WASHINGTON, D.C., (June 7, 2016)—The MedStar Health Research Institute, in conjunction with the Georgetown University School of Medicine, has awarded summer research internships to second-year medical students, Conner McMains and Jessica Martin, to study clinical quality and patient safety under the guidance of Seth Krevat, MD, Chris Goeschel, ScD, and Kelly Smith, PhD.
Scholarships are provided through the Frank S. Pellegrini, MD, Research Scholarship Endowment that supports summer research fellowships for Georgetown University medical students to work within MedStar Health under the auspices of the MedStar Health Research Institute.
“The Pellegrini Scholarships in Clinical Quality and Patient Safety are so important to expose our medical students to these important aspects of healthcare delivery,” says Jamie S. Padmore, associate dean for Graduate Medical Education and Educational Scholarship at Georgetown University School of Medicine and vice president of Academics Affairs at MedStar Health. “We are fortunate to have this endowment that allows us to highlight the integration of medical education, quality and safety as a foundation to exceptional patient care.”
The Pellegrini research endowment honors the late Dr. Pellegrini, a graduate of the Georgetown University School of Medicine. The endowment was established in 2008 by Dr. Pellegrini’s daughter, Pam Pelligrini Oetgen and son-in-law, William J. Oetgen, MD, who is a MedStar Health board member.
The scholarship is awarded to medical students who demonstrate academic excellence and recognize the importance of patient-first values and innovation, and the Jesuit tradition of cura personalis, which means to care for the whole person.
McMains, who is originally from San Clemente, Calif., says, “I am looking forward to producing something that will be impactful for MedStar Health professionals, Georgetown medical students and patients. If we first optimize the way that we detect and report medical errors, we can then adequately assess areas in need of improvement to ultimately protect our patients.”
Martin, who is a Washington, D.C., native, says her research project will be a collaboration between MedStar Health and the Mayo Clinic. “As for what I am most excited about,” Martin says, “I think it will be very rewarding to work on a project that has the potential to modify the approach to quality care and that will ultimately end up saving lives.”
Dr. Pellegrini graduated from Georgetown in 1939 and died in 2003. He was a general practitioner in the District of Columbia and Maryland from 1941 through 1986, and he held many leadership positions in the medical community, including president of the District of Columbia Medical Society.
About MedStar Health
MedStar Health is a not-for-profit health system dedicated to caring for people in Maryland and the Washington, D.C., region, while advancing the practice of medicine through education, innovation and research. MedStar’s 30,000 associates, 6,000 affiliated physicians, 10 hospitals, ambulatory care and urgent care centers, and the MedStar Health Research Institute are recognized regionally and nationally for excellence in medical care. As the medical education and clinical partner of Georgetown University, MedStar trains more than 1,100 medical residents annually. MedStar Health’s patient-first philosophy combines care, compassion and clinical excellence with an emphasis on customer service. For more information, visit MedStarHealth.org.