Illinois Medicine

HONOR SOCIETIES JOINTLY INDUCTED Alpha Omega Alpha, Gold Humanism Honor Society hold ceremonies on graduation eve F 18 | FALL 2012 OR THE FIRST TIME, two storied medical honor societies at the Col- lege of Medicine held their induction ceremonies simultaneously and on the eve of graduation in front of families, instead of separately and earlier in the school year as per usual. "This induction is so significant, it's really recognizing the best of the best, and we thought 'families need to be a part of this,'" explained Kathleen Kashima, PhD, senior associate dean of students. The academic elite of the Class of 2012 received the ceremonial key of Alpha Omega Alpha, a national society founded on the University of Illinois campus in 1902. "You know that you are joining a long tradition of academic excellence," said Dean Dimitri T. Azar, MD, MBA. The AOA today has spread to 132 chapters at medical schools nationwide, "and continues to recognize the brightest, most accomplished medical students in each class." Nine University of Illinois students, comprising the top 4 percent of the class, were selected in their third year, and then within the next top 12 percent, another 24 honorees were recognized in their M4 year. In addition, 10 students in their third year of the Class of 2013 were chosen. The 16 recipients of medallions from the Gold Humanism Honor Society, formed in 2004 to recognize outstanding humanistic achievement, were first nominated by their peers and then selected by a committee of faculty and one student representative based on "demonstrated excellence in clinical care, lead- ership, compassion and dedication to service." The honors were bestowed without the ceremony earlier in the academic year, in time to have significance during the residency matching process, Kashima noted. Seniors were selected the previous August, juniors before that, and the awards were included in their residency applications. Co-president Daniel Pugliese was selected for AOA during his third year and also received the Gold Humanism Award. He said the dual honor reflected his focus on studying hard in the basic sciences and then providing the best care possible during his clerkships. Excellent care "requires you to have the knowledge, and also to treat the patient with respect. And I think these societies grow out of that idea." Yalda Rassouli Afshar, who received the GHHS's signature William H. Tito Award, praised all her fellow awardees as "comrades in the battle to keep fighting and promoting total well-rounded care." Humanism in an increasingly business-driven environment is a call to "stop the senseless automata for one second—the day-to-day [patient] is a person that is no different from your family and your dear ones." She credited the climate at the college, which she said "provides fertile ground for nurturing our natural drive for goodness and human- ism in multiple shapes, sizes and form." — John Morrissey

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