keep us all up to date on the shifts as they occurred. This wasn’t easy. There were times when systems were in conflict. At one point, Memorial, St. John’s, SIU and the Springfield public school district were all following different policies.
To sum up, these various challenges that we faced and everything we went through put us where we are today. We found ways to adapt and improve. Here at SIU School of Medicine, we are always open to educational innovations. COVID also brought more technical innovations, increased communication and enriched empathy.
We have continued to offer a few classes virtually. In some departments we’ve let faculty and staff choose to continue to do a day remotely. We never would have done that without the push from the pandemic. Some jobs don’t allow it, but where you can, people have adjusted to it. It has not affected productivity or the education of our students. I think it works great, and the one day a week can make a huge difference to some of our staff. Our people are our most important asset.
LEARNERS IN LYON
By Steve Sandstrom | Photos by Madison Bandler and Jack Moore
In spring 2022, two SIU medical students were given an early teaching opportunity that was hard to resist. Debra Klamen, MD, MHPE, senior associate dean for education and curriculum, invited third-year medical student Jack Moore and fourth-year Madison Bandler to accompany a handful of SIU faculty to a medical education conference in Lyon, France. There they would present research and learn among thousands of other educators, residents and students from around the world.
The learners’ whirlwind week at the annual conference of the Association for Medical Education in Europe (AMEE) would turn out to be an exciting experience, rich in educational ideas and professional motivation.
Moore is from Tremont, a town of 2,000 an hour north of Springfield. He earned a BS in molecular biochemistry at the University of Illinois and took a gap year before medical school to run a chemistry laboratory. Bandler hails from Decatur and attended the University of Mississippi in Oxford, where she majored in biology, triple-minored in philosophy, Spanish and bioethics, and sparked an interest in humanities and teaching. After college, she too took a gap year, working as a medical scribe and doing experiential learning research in Phoenix.
Both had shown their passion for education during the second year at medical school. Dr. Klamen took note and began enlisting their help in projects that collected and measured student data. With an international conference on the horizon, she proposed that the students’ participation at Lyon in 2022 could enrich both the presenters and the presentations.
AMEE is a worldwide organization with members in more than 90 countries across five continents. It promotes international excellence in education in the health care professions across the continuum of undergraduate, postgraduate and continuing education. It is comprised of individuals and organizations from diverse backgrounds that span the health professions educator sector. They get together through networking, conferences, publications and online activities with the aim of bettering education in their field and learning from colleagues around the globe.
One of AMEE’s main goals is identifying improvements in traditional approaches and supporting innovation in curriculum planning, teaching and learning, assessment and education management. The group presented SIU School of Medicine with its inaugural ASPIRE Stellar Award in 2020 in recognition of our commitment to excellence in a range of educational areas. During the previous decade, the medical school received five of AMEE’s ASPIRE to Excellence awards for various facets of its educational program: student assessment, student engagement, social accountability, medical simulation, and curriculum delivery and innovation. SIU is one of only two medical schools in the world to hold as many as five ASPIRE Awards; the other is Leeds in the U.K.
The summer conferences have served as a connector and information hub for its health professions education specialists and professionals, as well as those with an interest in driving development of the sector forward. However, due to the pandemic, AMEE’s 2020 and 2021 annual conferences were virtual. In August 2022, the conference was again a live event. Expectations and moods were elevated. “It’d been three years since the last one, and we were back in Europe, in France, in person,” said Dr. Klamen. “It was joyous. I think I spent more time hugging people than sitting in presentations.”
Both students had traveled internationally before, though Moore had never been to Europe. He decided to spend an extra day in Paris by himself before continuing to Lyon. It gave him time to acclimate, visit the Louvre and see the Eiffel Tower. Following his short flight to Lyon the next day, Moore “took the most expensive cab ride of my life” from the airport into the city. Fortunately, the dollar was very strong in Europe.
Things didn’t begin well for Bandler’s travels. A 3-hour flight delay out of Springfield caused her to miss a connecting flight at O’Hare. As she waited for the evening flight to Munich, a customer service agent sympathized and gave her lounge access for the day so she could work on administrative tasks. She landed in Lyon a day late. In a lucky break, she discovered another guest at the terminal was going to the AMEE conference, and the two split a $100 Uber ride.
The five-day conference attracted 2,400 health professions educators, 300 students and approximately 400 attendees from the United States. Dr. Klamen’s projects for AMEE involved student perspectives, so Moore and Bandler contributed personal experiences to the presentations. The SIU group hosted an interactive 90-minute workshop on the methodologies used for teaching and assessing clinical reasoning. Bandler provided context on how SIU School of Medicine’s use of a diagnostic justification questionnaire in the standardized patient exam has proven both insightful and effective.
Moore gave a presentation on SIU’s curriculum, its transition to pass-fail and the ending of shelf exams for the third-year rotations. The positive results from these alterations were again shared from the student’s angle. “The room was 95 percent educators,” he says. “I think the audience at these can be skeptical when it’s an educator telling another educator ‘this is what you need to do.’ It may all look good on paper, but what does it really mean? I could explain how the data may seem similar numerically, but the outcomes are much richer for us students.”
The cachet of being a representative from SIU School of Medicine carries some distinction at AMEE gatherings. Other guests sometimes acknowledged the ‘stellar’ status of the institution. The students found the extra attention flattering, yet slightly odd. “Here in the United States we don’t get as much recognition for how innovative we are in medical education,” Bandler says. “But in this international environment in Lyon, around some of the most famous medical educators in the world, it’s a different story.”
“Dr. Klamen was introducing us to people, to help us network, and she’s like a celebrity — everyone knows her. She has come up with all these provocative ideas that at first may be controversial but over time they’ve caught on.”
“We had to go all the way to France to realize how unique SIU is,” Bandler says.
Moore agrees. “Talking to residents at the conference and hearing their stories, I don’t think I understood how competitive other schools were in things like research or grading. They’re constantly struggling to set themselves apart. It’s not something we have to think about at SIU.”
