Students from The George Washington University (GW) School of Medicine and Health Sciences (SMHS) gave honored faculty their own bite of the apple – the Golden Apple – on Friday, March 29. The award, presented at the Follies, an annual event of student-produced and directed skits and dances, marks the contributions of professors who have had a significant impact on students’ education.
First- and second-year medical students, as well as physical therapy (PT) and physician assistant (PA) students, nominated their favorite educators, and third- and fourth-year medical students nominated both resident and teaching faculty members. The awards are part of the nominating process for the American Medical Student Association’s National Golden Apple Award for Teaching Excellence.
First-year medical students chose David Diemert, M.D., associate professor of microbiology, immunology, and tropical medicine and associate professor of medicine, for the Golden Apple Award, while second-year medical students selected Norman Lee, Ph.D., professor of pharmacology and physiology and professor of biochemistry and molecular medicine. Babak Sarani, M.D., associate professor of surgery, was the choice of third-year medical students. Fourth-year medical students honored Jim Scott, M.D., professor of emergency medicine and professor of health policy; this year’s Golden Apple Award was Scott’s 15th.
PA students presented the award to Sean Robinson, DHsci, assistant professor of physician assistant studies, while the PT classes of 2016 and 2017 honored Jennifer Halvaksz, DPT, academic director of the Johns Hopkins/GW Orthopedic Residency Program and assistant clinical professor of physical therapy and health care sciences, and Margaret Plack, Ed.D., DPT, director of admissions and professor of physical therapy and health care sciences, respectively.
In addition to the Golden Apple Awards presentation, students from each class drew on their senses of humor for a variety of sketches, including “The Rosswives of George Washington” and “Tell Us How You Really Feel.”
“Follies has been a wild ride this year,” said directors Neil Dubay, a third-year medical student at SMHS, and Arielle Katcher, a second-year medical student at SMHS.
