Sarasota
Sarasota
Nicole Bentze, D. O. Dean, Sarasota Regional Campus
Faculty Pin Recognition program piloted at Sarasota campus gaining steam
By Audrey Post FSU College of Medicine
Imagine recognizing faculty members’ individual contributions in areas such as service, attitude or knowledge without creating a sense of competition, but celebrating a sense of shared joy and gratitude.
The School of Physician Assistant Practice’ s Faculty Pin Recognition program was launched as a pilot in 2020 at the Sarasota Regional Campus. It was so successful that by 2022, all six College of Medicine regional campuses had adopted it.
In addition, Megan Verdoni, MPAS, PA-C, clinical education director of the PA program, and Nicole Bentze, D. O., dean of the Sarasota Regional Campus and an associate professor of Family Medicine and Rural Health, presented a program about it at the national Physician Assistant Education Association annual conference last October. Verdoni has already been contacted by another PA school about adopting the program.
“ Faculty of the Year is a prestigious honor typically reserved for one person, but there is no reason that multiple qualified recipients cannot be recognized every year,” Verdoni said.“ The culture of the College of Medicine has always been one of shared successes, and this is an extension of that. Faculty learn they really touched a student’ s life in some way, and that’ s both humbling and invigorating.”
PA students in each class are given a pin about six months before their December graduation and asked to select a favorite faculty member by the end of the year. It’ s totally up to the students why they make their choices. Each student is required to take a photo, documenting their selection and uploading the image to the PA Canvas site.
The Faculty Pin Recognition fits perfectly into the atmosphere at the Sarasota campus that Bentze was building. She wanted“ to create a culture of gratitude to improve the well-being of students, staff, clerkship directors and faculty.”
“ After completing the American Academy of Family Physicians’ Leading Wellness Certificate Program, I started teaching M. D. and PA students to reflect on their clinical experiences and recognize their personal and professional growth,” Bentze said.“ Then, I asked them to notice the specific characteristics of the faculty that reinforced that growth.”
This was paired with the requirement they write a gratitude note, something more than a generic“ thank you for teaching me,” at the end of rotations. Participation in 2024 was almost 100 %. Verdoni and Bentze’ s article,“ The Impact of Faculty Pin Recognition,” details how to create such a program and offers tips based on what they learned on their journey. It appears in the September issue of The Journal of Faculty Development.
Holly Garza-Shaw, PA-C( left, PA Class of‘ 19), clerkship faculty specializing in Psychiatry at the Fort Pierce Regional Campus, proudly displays her Faculty Pin given to her by Kimberly Aguilar( Class of’ 24).
Andrew Gamenthaler, M. D. clerkship faculty in surgical oncology at the Daytona Beach Regional Campus, proudly wears the Faculty Pin he was given.
David Green( left, PA Class of’ 22) congratulates Harold Kulman, M. D., clerkship faculty in Surgery at the Sarasota Regional Campus after presenting him with a Faculty Pin.
Logan Lipsch( right, PA Class of’ 23), poses for a celebratory photo after presenting a Faculty Pin to Mark Brus, M. D., clerkship faculty in Internal Medicine and Geriatrics at the Sarasota Regional Campus.
Sage Keckstein( left, PA Class of’ 24), poses with Steven Halbreich, M. D., clerkship director for Surgery at the Sarasota Regional Campus after presenting him with a Faculty Pin.
FALL 2025 39