Curriculum Vitae

Noemi Alice Spinazzi, MD

Oakland, CA

 

Academics

University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Class of 2012

Medical Doctor

Boston University, College of Arts and Sciences; Class of 2008

Graduated Summa Cum Laude (GPA: 3.99)

Bachelor of Arts, Biology; Psychology (Department ‘valedictorian’ for both majors)

Standardized Test Scores:

MCAT Score: 41 R (Physical Sciences: 14, Verbal: 12, Biological sciences: 15)

USMLE Step 1: 260; Step 2CK: 265; Step 3: 251

Academic Awards

Alpha Omega Alpha, University of Pennsylvania 
Phi Beta Kappa, Massachusetts Chapter

Golden Key International Honor Society

Boston University Trustee Scholar (full scholarship program, 40 students for each entering class of 7000)

Boston University Dean's List – all 8 semesters

Foreign languages

Italian – my native language

French – fluent

Spanish – fluent

American Sign Language – moderately fluent (3 college semesters)

Employment Experiences

Children’s Hospital of Oakland – Resident Physician (June 2012 – Present)

·       Full time employment

·       Clinical responsibilities divided between inpatient duties and outpatient continuity clinic per ACGME guidelines

Puentes de Salud Full Time Research Intern (June-August 2009) 
       .      Designed and administered a survey on parents’ approaches to their children’s nutrition and physical activity 
       ·         Organized behavioral health – themed health fairs in conjunction with the Mexican government 
       ·         Focused largely on community outreach

Boston University Office of Residence Life: Resident Assistant (August 2007 – June 2008)

·         Acted as a resource and advisor to 72 students on 3 floors of a residence hall

·         Fulfilled on-call duties (weekdays: 15-hour shifts; weekends 24-hour shifts)

Part-Time Care for Disabled Person (January 2007 – January 2008)

·         Personal Assistant to an almost fully paralyzed woman with Multiple Sclerosis

·         Numerous, varied responsibilities, including assistance in personal and home care

·          Potentially, primary responder in case of emergencies (First Aid and CPR trained)

Part-Time Nanny (September 2006-May 2008)

·         Took care of three children (ages 5, 3 and 18 months at start of employment)

·         Engaged children in afterschool games, learning activities, and outdoors play. No television was allowed.

·         Applied my knowledge in developmental psychology, my concentration within my psychology major

Education Experiences

FASPE (Fellowship at Auschwitz for the Study of Professional Ethics) (June 26^th to July 7^th 2011)

.    An intensive program in medical ethics that takes place in New York, Berlin, Krakow, and Oświęcim (Auschwitz).

·     Current medical ethics are discussed in the historical setting of the notorious fail in ethical principles of Nazi physicians, who played a leading role in the development and implementation of the policies and programs of the Holocaust.

English High School of Boston (2007-2008 academic year)

·         Worked as a peer advisor and assistant teacher to Mr. Rozas at an inner city public high school

·         Served as a role model and counseled students on the importance of education and the opportunities it offers

Class of 2012 Course Representative (January – June 2009) 

·         Elected to represent my medical school class at weekly curriculum meetings with course administrators

·         Provided feedback on each lecture and on each course’s organization and dynamics

Private Teacher/Tutor (January- June 2008; June- August 2009)

·         In 2008, I taught Italian to a 13 y/o girl and a 9 y/o boy with severe ADHD before their move to Italy. I had to develop a curriculum and had to engage both children simultaneously despite age differences

·         In 2009, I tutored a college student in physics, chemistry and biology in preparation for her MCAT.

Boston University Educational Resource Center (October 2006 – June 2008)

·         Tutored biological sciences and Italian

·         Average of 6-10 students a semester, 2 hours/week per student

Research and Publications Experience

Publications:

Book chapter on resident communications skills (July-August 2011)

·         As a co-author (with Dr. Larrie Greenberg and Dr. Bejamin Blatt at GWU School of Medicine) of a chapter on medical communication skills, my role is to perform all literature searches and reviews, to critically appraise the existing studies, and to select the ones most relevant to the contents of the chapter.

