The Class of 2023 Gold Humanism Honor Society Inductees at CAMLS May 9.

Students, staff, faculty and their families gathered at the Center for Advanced Medical Learning and Simulation to honor the newest inductees of the Barness-Behnke Chapter of the Gold Humanism Honor Society.  27 students, 7 residents and 4 faculty members earned their place in this prestigious group.

The Gold Humanism Honor Society is a community of medical students, physicians, and other leaders who have been selected by their peers for their compassionate care.  It reinforces and supports the importance of the human connection in healthcare, which is essential for the health of patients and clinicians.

“The Gold Humanism Honor Society signifies an adherence to the shared belief that we must strive for excellence in both compassionate, humane care, and scientific rigor to be our best in this most noble of professions.  Today, we celebrate your collective passion for such excellence which bodes well for you and for the future of medicine,” said Kira Zwygart, MD, MCOM Office of Student Affairs associate dean.

Charles Lockwood, MD, MHCM, USF Health executive vice president and MCOM dean was also in attendance to welcome the new inductees as well.

“Compassion and empathy for our patients are the heart and soul of medicine.  They should be at the core of being a physician and the faster medical technology evolves, the tighter should be our hold on humanity.  That is what we celebrate tonight,” said Charles Lockwood, MD, MHCM, USF Health executive vice president and MCOM dean.

The class of 2024 Gold Humanism Honor Society inductees at CAMLS May 9.

Before the induction ceremony, one senior medical student and one faculty member received a Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Award.  This award is given annually to those who:

• Demonstrate compassion and empathy in the delivery of care to patients and illustrated professional behavior by example.
• Are approachable and accessible.
• Welcome opportunities for teaching and one-on-one mentorships.
• Exhibit enthusiasm and skill in professional and personal interactions, show respect for everyone with whom they came in contact, and demonstrated cultural sensitivity in working with patients and family members.
• Understand the patients’ needs for interpretation of complex medical diagnoses and treatments.
• Make an effort to ensure patient comprehension and showed respect for the patient’s viewpoint.
• Remain personally committed to reflection and objective self-evaluation of their own skills.
• Display competence in scientific endeavors.

This year’s Tow Humanism recipients were:

• Jennifer Costa, MD, USF Health Department of Family Medicine associate professor
• Cathy Garcia Torres, MCOM class of 2023

One-by-one, student and faculty inductees were called to the front to acknowledge their induction.  Inductees from the class of 2023 received their medallions they will wear at graduation. Class of 2024 inductees received lapel pins.  SELECT inductees joined the festivities virtually from their new event room at the Lehigh Valley Health Network.

The class of 2023 will complete their medical school journey May 11 at their graduation ceremony.

Faculty Inductees:

Amy Brown, MD

Milind Kothari, DO

Abby Letcher, MD – Lehigh Valley Health Network

Fred Slone, MD

Resident Inductees:

Priyanka Atit, DO

Alisa Chanchenchop, DO – Lehigh Valley Health Network

Sukjoo Cho, MD

Anthony DeSantis, MD

Heather Galon, MD

Jean-Claude Guidi, DO

Jennifer Heibig, DO – Lehigh Valley Health Network

Class of 2023 Inductees (inducted junior year):

Alex Adams, Lara Alexander, Sheon Baby, Alec Bigness, Noureddeen Bitar, Ana Capati-Fernandez, Reinaldo Claudio; Paige DeBlieux, Lucas Djavaherian, Jeffrey Farooq, Cathy Garcia-Torres, Hannah Goldman-Daleo, Arianna Gutierrez, Emma Hale, Ahmad Harb, Hannah Hedriana, Madeline Hooper, Caitlyn Johnson, Michelle Karn, Dao Le, Lauren Linkowski, Sylea Lowery, Megumi Mori, You Jeong Park, Aisha Remy, Divya Sirdeshpande, Grace Wei, Emma Weiland, Demi Zhu

Class of 2024 Inductees:

Iman Awan, Sabrina Awshah, Vayda Barker, Karina Bowers, Jessica Cobb, Sarah Cool, Beatriz Dunoyer De Segonzac, Zeegan George, Monique Girgis, Andrew Grover, Lila Gutstein, Bailey Hamner, McKenzi Heide, Anna Hemminger, Sejal Jain, Grace Johnson, Rosalie Mattiola, Doniya Milani, Irene Nguyen, Kedar Patel, Apoorva Ravichandran, Amornrat “Joy” Swangkum, Monica Stevens, Suzana Tom, Alexandra Varnum, Carrie Wang, Berwin Yuan

More photos from the event: