BUIES CREEK, North Carolina – The third annual CUSOM End of the Year Picnic was hosted Wednesday with homemade BBQ, inflatables, friendly competitions and awards.
The annual end of the year celebration is an afternoon when students, faculty, and staff come together to celebrate the successful end of the academic year and have some family-style fun. The afternoon begins with homemade eastern Carolina BBQ courtesy of the CUSOM head of security, Mr. Eddie Holder, as the feature of the picnic buffet luncheon. Faculty, staff, and students are quickly identified by their team t-shirts or color coordinated team uniforms while they eat, and soon the spirit of friendly competition takes over and the games begin.
Ten teams competed in series of games with team Brothers in Medicine winning the CUSOM Games championship title. The games included tug-of-war competitions, sack races, human hungry-hippos, waterbottle bowling, and scrub-in operation. “The end of the year picnic is a great way to celebrate the end of the year and has become a great CUSOM tradition over the past three years!” said medical school dean John M. Kauffman, Jr., DO.
Aside from the CUSOM Games championship title, the following awards were given:
- 1st Runner-Up: Osteopathic Imperfecta
- 2nd Runner-Up Tie: Lord Have MRSA and Gangrene Ninja Turtles
- MVP: Logan Jones
- Honorable Mention: Tyler Iodence
- Best Team Name: Lord Have MRSA
- Honorable Mention Team Name: Abdullah’s Oblongata
- Best Sportsmanship: STT
As the fun and games came to an end, the moment everyone at CUSOM was looking forward to the most, SGA’s presentation of the Edward H. Holder Service Award, arrived. The Holder Award was created in honor of Edward H. Holder (aka Eddie), the head of security and grillmaster at CUSOM, by the inaugural class to annually recognize a member of the CUSOM faculty and the CUSOM staff for consistently demonstrating excellence in service to the school. The 2015-2016 Holder Award recipients are: Dr. Chris Stewart, associate professor of internal medicine, for faculty and Ms. Amy Lucas, clinical skills and standardized patients coordinator, for staff.
“Amy Lucas is an incredible advocate for students,” said SGA President, Emilie Pinto. “She goes above and beyond to handle our crazy schedules and to make our Clinical Skills experience the best possible. She is so passionate about the work she does, and it is an honor to have her as a part of our years at CUSOM. And, Dr. Stewart is a great mentor. He not only is a wonderful physician, but he is an amazing educator. He is very patient with students and goes the extra mile to make sure we understand why we are learning the material – to make us better clinicians. He has played an integral role in Clinical Skills this year, and students are very grateful for his efforts.”