Third author in: Lee, DI et al. 2011. Surgeon Perception Is Not a Good Predictor of Peri- operative Outcomes in Robot Assisted Radical Prostatectomy. Journal of Robotic surgery

Tomas Tullius Research Group, Boston University (Fall 2004-Spring 2006)

·         The group’s research was funded by the Proteomics Project

·         Student research project: to elucidate the order of reactivity of the hydroxyl radical with the RNA sugar backbone as a tool to map the 3D structure of RNA enzymes

Volunteering and Community Outreach

Puentes de Salud Student Coordinator (January 2009- Jan.2010); Clinical Volunteer (September 2008- May 2012)

·         Take patient histories, present to attending physicians, draw blood, and interpret for patients and doctors

·         Prepare and deliver charlas, simple and culturally appropriate lectures on topics of interest within the community

·         Leadership position recruiting and coordinating volunteers, and representing Puentes at other schools within UPenn

Volunteer Alliance.org (July 2007-present)

·         Co-founder of an international non-profit organization

·         Currently developing a web-based platform for volunteers to connect to and fundraise for charitable projects. www.volunteeralliance.org

Students of AMF Chapter Development Team (September 2008- January 2010)

·         Act as a resource to campus leaders of Students of AMF chapters, sharing my accumulated knowledge about strategies for success of student-based grief support groups.

·         Participate in biweekly teleconferences with other organization branches (marketing, business administration, etc.)

Children's Hospital of Boston (January 2006- June 2007) and Funny Bones at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (September 2008-present)

·         Volunteer weekly (Boston) or biweekly (Philadelphia), distracting children from their disease through games and informal art therapy, and engaging teenagers in age-appropriate conversations unrelated to their illness

Special Olympics (Summers of college)

·         Volunteered as a medical aid, assisting doctors during post-injury interventions and leading stretching routines

·         Was required to provide references and was evaluated for my ability to interact with persons with special needs

International Volunteering Experiences

Project Medishare (Port au Prince, Haiti) (November 2011)

·       I was an integral part of the medical team composed of both Hatian and volunteer American and Canadian physicians

·       The project espouses disaster relief efforts with preventative health and accessible, affordable medical care in Haiti

Botswana Clinical Elective (April 30th-June 20^th 2011)

·       I was an integral part of the internal medicine team at Princess Marina Hospital in Gabarone, Botswana, for 4 weeks, followed by 2 weeks working in the pediatrics and on outreach at the rural hospital of Mochudi, and one week at the Baylor Center for Clinical Excellence working with pediatric HIV patient.

·         I took care of a very sick cohort (80% of patients admitted to the hospital in Botswana are HIV+) during Botswana’s longest public sector strike in history – a seven week strike that decimated the medical and nursing staff, resulting in much of the patients’ care being placed in the hands of us visiting medical students – including running codes.

Clas Ttio – Cuzco, Peru (Summer 2008)

·         Worked in the Emergency Department, triaging patient and taking their vitals, and worked alongside several physicians

·         Worked for a national vaccination campaign, going to schools to vaccinate hundreds of kids against Hepatitis B

·         Accompanied Dr. Gónsera Calua, founder of Medicine for the Andes, to orphanages for weekly health checkups

African Child Care Foundation – Bagamoyo, Tanzania (Summer 2007)

·         Taught English and basic math to 85 orphaned children attending a charity-funded  preschool in East Africa

·         Started an English class for adults in the village of Bagamoyo

·         Sponsored medical checkups for all 85 children with funds I had raised before the trip

Lobbying and Public Speaking

Dream for Darfur International Torch Relay; Boston Event

I was one of the featured speakers at the event, and focused my speech on the effect of the genocide on children

Boston University Biology Department Graduation Speaker

I addressed my graduating class on the importance of pursuing dreams and nurturing relationships and friendships

AMSA Lobby Day 2009

I lobbied senators and legislators about health as a basic human right, and about the economic advantages of a publicly funded health care plan for the State of Pennsylvania – something I firmly believe in

The 2009 Celebration of Remembrance (with participation from all Philadelphia Medical Schools)

 I delivered a eulogy for the families of those who donated their bodies to the Human Gifts Registry

Noteworthy Fundraising

$1,525 for Fight JPA 5k run (Childhood Brain Tumor Foundation) 
          

$1,150 for Boston University Dance Marathon (Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation)

$4500 (total fundraised by the Penn Med team) for Relay for Life (American Cancer Society)

Extracurricular/ Other

Perelman School of Medicine Integrative Medicine Interest Group Chair (Auguat 2010- June 2012)

·         I revived the interest group with a focus on peer-led education of medical students on alternative/ complementary medicine to better prepare

·         Developing joint programs with the Yoga and Mindfulness Meditation Interest Groups

Letter to the New York Times. Written Tuesday, May 17, 2011. Never Published.

