Congratulations to the 10 recipients of the 2021 Peacock-Plonk Award for Outstanding Student Clinician. The award is given to recipients of the highest clerkship grade of Honors in their year three immersion curriculum clerkship rotations.
The Peacock-Plonk Award was established in 2017 in honor of James E. Peacock, MD, Professor of Infectious Diseases, and George W. Plonk, MD, Associate Professor of Vascular Surgery, who are widely revered for their clinical expertise, their diagnostic acumen, their bedside manner and their humility. They are "Doctor’s Doctors."
Peacock and Plonk attended the meeting to honor the students, and the award was presented by Randy Clinch, DO, MS, Senior Associate Dean, Undergraduate Medical Education, and Professor, Family and Community Medicine, at the June meeting of the Faculty Executive Council. Peacock said, “Congratulations to all! Exceptional performances during an unprecedented year of challenges. I have never seen such laudatory clerkship comments!”
Summative comments from their clerkships included:
- Anthony Anzalone is a proactive and collaborative student who impressed his teams with his advanced clinical reasoning skills and very natural, caring bedside manner. Multiple evaluators commended him on his initiative, efficiency, empathy, and work ethic.
- Eric “Ricky” Barash is an intellectually curious, compassionate, collaborative student who demonstrated phenomenal clinical reasoning, medical knowledge, bedside manner, and team-oriented work ethic. Many evaluators cited his enthusiasm for being on the wards as well as his diligence in completing tasks and the work of patient care.
- Katherine Grace Beuerlein is a conscientious, detail-oriented, deeply engaged student who impressed her teams with her advanced clinical skills. She has a compassionate, patient-centered bedside manner paired with a phenomenal knowledge base.
- Morgan Carnes is a bright and motivated student who has a deep fund of knowledge and can apply it in the clinical scenario. She is a great team player, develops excellent rapport with patients and staff. Morgan was especially recognized as being a true self-directed learner and for her deep fund of knowledge and her excellent clinical skills and bedside manner.
- Deborah Cull was the ideal medical student: motivated, caring, smart, insightful, genuine, and she has a robust desire to improve and learn. She sought out opportunities to help her team members and connected with patients at the bedside in an organic and artful manner. Deb's clinical skills and medical knowledge were equally impressive.
- Zechariah “Zach” Harris is a conscientious, self-motivated, and enthusiastic student who demonstrated fantastic bedside manner and an impressive knowledge base. He was especially recognized for his excellent patient rapport and commitment to patient care. It was clear that he knows how to work as a team player.
- Richard “Andy” Hesse is a deeply engaged, enthusiastic, and self-motivated student who impressed his teams with astute clinical reasoning, empathetic bedside manner, and team-oriented work ethic. His evaluations were filled with superlatives about his performance and many of his team members said they would love to work with him again in the future.
- Vanessa Lukas is a mature and confident medical student with an excellent fund of knowledge and she is at a stage where she can easily apply her knowledge by the bedside. In addition, Vanessa has a wonderful demeanor making her an excellent and effective member of the healthcare team. She was especially recognized for her advanced clinical skills and fund of knowledge.
- Laurie Stanek’s performance was exemplary. She is a thoughtful, conscientious, and enthusiastic student who impressed her teams with her collaborative work ethic, knowledge base, and clinical reasoning. Laurie was especially recognized for her communication and interpersonal skills, her advanced differential diagnosis and plan of care, and her clinical documentation.
- Karl Wold was very knowledgeable, professional and helpful to the entire team. He consistently follows-up on important tasks for his patients. Easily one of the best, most responsible students that I have worked with. He is able to recognize and distinguish time-sensitive information and incorporates this into his clinical care appropriately.
Congratulations to the 2021 Peacock-Plonk award winners.