By Lin Lofley

Members of the Arnold P. Gold Foundation Gold Humanism Honor Society (GHHS) gathered recently to induct a new membership class and to review 2016 initiatives and progress.

The GHHS, a 15-year-old organization that came to UT Southwestern Medical Center three years ago, inducted 39 student members and eight faculty members at its banquet in the A.W. Harris Faculty and Alumni Center.

Dr. W. Gary Reed, Headmaster of the Academic Colleges at UT Southwestern, provided the opening remarks and was one of eight faculty members inducted into the organization.

 “The Gold Humanism Honor Society promotes the traits that are exhibited by the complete physician,” said Dr. Reed, a Professor of Surgery and of Internal Medicine who also serves as Associate Dean for Quality, Safety, and Outcomes Education. “Modern medical training emphasizes the scientific and technical skills of being a physician, but frequently does not appropriately stress the human side of medicine and the importance of compassion and empathy. The GHHS recognizes students who display all of these characteristics of excellence.”

Romero Santiago, President of the GHHS Class of 2017, spoke on the topic “Healing Through Mutual Respect” and thanked his colleagues for their commitment to service.

 “Having the opportunity to be inducted and guide GHHS this past year has been an immense privilege,” he said. “I was honored to have the chance to share with the new inductees my story of how GHHS truly is the foundation of my development into the best physician I can be personally and professionally, and with how it has enhanced my outlook on my career.

“This past year, I have been blessed with incredible GHHS colleagues, as we together had the unique opportunity to greatly integrate the organization into UT Southwestern culture.”

The GHHS was directly responsible for projects such as the Humans of Parkland – which allows medical students to meet patients and learn to appreciate their unique stories and backgrounds and to move beyond their disease and/or medical issues – and for the Class of 2020’s Mission Statement Day activity that provided a framework for the current MS1 class to develop its vision of these next four years of Medical School.

Members of the Class of 2018 inducted into the Gold Humanism Honor Society were

Suwetha Amsavelu, Jon Christian Berry, Lindsay Brettmann, Megan Chang, Joann Chen, Laurie Chen, Karin Claussen, Katy Coggins, Thomas Das, Fantine Giap, Jesse Hernandez, Leslie Johnson, Mary Allison Kramer, Alexis Windsor Kropf, Andrew Lin, Claire Mauvais, Anjali Nambiar, Sandra Ngo, Tiffany Pham, Anitta Philip,

Kevin Thomas Prier, Matthew A. Remz, Charles Rew, Dietrich Walker Riepen, Paul Antony Rizk, Madeline Rodriguez, Meredith Rosenthal, Antonieta Rueda, Varun Sambhariya, Audrey Sampson, Cayce Smith, Margret Smith, Nicholas Spendlove, Kate Squiers, Megan Elizabeth Still, Philip D. Tolley, Timothy Spencer Williams, Katherine Xiong, and Cheong Maria Yu.

Joining Dr. Reed as faculty inductees in the GHHS were

Dr. Kevin Brown, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry; Dr. Rody Cox, Master of Estabrook College and Professor of Internal Medicine; Dr. Lynne Kirk, Master of Pritchard College, and Professor of Internal Medicine and of Family and Community Medicine; Dr. Marilynn Punaro, Master of Fashena College and Professor of Pediatrics; Dr. Craig Rubin, Master of Seldin College and Professor of Internal Medicine; Dr. William Turner Jr., Master of Sprague College and Professor of Surgery; and Dr. Chet Edward Wells, Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Dr. Cox holds the Rody P. Cox, M.D., MACP Professorship in Internal Medicine.

Dr. Kirk holds The Toni and Timothy P. Hartman Professorship in Medicine.

Dr. Punaro holds the Nadine and Tom Craddick Professorship in Medical Education.

Dr. Reed holds the S.T. Harris Family Distinguished Chair in Internal Medicine, in Honor of Gary Reed, M.D.; and the Eva A. Rosenthal Professorship in Internal Medicine, in Honor of Gary Reed, M.D.

Dr. Rubin holds the Margaret and Trammell Crow Distinguished Chair in Alzheimer’s and Geriatric Research; the Seymour Eisenberg Distinguished Professorship in Geriatric Medicine; the Sinor/Pritchard (Katy Sinor and Kay Pritchard) Professorship in Medical Education Honoring Donald W. Seldin, M.D.; and the Walsdorf Professorship in Geriatrics Research.

Dr. Turner holds the Ernest Poulos, M.D. Distinguished Chair in Surgery; and the Carla and Paul Bass Professorship in Medical Education Honoring Charles C. Sprague, M.D.