Five medical students have been selected as recipients of the 2019 UMKC Women’s Council Graduate Assistance Fund awards.
The students, Noor Alshami, Donya Jahandar, Elizabeth Onishchenko, Krishna Patel and Subhjit Sekhon, were selected from a pool of applicants from throughout the university. They will be formally recognized during a reception by the Women’s Council at the Grand Street Cafe on March 7.
The awards are given to UMKC women students in post-baccalaureate approved programs. They are used to assist students in completing requirements for graduation and first professional degrees, facilitate studies beyond the classroom, and to enrich and encourage educational experiences.
Alshami received an award with a designation of outstanding merit. Her award will support her research efforts with Children’s Mercy Heart Center Research. She was recommended for the award by Geetha Raghuveer, M.D., M.D., M.P.H., F.A.C.C., associate professor of pediatrics, and Mike Wacker, Ph.D., associate teaching professor, associate dean of academic affairs..
Jahandar’s award will provide aid for travel as she conducts surgical research. Jared Keeler, M.D., assistant professor of medicine and docent, and Kristen Wright, Ph.D., assistant teaching professor of biomedical sciences, are faculty who recommended her for the award.
Onishchenko received the award to help prepare for upcoming USMLE Step 2 CK and CS exams. Faculty members Darla McCarthy, Ph.D., associate teaching professor, assistant dean curriculum, and Julie Banderas, Pharm.D., F.C.C.P., B.C.P.S., chair of Graduate Health Professions in Medicine, assistant dean of graduate studies, recommended her.
Patel also received an award with outstanding merit to support travel to national cardiology meetings to present research. John Spertus, M.D., professor biomedical and health informatics, and Timothy Bateman, M.D., professor of medicine, are faculty members who recommended her for the award.
Sekhon received an award for her research proposal to study maternal-fetal reactions to acute emotional stress in prenatal depressed mothers and correlations with fetal ultrasound measures. Prakash Chandra, M.D., assistant professor of psychiatry, and Brenda Rogers, MD, FAAP, FACP, associate dean of student affairs, recommended her for the award.
