BCMS Medical Record Fall 2020 - 6

Editor's Comments

BCMS Expands
Education in
Response to
the Pandemic
by Lucy J. Cairns, MD, Editor

T

he logo of the Berks County Medical Society depicts a
compass, with each of the four points representing a primary
direction guiding our activities. Many institutions engaged
in education, which is one of our compass points, have suffered
severe negative impacts from the coronavirus pandemic. Members
of the BCMS have responded by redoubling and expanding our
educational efforts for the benefit of our community.
The first step we took was in March, when we selected this year's
Pat Sharma President's Scholarship recipient. Matthew Driben, a
pre-med student who was then finishing his second year at Brandeis
University, was the strongest candidate and he accepted our offer
of a 6-week paid internship. This BCMS educational activity,
launched in the summer of 2014, is designed to give a student who
has completed at least two years of college and is working towards a
career in medicine, public health, or health policy the opportunity
to complete a research and writing project under the mentorship of
BCMS physicians and community leaders on a health topic of local
importance. In normal years (and to some extent even this year) the
experience includes clinical shadowing and an introduction to the
functions of organized medicine via spending time with the BCMS
Executive Director and with the legislative advocacy arm of PAMED
in Harrisburg. In addition, thanks to the generosity of the Reading
Hospital - Tower Health Academic Affairs office, our student intern
is folded into the hospital's 6-week Student Summer Internship.
Abstracts of the varied research projects undertaken by the hospital's
student interns appear in this magazine, and are well worth perusing.
Back in March, after receiving Matthew's acceptance of our offer,
as the coordinator of this program I was faced with the prospect
of sending rejection messages to several pre-med students (all from
Berks County) who had also submitted very strong applications. I
found myself very reluctant to do so. The effect of the pandemic
on education in general, including on the availability of summer

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opportunities for college students, was very apparent even in March.
So before sending rejections our Selection Committee proposed to
the BCMS officers that we offer each of these students the chance
to complete a research and writing project for a modest stipend.
This suggestion was quickly accepted, and three additional students
joined the program: Brandon Missan, Paige Cincinnati, and
Michael Silver. Members of the BCMS enthusiastically volunteered
to act as mentors for their projects. In lieu of clinical shadowing, a
dozen or so physicians and two current medical students from Berks
County participated in Zoom panel discussions with the interns - a
great success!
The students gained an experience which should boost their
career aspirations and the physicians who helped make this possible
became acquainted with a group of accomplished, hardworking
young people from our community, some of whom may one day
return to us as physicians practicing in Berks County.
At the current time, the financial support for intern stipends has
come entirely from a very generous gift to the BCMS Educational
Trust by Dr. Pat Sharma, so I will take this opportunity to once
again publicly thank Dr. Sharma for his decision to recognize the
value of our educational programs in this way.
It is also time to thank Dr. Sharma for his long and highly
valued service to our community since he is retiring this month
(September) after 27 years as a Vascular Surgeon on staff at what is
now Penn State Health St. Joseph Medical Center. Dr. Sharma is a
native of India who developed a passion for surgery after a surgeon
from Texas on a medical mission to India allowed him to watch a
lobectomy performed on his brother for TB. Dr. Sharma was just
14 at the time, but the surgeon from Texas kept in touch with him
through Dr. Sharma's college and medical school years, providing
advice and friendship. This relationship, combined with the lack
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BCMS Medical Record Fall 2020

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