While the school’s size may make it less prominent on the national radar, it excels when using other measurements.
“I’ve got 75 classmates. Knowing everyone keeps us close,” he says. “Even if we don’t hang out together, we can have conversations. Everyone is a resource for you; they’re willing to stop and take 5 minutes to share what they know. At the U of I there were 10,000 freshmen in my class, the complete opposite of the tight community atmosphere I was familiar with in Tremont – and what we have here,” he says.
Bandler also sees distinct selling points across academic categories. She told residency interviewers that SIU’s programmatic assessment format helped to keep her motivated.
“I wasn’t studying to get the best grade. I was studying to better understand the information. I see my peers not as competition, but as collaborators, a part of a team, which is a highly desirable trait in a resident.”
The crowds at the conference and in scenic Lyon (pop. 1,750,000) didn’t intimidate the learners either. When afternoons were free, they took to walking through the city and hopping on the occasional municipal bus. They toured cathedrals, museums, neighborhoods, an ancient Roman amphitheater near the city center and did some shopping.
And there was eating. Lyon is famous for cuisine, with the highest number of Michelin-starred restaurants per capita in France. However, the SIU group’s efforts to book dinner reservations were complicated by the conference’s timing. August is the national vacation month in France, so many of the desired destinations were closed.
Still, they were able to find plenty of culinary treasures at meals out, and in. The chocolate croissants and espresso at the hotel’s complimentary breakfast buffet received rave reviews.
Asked about wine, both students deferred to other famous French fare as their favorites.
“I ate so much cheese while I was there, it was silly,” Bandler says.
Moore brought home four loaves of French bread in his luggage. “They traveled remarkably well. I still have one left in my freezer,” he says.
SURVIVOR RECOVERY CENTER HELPS TRAUMA VICTIMS HEAL
Now in its third year, the SRC continues to expand community education and impact
By Aren Dow
On the opposite wall of Sicely Kluge’s office, past the dinosaurs and the art supplies, hangs the starting point for many of her patients’ sessions: the snack center.
It looks like one of those over-the-door shoe organizers – about five feet tall with pockets in rows – but instead of shoes, there are fruit snacks and juice boxes tucked inside, the ideal comfort food for her 5- to 17-year-old patients. It’s an optimal starting point to help her young patients relax and start their healing process.
Kluge is a licensed clinical social worker for the Survivor Recovery Center (SRC) at SIU School of Medicine, an individual therapy center for those who have experienced trauma related to crime within the past three years. Initially funded in October 2020 through the federal Victims of Crime Act, then passed through the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority, the Center feels less like a clinic and more like a friend’s home.
A calming light lavender coats each of the rooms. Duplos and fidget spinners rest on a table in the kids’ waiting room area. Or for the ones who really want to move, a couple of hula hoops wait to spin. Nearby is a pantry where kids can grab a package of raisins for a snack or pasta for dinner. If their toothpaste or other hygiene items are running low at home, they can grab an item from the shelf below.
This helps create an inviting space for all to help work through trauma, a topic that’s becoming more accepted to acknowledge publicly.
“I think there’s more talk about trauma, more movies about therapy that are opening up people’s eyes to its importance,” says Jill Koester, LCPC. “We want to make sure all genders and races are comfortable coming here.”
The SRC works with those aged 5 and up in Sangamon County and is based on the Trauma Recovery Center (TRC) Model – assertive outreach with community organizations to help meet patients where they are, leading to case management with evidence-based treatment. SIU Medicine’s Center is one of 44 nationwide. As of March 2023, 285 intakes have been completed with 171 served in Year 2.
Not every room has dinosaurs and snacks, of course – therapy is designed for the person’s needs. But for the younger individuals visiting Kluge at the SRC, “playing is the biggest way kids learn and heal.” While some teenagers may feel like they’ve aged out of the many toys around the room, seeing teens interact in a playful way can be incredibly fulfilling.
“A lot of them have to take on some of the parenting roles at home,” Kluge says. “Here, they get the opportunity to just be a kid again.”
Once an individual is identified to have experienced trauma related to crime in the last 3 years, the therapist performs an intake assessment before starting 16 individual sessions. Beyond the weekly sessions are frequent wellness checks. Then, after “graduating” from the program, the SRC sets up a “warm handoff” to help continue progress. The average amount of time an individual is in the program is around 11 months.
There is structure to help move someone toward a healthier life, and plenty of flexibility regarding the patient’s needs in dealing with trauma.
“I think everyone in the world of therapy talks about boundaries, and we definitely do have boundaries,” says Jeanné Hansen, clinical director of the SRC. “But you can’t work that closely with people on a weekly basis and have them tell you these horrible, awful things and not have them touch you.”
“We worry when they disappear for several days. We’re frequently calling in wellness checks because they’re working hard too.”
After the SRC intervenes in times of high crisis, Koester says the program equips clients with the tools and resources necessary to handle future life events.
“I know of someone who’s not far into this, but she’s come so far,” Koester says. “She was in an abusive relationship and has lots of childhood trauma. Addiction was masking emotions that were negative and the response was always anger.”
“If I asked, how do you feel? She’d say, ‘I’m mad.’ But looking deeper, now she’s able to say, ‘Oh, I’m not mad, I’m feeling hurt or lonely, and here’s why.’”
Koester’s patient is hardly alone. While being a victim of a crime in the last three years is the requirement to be seen, there are often additional trauma events in someone’s life.
In fact, 6 out of 10 patients acknowledge two separate “presenting victimizations” (PVs) at initial patient intake, ranging from domestic violence to child abuse to sexual abuse. Often, that number increases as patients are more comfortable sharing their stories. One in 6 patients presents with four PVs at initial intake.
