Marshall School of Medicine inducts new medical honor society members

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine inducted 11 medical students, three residents and two faculty members into the Alpha Omega Alpha (AOA) Honor Medical Society on Tuesday, April 30, at the Touma Museum of Medicine.

New inductees include third-year medical students Dalton Border, Seth Deskins, Andrea Hart, Gregory Hill, Preeya Shah and Joseph Simmons and fourth-year students Neil Blanchard, Brett Floyd, Amanda Krauss, Samantha Richardson and Matthew Riley. Resident inductees for 2019 are Rahman Barry, M.D., general surgery resident; Adam Schindzielorz, M.D., psychiatry resident; and Courtney Wellman, M.D., family medicine resident. Yousef R. Shweihat, M.D., associate professor of medicine, and Katherine J. Steele, M.D., assistant professor of family and community health, are the faculty inductees for 2019.

“Membership in AOA is considered a great distinction, and the annual AOA induction ceremony is our chapter’s way of celebrating the accomplishments of the new inductees while also recognizing the contributions of their friends and families in their successes,” said J. Wesley Urian, AOA chapter president at Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine. “This year’s inductees are truly deserving, and it is an honor for me to welcome them into our organization.”

Student inductees are selected from among the top quartile of students in a given class based on academic performance, leadership, professionalism and a firm sense of ethics, promise of future success in medicine and a commitment to service in the school and community. Resident and faculty inductees are selected by a caucus of members of the society, including students.

Alpha Omega Alpha is the national medical honor society. The Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine chapter of Alpha Omega Alpha is one of 132 chapters across the country. Since the organization’s founding in 1902, more than 183,000 members have been elected to the society nationwide.

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Photo Caption:  Newest members of the Alpha Omega Alpha chapter at Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine during their induction ceremony, Tuesday, April 30, at the Touma Medical Museum. Pictured left to right are (front row) Brett Floyd, Samantha Richardson, Preeya Shah, Amanda Krauss, Dr. Katherine Steele, Dr. Courtney Wellman and Greg Hill and (back row) Dr. Adam Schindzielorz, Dalton Border, Andrea Hart, Dr. Rahman Barry, Seth Deskins, Joseph Simmons and Neil Blanchard. Not pictured are Matthew Riley and Dr. Yousef Shweihat.

Media Contact:  Sheanna M. Spence, Director of External Affairs, School of Medicine, 304-691-1639

Date Posted: Wednesday, May 1, 2019