Medical students honored, presented awards at convocation

Thirty-one medical students were honored at the College of Community Health Sciences’ Senior Convocation on Friday, May 13, at the Tuscaloosa River Market. The students, now physicians, are beginning their residency training in programs across 11 states.

See the full coverage of Senior Convocation, including photos, a list of graduates and awards, here.

The students received their third and fourth years of clinical education at the College, which also functions as the Tuscaloosa Regional Campus for the University of Alabama School of Medicine. All students at the School of Medicine spend their first two years of medical education at the School of Medicine’s headquarter campus in Birmingham and then receive their clinical education at either Birmingham, Tuscaloosa, Huntsville or Montgomery.

In an opening address at convocation, Dr. Craig Hoesley, senior associate dean for medical education at the School of Medicine, said the students are leaving the College and the School of Medicine “even better than it was when they found it.”

The students received awards from faculty, clinical staff and their peers. One of the awards presented was the newly-named William Owings Award in Family Medicine, which was awarded to Dr. Elizabeth Junkin for demonstrating excellence in Family Medicine.

Owings, who recently retired from the College, was recognized at the ceremony by Dr. Drake Lave

nder for his 20 years of service.

“Dr. Owings embodies all that is good in family medicine,” he said. “He was practicing full spectrum family medicine before family medicine even existed.”

On Sunday, May 15, the students joined their 173 classmates for commencement.

At commencement, Dr. John Thomas Killian Jr. received the Hugh J. Dempsey Award, given to the student with the highest overall academic achievement over the four-year course of medical school. Dr. Amber Michelle Beg received the Medical Alumni Association Leadership and Community Service Award.

Awards given at Convocation:

Department and College Awards:
Robert F. Gloor Award in Community Medicine
Drs. Jackson Averett Reynolds and Daniel Seale
Awarded for excellent performance in Community and Rural Medicine

William Owings Award in Family Medicine
Dr. Elizabeth Ann Junkin
Awarded for excellence in Family Medicine

Rural Medical Scholars
Drs. Nicholas Drew Darby, Justin Len Deavers, Andrew Lloyd Jones, Nicholas Allen Rockwell, Daniel Seale, Elijah J. Allen Stiefel

Family/Rural Medicine Preceptor’s Award
Dr. J.D. Shugrue
Awarded annually to a community preceptor in Family Medicine/Community and Rural Medicine who exemplifies excellent teaching and role modeling for students.

William Winternitz Award in Internal Medicine
Dr. Melissa Rae Jordan
Awarded for outstanding achievement in Internal Medicine during the third and fourth years. This student possesses an exceptional wealth of knowledge, is able to integrate the pathology of disease with the physiology of clinical skills, and practices with empathy, compassion, and a desire to improve the patients with whom he or she comes in contact.

Neurology Award
Dr. John Thomas Killian, Jr.
Awarded for outstanding academic and clinical performance during the Neurology Clerkship.

Pediatrics Recognition Award
Dr. Andrew Lloyd Jones
Awarded for outstanding interest, ability and the reflection of pleasure in helping parents and their children reach their full personal, social and educational potential.

Peter Bryce Award in Psychiatry
Dr. John Thomas Killian, Jr.
Awarded for excellence exhibited by a medical student both academically and clinically during his/her Psychiatry Clerkship. This award is presented in honor of Dr. Peter Bryce, who was appointed the first superintendent of Bryce Hospital in Tuscaloosa. He and his wife, Ellen Clarkson Bryce, were cornerstones for Tuscaloosa society and tenacious advocates for people who experience mental illness.

Finney/Akers Memorial Award in Obstetrics and Gynecology
Dr. Brittany Taylor Massengill
Awarded to a student achieving outstanding academic and clinical success in Obstetrics and Gynecology. This award is presented in honor of former medical students James H. Akers and Teresa K. Finney.

William R. Shamblin, MD, Surgery Award
Drs. Daniel Barton Booth, John Thomas Killian, Jr. and Paul Frederick Sauer, Jr.
Awarded to a student or students with the highest scholastic achievement during their third-year Surgery Clerkship. Dr. William R. Shamblin, a Tuscaloosa native and former Chair of the Department of Surgery, spent years educating medical students and Family Medicine residents. This award continues in his honor.

Interprofessional Excellence Award
Dr. Jonathan Russell Guin
This award recognizes the medical student who has best demonstrated excellence in communication skills, respect for staff and patients, and a commitment to working as an effective member of the health care team.

