Faculty Members’ Dedication to Students Celebrated at MAGIS Induction Ceremony

A group of people in academic regalia stand onstage — Members of the MAGIS Society of Master Teachers with one of the newest members, Adam Myers, PhD, during a May 16 ceremony in the Gorman Auditorium at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital.

Posted in GUMC Stories | Tagged MAGIS Society, medical education, School of Medicine, SOM Commencement 2019

Dr. Healton speaks in academic regalia — The accomplishments of the faculty at GUMC demonstrate their dedication to supporting students, said Edward B. Healton, MD, MPH.

(May 19, 2019) — At the 17th annual MAGIS Society of Master Teachers Induction Ceremony, attendees recognized the ways that faculty members have individually and collectively demonstrated their dedication to students.

Over the last year, Georgetown University Medical Center established the Office of Student Learning and Academic Advising, hired a psychologist for medical students and formed a student wellness committee, said Edward B. Healton, MD, MPH, executive vice president of health sciences and executive dean at the School of Medicine.

“Clearly our students are always at the heart of what we do [in the School of Medicine],” Healton said.

The MAGIS Society welcomed its newest members, Adam Myers, PhD, professor of physiology and pharmacology, and Virginia Steen, MD, professor of medicine, at the May 16 induction ceremony in the Gorman Auditorium at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital.

‘It’s All About the Students’

Throughout his career at Georgetown, Myers has used technology to keep students engaged in their studies.

Adam Myers and Susan Mulroney stand side by side in academic regalia — Susan Mulroney, PhD, spoke about Adam Myers, PhD, her colleague and spouse.

“Adam has been instrumental in the development and implementation of educational technology at GUMC, as part of his program development efforts and his research into pedagogy under the aegis of an ITEL [Initiative on Technology-Enhanced Learning] grant with the university,” said Stephen Ray Mitchell, MD, MBA, dean for medical education at the School of Medicine.

Myers was among the first faculty members to pilot annotated lecture capture 11 years ago, said Susan Mulroney, PhD, professor of pharmacology and physiology. “When the medical students saw the first few captures he did, they immediately told the administration that they wanted this in every class,” said Mulroney, who is also Myers’ spouse. “And by the next year, it was implemented in every class.”

However, technology is just one of the ways that Myers has supported students as a mentor and professor, Mulroney said. Other methods have included starting a Seinfeld Medical Interest Group and taking students fishing in the Potomac River.

A group of people in academic regalia watch as two men shake hands. — MAGIS Society members welcome inductee Adam Myers, PhD.

“Very simply, he loves to teach,” she said. “He loves seeing students grapple with difficult concepts and then he’s so happy when they understand and apply the knowledge. It’s all about the students and it always has been about the students.”

Reflecting on the students he’s worked with, Myers said that watching them learn and grow has been the most rewarding part of his career.

“There’s a saying amongst faculty that deans and administrators come and go but in the end, the faculty and the students are always there,” he said. “And it’s that interaction between students and faculty, that teaching and learning, that really makes this all worthwhile and makes this the greatest experience of all for a working person.”

A Leader in Scleroderma Research

Though Steen was unable to attend the MAGIS induction ceremony, her achievements were recognized by attendees. As a professor of medicine in the division of rheumatology, Steen has focused on studying scleroderma, contributing more than 200 publications on the topic.

Dr. Mitchell speaks from a podium — Stephen Ray Mitchell, MD, MBA, spoke about Adam Myers, PhD, and Virginia Steen, MD, the newest members of the MAGIS Society.

Steen also serves as coordinating investigator for the Pulmonary Hypertension Assessment and Recognition of Outcomes for Scleroderma (PHAROS), a 15-year multicenter observational study of 500 scleroderma patients at risk of developing pulmonary hypertension, Mitchell said.

“There is no one, literally no one in the world, who has better understanding and also better information around that puzzling and terrible disease,” Mitchell said. “It’s a discouraging, frightening disease but there has been hopeful progress made, and much of that has relied on the careful epidemiological work of Virginia Steen.”

“We will further honor the work of Dr. Steen at next year’s MAGIS ceremony but we give her the deepest recognition too as the member of this august body,” Mitchell added.

In addition to the recent MAGIS Society inductees, the awards ceremony also honored the recipients of the Kaiser Permanente Awards, Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Award, CIRCLE Grants and the Mother of Pearl Award.

Master Teachers

Adam Myers, PhD
Professor of Pharmacology & Physiology

Virginia Steen, MD
Professor of Medicine

Kaiser Permanente Awards

Stacey Kaltman, PhD
Professor of Psychiatry

Catherine Okuliar, MD
Associate Professor of Medicine

Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Award

Erin Farrish, MD
Assistant Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics

CIRCLE Grants

“Applied 3D Clinical Anatomy — Integration of Preclinical Anatomy, Clinical Radiology and Surgical Anatomic Exposure,” Emily Winslow, MD, MS, and Juan Guerra, MD

“Building a Pre-Matriculation Workshop for Incoming Medical Students to Support Self-Efficacy and Self- Regulated Success in Learning,” Alexander Walker, PhD, Dustyn Wright, David Taylor, MEd

“Expanding Peer-to-Peer & Self-Directed Experiential Learning in Medical Student Clinical Skills Education through Student-Run Organization Hoya Skills in Medicine & Surgery (SIMS),” Ernest Fischer, MD, MS, Shimae Fitzgibbons, MD, MEd, Jose Victor Nable, MD, MS, John Yosaitis, MD, Matt Carroll, Allison Doyle, Jim Han, Anne Yeung

“The Impact of Bedside Technology on the Cardiac Auscultation Proficiency of Third Year Medical Students: A Comparison of Acoustic Stethoscope Versus Digital Stethoscope with Phonocardiogram Display,” Erin Farrish, MD, and Venkatesh Raman, MD

“A Mixed Methods Exploration of Factors that Influence Student Participation in and Perception of the Weekly Formative Review Quizzes,” Jessica Jones, PhD

Mother of Pearl Award

Megan Chochol, MD
Department of Psychiatry

Kat Zambon
GUMC Communications