P&S Class of 2016 Student Clinician's Ceremony

Students in the P&S Class of 2016 celebrated the beginning of their major clinical year with the Steven Z. Miller Student Clinician’s Ceremony, held Jan. 3.

The ceremony, which began at P&S in 1998, marks the transition from classroom instruction to an environment where students learn at the bedside and the patient is the center of focus.

“This is why you came to medical school,” said Dean Lee Goldman, MD. “The major clinical year is hard; it’s a lot of responsibility. It’s a real shift from wondering if you’ve learned something to worrying if you did the right thing for somebody else. For me, the start of MCY was truly the biggest change in my entire life.”

Eric Marcus, MD, professor of clinical psychiatry and director of the Columbia University Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research, counseled students to be patient with the changes they undergo and to give and receive help.

“Working in clinical teams means helping each other take care of the patient. Help each other. You need each other,” he said. “Accept your fallibility. Needing help is never the problem. The problem is when you don’t recognize you need help or are too proud to seek it.”

The ceremony is also a time when students honor residents and faculty for excellent teaching, and awards are given to students for preclinical work.

Fundamentals Outstanding Teacher Award: Daniel J. Goldberg, PhD

The Class of 2016 presented Daniel J. Goldberg, PhD, professor of pharmacology and neuroscience, with the Fundamentals Outstanding Teaching Award for his innovative and narrative teaching style.

Major Clinical Year Outstanding Teacher: Noel I. Robin, MD

The Class of 2015 selected Noel I. Robin, MD, chair of medicine at Stamford Hospital, to receive the Major Clinical Year Outstanding Teaching Award for his dedication to students and holistic teaching style. Dr. Robin said the award is “all the more meaningful to me, because I deeply love what I do and cannot think of a greater privilege than to be a teacher to the future of medicine.”

Resident Teaching Awards

The Class of 2015 presented Arnold P. Gold Foundation’s Resident Teaching Awards to six residents: Samuel Bernard, MD, NYP-Medicine; Brian Block, MD, NYP-Medicine; Maureen Burke, MD, Stamford-Ob/Gyn; Ismar Dizdarevic, St. Luke’s-Orthopedic Surgery; Matthew Pianko, MD, NYP-Medicine; and Emily Vail, MD’10, NYP-Anesthesiology.

Outstanding Humanism in Patient Care Awards

A new award this year from the P&S chapter of the Gold Humanism Honor Society was presented to three non-physician members of the health-care teams at CUMC and its affiliated institutions: Princess Johns, surgical nurse at Stamford Hospital; Nicole Holuba LaMarca, nurse practitioner at Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital; and Lauren Yuill, social worker at NYP.

Greg Grove Memorial Award

Samuel C. Porter was presented with the Greg Grove Memorial Award, for his efforts in promoting activities that provide relaxation for busy students.

Karl H. Perzin Excellence in Pathology Award

Caitlin J. Alexander was presented the Karl H. Perzin Excellence in Pathology Award for her accomplishments in pathology.

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major clinical year, MCY, Steven Z. Miller Student Clinician's Ceremony, transition