2008 PISACANO SCHOLARS

The Pisacano Leadership Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM), recently selected its 2008 Pisacano Scholars. These 5 medical students follow in the footsteps of 66 scholar alumni who are practicing physicians and 15 current scholars who are enrolled in family medicine residency programs across the country. The Pisacano Leadership Foundation was created in 1990 by the ABFM in tribute to its founder and first executive director, Nicholas J. Pisacano, MD (1924–1990). Each Pisacano Scholar has demonstrated the highest level of leadership, academic achievement, communication skills, community service, and character and integrity.

Parker Duncan, a 2008 Pisacano Scholar, is a 4th-year medical student at the University of California- Irvine School of Medicine (UCI). Parker graduated from Duke University with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science on a Naval ROTC scholarship. He subsequently served 4 years as a junior officer on the USS Nimitz (CVN-68). He was awarded the “Top Snipe” Award from the Naval Engineers’ School, United States Army. Parker just recently completed his MPH at California State University.

As a medical student, Parker has received a number of awards, including the Service Award from the Associated Medical Students Government. He was also inducted into the Gold Humanism Honor Society. While attending his first AMSA Conference, Parker learned of SB 840, or the California Health Insurance Reliability Act. Soon after Parker became co-president of the AMSA Chapter at UCI, organizing the school’s first meeting and election of officers. Parker co-created and organized Lobby Day with a UCSF medical student, which included a rally and legislative visits in support of SB 840.

Parker is a member of the Board of Directors for the California Physicians Alliance (CAPA); he and his co-creator for Lobby Day are the first ever student board members. He and his UCSF counterpart served as coordinators for Lobby Day 2008, which had almost 3 times the number of attendees as the year before.

Parker’s vision of his future career in family medicine involves a comprehensive, integrative health outpatient clinic—a full-service, outpatient center that supports proactive health. He also envisions partner clinics in Mexico or other Latin American countries.

Lara Jirmanus, a 2008 Pisacano Scholar, is a 4th-year medical student at the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMass). Lara graduated cum laude from Harvard University with a Bachelor of Arts in Biophysics. She was awarded the Harvard College Scholarship for Academic Achievement each of her 4 years there.

After college, Lara interned with the HIV/AIDS Department of the World Health Organization and with the Women’s Humanitarian Organization in Beirut, Lebanon, in a refugee camp. At UMass, Lara helped organize relief efforts after Hurricane Katrina, planning a talent show and art auctions to raise money for hurricane victims. Lara’s classmates recently awarded her with the Student Body Committee Leadership Award for her service on the national coordinating committee of the UMass Chapter of Universities Allied for Essential Medicines, helping to plan the national conference in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Lara has also worked with several community organizations, including the Worcester Immigrant Rights Coalition, Women Together, and the African Health Committee. As an Albert Schweitzer Fellow during 2006–2007, Lara collaborated with a community health center in Worcester, Massachusetts, to organize focus groups to assess obstacles to health care and, based on the findings, ensure solutions that would guide future health policy. Lara’s experience inspired her, along with 3 classmates, to develop and coordinate an optional elective course for medical students called, “The Bigger Picture: Health Issues Affecting the Community of Worcester.”

In her future career as a family physician, Lara states that she looks forward to caring for diverse individuals and their families in underserved communities; and continuing her work in community health centers, building relationships with local organizations and working together to develop health interventions.

Anne Kolan, a 2008 Pisacano Scholar, is a 4th-year medical student at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. She graduated with distinction from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a Bachelor of Science in Biology. As an undergraduate, Anne was the recipient of the F. Chandler Young Travel Award to pursue her study of the Spanish language in Valparaiso, Chile. While abroad, she volunteered with the organization Dame la Mano, tutoring in the local elementary schools and providing support at an adolescent girls’ home. Anne was inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa National Honor Society for her academic achievements.

Following graduation, Anne was selected to participate in the Americorps National Civilian Community Corps based in Charleston, South Carolina. She spent the year traveling with a team throughout the southeast region, completing community service projects.

Anne has continued her academic excellence and dedication to community service throughout medical school. As the recipient of a clinical research apprenticeship, Anne worked closely with a family physician to explore the unique benefits and challenges of women family physicians in dual-physician relationships. While serving as co-president of the Integrative Medicine Interest Group, she helped organize the first Integrative Wellness Fair. She has been a leader in the Healer’s Art elective, and also volunteers at the MEDIC clinics, providing free primary health care services to underserved community members. For her demonstrated kindness and professionalism, Anne was selected by her classmates to join the Gold Humanism Honor Society.

Upon completion of residency, Anne plans to pursue further training in the field of integrative medicine. She is excited to begin developing her own patient-doctor relationships, while promoting health and wellness through a sustainable and interdisciplinary health care approach.

Lars Peterson, PhD, a 2008 Pisacano Scholar, is a 4th-year medical student at Case Western Reserve University. Lars earned bachelor’s degrees in both biology and anthropology from the University of Utah. While enrolled at Utah, Lars was involved with the Student Health Advisory Committee and served as the associate editor for Utah’s Health, a student run journal which published data on and original research about the health of Utahans.

In 2002 Lars left Utah to enroll in a dual MD/PhD program in health services research at Case Western. During the first 2 years of medical school, Lars was selected to join the Primary Care Track, a program to foster leadership and advanced clinical skills in primary care. He also was selected to participate in a medical education curriculum development program. Lars was a co-leader of his Family Medicine Interest Group (FMIG) for 3 years, and his work on implementing a journal club and a program for 3rd- and 4th-year students helped his FMIG earn its first ever Program of Excellence award from the AAFP. At the state level Lars served for 2 years as the chair of the Student Affairs Committee and also as the student representative on the Board of Directors of the Ohio Academy of Family Physicians.

Lars’ research has focused on how community-level characteristics affect both health status and access to health care and whether this relationship varies by rural/urban status. He has 3 first author peer-reviewed manuscripts and has made numerous oral and poster presentations.

Lars envisions a career of patient care and research that seeks to validate the value of family medicine to both the health of individuals and the health care system and also to understand community-level effects on access to health care and health status.

Olga Valdman, a 2008 Pisacano Scholar, is a 4th-year medical student at the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMass). Olga graduated cum laude from Barnard College, Columbia University with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology.

At UMass, Olga has continued her academic success and community service. As co-president of the Student National Medical Association (SNMA), she received the Unipartnership Award for a tutoring program for African children that she led in establishing at UMass. This program partners with a community organization to provide tutoring for children who are recent refugees from various African countries. Olga later co-founded a non-profit organization called African Community Education program. This program’s mission is to bring the community together and start a Saturday school for the children where African adults serve as teachers, tutors and volunteers, working alongside non-African teachers and tutors in Worcester.

As president of the International Health Interest Group (IHIG) during her second year of medical school, Olga developed and organized an international service project in La Romana, Dominican Republic. This service project is now an annual spring break trip for dozens of medical students, nursing students and faculty. Olga took an extra year of medical school to develop a portable paper medical record-keeping system for each patient of the bateyes—villages on sugarcane plantations. Olga has received a scholarship, multiple grants and travel awards to help fund her ongoing work in La Romana.

Olga’s experiences with so many diverse people and cultures have humbled her and taught her to see each person first and foremost as an individual. As a family physician, Olga hopes to be able to provide the best quality care to patients from all over the world.

• © 2009 Annals of Family Medicine, Inc.