NEW ORLEANS – Ochsner Health System and the University of Queensland will host a culmination celebration on Saturday, November 17th at 6:30 pm at the Sheraton New Orleans Hotel for nine program graduates. This is the first class of new physicians to complete the program since students began the program in January 2009. Members of the media are invited to attend.
The class of 2012 graduates include:
Emily Sineway Boyd
Ronald Chong-Yik
Ross M. Hoffman
Satvik Jhamb
Shaun Lawicki
Jonathan Jin-Chin Lu
Usman Rahim
Steve Joseph Sushinsky
Katherine L. Weyer
“We are extremely proud of these students,” said Dr. William Pinsky, Professor and Head of the Ochsner Clinical School and Ochsner Health System Executive Vice-President and Chief Academic Officer. “They have been part of a truly unique learning experience in which they were able to benefit from some of the best medical education opportunities available in two of the world’s leading nations.”
Joining Dr. Pinksy at the culmination ceremony will be keynote speaker Professor Peter Hoj, Vice Chancellor and President of the University of Queensland as well as Warner Thomas, Ochsner Health System Chief Executive Officer and Professor David Wilkinson, Dean of Medicine and Head of the School of Medicine at the University of Queensland.
"As a leader in healthcare it is Ochsner's responsibility to ensure that the medical needs of the next generation are met. The University of Queensland partnership allows Ochsner to not only continue providing the quality academic training we are known for, but to also expose these students to the global market," says Warner Thomas, Ochsner Health System President and Chief Executive Officer.
Upon completion of the celebration, the nine graduates will recite the Hippocratic Oath marking their official entry into the medical profession as physicians. As graduates the students will go on to complete their interviews across the country for the National Residency Match Program in areas such as Internal Medicine, Surgery, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Family Medicine, and Obstetrics and Gynecology. All graduates are scheduled for residency interviews at prestigious institutions such as Ochsner Medical Center, Yale, Albert Einstein Medical Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Indiana University, Emory University, Dartmouth and the University of Texas.
"This experience has been a very unique and rewarding adventure. Studying medicine in Australia was incredibly exciting, and then being able to come home to the United States and complete my clinical rotations here at Ochsner, in this welcoming and familiar environment, with such a devoted and engaging staff, was the perfect culmination to my medical school experience!" said Emily Sineway Boyd.
Ross Hoffmann indicated that "The program has prepared me well for a career in medicine. I'm grateful to have had a global learning experience in medical school, and to have followed an enterprising new path in my career."
Ochsner and the University of Queensland announced this unique, joint affiliation in 2008. Since then 171 students have been admitted to the program. The affiliation provides U.S. medical students the opportunity to complete two years of pre-clinical training in Brisbane, Australia and their third and fourth year training at Ochsner Health System in New Orleans. Australian medical students also have the opportunity to spend part of their third and fourth years at Ochsner, benefitting from a variety of medical specialties, research and core rotations.
The University of Queensland Medical School in Brisbane, Australia, is fully accredited by the Australian Medical Council, the official entity that establishes the highest standards possible for Australian medical schools, and is one of Australia’s leading medical schools.
Ochsner operates one of the U.S.’s largest independent, accredited graduate medical education programs. In addition to the partnership with the University of Queensland, Ochsner also has international medical education affiliations with King Abdulaziz University - a leading university-based healthcare provider in Saudi Arabia as well as the University of Tabuk in Saudi Arabia.
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About Ochsner Health System
Ochsner Health System is southeast Louisiana’s largest non-profit, academic, multi-specialty, healthcare delivery system with eight hospitals and over 38 health centers in Louisiana. Ochsner has been named the Consumer Choice for Healthcare in New Orleans for 16 consecutive years and is the only Louisiana hospital nationally recognized by U.S. News and World Report as a “Best Hospital” across eleven specialty categories. Ochsner employs more than 13,000 employees, over 850 physicians in over 90 medical specialties and subspecialties and conducts over 300 clinical research trials annually. Ochsner Health System is proud to be a tobacco-free environment. For more information, please visit ochsner.org and follow us on Twitter and Facebook.
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