Distinctions

National medical organization taps UMMC student as chair

Avni Patel, a third-year student in the School of Medicine, has been selected 2017-18 Southern Regional chair of the Organization of Student Representatives, which represents all medical students nationwide.

The OSR is the student branch of the Association of American Medical Colleges, which advocates for undergraduate and graduate medical education in the United States.

According to the AAMC, “The OSR provides medical students with an active role in achieving AAMC’s mission to improve the nation’s health through the advancement of academic medicine.”

The OSR’s Southern Region is made up of 15 states plus Puerto Rico and covers 51 medical schools.

Patel, 24, a Flowood resident, is a 2014 graduate of Mississippi College, where she did her undergraduate work in biomedical sciences. Her experiences while growing up in Mississippi influenced her decision to become involved with research that will lead to improvement in patient care.

Beyond the AAMC, Patel has been involved in a variety of professional or student organizations, including the Mississippi Chapter American Medical Association, the Anesthesia Interest Group, the American Medical Student Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics.

State financial aid organization elects UMMC staffer president

Stacy Walker, associate director of student financial aid, is the new president of the Mississippi Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators.

The statewide group of student financial aid professionals serves all public, private, graduate, undergraduate and community college institutions.

“She is part of a team that has really transformed our services to health sciences students,” said Dr. Jerry Clark, chief student affairs officer and associate dean for student affairs in the School of Medicine.

Walker has been in her current UMMC position since 2008. She earned her M.B.A. in accounting and a B.S. in business administration at Mississippi College.

Walker also serves on the 2017-18 Executive Board of the Southern Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, which covers Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. 

Mothers Day gesture lands DAISY Award for PICU nurse

Elizabeth Quave, an inpatient nurse in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit of Batson Children’s Hospital, received the DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses in July.

Quave was nominated for the award by a fellow nurse, who took particular note of a specific patient interaction.

“She (Quave) was caring for one of the most critical patients on the unit who has been here since he was born,” the nomination letter stated. “It was a couple of days ahead of Mother’s Day and she took the time to get paint from the NICU to place this baby’s hands and feet as petals of a flower with “Happy Mother’s Day!

“This is just one of many times she has taken time out of her busy shift to make a worried mother a memory to cherish. So wonderful and deserving!”

Established in 2000 by members of the family of former patient Patrick Barnes, the Diseases Attacking the Immune System (DAISY) Foundation presents the DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses to the “unsung heroes of our society who deserve far more recognition and honor than they receive” as a “thank you” to nurses across the country.

About 1,700 health care facilities in all 50 states and in 11 other countries honor their nurses with the DAISY Award.

The DAISY Committee at UMMC reviews nominations every two months and selects up to two winners each cycle who meet the criteria for going “over and beyond the expectations of a nurse.”

For more information or to nominate a nurse for the DAISY Award, click here.