The Departments of Family and Community Medicine and Psychiatry provided the majority of referrals when the SRC first opened, but now that community outreach continues to blossom, as individuals come in from a wide range of places. Non-profit organizations like The Phoenix Center and Sojourn Shelter & Services, Inc., along with government agencies like DCFS, the Illinois State’s Attorney’s Office, and Springfield Police Department are a few of the organizations that have helped direct individuals. Collaboration goes beyond referrals, too. The police department asked the SRC to help with a mock hostage situation to better learn how to help individuals in those situations, and that partnership continues to evolve in positive ways. SRC staff now regularly provide trauma-informed care awareness training to area law enforcement officers.
“As trauma-informed care professionals, we can give them feedback – this is what we’ve heard, here are some thoughts on other ways that you engage and interact with people in the midst of an ongoing trauma,” Hansen says.
“They’ve been so receptive. They asked us to create a scenario because they’re wanting it to be someone specific to having a mental health crisis. We’re creating that for them.”
When Hansen was young, she visited her older sister in her apartment complex and heard a domestic violence situation taking place upstairs. As she watched her sister call the police, one thought ran through her head, “someone needs to intervene, someone needs to be there for people.”
Now she’s a part of an 11-person team at SIU Medicine specifically trained to help people process, understand and heal from situations exactly like that.
“I think it’s important to recognize the warmth, the dedication, the passion that you feel from everyone in this building,” she says. “That passion speaks volumes about this place and why we’re different."
SHARING THEIR SKILLS
Nurse educators fill vital role for medical students
By Steve Sandstrom
Early on a February morning, a half-dozen medical students begin to fill up the couches outside the nation’s first Professional Development Laboratory (PDL) on the third floor of SIU School of Medicine. Nurse educator Karen Reynolds, MS, RN, counts heads as they settle in for a clinical practice exercise.
A military veteran, Reynolds has decades of nursing experience in retirement homes, pediatric care and the emergency department at Springfield Memorial Hospital. She moved to SIU in 1995 as the director of infection control, and in 2000 shifted her focus to assisting medical students as a nurse educator.
Reynolds launches into the case description for the students’ clinical simulation, part of the Year 2 Neuromuscular/Behavior Unit training. The students are told the standardized patient (SP) they are about to examine is a 20-year-old female admitted to the ER at 2 a.m., presenting with anxiety, chest pains and shortness of breath. Reynolds looks around the room. “So what are the things that are the most alarming, the top couple of things that could kill her?”
A chorus of students respond with “M.I.”
“Yes. It’s highly unlikely at her age, but an MI [myocardial infarction] will still need to be checked. What else?”
“Aortic dissection,” one suggests.
“That could be bad, absolutely. What would be characteristic of that?”
As the roundtable discussion kicks in, Reynolds peppers the students with questions on symptoms and system differentials, shifting to include potential mental health disorders and drug use.
Throughout, she reinforces their ideas with affirmations and probes for more: “That’s a good one.” “Sure, go for it.” “I think you hit all the high points there.”
Tips and tidbits are shared. She suggests the learners keep their minds and eyes open for indicators of psychiatric neuroses, like skin lesions and hair loss.
She checks her watch and wraps the session a few minutes later. After confirming that the SPs (actors exhibiting symptoms) are ready, she gives the students their clinic room assignments.
They disappear around the corners to hone their interviewing and diagnostic skills. Reynolds steps into the PDL’s viewing room to watch the performances in progress, observable through two-way mirrors that encircle the space.
Reynolds is confident the SPs will challenge the students — but in a good way, having trained some of the actors herself. And she cares for these young learners who are trying to polish their clinical skills while showing curiosity and compassion.
An empathetic attitude epitomizes the nurse educators at SIU Medicine. They work hard to make life easier for the institution’s physicians, and its physicians-to-be.
PART OF THE TEAM
In the school of medicine’s storied history of medical education innovations, the use of nurse educators is rated near the top by its academic leaders and students. SIU is one of only two medical schools in the nation who use nurse educators extensively in their curriculums (the other is the University of Southern California). The premise is simple: Experienced master’s-degree-educated nurses devote their days to educating students and helping them develop good clinical skills.
Nurse educators have been embedded in the culture of SIU School of Medicine since its first decade, working in groups or individually to ensure students receive guidance.
Why nurses?
RNs have been considered the ‘most trusted profession’ in the United States for decades, according to Gallup polls. They receive this recognition because of high ratings in honesty and ethics. RNs interact with both patients and doctors across a multitude of health care settings, as the ever-reliable ‘go-between.’
And besides being trained caregivers, nurses have long soothed the fears of medical students who were learning their way around hospitals and clinics. The students experience firsthand that nurses are observant and knowledgeable, which fosters a positive teamwork attitude that carries over into their medical careers.
Roland Folse, MD, the first chair of SIU’s Department of Surgery, formalized the position in his department back in 1978. He hired Norma Wylie, MSN, RN, as the school’s first nurse educator. The department’s faculty and students quickly embraced the program.
When SIU School of Medicine revamped its curriculum in 2000, the nurse educator program expanded to include other departments. In addition to two in Surgery, eight nurse educators now work in the Office of Education and Curriculum, serving nearly every clinical department. “I think it’s our most innovative technique since standardized patients,” says Deb Klamen, MD, MHPE, senior associate dean for education and curriculum.
During the school’s 2007 accreditation visit, officials from the Liaison Committee for Medical Education (LCME) were greatly impressed and somewhat surprised with the success of the nurse educators. In its final report accrediting the medical school, the LCME committee called the nurse educator program “a unique model for medical student education that enhances the overall quality of the curriculum.”
What can nurse educators teach medical students that physicians can’t? “A lot,” says Klamen. “They are powerful, focused professionals and they’re doing this full-time. They bring a richness and depth to the medical students in the clinical arena. They are very good at it.”
The nurse educators share tips on how to navigate patient care systems and make sure students are getting their academic requirements; they teach students some clinical skills; they develop, administer and grade exams; they train students to interview patients; and many also train standardized patients.
