Wake Forest Baptist Professor Emerita Recognized for Outstanding Teaching
Sara Sinal, M.D., professor emerita of pediatrics and family and community medicine at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, has received the 2014 Ray E. Helfer Outstanding Teaching Award. The award recognizes the importance of teaching in the promotion of the scientific and humanitarian aspects of child abuse medicine.
During Sinal’s 35 years at Wake Forest Baptist she taught medical students, residents, nurses and social workers as well as community professionals working in the area of child abuse. She involved students and residents in numerous research and publications and has taught residents how to give expert testimony in child abuse court cases.
The Helfer Society is an honorary association of physicians from around the world who are leaders in the field of child abuse.
Four Wake Forest
Baptist Medical Students Accepted to Study at Betty Ford Summer Institute
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – May 19, 2014 – Four medical students from Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center have been accepted to study at the Betty Ford Summer Institute for Medical Students (SIMS). Naucika DeSouza, Esosa Imasuen, Julia Johnson and Collin Conrad will spend one week at the Betty Ford Center, a world-renowned nonprofit alcohol and drug addiction treatment hospital in Rancho Mirage, Calif. They will immerse themselves in the treatment community and learn how to be aware of and responsive to substance abuse.
SIMS provides students the opportunity to integrate into the daily life of patients in treatment and participants in the family program. One of 90 medical schools represented in the program this year, Wake Forest Baptist has had the most SIMS acceptances of any medical school in the past five years.
Wake Forest Baptist
Counsel Named a Top Woman Business Leader in
Triad
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – May 19, 2014 – Beth Mabe Gianopulos, counsel in the legal department at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, was named a top woman business leader in the region by the Triad Business Journal.
Gianopulos led the legal effort to involve attorneys across the region in the establishment of forms for advance directives that are now used at Wake Forest Baptist and other medical centers. Gianopulos also developed a comprehensive document-management policy that was deployed at Wake Forest Baptist. Currently, she is working on developing a similar system across all Wake Forest Baptist medical campuses.
Gianopulos was honored at the Women in Business Expo and Awards Luncheon, held April 25 in Greensboro.
Wake Forest Baptist
Assistant Professor Receives National Training Award
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – May 19, 2014 – Nancy Marie Denizard-Thompson, M.D., assistant professor of internal medicine at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, is one of two physicians nationwide to be awarded the Unified Leadership Training in Diversity Program Scholarship by the Society of General Internal Medicine.
The program is designed for junior and mid-career faculty from underrepresented groups to develop the complex skill sets required to successfully lead academic sections and departments. The program provides mentoring, participation in a leadership training conference and financial assistance to offset expenses.
Denizard-Thompson is an associate program director of the internal medicine residency program at Wake Forest Baptist and director of the residency's primary care track.
Three Wake Forest Baptist
Medical Students Named Albert Schweitzer Fellows
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – May 19, 2014 – Three Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center medical students have been named North Carolina Albert Schweitzer fellows. William Bradford, Stacy Marshall and Karan Pandya will spend the next year learning how to effectively address the social factors that impact health and to develop lifelong leadership skills.
As fellows, the students will organize and implement service projects that address the root causes of health disparities in under-resourced communities, while also fulfilling their academic responsibilities. Bradford and Marshall are conducting healthy cooking classes for survivors of domestic violence and individuals who are at risk for abuse. Pandya is launching a Wake Forest chapter of Relay for Life to address cancer awareness and support cancer survivors.
The Albert Schweitzer Fellowship is committed to improving the health of vulnerable people through community-based, mentored direct service and a multidisciplinary, reflective leadership development program. The Fellowship is named for Albert Schweitzer, a famed physician-humanitarian.
Wake Forest Baptist
Epilepsy Center Retains Top-Level Designation
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – May 19, 2014 –The Comprehensive Epilepsy Center at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center has been recertified as a Level 4 Center by the National Association of Epilepsy Centers (NAEC) for the year 2014.
According to NAEC, a Level 4 center should provide the more complex forms of intensive neurodiagnostics monitoring, as well as more extensive medical, neuropsychological and psychosocial treatment. Level 4 centers also offer a complete evaluation for epilepsy, surgery, including intracranial electrodes, and provide a broad range of surgical procedures for epilepsy.
NAEC is a nonprofit trade association with a membership of more than 200 specialized epilepsy centers in the United States. Founded in 1987, NAEC educates public and private policymakers and regulators about appropriate patient care standards, reimbursement and medical services policies.
Media Relations
Shannon Putnam: news@wakehealth.edu, 336-713-4587
Erin Harris: news@wakehealth.edu, 336-713-4587