First Year GA-PCOM Student Accepted into FAER Summer Program

(SUWANEE, GA – February 27, 2015) First year student at Georgia Campus – Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (GA-PCOM), Denaya Edwards (DO’18), has been accepted into the Foundation for Anesthesia Education and Research’s (FAER) Medical Student Anesthesia Research Fellowship (MSARF) Summer Program. The program provides students with valuable experience and opportunities within the medical field of anesthesiology and research.

After going through an extensive application process, Edwards, originally from Opelousas, Louisiana, obtained one of only 60 positions nation-wide in the highly competitive FAER MSARF Summer Program. She will be conducting research at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas – the largest cancer center in the country. During the program’s eight weeks of focused, anesthesia research, Edwards will work with a designated mentor who will provide guidance and training in research techniques and scientific methods. She will have the opportunity to present at the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) annual meeting during the FAER MSARF Symposium and receive student stipends, ASA student membership dues, plus additional funds to help cover the cost of travel to the ASA meeting. On her acceptance into the summer program, Edwards said she was “hoping to get into a competitive program” but pleasantly “shocked” when she found out that she did.

Part of the honor’s college, Edwards received her bachelor’s degree in biology with a minor in chemistry at McNeese State University in Lake Charles, Louisiana. She then earned her master’s in biomedical sciences at Mississippi College in Clinton before coming to GA-PCOM. As the current Vice President and President-Elect of the Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine Interest Group (ACCMIG) at the College, Edwards says that she has always been interested in anesthesiology. Through her involvement with the ACCMIG, she hopes to increase awareness about anesthesia and pain management practices.

For the future, Edwards aspires to participate in an anesthesiology rotation during her third year and to become a physician anesthesiologist. Ideally, she would like to practice oncology as well; Edwards explained that her mother has cancer and this has fueled a vested interest for cancer research and treatment. She looks forward to researching and working with chemotherapy drugs, cancer patients, and the anesthesiology involved in patient care during the program.

About GA-PCOM

Georgia Campus – Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (GA-PCOM) is a private, not-for-profit branch campus of the fully accredited Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, a multi-program institution with a 116 year tradition of educational excellence. Located in Suwanee, GA-PCOM offers the doctor of osteopathic medicine degree, the doctor of pharmacy degree and a master’s degree in biomedical sciences. The campus includes the Georgia Osteopathic Care Center, an osteopathic manipulative medicine clinic, which is open to the public by appointment. For more information, visit www.pcom.edu or call 678-225-7500.

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!