Cheryl Ashburn, RN, MSN, has served as a nurse educator for the Year 3 Obstetrics and Gynecology Clerkship since 2006. Previously, she spent 10 years as a home-health nurse, a decade teaching clinical skills at Lincoln Land Community College, and six years with the Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts, which she saw as another skill-builder. “It taught me how to herd cats,” she says.
Ashburn and Reynolds attended nursing school together, then reunited at SIU when Reynolds told her about the open nurse educator position. “I had no idea this was an option,” she says. “I now know how unique we are. I go to national conferences a couple times a year, and there are very few nurses coordinating training at the clerkship level.”
Like most of the team, Ashburn also helps with the second-year students, tracking about a dozen throughout the year. There is a lot of behind-the-scenes work to schedule the gamut of clinics and surgeries. She considers the nurse educators’ essential role to be a coordinator and a liaison between the students and the clinical faculty. “We can act as a buffer, and sometimes as a mom. In the clerkship, I tell them, ‘I want you to feel confident in what you’re supposed to be doing. If I can remove some of the anxiety, you can dig in and learn.’”
Beyond what they provide the learners locally, several of the nurse educators have shared the program’s innovations through educational research projects, including improving student feedback methods, student outcomes, students’ efficiency in taking history and physicals and research in population health. For example, Year 3 Surgery Clerkship nurse educators Maggie Boehler, RN, MS, and Cathy Schwind, RN, MS, developed mock page curriculum for SIU’s Surgical Resident Prep Course in 2002. Its popularity caught on, and since 2011 the program has been part of the National Curriculum of Resident Preparatory electives used by medical students across the U.S. It is consistently ranked among the highest experiences within the students’ ‘boot camp’ exercises.
“The role of the nurse educator has endless possibilities,” says Boehler.
REELING IN THE YEARS
In Carbondale, Year 1 SIU medical students get their first flush of encouragement and feedback from physicians as they launch into the framework of patient care. They’re coached and observed by a trio of educators: Lynn Rheinecker, PharmD; Beth Bigham, MD; and Kelly Higgins, MD. Dr. Mick Lynch supervises the team. Rheinecker communicates with the nurse educators in Springfield each month to keep training streamlined. The students get formative practice throughout the academic year, receiving input on note writing, documentation and clinical skills.
They see their first standardized patient within the first week in Carbondale, and learn to ask every question in the question bank, says Reynolds. “Up here, we teach them how to focus and hone it down.” For example, the February psychiatry simulation was a practice lab, with no official observation. The standardized patients provided feedback from within the patient-physician communication realm. But as the students advance through subsequent years of training, other providers will watch them, share their notes and expectations will rise.
Leslie Montgomery, MS, RN, CCRN, has enjoyed serving as a nurse educator for the doctoring curriculum since 2008. “Working with faculty and students is extremely rewarding,” she says. Nurse educators can teach students about compassion, empathy and caring for the whole patient. “We can offer a holistic view of a patient’s needs — bio, psycho, social — because that’s how nurses are trained. It aligns with SIU’s mission to stress the importance of the social determinants of health, how factors outside the clinic space impact the patient’s life.”
Sharing their experiences throughout the second and third years of student education, the nurses give individualized feedback that makes a huge difference in the students’ progression. But just as critical is the nurse educator’s ability to listen, says Carolyn Holmes, MSN, RN-BC, CCHP. Holmes began as an RN in 1989, working alongside SIU rheumatologist (and future dean) Kevin Dorsey, MD, PhD, at Memorial Hospital of Carbondale. She now oversees the Year 3 Neurology Clerkship.
During group sessions, the medical students will often share what they have studied or brought with them from research work they’ve done or a previous job. “Some of our students have been medical scribes, clinical assistants, registered dietitians and EMTs. We have even had experienced pharmacists in our student groups.” Holmes says. “As nurse educators, it is important to create a climate for students to share what they know, as these open communications enrich the learning experience.”
“Our official title is ‘curriculum development specialist,’ but we’re all known as nurse educators,” says Staci Becker, RN, MSN, and educator for Psychiatry’s Year 3 Clerkship since 2000. “We see it as a privilege to work with these outstanding students and future providers.”
The feeling is mutual. Student evaluations for Becker illustrate the NE’s knack for imparting knowledge: “Staci provided feedback that wasn’t generic, but truly offered strategies to make psych interviews more fruitful and less intimidating for the patient.” “... a highly willing educator, giving relevant and useful clinical instruction and pearls at every opportunity.”
Nurses have always served as strong patient advocates, Montgomery says. “Now that we’re here at the medical school, we have expanded that focus to advocating for the students. We like to get to know them and become a cheerleader of sorts for them. We want them to feel comfortable with us, and hope that they’ll talk to us if there’s stuff going on in their lives that affects the way that they’re learning.”
“We’re the non-threatening health care providers,” says Boehler. “Students come to us when they need us. It’s really rewarding.”
Second-year student Michael Brown concurs. “My experience with the nurse educators has been nothing but positive. They are all very friendly, and well-versed in the hard and soft skills of clinical medicine. Karen [Reynolds] has taught me a lot. One of the most valuable things she demonstrates is a genuine concern for our best interests. She is always willing to work with me and others to make sure we’re prepared to succeed.”
Student Molly Smith credits nurse Montgomery for her rapid growth as a clinician in Year 2. “She is always enhancing my knowledge and understanding with her notes, assessments and feedback, and her tips and tricks have led to an improvement in my performance.”
By being ever-present and accessible, the nurse educators become the resource that keeps on giving, Smith says. “My interactions with all of the nurse educators have been great, but I can rave about Leslie because I feel like we’re a perfect pairing. “Whenever we get together I catch her up on what I’m doing. She encourages me every chance she gets. Feeling really supported by someone while you’re in medical school is the greatest gift you can give a student. I’ve received that from Leslie.”
