May 11, 2023 by John Turner
During the fourth annual Professionalism Week at the Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont, members of the college community had an opportunity to both celebrate role models and renew their own commitment to the tenets of the Larner Professionalism Statement – including “demonstrating professionalism through integrity, accountability, compassion, altruism, and social responsibility.”
Beginning May 1, special video and screen messages, along with social media posts, highlighted more than fifty members of the Larner community – students, faculty, and staff – nominated by their peers as champions of professionalism.
On May 3, Larner welcomed guest keynote speaker Ellen Pearlman, M.D., associate dean for professionalism and doctoring skills at the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, who spoke about “Professionalism in Medical Education: Past, Present and Future.” In her wide-ranging address, Pearlman introduced various ideas and concepts to address behaviors and situations that can help maintain professionalism. “Being professional is hard work,” Pearlman noted. “It requires a commitment to placing the interests of patients ahead of ourselves. It requires the skills of self-regulation and is a lifelong pursuit of acquiring a set of skills, attitudes, and behaviors or habits.”
The fourth annual Professionalism Awards Presentation and Celebration ceremony was held May 4 and hosted by Larner Dean Richard L. Page, M.D. The task of evaluating the 2023 award recipient nominations was undertaken by a nominations review committee, whose members are past Professionalism Award recipients, and which was chaired by Kristen Pierce, M.D., professor of medicine and a past recipient of the Dean's Award for Professionalism for Faculty.
The following awards, awardees, and nominees were recognized:
- The Medical Student Award was presented to Class of 2023 medical student Sam Aldous by Dean Page. (Nominees included medical students Max Breidenstein ‘25; Eliot Binkerd-Dale ’24; Lara Murnik ’23; Zachary Osborn ‘23; and Elise Prehoda ‘24.)
- The Graduate Student Award was presented by Dean Page to Maya Raj, a Master of Medical Science graduate student. (The other nominee for the award was Sean Lenahan, Cellular, Molecular, and Biomedical Sciences graduate student.)
- The Staff Award was presented by Dean Page to Melissa Cuke, a research specialist in the Department of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation. (Nominees for this award included the Larner facilities team – Keith Benoit, Chris Bingham, Robert Boal, Brandon Bourdeau, Vinny Churchill, Aaron Collins, Benjamin Edmonds, Greg Hancock, Chad Kavanaugh, Brian Little, Matthew Malloy, George Mongeon, William Nesbitt, Jacob Turner, and Greg Whitten; Minara Aliyeva; Moira Barber; Bridget Carney; Nirav Daphtary; Tiffany Delaney; Monika Donlevy; Hannah Frering; Lindsey Hullfish; Bruce Kimball; Roz Bidad King; Tim Moynihan; Julia O'Connor; Susan Richardson; Lee Rosen; Karmen Swim; and Jason Towsley.)
- The Faculty Award was presented by Dean Page to Brian Kim, M.D., associate professor of surgery and division chief of ophthalmology. (Nominees for the award included Dragos Banu, M.D.; Jeremiah Dickerson, M.D.; Rebecca Evans, M.D.; Stephen Everse, Ph.D.; L.E. Faricy, M.D.; Christopher Francklyn, Ph.D.; Andrew Goodwin, M.D.; Osama Harraz, Ph.D.; Brady Heward, M.D.; Laura McCray, M.D.; Janet Murray, Ph.D.; Christian Pulcini, M.D., M.Ed., M.P.H.; Andrew Rosenfeld, M.D.; Douglas Taatjes, Ph.D.; Alissa Thomas, M.D.; and Sarah Twichell, M.D.
A reception and food drive for UVM's Rally Cat's Cupboard food shelf took place following the awards ceremony in the Hoehl Gallery.
Link to a video of the Dean's Awards for Professionalism Ceremony.
Read more about Professionalism at the Larner College of Medicine.