An ability to think quickly and react in emergent situations is a critical skill for
any physician, but especially for surgeons. That's one lesson Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM) students learned recently at the William Henwood Philadelphia Surgery Conference,
held in person for just the second time following the global COVID-19 pandemic.
Organized by the Wisely Surgical Association and Global Surgery Group with support from the PCOM Association of Women's Surgeons, the conference offered a full day of workshops at the Dr. Michael and Wendy Saltzburg Clinical Learning and Assessment Center designed to provide osteopathic medical students hands-on learning opportunities with practicing clinicians, including a number of PCOM alumni.
Coordinated by student organizers Sage Zunda (DO '25) and Danielle Terrenzio (DO '25), the conference showcased primary skills through workshops such as “Knot Tying & Suturing,” “Central Line Placement,” and “Scrubbing in - Gowning and Gloving,” among others.
“No matter if you're going into surgery or not, you still need to know [these skills],” explained Terrenzio. “So [the conference] was for that, but it was also a great opportunity for networking.”
PCOM alumni Marcin Jankowski, DO '05, director of surgical outcomes and research at
ChristinaCare in Delaware, and Meredith Jankowski, DO '06, a urologic surgeon at Shore
Physicians Group, shared their experiences working in trauma and surgical environments.
PCOM faculty member Robert Bassett, DO '06, FAAEM, FCPP, who led several workshops and has participated in the conference in previous years, was excited to engage with the students.
“It's never easy to find extra hours in the day,” he said. “But getting an opportunity to help the next generation of PCOM students learn critical resuscitative procedures will always be a privilege and priority for me.”
This year's conference was also open to students from other area medical schools, a practice that had been discontinued due to the pandemic.
Reflecting on the lessons learned from the conference, Zunda and Terrenzio were grateful for the experience and the skills they'll be able to take into their careers.
“We learned so much from planning this conference,” said Terrenzio. “A lot of things did not go our way, so we learned so much about how to be adaptable and how to be a leader.”
For the past 125 years, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM) has trained thousands of highly competent, caring physicians, health practitioners and behavioral scientists who practice a “whole person” approach to care—treating people, not just symptoms. PCOM, a private, not-for-profit accredited institution of higher education, operates three campuses (PCOM, PCOM Georgia and PCOM South Georgia) and offers doctoral degrees in clinical psychology, educational psychology, osteopathic medicine, pharmacy, physical therapy, and school psychology. The college also offers graduate degrees in applied behavior analysis, applied positive psychology, biomedical sciences, forensic medicine, medical laboratory science, mental health counseling, physician assistant studies, and school psychology. PCOM students learn the importance of health promotion, research, education and service to the community. Through its community-based Healthcare Centers, PCOM provides care to medically underserved populations. For more information, visit pcom.edu or call 215-871-6100.
Brandon Lausch
Executive Director, Strategic Communications
Email: brandonla@pcom.edu
Office: 215-871-6312 | Cell:
717-371-0609
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