Mary Aiello, director of the Office of Education and Curriculum’s standardized patient program, also appreciates what the nurse educators add to the mix. “I’ve got a wealth of professionals with clinical experience who can train our standardized patients across the curriculum. It’s an enviable position compared to the rest of the country.”
Dr. Roland Folse made a leap of faith to add nurse educators to the curriculum back in the ‘70s. Cheryl Ashburn sees the evidence-based proof of his concept each July. “When I meet the four new OB-GYN resident interns at the beginning of each year, they are often from different schools. Many have never delivered a baby, which they can do in our clerkship. They haven’t had the level of clinical immersion that our students get,” she says. “SIU students really have a leg up.”
With their patient-focused, cumulative knowledge, nurse educators are the approachable and valued team players built to better prepare new physicians for what comes next.
MEET KRIS FISHER
By Rebecca Budde
"I was really interested in SIU’s work in the community, and my past experience has prepared me to be here."
SIU School of Medicine welcomes Kris Fisher, CFRM, as the new executive director of development and alumni relations. Her appointment begins a change that moves the medical school toward an integrated advancement model.
The former Foundation Office and Office of Alumni Relations have merged to form the Office of Development and Alumni Relations. “These changes bring our school in line with current standards in higher education institutions,” says Dr. Jerry Kruse, dean and provost of SIU School of Medicine. “The team’s priorities will be to maximize ongoing relationships and stewardship of our alumni and friends and to accelerate achievement of School of Medicine goals through private support.” In this new arrangement, Cassie Mattson will continue in her role as Director of Alumni Relations. Fisher replaces Hal Smith, former executive director of development, who retired in April 2023.
“A strong institution has a strong alumni base, and the medical school has a rich tradition and loyal alumni,” Fisher says. “I’m looking forward to expanding the work with our alumni and strengthening the relationships we already have.”
A Rochester native, Fisher joins SIU leadership with nearly 30 years of experience in public relations, communications, fundraising and team management. Before joining the school of medicine, she served as executive director of development and alumni relations at Illinois College in Jacksonville. In that position, she led the fundraising team to achieve $1 million in their annual fund for the first time in college history.
Fisher also earned her Certified Fund Raising Management certificate from the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis. Prior to that, she was vice president for marketing and communication at Bunn-O-Matic Corporation, and most recently she served as a development officer for the Dale and Deborah Smith Center for Alzheimer's Research and Treatment at SIU Medicine.
Fisher said she recently marked a point in her life where she was ready for a change and a new challenge. She saw an advertisement for a development officer in the Rochester paper, and it intrigued her. “You never know when life is going to pivot,” she says.
“I was really interested in SIU’s work in the community, and my past experience has prepared me to be here.” Fisher was familiar with the work of SIU School of Medicine from her grandmother, Elaine Eaton, a long-time employee in the purchasing department.
Coupled with this year’s career changes came a personal celebration for Fisher. She and husband Greg Fisher celebrated their nuptials this past April 6. While Kris has changed the trajectory of her career, Greg recently retired from his position as senior vice president of service and parts and sales at BUNN after a little more than 40 years.
“I feel really at home here,” Fisher says. “My career has prepared me for this role, and I’m excited to be a part of this new chapter at SIU Medicine.”
“We are at a critical junction in our history and future; events like Denim & Diamonds set the bar for us. We have an exciting story to tell and many gems that need support,” Fisher says.
“I’m thankful for all that SIU is doing in the community and the opportunity to build this new team to help further the mission.”
NOVEL SURGERY BUILDS SKULL BASE TEAM’S REPERTOIRE
Four skilled surgeons at SIU Medicine have joined forces to offer innovative care to patients in the Springfield region. The Skull Base and Pituitary Team includes two otolaryngologists, Dana Crosby, MD, MPH, and Zaid Al-Zaghal, MD, from the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, and two neurosurgeons, Devin Amin, MD, PhD, and Breck Jones, MD, from the Department of Surgery.
Crosby and Amin recently completed the first endoscopic transorbital skull base surgery in central Illinois. This minimally invasive surgical approach is unique in that it reaches conditions such as tumors behind the eyes or in the brain without disturbing the eye or requiring large incisions and retraction of the brain.
“When I joined SIU, my goal was to offer our patients stateof-the-art care close to home,” says Crosby, who is chair of the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery. “The skull base team at SIU Medicine continues to identify new ways to collaborate and innovate, bringing world-class care to the patients of central and southern Illinois. These types of surgeries frequently use the nose and sinuses as a portal to the brain. This new route, through the eye socket, allows us to reach even more areas safely and effectively,” she says.
The first patient to undergo the unique surgery had a tumor behind the eye that caused vision loss and pushed the eye forward. “The traditional approach requires a large open incision in the scalp and removal of part of the skull,” Crosby explains.
“Instead, we were able to make a small eyelid incision and use an endoscope to get to previously unreachable areas.”
To ensure accuracy and precision, the surgical team created a 3D-print of the tumor in relation to the patient’s anatomy and practiced the approach in the Surgical Skills Laboratory at Memorial Learning Center prior to the surgery.
“The patient had an excellent result, went home the next day and is very happy with the outcome,” Crosby says. “The team dynamic at SIU that allows for surgeries like this to happen is critical. I’m thrilled to be part of it.”
The Skull Base and Pituitary Team provides care to patients with tumors or other issues associated with the sinuses, ears, brain and eye socket. Many tumors can be approached with either no incision or a very small incision; a consultation with the team can help determine what approach will work best for each situation.
"It’s a privilege to be able to offer these services to patients in Springfield,” says Amin. “The accessibility for our patients to receive expert-level care locally is really important to us."
DR. ANDY TUCKER, NFL MVP*
*Most Valuable Physician
By Steve Sandstrom
You think the pressures of being a professional athlete are demanding? Try being the team physician to 70 of them in the National Football League.
SIU alumnus Andy Tucker, MD (’86) has been doing it for nearly three decades with the Baltimore Ravens. At the same time, he has been providing primary medical care to athletes at all levels as a sports medicine physician in private practice. He keeps very busy.