Larry Mayes Research Society Scholars
Drs. Daniel Barton Booth, Pia Marie Abano Cumagun, Katherine Rainey Dean, Wyman Oscar Gilmore III, Jonathan Russell Guin, Andrew Lloyd Jones, Brittany Taylor Massengill, Cyrus Massouleh, Jackson Averett Reynolds, Robert Rhett Rhyne, Nicholas Allen Rockwell, Daniel Seale, Elijah J. Allen Stiefel

Official Fellow Members:
Drs. Nicholas Drew Darby, Justin Len Deavers, Lauren Marie Gibson, Melissa Rae Jordan, Elizabeth Ann Junkin

Official Members: Drs. Emily Cleveland Ager, Cory Daniel Smith

Student Research Award
Dr. Wyman Oscar Gilmore III
Recognition of the pursuit of one or more research projects leading to presentation or publication during the clinical years of medical training.

Scholastic Achievement Award
Dr. John Thomas Killian, Jr.
Awarded for superior performance in the clinical curriculum.

William R. Willard Award
Dr. Elizabeth Ann Junkin
Established by the Bank of Moundville, this award is presented for outstanding contributions to the goals and mission of the College of Community Health Sciences as voted by the College faculty.

Faculty, Resident and Student Awards as determined by the graduating class
Faculty Recognition Award
Dr. Joseph Wallace
Awarded for outstanding contributions to undergraduate medical education during the students’ junior year.

Community Preceptor Recognition Award
Drs. Erica Day-Bevel and Charles Gross
Awarded to a community preceptor for outstanding contributions to undergraduate medical education.

Patrick McCue Award
Dr. A. Robert Sheppard
Awarded for outstanding contributions to undergraduate medical education during the students’ senior year.

Resident Recognition Award
Drs. Blake DeWitt and Brittney Anderson
Awarded for outstanding contributions to medical education.

James H. Akers Memorial Award
Dr. Amber Michelle Beg
Awarded to a graduating senior for dedication to the art and science of medicine.

College Scholarships
Dr. Sandral Hullett Endowed Scholarship
Chaniece Wallace
The Dr. Sandral Hullett Endowed Scholarship was established in 1992 from gifts given by the Capstone Health Services Foundation and proceeds from the 1991 Fiesta Bowl to honor Dr. Hullett, one of the first African-American Family Medicine residents to graduate from The University of Alabama Family Medicine Residency.

Frank Fitts Jr. Endowed Scholarship
Dr. Daniel Seale
The Frank Fitts Jr. Endowed Scholarship was created by Cynthia Ford Fitts (now Thomas) to address the needs of medical students who bear a high debt load upon graduation from medical school. The scholarship was named in honor of her late husband, Frank Fitts Jr., great grandson of J.H. Fitts, who established The University of Alabama’s first endowed scholarship in 1903.

Robert E. Pieroni, MD, and Family Endowed Scholarship
Drs. Elizabeth Ann Junkin and Jonathan Russell Guin
The Robert E. Pieroni, MD, and Family Endowed Scholarship was established by Dr. and Mrs. Robert Pieroni to support medical students intending to enter primary care.

Reese Phifer, Jr., Memorial Foundation Scholarship in CCHS
Drs. Elizabeth Ann Junkin and Jonathan Russell Guin
The Reese Phifer Jr. Memorial Foundation Endowed Scholarship is awarded annually to promote the education of medical students at the College of Community Health Sciences/University of alabama School of Medicine Tuscaloosa Regional Campus. The Foundation was established by Mr. and Mrs. Reese Phifer in 1967 in memory of their son J. Reese Phifer, Jr., a student at The University of Alabama who died in 1964. The foundation established the scholarship fund in 2014. Priority is given to current fourth-year medical students who intend to complete their residency at The University of Alabama Family Medicine Residency, Which the college operates, and who have an interest in spending part of their residency training in Fayette, Alabama.

Larry Mayes Endowed Scholarship
Dr. Amber Michelle Beg
Larry Mayes was an outstanding member of the class of 1986 who died while on an elective rotation in Africa during his senior year. Larry’s family and friends have created a scholarship fund in his memory to promote a broader understanding of international health care and of the health needs of underserved areas of this country. The award is presented to a rising senior to complete an international elective or an elective in an underserved area of this country.

School of Medicine Commencement Ceremony Awards:
Medical Alumni Association Leadership & Community Service Award
Dr. Amber Michelle Beg

Hugh J. Dempsey Memorial Award
Dr. John Thomas Killian, Jr.

Formal Academic Honors
Drs. John Thomas Killian, Jr. and Margaret Pollard Marks – Summa cum laude
Drs. Joshua Thomas Gautney, Matthew Monte May, Paul Frederick Sauer, Jr. – Magna cum laude