As soon as I started CPR on the 43 year old woman blood sputtered from her mouth and nose: she was dead. Yet her core was still warm - she must have passed within the hour, but nobody noticed us, the two physicians and one medical student covering the medical wards and ICU at Princess Marina Hospital in Gaborone, Botswana. During the morning rounds, two more women, (one only 19 years old) required prompt resuscitation; with one nurse left to cover over 100 patients, she had had no time to call for help before the patients crashed. These are just a few of the many silent victims of Botswana's 5 week long strike. While the public sector continues to demand a 16% increase in salary to match the increased cost of living and President Ian Khama refuses to listen, people are dying from insufficient care.

Botswana, an African success story known for its peaceful democracy, its tolerance toward its religious and ethnic minorities, and economic prosperity, is now experiencing the repercussions of the worldwide recession. The government's response to the people's demonstrations, however, are threateningly undemocratic. The media, managed by the government, has divulged falsificated news about the popular unrest, suggesting that "everything is fine" while the country is teetering on the brink of social upheaval. News of teachers killed by their own students are censored from the public news; figures of preventable deaths are adulterated to promulgate an appearance of stability while unattended patients die without anyone noticing. Foreign reporters from neighboring countries are prevented from crossing the Botswana border to report more tersely on the issue.

The New York Times, with its large readership and its well earned fame for being a thorough and objective newspaper, needs to bring the situation in this Southern African country to the attention of the American people. Only fear of negative international press will make Khama consider engaging in a conversation with the Unions to reach a compromise. Until then, all workers within the public sector will continue to stand by their cause despite the government's threats of termination. I hope my country will intervene peacefully to protect democracy in Bostwana, and I hope my voice will be heard from far away through these words.

Noemi Spinazzi, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, MS4

African Child Care Center - Some pictures of the kids

My Speech at the Dream for Darfur Torch Relay - October 7th 2007

Close your eyes and try to think back to the home you grew up in. Imagine walking in and going to your bedroom, throwing your stuff on the floor and lying down on your soft bed. Look at the posters on the walls, at your wardrobe, your clothes, your pictures. You are contemplating whether to go to the kitchen to get something to eat when… you hear gunshots and your mother screaming and your father screaming. You hear your neighbors screaming and you come out of your room and your father is lying on the floor dead, drenched in blood. Everything smells of blood. Your mother is screaming hysterically, a man is holding her arms back and hitting her with his rifle and restraining her, forcing her to look at another man raping your little sister. A man sees you and rushes towards you and you don’t know what to do. You want to help your mom, help your sister, but this man wants to hurt you, he wants to hit you and cut off your hands and ears. The smell of blood is so strong. Your little sister has lost consciousness, but the man is still raping her, brutally, and now they are raping your mom too…

            But that does not happen here. That happens 6171 miles away. That’s why it’s so easy for us to forget about it. 6171 miles away from us, in Darfur, at least three million children and adolescents have been physically, emotionally and psychologically crippled. Forever. We buy a T-shirt, make a 10 dollar donation, and appease our conscience while millions of children’s lives are shattered.

The trauma experienced by Sudanese children is indelible. It will permeate every moment of their lives. Our indifference toward the atrocities perpetrated in Darfur has facilitated the sentencing of 3 MILLION children and adolescents to a life of anxiety, depression, fear, and impaired functioning. As a college student, I have so many plans and dreams for my future. In Darfur, the future of a whole nation suffers from Post- Traumatic Stress Disorder.