“I have to remind people that there really is no off-season in the NFL. There’s what I call the travel season and the non-travel season,” he says. Though technically in the latter, Tucker has just returned from the 2023 NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, and he is departing in a few days for Sarasota, Fla., to assist a colleague tending to the Baltimore Orioles during spring training.
At the scouting combine, Tucker and the Ravens’ doctors and trainers evaluated 330 athletes who would be entering the NFL draft, providing a risk assessment and medical grade for each.
During a dinner that week, the Professional Football Athletic Trainers Society presented him with the prestigious Jerry ‘Hawk’ Rhea Award, in recognition of his outstanding work as an NFL team physician “who has made the greatest contributions to both the NFL and the profession of athletic training.” Tucker is a respected clinician, researcher, instructor and chief medical officer at the top of his game.
Not bad for a farm kid from Paris, Illinois.
Considering his career in the NFL, there is some irony. Tucker says the closest he got to football in his youth was scrimmages in the yard, “getting beat up by my older brothers.” Instead, he lettered in basketball and golf at Paris High School, before leaving home to earn a BA in biology at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC. His interest in medicine blossomed during his junior year in college, working as an orderly at the Paris Community Hospital alongside the family medicine doctors. He won an Illinois General Assembly scholarship in 1982 to attend SIU School of Medicine.
Here he studied to become a primary care physician, and happily matched into the family medicine residency program at Baptist Hospital/Wake Forest Medical Center. During the second year of residency, a new head team physician offered the family medicine residents the opportunity to assist in the medical care for the Wake Forest athletes.
Sports medicine was in its infancy in the 1980s and fellowship medicine for primary care doctors didn’t gain traction until the late ‘80s. Tucker hit that sweet spot. “I loved ambulatory geriatrics and was lined up to do a fellowship in it until this opportunity to work with the new team physician came up,” he said. “I’d always had a passion for sports medicine, and the doors just started opening for me.”
The work in the training rooms led to a fellowship at the Alabama Sports Medicine/American Sports Medicine Institute in Birmingham and training under Dr. James Andrews, a renowned sports orthopedist. This experience sparked an offer to work at the Cleveland Clinic, a leader in sports medicine and orthopedics.
In 1991, he began providing medical care for the Cleveland Browns in the NFL preseason. That turned into a 5-year run as associate team physician for the Browns. At the same time, he was working as an assistant clinical professor in family medicine at Case Western Reserve University.
When Browns owner Art Modell moved the franchise to Baltimore in 1996, Tucker and most of the staff went with them.
The city of Cleveland retained the rights to the team name, so the franchise rebranded as the Baltimore Ravens, in tribute to native author Edgar Allen Poe.
Tucker became the director of primary care sports medicine at the University of Maryland Medical Center and an assistant family medicine professor at the UM School of Medicine. He had always relished the opportunity of starting a primary care sports medicine fellowship, and made it happen within a year. It was not without its challenges, but he considers it a career highlight. When he moved to MedStar Union Memorial Sports Medicine in 2004, he was able to have it jointly sponsored and expanded to support two fellowships per year.
For the Ravens, Tucker’s management skills are utilized in day-to-day care for the athletes and coverage at games. He has oversight of seven athletic trainers, a nutritionist, a team clinician/psychologist, and collaborates with a roster of specialists in cardiology, pulmonology, dermatology and radiology, plus three orthopedic physicians and three primary care doctors.
The wraparound services are necessary. Collision sports like football, soccer, lacrosse and wrestling always carry risk, but they are much safer now than they were a generation or two ago, Tucker says. Concussion protocols were added to the National Football League guidelines in 2011. “Concussions are a complex thing to evaluate and assess in real-time on the sideline or at courtside, but we’re getting better every year. It’s been fascinating to practice sports medicine during this paradigm shift of how we view them, return the athlete to the field of play and then monitor them going forward. We have come far and it’s going to continue to evolve.”
During a Monday Night Football game between the Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals on January 2, Bills safety Damar Hamlin suffered cardiac arrest and collapsed on the field. He was resuscitated and hospitalized and the game was postponed. It sent a figurative shock wave across the league.
Tucker and the Ravens quickly mobilized the team psychologist and psychiatrist. The chaplain and coaching staff were heavily engaged. The team held a Zoom call the next morning for anyone within the organization who wanted to express their feelings. Despite the unfortunate circumstance, Tucker thinks the team – and the league – did a wonderful job of responding to the situation.
He also saw it as a teachable moment for medical professionals. “As much as we hated to see the incident occur, it was a helpful reminder of the importance of having an emergency action plan ready, and the American public got to see that play out.” It also underscored the importance to scholastic and collegiate-level teams, he says. “These occurrences are a very rare but very real possibility there, too. It will happen again, so be prepared.”
During his tenure with the team, the Ravens have won two Super Bowls (in 2001 and 2013), and Tucker has the jewelry to show for it.
“The rings only come out during Super Bowl parties. I tell people I have a nice problem: I have two Super Bowl rings but three children. We hold that over the kids whenever someone gets out of line,” he says.
The big games were not Tucker’s first experience with championships. He recalls being part of a talented co-rec basketball team in his first year in Carbondale with classmate-athletes Diane Hillard, Robin Deterding and others on the squad.
“The women were the only ones who could go inside the paint,” he says. “They just dominated. I think we won the championship.”
Dr. Hillard-Sembell, now an associate professor of orthopedic surgery at SIU School of Medicine, confirms. “We did in fact win the Co-Recreational Basketball League Championship. With Andy and Ken Jordan’s height and skills, as well as Robin and I and the gang, we had quite a team.”
“Andy is a great guy with an amazing career,” she says. “We’ve crossed paths a few times with our common sports medicine interest. At an American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine conference, I talked with the Ravens’ orthopedic team physician, who did nothing but sing Andy’s praises.”
