Mark Sahyouni is the Campbell University Jerry M. Wallace School of Medicine Student Researcher of the Year (SROY).
Sahyouni, a fourth-year student doctor of Richlands, Virginia, advances to the national competition.
“Representing (the med school) nationally is a great honor and nothing I had ever expected of myself when I enrolled nearly four years ago,” Sahyouni says. “I am humbled that my efforts were deemed worthy.”
Sahyouni thanked his support system, including friends, family and fiancé Olivia, as well as Drs. Nicholas Pennings and James Cappola III for their respective letters of support.
“Although I am not a practicing physician yet, participating in research has provided the opportunity for me to meaningfully contribute to existing medical literature and present those findings for other medical professionals to build upon,” he says. “It is something I enjoy and intend to continue as a resident physician in the future.”
Cappola is chair and associate professor of Internal Medicine at Campbell’s med school.
In his letter, Cappola lauded Sahyouni for outstanding work on multiple research projects, including a scientific poster and case report presenting a patient diagnosed with a solitary plasmacytoma, a tumor of abnormal plasma cells within soft tissue or bone.
“Mark worked hard on this project from start to finish,” Cappola says. “He met our patient at Harnett Internal Medicine, established rapport with her, discussed our research project and helped obtain her consent to be the subject of our project.”
Sahyouni, Cappola writes, thoroughly reviewed the patient’s complicated work-up, including advanced laboratory and imaging studies and biopsy results.
Sahyouni’s work resulted in an outstanding scientific poster presented during a meeting of the N.C. Chapter Meeting of the American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians. He also presented his findings at the National Convention of the American College of Osteopathic Internists.
Pennings serves as chair of Family Medicine at the medical school, as well as professor of Family Medicine and director of the Health Center. He is also executive director of Clinical Education for the Obesity Medicine Association.
He talked about a Summer Scholars program in 2022 and a research project involving a retrospective cohort analysis on the relationship between fasting insulin, fasting glucose and five-year risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
“During that summer, Mark completed a detailed review of the literature on the topic, participated in research design, and in data analysis,” Pennings says. “He wrote up an excellent summary of the study and associated results. Mark put together a poster and oral presentation that he delivered at local, regional and national events.
“I have reviewed Mark’s other research projects. I am impressed with the depth and breadth of Mark’s research work in the short time as a medical student. Seven peer-reviewed publications with eight poster presentations at local, regional and national conferences/symposiums is impressive for someone who is in their fourth year of medical school.”
Sahyouni said he had several reasons for choosing Campbell. He has family in North Carolina and, compared with other medical schools, medical students at Campbell are in a better position for residency placement.
“I also really connected with the faculty that interviewed me and felt like overall it was a great fit,” he says.
He says he mostly has engaged in publishing unique patient cases and presenting them at research conferences at the state and national levels.
“I would like to tailor my research efforts more toward contributing to cardiovascular literature, as that is something I have found a passion for over the years,” Sahyouni says.
Cappola says in the letter, “Mark earned high praise for his patient care, teamwork, communication skills and commitment to personal growth. For example, his preceptors comment he is “willing to go the extra mile. …never shies away from clinical encounters. … (is) very knowledgeable, respectful, compassionate and empathetic.
“His passion for expanding his medical knowledge, his relentless drive for excellence in his scholarly work, his high academic achievement at (the med school) and his commitment to leading other learners and to serving the community make Mark a very deserving recipient of this year’s SROY Award.”
Started in 2015, the SROY Award is piloted by the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine’s Council of Osteopathic Student Government Presidents, the AACOM website says.
“The award recognizes osteopathic medical students with highly competitive experiences and advancement in clinical, translational or basic science research.”