‘Deeply appreciated’

Clinical faculty who make possible one of OUWB’s signature educational programs recently were recognized at a special dinner held in their honor.

Held Feb. 5, the PRISM Mentor Appreciation Dinner took place at Meadow Brook Hall.

Promoting Reflection and Individual Growth Through Support and Mentoring (PRISM) provides a multi-layered system of support, along with a four-year curriculum that focuses on professional identity development, mentoring, and personal reflection as a means of deepening self-awareness. Monthly sessions create opportunities for developing these skills through small-group discussions facilitated by physician mentors.

Every class at OUWB is divided into seven PRISM groups, each led by a mentor who volunteers from among the school’s more than 1,400 clinical faculty. At the appreciation dinner, Christopher Carpenter, M.D., Stephan Sharf Dean, spoke and thanked them.

“We are here to thank you for choosing to invest your time, your wisdom, and your heart in mentoring our students throughout their four years at OUWB,” he said.

“From the day you help them don their first white coat to the day you assist in the hooding ceremony at their commencement, your commitment is admirable and deeply appreciated,” he added.

PRISM has been a part of the OUWB DNA since inception.

The program was the brainchild of Angela Nuzzarello, M.D., founding associate dean, Student Affairs. Her idea was to start a mentoring program for students that involved learning about themselves as they worked through the curriculum.

Since then, more than 100 people have served as PRISM mentors, including six OUWB alumni.

“(Volunteers) are the heart and soul of the program,” said Varsha Karamchandani, M.D., assistant professor and PRISM co-course director. “If there weren’t mentors, there wouldn’t be PRISM.”

She said the mentors serve as role models for what it means to give back, while also making it easy for students to approach them and ask questions about being a physician. These close relationships often extend beyond the students’ time at OUWB, too.

“I’ve heard from numerous mentors that even after many years they will still receive calls from their mentees,” said Karamchandani.

Bassel Salman, M.D., a pediatrician and assistant professor, Department of Pediatrics, is serving as a PRISM mentor for members of the Class of 2026. It’s his second time volunteering for the program.

Christopher Carpenter, M.D., Stephan Sharf Dean, OUWB, thanked the PRISM mentors for their time and the positive impact they have on students.

He said medical school is a major life change and many students feel the need for support from those who have experience in the field of medicine.

“During the four years of PRISM mentoring, the students and I become very close … they have my cell number and can call me at any time for any reason,” he said.

For example, Salman had a mentee who had planned on specializing in urology for most of her time as a medical student. At “the very last minute,” she changed her mind and was looking closely at specializing in orthopaedics or OB-GYN.

“I told her it was her choice but knowing her I didn’t think OB-GYN would be a good choice,” he said. “She’s a fourth-year orthopaedic resident now. I do this all the time.”

Salman said the most rewarding aspect of being a PRISM mentor is when he encounters former mentees who have become resident or attending physicians.

“They tell me they remember going out as a group to dinner or another event or tell me they still remember something it taught them,” he said. “It means the world to me. It makes me feel great that I’m making a difference in somebody’s life.”

During the appreciation dinner, Berkley Browne-Holtz, Ph.D., associate dean, Student Affairs, also spoke. She previously served as a PRISM course director.

“I’ve really gotten to see over the years what makes the PRISM program special,” she said. “The simple truth of it is that it works because of all of you mentors.”

Browne-Holtz said the program goes beyond a typical medical education course because PRISM helps students understand “how to really embody the identity of a physician and respond as seriously to that calling as the calling demands.”

“And that transformation happens through mentorship, through trust, and through physicians who are generous enough to share their time, perspectives, expertise, and humanity with our students … and that’s exactly what you all do,” she said.

“On behalf of all the OUWB students, thank you,” she said. “That you for your time, your generosity, and your investment in the next generation of physicians.”