Pitt School of Medicine

Our Student of the Week is Sami! Sami is an MS3 from Minneapolis/St. Paul who was a Biology major at Pitt for undergrad and is now at Pitt Med! Her medical i...nterests include emergency medicine, trauma, and critical care. She is heavily involved in the American Medical Assn at a national level, crafting and passing health care policy to help our patients' wellbeing. She also writes grants for a few organizations to secure funding for building/maintaining orphanages and provide education for children in underserved populations. Outside of medicine, she enjoys running, painting, and time with her family, friends, and new puppy Bella! I chose Pitt Med because it has a wide variety of research opportunities and is at the forefront of discovery. A lot of the research PI's I've had at Pitt have been wonderful. They treat you like colleagues by letting you take ownership of your projects but also challenge you to help you learn and grow as a budding physician-scientist. I often get asked if I have any advice about rotations. A lot of people fear getting pimped on the wards. Pimping is when the attending/resident asks the medical student difficult medical questions in front of the whole team.If you don't know the answer to the question, just be honest about it and don't feel disheartened.Usually, the attending wants to use that moment as a teaching opportunity for everyone on the team, andyou'll know the concept for the future! How well you do clinically on a rotation does depend on how much material you know, but how much you care about/know your patients and how much interest you show makes an even greater impression. #PittMedMaria #PittMed See more

Our Research Student of the Week is MS3 Darius Hossainian! We had the chance to sit down with Darius and talk about his research, here’s what he had to say: ...For my LRP, I’m working with Dr. Edward Burton in the Department of Neurodegenerative Disease to create a phenotypic profile of the Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP) model zebrafish. The aim of the work is create a better screening method to assess chemical rescue of the zebrafish from a drug library and ultimately pick out chemicals that could be beneficial in helping PSP patients. PSP is a rare degenerative brain disorder that causes progressive loss of balance, slowing of movement, difficulty moving the eyes, and dementia. Clinical Interests: Undecided! But potentially anesthesia Hobbies: hiking, biking, cooking Undergrad: UVA Hometown: Richmond, VA #pittmedresearch #pittmedjoe #h2p

José-Alain Sahel, MD, Eye & Ear Foundation Professor and chair of ophthalmology, coauthors study finding improved vision with treatment. via The Wall Street Journal

In the imminent future, patients will start to die because there simply aren’t enough people to care for them. Doctors and nurses will burn out. The most precious resource the U.S. health-care system has in the struggle against COVID-19 isn’t some miracle drug. It’s the expertise of its health-care workersand they are exhausted.

University of Pittsburgh Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business and Cornell University faculty weigh in on the challenges. via The Conversation US

John Williams, MD, Henry L. Hillman Professor of Pediatric Immunology, shares what you need to know about #COVID19 reinfection.

A many-years-long collaboration between NIAID’s Robert Seder and Pitt’s JoAnne Flynn has given another shot for an old vaccine. Learn more in Pitt Med's Fall 2020 feature: https://www.pittmed.health.pitt.edu//another-shot-old-vacc

When somebody gets infected [by influenza], it takes a while for them to develop symptoms associated with the viral infection. Before they have a fever or a cough or feel lethargic, the virus has already affected them and they are already shedding large amounts of virus, said Seema Lakdawala, PhD, assistant professor of microbiology and molecular genetics, who researches flu viruses. via Popular Science https://www.popsci.com//asymptomatic-vs-pre-symptomatic-i/