Medical Students Honored for Embracing Humanism in Health Care

Posted in News Stories  |  Tagged Gold Humanism Honor Society, student achievement, student experience

(November 1, 2024) — The Gold Humanism Honor Society (GHHS) added 30 School of Medicine students to its rolls at its annual fall induction ceremony. The event, held October 24 in Harvey Amphitheater, recognized fourth-year medical students who excel in providing compassionate patient-centered care.

“Imagine a scenario where you’re standing outside of the room of a patient and you’re asking yourself, ‘How can I help?’” said Norman J. Beauchamp Jr., MD, MHS, executive vice president for health sciences and executive dean of the School of Medicine. “This is when your values rooted in humanism will kick in.”

GHHS is a national organization of 45,000 medical students and physicians that champion humanism in health care, promoting a human connection between clinicians and their patients. Consideration for the honor society requires students to be ranked in the top quarter of their class.

“This is a rigorous process in which students are peer-nominated and then asked to write an essay. Based on what they have contributed to the community and their essay, then students are chosen by a group of faculty and at least one student who has graduated and belongs to the Gold Humanism Society,” said Princy N. Kumar, MD, MACP, senior associate dean for students in the School of Medicine.

Before receiving their certificates and pins, students and their guests listened to a keynote address from Alexandra O’Kane (M’24), a GHHS member currently in her first year of residency at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia in pediatrics-child neurology.

Eileen Moore, MD, associate professor of medicine and family medicine and Georgetown’s GHHS chapter advisor, led students in the society’s oath before the event concluded.

Part of the oath included students pledging to listen to their patients with their whole being, advocating for each patient as a unique individual and always remembering the healing power in acts of caring.

“To me, being inducted into the Gold Humanism Honor Society means always delivering compassionate and patient centered care,” said Constanza Menendez Alurralde (M’25). “I will do this by breaking down barriers that hinder patients’ access to health care, whether these barriers are social, financial, economic, cultural or linguistic. As a future physician, I aspire to leverage my training to conduct impactful research and provide exemplary care to underserved communities.”