FSU MED Magazine Fall 2020, Vol. 16 Fall 2020 | Page 22

Alumni Hall of Fame

As a young medical school , the College of

Medicine honored two individuals each year

with the Distinguished Alumni Award . These

were traditionally presented to one PIMS

alumnus and one College of Medicine alumnus .

Well , we ’ re growing up – and finding that there

are many outstanding physicians with ties to

Colin Hackley

Jada Leahy ( M . D ., ’ 09 ) with Kelly Mamelson ( M . D . Class of ’ 21 ).

the FSU College of Medicine who deserve to

be recognized . So many that we have taken the

next step in the growth of our alumni program by

creating an FSU Medical Alumni Hall of Fame .

The Hall of Fame includes those already

Saint Elio and his wife , Rebecca , with their new car .

Returning to teach

recognized with the Distinguished Alumni

And he drove like a hero

Sometime in the future , well beyond the

Award . This year , the FSU Medical Alumni board

While being named to the Hall of Fame is nice

20th anniversary of the College of Medicine ,

considered numerous nominations and voted to

( it comes with a plaque and all the accompanying

it ’ s possible that our alumni will be doing the

add five additional graduates to the Hall of Fame .

glory ), it doesn ’ t quite compare to the award

majority of the teaching here . There ’ s already a

move in that direction .

They were recognized during our virtual 20 ^th

Anniversary celebration on Nov . 6 .

Makandall Saint Elio ( M . D ., ’ 16 ) received recently . He was recognized as one of the

In May , Jada Leahy ( M . D ., ’ 09 ) took over as

clerkship director for surgery at the Pensacola

Regional Campus . She replaced the campus ’ s

founding clerkship director , Jeff Chicola .

Let us know who you think we should include in the 2021

Hall of Fame class . Nominations must be received by Feb . 28 .

More at med . fsu . edu / AlumniHOF or med . fsu . edu / alumni .

“ Heroes of the Pandemic ” – becoming one of four South Florida health-care workers presented with a new Hyundai Sonata . When the Hyundai Air and Sea Show , held

Leahy began teaching students at the Pensacola

annually on Miami Beach over Memorial Day

campus in 2018 following a distinguished career

Weekend , had to be canceled because of the

in the Navy .

About two hours east , another FSU alumnus

2020 Hall of Fame class

pandemic , event sponsors went searching for health-care workers , first responders and other

took over an administrative teaching role . J . D .

people who were making a difference during

Byrd ( M . D ., ’ 14 ) replaced Steven Spence

the crisis .

as clerkship administrator for the Marianna

They found Saint Eloi .

Rural Medical Education Program in April .

Saint Eloi , who served as chief resident of the

Byrd spent the previous three years practicing

family medicine residency program at the University

internal medicine in his hometown of

Graceville – about a half-hour ’ s drive up the

road from Marianna .

H . William Higgins ( M . D ., ’ 09 )

Wendy Ann Myers , M . D . ( PIMS ’ 77 )

of Miami / Jackson Memorial Hospital , now is the hospital ’ s associate medical director for urgent care . Miami was one of the early COVID hotspots .

Spence had been with the College of

In addition to treating patients in the ER and

Medicine since the Marianna program began

urgent care center , Saint Eloi went a step further ,

in 2006 . In fact , Byrd was one of his students

organizing free medical checkups for medically

there .

underserved communities in South Florida .

“ He saw the first patient on the first day – he

“ Throughout all of medical school , I

was able to give me a thorough yet concise

presentation with a developed assessment and

plan . All I could think was , ‘ Wow , this is going

Michael Okun , M . D . ( PIMS ’ 93 )

Michael J . Sweeney , M . D . ( PIMS ’ 75 )

always found value in bonding and forming relationships with patients ,” Saint Eloi said upon being recognized as a ‘ Hero .’ “ I knew I

to be a great rotation !’” Spence said . “ By the

needed to do something where I could talk ,

end of the rotation , I told J . D . that he was the

advise and show empathy . Family medicine was

only medical student that I have worked with

it for me . It allows me to be a therapist , a friend ,

that was ahead of me for the same stage of

training . Typical of J . D ., he was humble and said

that was not true .”

Mary Watson ( M . D ., ’ 09 )

a doctor . I can be someone for every individual patient . That is especially important right now with coronavirus .”