The School of Medicine added 21 new members to its Missouri Delta Chapter of the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society on May 5 during a celebration at Diastole.
Acceptance into AOA recognizes excellence in academic scholarship and the highest ideals of professionalism in medicine. Members are selected based on their character and values such as honesty, honorable conduct, morality, virtue, unselfishness, ethical ideals, dedication to serving others, and leadership.
Students welcomed into the honor society included four junior members elected this spring: Jasleen Ghuman, Comron Hassanzadeh, Payal Patel and Hima Veeramachaneni. Senior members elected last fall include Vijit Chouhan, Clif Davis, Amanda Fletcher, Katherine Glaser, Amneet Hans, Harika Nalluri, Rehan Nizamuddin, Halee Patel, Loreley Robie, Amit Roy, Chelsea Shapland Hamill, Isadore Tarantino and Keliang Xiao.
Jeffrey Shilt, M.D. ’92, an orthopedic surgeon in Boise, Idaho, was this year’s alumni inductee. Mary Anne Jackson, M.D. ’78, professor of pediatrics and director of infectious diseases at Children’s Mercy, was selected as this year’s faculty inductee. Rebecca Rentea, M.D., pediatric surgery, and Nathan Sanderse, M.D., internal medicine, were the resident inductees.
Four students selected in 2015 as junior inductees served as this year’s AOA student officers. They were Dean Merrill, president; Blake Montgomery, vice-president; Merrill Thomas, secretary; and Setu Patel, treasurer.
Shanta Zimmer, M.D., associate professor of medicine and director of the internal medicine residency program at the University of Pittsburgh was guest speaker at the induction ceremony. Zimmer also delivered this year’s annual AOA Lecture at the School of Medicine.
