This Week's News

Research from medicine's brightest young minds shines at symposium

Hundreds of residents, international medical graduates (IMG) and medical students—including Elizabeth Yetter (left), a medical student at George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences—presented their original research Nov. 9 during the 10th annual AMA Research Symposium.

Held in Honolulu as part of the Interim Meeting of the AMA House of Delegates, the event featured more than 300 AMA members presenting posters and nearly 40 members giving presentations in the oral competition. Nearly 100 physicians, including Alma Littles, MD, senior associate dean for medical education and academic affairs at the Florida State University College of Medicine (above, left), served as judges.

The symposium is organized by the AMA Medical Student Section, the AMA Resident and Fellow Section and the AMA-IMG Section and provides an opportunity for some of the brightest residents, fellows and future physicians to showcase their research.

New this year was a category for IMGs who are Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG)-certified and awaiting residency.

Sanu Rajendraprasad, MD, an IMG who lives in Massachusetts, said the symposium provides an excellent aid for securing a residency position. "This symposium gives [IMGs] an opportunity to present our research in the American medical community," he said.

The research presented Friday spanned a broad spectrum of topics, from health policy to medical education to clinical vignettes.

"The posters were excellent and very scientific," said Tirso Rojas, MD, an anesthesiologist in Yuma, Ariz., who served as a judge for the event. A first-time symposium judge, Dr. Rojas said the symposium was a learning opportunity for him and his fellow judges as well.

Kofi Sarfo-Kantanka, a second-year medical student at Meharry Medical College in Nashville, was participating in the symposium for the first time. "The AMA is one of the main organizations with a voice in implementing medical policy," he said. "This is the place for you as a medical student to present your research to the nation."

More than 600 abstracts, a new record for the symposium, were submitted for this year's competition. Here's a list of this year's winners.

Medical students

Overall winners

• Poster competition (tie) – Kelly Regan, The Ohio State University College of Medicine, and Rajani Sharma, the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey Robert Wood Johnson
• Podium competition – Christopher Bailey, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Categories

• Biochemistry/cell biology – Arasi Kavin Arasar, University of Illinois College of Medicine Rockford
• Cancer biology – Jimmy Yao, Albany Medical College
• Clinical Outcomes and Healthcare Improvement – Kelly Regan, The Ohio State University College of Medicine, and Rajani Sharma, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey Robert Wood Johnson Medical School Camden
• Immunology/infectious disease/inflammation – Warren Pan, University of Michigan Medical School
• Neurobiology/neuroscience – Danielle Zheng, New York University School of Medicine
• Public Health and Epidemiology – Roman Krivochenitser
• Radiology/Imaging – Anna Brown, Duke University School of Medicine
• Surgery/biomedical engineering – Thomas Bemenderfer, Indiana University School of Medicine Indianapolis

Residents and fellows

Overall winners

• Podium competition – Laura Gephart, MD, University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine
• Poster competition – Pallawi Torka, MD, State University of New York (SUNY) Upstate Medical University

Clinical Vignette Poster

• First place – Brian Telesz, MD, Mayo Clinic
• Second place – Sara Woodward Dyrstad, MD, Washington University Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology
• Third place – Suraj Rao, MD, Georgetown University Medical Center, internal medicine
• Honorable mention – Jennifer Kam, MD

Clinical Medicine Poster

• First place – Pallawi Torka, MD, SUNY Upstate Medical University
• Second place – Adnan Khan, MD, University of Texas Medical School, internal medicine
• Third place – Joseph Schlesinger, MD, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, anesthesiology critical care
• Honorable mention – Tamar Nazerian, MD, University of New Mexico School of Medicine, pediatrics
• Honorable mention – Kathryn Holloway, MD, University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio

Clinical Vignette Podium

• First place – Sandeep Krishnan, MD, Emory University School of Medicine, internal medicine

Clinical Medicine Podium

• First place – Laura Gephart, MD, University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine
• Second place – Anna Svatikova, MD, Mayo Clinic

ECFMG-certified awaiting residency

Overall winners

• Poster competition – Jigisha Thakkar, MD
• Podium competition – Leonard Chen, MD