Nominations are accepted through March 31, and anyone in the university community is eligible to submit a nomination. Three awards will be presented:

• Resident of the Year Award: Presented to the resident who overall best embodies the mission of the university to provide excellent patient care, either directly or indirectly, advance his or her field through scholarly activity, educate other residents and students, and is an excellent example of professionalism.
• Resident with Outstanding Achievement in Scholarly Activity: Given to the resident who has achieved the most to further his or her field through scientific pursuit. Publications — both number and quality — as well as other scholarly activity such as presentations, quality improvement programs, grand rounds and others are considered.
• Resident with Outstanding Achievement in Community Engagement: Awarded to the resident who has best embodied the university mission of service to and engagement with the community, state, nation or world. A leadership role over part or all of a project, is essential.

 and must include the resident’s name and a 2-to-4-sentence description of the nominee’s qualifications for the award. All nominations will be anonymous. Winners will be selected by the House Staff Council and will be announced in May or June.

For additional information, contact House Staff Council President Mark J. Amsbaugh, MD.Ěý

UofL’s Director of Advanced łÉČËÖ±˛Ą in Prosthodontics, Bryan Harris, DMD, says the award validates the quality and advanced technologies of the program, along with the division’s focus on digital workflows to provide optimal care for our patients.

“This is a team effort from our faculty and other specialty programs and reinforces the elite delivery of care in our graduate prosthodontic program,” he said.

The 89^th Annual Meeting of the American Prosthodontic Society was held in Chicago on Feb. 23-24.

In 2015, the first year of the drive, the group collected 570 toys in just six days. This year’s collection began early in December.

“It’s important to think about the kids in our community. They are our future,” said Mitesh Patel, MD, a third-year resident in the Department of Psychiatry. “There is so much bad stuff in the world that it’s nice to see that kids can have a nice Christmas. It’s just a small thing that we can do as physicians to help support our community.”

To inject some friendly competition into the effort, Stock Yards Bank & Trust offered a luncheon and plaque to the three residency programs bringing in the highest ratio of toys. The winning program, Psychiatry, collected more than 300 toys, or 8.5 toys for each resident physician in the program. Radiology residents collected 5.6 toys per resident for second place. The Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Women’s Services was third with 3.8 toys per resident.

Patel spearheaded the drive for the Department of Psychiatry, which also won the competition last year, and plans to ensure his department continues their winning streak.

“We plan to win next year – if radiology lets us,” he said.

Erin Priddy, MD, a radiology resident, is community engagement chair for the House Staff Council and helped organize this year’s drive. She already has ideas about how to increase overall participation next year.

“I hope that it will continue to grow. I think if we have an appointed delegate for each program that could help as far as communication,” Priddy said. “I would like to break 1,000.”

Staff members of the Office of Graduate Medical łÉČËÖ±˛Ą counted and packed the toys in 11 large donation boxes, which were picked up by a Toys for Tots coordinator on Dec. 15.

The collects new, unwrapped toys during October, November and December each year, and distributes those toys as Christmas gifts to less fortunate children in the community in which the campaign is conducted.