MAC Symposium Brings Students, Alumni Together

More than 90 students, alumni and friends of The University of Scranton gathered on campus Oct. 14 for the 2017 Medical Alumni Symposium.

The day-long continuing medical education event, hosted by the Medical Alumni Council and sponsored by Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine, featured presentations by five alumni speakers working in several different areas of the field.

Mark P. Fitzgerald, M.D., Ph.D. ’02, Epilepsy and Clinical Neurophysiology Fellow, Pediatric Regional Epilepsy Program, Division of Neurology, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, presented “Precision Medicine in Pediatric Epilepsy: From Bedside to Bench and Back”; Paul V. Suhocki, M.D. ’78, Associate Professor, Department of Radiology, Duke University Medical Center, presented “The Role of the Interventional Radiologist in a Tertiary Care Medical Center”; Col. James Cummings, M.D., FACP, FIDSA ’88, Vice President of Clinical Development and Translational Medicine, Novavax, Inc., presented “Zika Virus: From the Road to Entebbe to Your Front Door”; Raymond J. Kovalski, M.D. ’78, President, PMA Medical Specialists, presented “Catching up on Sleep: Recognition, Evaluation and Management of Common Sleep Disorders”; and Joseph Bannon, M.D. ’83, Physician-General Surgeon, Geisinger Community Medical Center, presented “Medical School & Graduate Medical Education: What Makes an Applicant Competitive in 2017?”

The event also featured four “Scranton Shorts,” 10-minute TEDx-style lectures presented by medical alumni and current students. Outgoing Medical Alumni Council Executive Committee Chair Pam Taffera-Deihl, D.O., M.B.A. ’02, Hospitalist Physician for Wellspan Ephrata Community Hospital, presented “I Wasn’t Supposed to Be Here Today (Neither Were You),” which recounted her experiences in family medicine and her search for a work-life balance. Incoming Medical Alumni Council Executive Committee Chair Christopher Andres, M.D. ’89, Family Physician and Regional Lead Physician for Guthrie Clinic, and Kathleen Healey ’18 presented “MAC Medical Mission to Haiti,” an account of their experiences on the MAC’s annual service trip to the developing nation. Mary Grace Rizzo-Fryzel, D.M.D. ’10, general private practice dentist, presented “What My University of Scranton Education Means to Me,” an account of her life in medicine thus far. Theresa Webster ’18 presented “ImPACT, Exercise, Vestibular Eye Therapy: The Evolution of Concussion Treatment,” an account of her research into concussion treatment.

The occasion also served as a changing of the guard for the Executive Committee as Taffera-Deihl welcomed Andres into his new role.