Medical education all-stars
By Czerne M. Reid
Dr. Donald Eitzman/Photo by Charles Poulton
The College of Medicine and College of Medicine-Jacksonville recently honored their education leaders during the annual Medical Education Banquet in February. Some of the awardees included:
A lifetime achievement
People — patients, medical students, residents and colleagues — are what a five-decade career in the UF College of Medicine has been about for neonatologist Donald Vern Eitzman, M.D., a distinguished service professor emeritus of pediatrics.
Since coming to UF in 1958, Eitzman has helped shaped the lives and careers of many young doctors and students. For his venerable service in education, he was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award during the Medical Education Banquet, held Feb. 22.
“It’s the people that you meet,” said Eitzman, who founded the department of pediatrics’ neonatology division. “Sometimes they come back and tell you how much something you did meant to them.”
In Eitzman’s early days in the college, he and former department chair Richard Smith, M.D., made up the full complement of the pediatrics department. Today the department has grown both in size and stature, thanks, in part, to many of Eitzman’s early efforts. He has won a host of awards for teaching and patient care, but one he holds very dear is the naming of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in his honor.
Eitzman still teaches, though he is no longer involved in day-to-day patient care. And he still makes a service trip to Nicaragua each year with fourth-year medical students, as he has done for the last 15 years since helping to start the program.
David B. Feller, M.D., a clinical associate professor of community health and family medicine, was named Clinical Science Teacher of the Year.
Anthony T. Yachnis, M.D., M.S., director of anatomic pathology and chief of neuropathology, was named Basic Science Teacher of the Year.
Outstanding Resident Teachers, Jacksonville
Irisa Devine, M.D.
Alejandro Garcia, M.D.
Daniel Hwang, M.D.
Justin Kearse, M.D.
Kevin McLean, M.D.
Dileep Ravi, M.D.
Muhammad Salahuddin, M.D.
Raam Sambandam, D.O.
Michelle Stalnaker, M.D.
Steven Wang, M.D.
Dr. Heather Stevens receives here award from College of Medicine Dean Dr. Michael Good./Photo by Charles Poulton
Outstanding Resident Teachers, Gainesville
Ahmad Alkhasawneh, M.D.
Brad Brian, M.D.
Thirath Chau, M.D.
Amy Feldman, M.D.
Darrell Hunt, M.D.
Nicholas A. Kenney, M.D.
Robert Knape, M.D.
Matthew Lawson, M.D.
Kimberly Merkel, M.D.
Claudia Moreno, M.D.
Nimish Patel, M.D.
Vishal Patel, M.D.
Brian Rajca, M.D.
Bryan Riggeal, M.D.
Heather Stevens, M.D.,
Erika Swanson, M.D.
Charles Vincent, M.D.
Thomas Walls, M.D.