Five high school seniors who participated in the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine Medical Scholars Pipeline Program (MSPP) are college-bound with support from generous scholarships from Northwell Health. The awards were presented at Northwell’s 50th Annual Martin Luther King Memorial Celebration held at North Shore University Hospital on Jan. 17, 2020. Read more.

Following a rigorous evaluation process, the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell has achieved the full eight-year accreditation term from the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME), the national accrediting body for all U.S. and Canadian medical schools leading to the MD degree. Read more.

Match Day, the annual rite of passage for fourth-year medical students nationwide, was celebrated virtually at the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. On Match Day, students learn where they will be spending their residency or fellowship training. Traditionally they are on campus – surrounded by family, friends, classmates and professors – as they open the envelopes that hold the key to their future.
Instead, this year, Zucker students were invited to share their big reveal via Zoom conferencing. “While it is sad that we can’t be together to celebrate, we will watch and hopefully see each other’s happy reactions,” said Dean Lawrence G. Smith, MD, MACP, noting that this was the Zucker School’s sixth Match Day. He congratulated the students, pointing out that 38 of them had matched to the major hospitals of the top 24 medical schools in the country. Read more.

Medical students in their final year at the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell will graduate early and have the option to begin temporary employment at Northwell Health hospitals to assist in the fight against the COVID-19 virus before beginning their residencies over the summer. Responding to a directive from Governor Andrew Cuomo allowing graduating med students to practice immediately due to the ongoing pandemic, the 102 members of the Class of 2020 will now graduate on April 10, a month ahead of schedule. A virtual graduation ceremony is planned for May 11. Read more.

Recent graduates at the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell participated in a virtual ceremony held on Monday, May 11— a month after they officially became doctors and joined front-line health care workers to respond to the global coronavirus pandemic.

“This is not the commencement that we all imagined for you,” stated Stuart Rabinowitz, President of Hofstra University. “But you know, better than anyone, how COVID-19 has changed our lives in countless ways.” Read more.

On May 19, 2020, over 170 medical educators gathered virtually for the Health Humanities as a Teaching and Learning Strategy conference. With support and sponsorship from the American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC), the Northeast Group on Educational Affairs (NEGEA) and the Health Humanities Special Interest Group (HHSIG), the conference committee welcomed participants from around the country for an enlightening afternoon of sharing and learning.
 “Health humanities is an important educational tool, and in stressful times, this lens becomes even more vital to assure stories and narratives are heard and acknowledged,” stated conference co-chair Alice Fornari, EdD, RDN, of the Zucker School of Medicine. Read more.

Dr. Samara Ginzburg has been named as the Hedwig van Ameringen Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine (ELAM) Ambassador for the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell. Established in 1995, the Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine® (ELAM) program offers an intensive one-year fellowship of leadership training designed for senior women faculty with high potential for assuming executive leadership positions at academic health centers in medicine, dentistry, public health and pharmacy. Dr. Ginzburg is the first educator from the Zucker School of Medicine to receive this honored accolade. Read more.

First-year medical students at the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell began classes on Aug. 3, 2020, with orientation activities that included an array of virtual meeting and learning opportunities, as well as a half-day in-person session to begin EMT training.
The new class at the Zucker School of Medicine is comprised of 103 students from across the nation and a variety of socioeconomic backgrounds. The class includes 20 students from groups underrepresented in medicine and 55 women. Read more.

Nearly 16,000 high school, college and medical students from all over the world including Canada, Brazil, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Portugal, Puerto Rico, South Korea, and the US, have ambitious plans this summer. These students enrolled in a new virtual education forum called “BRAINterns,” hosted by the department of neurosurgery at Lenox Hill Hospital. The series, which launched July 1 and ended August 26, is geared for students interested in pursuing diverse careers in healthcare. Read more.

In years past, new students at the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine received their first white coats on stage in a celebratory ceremony that includes families, friends, and classmates. This year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Zucker School of Medicine’s tenth White Coat Ceremony, a traditional investiture ritual, was closed to the public. Loved ones still experienced the joy of this med school milestone by watching and participating in a virtual viewing, which was made available through YouTube. Read more.

The Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell virtually hosted its ninth annual Scholarship Day on November 4, 2020, showcasing the summer research of over ninety Zucker School of Medicine students comprised of both MD and MD/PhD candidates.
“Research is a way to develop analytic and critical thinking skills,” said Joel N.H. Stern, PhD, associate professor of science education/neurology and director of the Office of Student Medical Research at the Zucker School of Medicine. “These abilities help students to achieve a better understanding of disease and teach them how to read and interpret scientific literature to keep up-to-date with the latest advances in healthcare.” Read more.