Students from the GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences (SMHS) took to the stage on Thursday, March 25, to present Follies, an annual event of student-produced and directed dances and skits, and the Golden Apple Awards.
“Ever since the fruition of follies,” said third-year medical student Arielle Katcher, executive director of Follies, and Michael Liu, a fellow member of the M.D. program Class of 2017 and chair of the Medical Center Student Council, “we have strived to carry on the tradition of bringing top-notch talent, comedy, and music from our very own talented medical students, physician assistants (PA), and physical therapists (PT).”
Skits for the evening production ranged from “Back to the Fourth Year,” based on “Back to the Future,” to “We have an exam on Monday and didn’t have time to think of a title for our Follies skit.”
For the Golden Apple Awards, part of the nominating process for the American Medical Student Association’s National Golden Apple Award for Teaching Excellence, students selected faculty recipients based on their contributions to and impact on the SMHS education.
First-year medical students chose David Diemert, M.D., associate professor of microbiology, immunology, and tropical medicine and associate professor of medicine, who won the award for a third consecutive year, while second-year medical students picked Kirsten Brown, Ph.D., assistant professor of anatomy and regenerative biology. Shant Ayanian, M.D., assistant professor of medicine, was the choice of third-year medical students, and fourth-year medical students honored Anthony Venbrux, M.D., professor of radiology.
The PT classes of 2017 and 2018 presented the awards to David Scalzitti, Ph.D., assistant professor of physical therapy and health care sciences, and Elizabeth Ruckert, DPT, director of the MedStar-GW Neurologic Residency Program and assistant professor of physical therapy and health care sciences, respectively. PA students recognized Jennifer Wall, PA-C, visiting assistant professor of physician assistant studies.
