Title:GEMS Family Celebrates 40 Years

Above: Dean Emeritus Joy Phinizy Williams, a longtime leader of the GEMS program, was one of the honorees at the celebration.

More than 200 gathered in D.C. in July to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Georgetown Experimental Medical Studies (GEMS) program. The event honored those who created the program and the people who continue to contribute to its success.

The black-tie gala also recognized alumni of the program, a one-year post-baccalaureate study for disadvantaged minority students interested in applying to medical school. Several alumni credited GEMS for opening the door to their medical careers.

Kimberly Henderson, MD (C’91, L’95, M’00), said that without the GEMS program, “there would not be a medical career. It made my career.” In addition to practicing emergency medicine in Mount Sinai Beth Israel Hospital in Manhattan, she serves as regional medical director for CVS Minute Clinics.

A total of 767 students graduated from the GEMS program since 1977. About 72 percent have completed their medical degrees, or are currently enrolled in medical school. The remaining alumni are in other health-related careers.

Special recognition went to Fernando Pagan, MD (M’96), medical director of the translational neurotherapeutics program at Georgetown University Medical Center and director of the movement disorders clinic at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital. Part of the GEMS class of 1992, he was awarded the GEMS Physician Alumni Leadership and Innovation in Medicine Award. Pagan treats patients with Parkinson’s disease and other movement disorders, and conducts research on medical interventions to either slow the progression of disease or to treat the many symptoms caused by neurologic diseases.

Wendy Diaz-Huarcaya (M’21), GEMS class of 2017, credited the program for giving her a chance to fulfill her dream of becoming a doctor. She learned about GEMS after her applications to 25 medical schools weren’t accepted. “GEMS is a place of selfimprovement,” she said. “It is a family away from home.”

David Taylor, associate dean for student learning at the School of Medicine and GEMS program director, reinforced the idea that everyone who contributes to GEMS becomes part of its family, especially the alumni.

“As a family, we take it very seriously that we care for one another,” Taylor said. That attitude is shared by everyone from study session leaders like Christopher Kaingo, MD, to Antonio Celey, who runs the market and coffee shop in the Pre-Clinical Science Building, and who were both in attendance. “That’s what makes us so special,” Taylor said. “Everyone is rooting for that GEMS student’s success.”

Two new clinical lectureships were announced during the event to honor the legacies of Arthur Hamilton Hoyte, MD, and Dean Emeritus Joy Phinizy Williams (pictured on page 36), longtime leaders of the GEMS program.

Hoyte began advocating for the enrollment of underrepresented students soon after joining the School of Medicine department of community and family medicine in 1973. He founded GEMS in 1977 with Heinz Bauer, MD.

While Hoyte could not attend the event, he sent his thanks in a letter read to the attendees, noting “the ongoing disparities that have existed for decades are the reason GEMS still exists.”

Williams joined the program soon after its founding, and was a valued mentor for 35 years. She was “measured, patient, supportive and kind, with a great sense of humor,” GEMS alumna Tiffany Pittman, MD (M’12), told attendees.

Williams served as the GEMS program director and senior associate dean for students and special programs before retiring in 2014. In addition to her work at Georgetown, she also participated in many mentoring programs for high school and undergraduate students interested in health careers.

“It was an honor to have worked with GEMS students,” Williams said.