At the May 19, 2017, School of Medicine Birmingham Campus Awards’ Luncheon, Travis Hull and Lauren Theiss were named inaugural recipients of the Robert J. Cerfolio Award for Outstanding Medical Student in General Surgery and the Mary T. Hawn Award for Outstanding Woman Medical Student, respectively. Thanks to the generosity of two former faculty members, Robert J. Cerfolio, M.D., and Mary T. Hawn, M.D., the UAB Department of Surgery has recently established two outstanding medical student awards. At the May 19 School of Medicine Birmingham Campus Awards’ Luncheon, Travis Hull and Lauren Theiss were named inaugural recipients of the Robert J. Cerfolio Award for Outstanding Medical Student in General Surgery and the Mary T. Hawn Award for Outstanding Woman Medical Student, respectively.
“Both of these former UAB faculty members are committed to providing medical students with opportunities that allow them to become interested in surgical specialties,” said Herbert Chen, M.D., professor and chair of UAB Department of Surgery. “Therefore, I think it is fitting that through their generosity we were able to create medical student awards in their respective names. Through these gifts, Drs. Hawn and Cerfolio are continuing to contribute to UAB and the training of the next generation of surgical leaders.”
Hull and Theiss were chosen as award winners because they each have characteristics that harken to the respective award namesakes, said Richard Stahl, M.D., associate professor and director of the surgery clerkship.
“Travis, like Dr. Cerfolio, is a vigorous and enthusiastic team player,” Stahl said. “His exemplary academic credentials are witness to his intellectual curiosity and certainly placed him near the top of an impressive list of candidates for this award, but it is his unpretentious and outstanding work ethic that hoisted him to the top of that list.
“Lauren was chosen because she demonstrated the leadership qualities embodied by Dr. Mary Hawn. In addition to Lauren’s strong academic performance, she exudes enthusiasm, self-confidence and a willingness to work hard side by side with her peers that encourages the esprit de corps that is so important in surgery.”
Robert J. Cerfolio, M.D., is an internationally known lung cancer surgeon who has pioneered robotic techniques that have been shown to reduce complications, increase survival rates and shorten hospital stays. He practiced at UAB for more than 20 years and, as of June 1, 2017, will join the faculty at NYU Langone as chief of clinical thoracic surgery. He also will become the first director of the Lung Cancer Center at NYU Langone’s Perlmutter Cancer Center.
“The best part of academic medicine is the ripple effect a good mentor can have,” Cerfolio said. “I enjoy the opportunity of mentorship, because young students and physicians that we coach can, in turn, positively influence countless patients long after we finish practicing. As academic surgeons, this is our legacy, and it is perhaps as important as the individual patients we have treated. I am deeply honored that UAB created this annual award.”
Mary T. Hawn, M.D., is renowned as an accomplished surgeon, health services researcher and leader. She is professor and chair of the Stanford University Department of Surgery. Her clinical area of specialty is minimally invasive foregut surgery. Hawn is a funded health services researcher whose projects focus on quality measurement and policy in surgical populations. She joined Stanford in 2015, after almost 14 years at UAB.
“In order to attract the best and brightest to surgery, we need to foster relationships with students and showcase the incredible careers that surgeons can achieve,” Hawn said. “UAB was an incredible place to develop my career as an academic surgeon. The medical students at UAB are some of the brightest, hardest working and inspirational individuals that I have met over my career. I particularly enjoyed mentoring students in their MedScholars projects and into careers in surgery.
“Seeing the world of surgery through their eyes is rejuvenating.”
To learn more about giving opportunities, support medical student education and honor the legacies of Drs. Hawn and Cerfolio at UAB, please contact Leon Ryan, director of development, at leonryan@uab.edu.