Over the years, Dr. Tucker has watched sports medicine grow and become more multi-disciplinary, like other medical specialties. “When I started out, it was within the purview of orthopedic or general surgeons. Now we have them working alongside primary care, physical therapists, performance people, nutritionists. It’s like a microcosm of medicine in general. Medicine really is a team sport.”
Reflecting on his career, the team player wants to continue to help others be their best. “I’ve been very fulfilled, being able to marry my interest in family and primary care medicine with my passion for sports,” he says. “If any SIU student or resident has an interest in sports medicine, I encourage them to do it. They can send me an email. I’d be happy to talk to them and help them find their way."
1970s
WILLIAM BORKON, MD ’76, “retired from full-time work in Minneapolis in 2016 and is now working part-time in a rural, underserved area of Wisconsin.”
ANN STROINK, MD ’79, was named president of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons in May 2022. She is a board-certified neurosurgeon and manages a full neurosurgery practice for Carle Health. Ann trained in general neurosurgery at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., under the supervision of Thoralf Sundt, MD, and fellowed in pediatric neurosurgery at the Hospital for Sick Children at the University of Toronto. bit.ly/42w3BdR
1980s
GREGORY POLAND, MD ’80, is co-chairing the WHO Emergency Committee on Mpox vaccines. He is also a member of the Bill & Melinda Gates Task Force on Coronavirus Vaccine Development Roadmap. And following four years of study, Greg graduated from Westminster Theological Seminary in May 2022 and is now bi-vocational.
STEVEN MANSON, MD ’81, “I recently retired after 37 years of clinical practice, the last 30 at Gundersen Health System in LaCrosse. I surprised Peggy by retiring on her birthday in August 2021, and the story was on local TV and went viral online. I am still volunteering with and organizing our outreach to the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota where I have made 17 trips since 2009, most with Peg attending as well. Our five kids and 13 grandkids all live in the area, so retirement has afforded me with much more time to spend with them, which has been an incredible delight. We enjoy attending church and school functions, sporting activities, plays and musicals together, and Peg and I love traveling. Our youngest granddaughter developed type 1 diabetes post-COVID illness, so I still get to use my medical skills in assisting her. I get great satisfaction from reading Aspects and am very proud of the innovative things done by my alma mater! #SalukisEverywhere”
JIM ROSENTHAL, MD ’82, “I retired in December 2021 from my EM position with mid-Atlantic Kaiser Permanente. After a few months of adjusting to retirement, I began working part-time with SeaDoc, which is a practice supplying medical advice and aid to commercial maritime companies and to vessels directly. When not working for them, I keep busy working on my boat and my cars, trying to get gigs for my band, and spending time with my godchildren, including a new grand-god-child.”
THOMAS DILLER, MD ’83, “I have had a great career in both clinical and administrative medicine. Julie and I moved to Florida where I am serving Advent Health as the chief medical officer for their Population Health Services organization. Working to improve the care for about 650,000 people in value-based programs.”
MARY STOFFEL, MD ’86, “just retired from my private practice and was lucky enough to spend all 32 years in an independently owned practice (in a city dominated by large HMOs). Looking into moving to Portugal!”
VAUGHN HANNA, MD ’89, “has had a consultative rheumatology practice for 28 years, and been an Institutional Review Board official and medical director of research and PI for multiple clinical trials at Unity Point Health in Peoria.”
1990s
JULIE PANEPINTO, MD ’91, has been named director of the Division of Blood Diseases and Resources at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. bit.ly/3LVUoWg. She was also awarded an honorary Doctor of Community Health degree from the SIU Board of Trustees in 2022, with honors to be conferred at a future commencement. bit.ly/3yLUcRs
CRAIG BOWRON, MD ’91, “I’m a physician and writer in Saint Paul, Minn. I was a pre-med and English major at Augustana College in Rock Island, and although I was interested in writing, medical school left little time for that. I had a couple of pieces published in Scope, but it wasn’t until after completing my internal medicine residency at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis that I began writing in earnest. "I started with a column in Minnesota Monthly, a magazine associated with Minnesota Public Radio. Since then, I’ve written regionally in the Star Tribune, Pioneer Press and MinnPost, and nationally for HuffingtonPost, Slate, Forbes, Washington Post, MarketWatch, Next Avenue and KevinMD." "Now I’ve written my first book: Man Overboard! A Medical Lifeline for the Aging Male, published by Mayo Clinic Press. Men don’t read much about health, so that’s both a challenge and an opportunity. When it comes to health, men aren’t stupid, we’re just disinterested, or maybe a little scared. Mayo Clinic Press also asked me to be a columnist.” bit.ly/3FtWrwL
ALLEN KRALL, MD ’93, “After 21 years of practicing nephrology, I completed a fellowship in Hospice and Palliative Medicine at St. Louis University, and am now practicing hospice medicine in Southwest Illinois as associate medical director for VITAS hospice, working in offices in Fairview Heights and Litchfield.”
DEIDRE FLANAGAN, MD ’94, “After 23 years of practice in Wisconsin, we opted for a new adventure in Utah. I am currently the full-time general surgeon and trauma director at Moab Regional Hospital. My husband, Mike, will be working with Grand County EMS and the Search and Rescue team. We are enjoying the hiking, mountain climbing, rafting and mountain biking available to us now.”
CRYSTAL PERRY, MD ’96, has been named interim director of the Blessing Diabetes Center at Blessing Health System in Quincy.
NICOLE SOMMER, MD ’96, was voted Best Cosmetic Surgeon for the second year in a row in the Illinois Times annual Best of Springfield poll. For more than 25 years, Nicole has been performing surgeries that make patients’ lives better, as a cosmetic, plastic and reconstructive surgery specialist at SIU Cosmetic Clinic in the Institute for Plastic Surgery. She is also affiliated with HSHS St. John’s Hospital, Springfield Memorial Hospital and Decatur Memorial Hospital.
2000s
ANNABELLE VEERAPANENI, MD ’02, discussed cancer risk reduction in the Kankakee Daily Journal. bit.ly/3JHK7vb
DANA RAY-DOTSON, MD ’03, the longtime CMO of Crossing Healthcare who served 10 years on the Decatur City Council, has been appointed to the Illinois State Medical Board. bit.ly/42gggRU
AMAR CHADAGA, MD ’05, FACP, associate program director at the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Chicago/Advocate Christ Medical Center, was awarded the APDIM Distinguished Community Associate Program Director/Core Faculty Award.
2010s
STEPHEN HILL, MD ’10, of Carle West Physician Group was featured in an article, offering manageable ways to improve and maintain more complete health. bit.ly/42unQIO
JUSTIN YOUNG, MD ’11, was featured in an article announcing his move to Gordon Memorial Health Services in Nebraska. bit.ly/3mMNjwv
SAMEER VOHRA, MD, JD ’11, former chair of the Department of Population Science and Policy at SIU School of Medicine, was appointed director of the Illinois Department of Public Health on August 1, 2022. bit.ly/3YYvxUu He was featured on The 21st Show bit.ly/3lsobe6 and in Crain’s Chicago Business bit.ly/40hXRCt.
ROSEMARY KOEPPEL, MD ’13, has joined Clarinda Regional Health Center as a new pediatrician. bit.ly/40boIQC
CHRISTIAN MCNEELY, MD ’15, interventional cardiologist, was profiled in Jacksonville’s The Source. bit.ly/3le95cl
KEVIN SIMON, MD ’15, has joined the board of Bridge Over Troubled Waters, a nonprofit that provides a full continuum of services to homeless, runaway and at-risk youth. Kevin is the inaugural chief behavioral health officer for the City of Boston, an attending psychiatrist in the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences at Boston Children's Hospital, an instructor in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, and the medical director of Wayside Youth & Family Support Network. bit.ly/3ZTi4yF
ASHLEY SATORIUS, MD ’16 and MATTHEW RUTZ, MD ’12, welcomed a son, Ryan, in February of 2022.
JESSICA HEALEY, MD ’16, offered useful information on women’s health in an article on Indianapolis Moms. bit.ly/3yN5K7b
ANDREA IYEKEPOLO MD, ’16, has joined the practice at Piedmont HealthCare Pediatrics in Statesville, NC. bit.ly/3YVmhRd
Dax Volle, MD ’16, “We welcomed the birth of happy and healthy twin girls, Amal and Aziza, on January 15, 2022. I am serving as the MS2 psychiatry course director at Dartmouth.”
Meredith Volle, MD ’16, was featured in a New York Times article about hospital closures. bit.ly/3ZUemVw
ROBERT SCHNIETZ, MD ’17, Glen Carbon dermatologist, was interviewed about his MELHS hoops career scoring record in an Edwardsville Intelligencer article. bit.ly/3TlQlUI
CHRISTOPHER TRAMMELL, MD ’18, has joined Blessing Health’s Outpatient Behavioral Health team. bit.ly/3JqLTzq
2020s
KATHERINE WADE (LINCOLN), MD ’21, “My husband PETER WADE, MD ‘20 and I met at SIU School of Medicine. We’re enjoying residency at Indiana University. I’m a PGY2 in OB-GYN and Pete is a PGY3 in Pediatrics.”
IN MEMORY
MARK A. BEAMS, MD ’81 passed away on June 24, 2022.
Mark’s brother, David Beams, PhD, shared a statement: “A celebration of life for Dr. Mark A. Beams, SIU Class of 1981, was held on October 22, 2022, at Hawks Head Inn in South Haven, Michigan. Approximately 40 guests attended, including Dr. Bodo Schneider, SIU class of 1981. Recurring themes in the shared memories of Dr. Beams were his patience and his empathy; several guests remembered hearing him say, ‘If you listen to your patients long enough, they'll tell you what's wrong with them.’
Dr. Beams' family and friends would like to express thanks to Dr. Beams' SIU classmates for their messages of condolence. In accordance with Dr. Beams' wishes, his ashes will be scattered in the US Virgin Islands.
DAVID A. WALLS, MD ’82 passed away on September 7, 2019.
BILLIE S. LIN, MD ’93 passed away on December 23, 2022.
DEBRA M. JAEGLE, MD ’86 passed away on December 20, 2022.
New endowment helps SIU OB-GYN research & students
The family of the late John (Jack) Navins, MD, bestowed a pair of $100,000 gifts to SIU School of Medicine this spring. Navins was a former SIU associate professor and OB-GYN physician who passed away suddenly in July 2022 while traveling in France. Dr. Navins’ sisters, Mary Pat Wlazik and Katherine Warner, wanted to honor him and knew of his dedication to the school.
The family is donating $100,000 to create the John Navins, MD Endowed Scholarship for a fourth-year medical student who is pursuing a residency in obstetrics and gynecology. In addition, SIU immunologist Andrea Braundmeier-Fleming, PhD, MMICB, received a matching financial gift to put toward her research. Braundmeier-Fleming’s studies focus on the identification of inflammation associated with reproductive pathologies such as endometriosis, ovarian cancer, endometrial cancer and preterm birth.
SIU Dean and Provost Jerry Kruse, MD, MSPH, said, “We are so grateful for the Navins’ support. These fantastic gifts will bring a great return on investment, helping both our students and Dr. Braundmeier’s ongoing research in women’s health for years to come.” Shelley Tischkau, PhD, chair of the departments of Pharmacology and Medical Microbiology, Immunology and Cell Biology; Ricardo Loret de Mola, MD, chair of the Department of OB-GYN; and Haneme Idrizi, MD, associate dean of student affairs, also attended the gift presentation in the Bohn-Nielsen Lobby at SIU School of Medicine. They each expressed appreciation for the family’s generosity.
Credits:
SIU School of Medicine