To everyone here, especially to the parents in the crowd: I want to ask you a question. Would you want your children to grow up in today’s Darfur? If we have all answered NO to this question, then we ALL have an obligation to Sudanese children. Sending aid to support the overcrowded refugee camps is not enough. Each of us has the duty to contribute to end this genocide. My friends: make your presence here today the beginning of a commitment to action. With enough letters to our nation’s leaders, we can build a bridge 6,171 miles long between us and our brothers and sisters in Darfur and make sure that no more futures are compromised, that no more dreams are turned to night terrors.

Graduation Speech Boston University May 2008

Wow, this sight is unbelievable. It seems yesterday that we timidly walked into SCi107 for our first Chem 101 and Bio 107 lectures, and here we are, celebrating an incredible milestone in our lives. Today is a day of fulfillment and accomplishment. For all of us here, an extraordinary adventure has ended. Most of us have spent the past few days packing up the past four years of our lives in a few cardboard boxes, deciding what to leave behind and what to take with us. We have been busy sharing one more coffee, one more laugh, one more confidence with our friends. And all of us, for every moment of the past few weeks, have been wondering what awaits us after Boston University, what the future holds. Our backs bent over heavy textbooks, we have worked hard to get to where we stand today. But on this day, as we graduate to the grown up world, I would like for us to put down our thick biology textbooks and to pick up a children’s book: “The Little Prince”, by Antoine de Saite-Exrupéry. Listen carefully to the words of the little prince, to his three commandments: they are precious advice that our generation should follow.

First: "It's a question of discipline, (…) When you've finished washing and dressing each morning, you must tend your planet." 

We are responsible for our Earth. The human family has grown exponentially in the past century, putting unprecedented strain on the planet’s resources. The increased demand and cost of resources has widened the gap between the wealthy and the indigent, and such social and global inequalities are rendered self-evident by the AIDS, TB and malnutrition pandemics that plague the developing countries. As the future leaders of this nation and of the world, we Boston University graduates must commit to tending our planet. As scientists, we must promote sustainability by supporting the research for new, clean energy sources. We must actively reach out to our brothers and sisters in need, rather than just hypocritically pitying their conditions when their stories are broadcast on television. It’s a question of discipline, as the little prince says, it takes time and effort. But it is our responsibility.

Second: You are responsible, forever, for who you have tamed.
To tame is to establish ties, to invest time in a relationship. Here at Boston University, we have established a myriad of connections, some of which will last a lifetime. Relationships are like parking meters: if you don’t feed them, they will expire. Never take the people around you for granted. Put effort into maintaining the connections you have made here on this campus. Life will be busy: don’t let that be an excuse. You are responsible, forever, for who you have tamed
And Third: "That is the hardest thing of all. It is much harder to judge yourself than to judge others. If you succeed in judging yourself, it's because you're truly a wise man."

At Boston University, the alma mater of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, the principles of tolerance and respect are passed on to all of us students. As you represent this institution everywhere life takes you, maintain this attitude of love and acceptance. Don’t waste your time fearing who’s different: learn from him instead. When you are tempted to criticize someone, pause, and use that time to assess yourself, your own actions. The resulting self-awareness will ensure that you never settle for a job you don’t like, for a career that doesn’t convince you. It will encourage you to nurture your talents instead, to pursue your dreams.

Our generation suffers from a form of political apathy that sees us passively casting judgment on our leaders rather than actively working toward change. Let’s begin criticizing this widespread indifference by voting, endorsing, protesting, boycotting, speaking, writing, denouncing, acclaiming.

The issues of this world are enormously complex, and nobody here can solve them alone. But that is why I am so honored to share this day with such a brilliant group of people: I know that together, we can promote the change that is necessary for the human family to overcome economic and environmental challenges. So today, let’s accept the responsibilities of an adult citizen of the world, with the confidence that Boston University has prepared us well for such a task.

I would like to end with excerpts from a famous prayer by Mother Teresa, a woman who tended her planet, cared for those she tamed, and refused to remain passive about the world’s injustice.

People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered.
Love them anyway.

If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.
Do good anyway.

If you are successful, you win false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyway.

The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.

Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway.

The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds.
Think big anyway. (…)

People really need help but may attack you if you do help them.
Help people anyway.

Give the world the best you have and you'll get kicked in the teeth.
Give the world the best you have anyway.

Congratulations Biology graduates of the class of 2008!

A talk on HIV targeted to high school aged kids in mainly African American communities

1. The talk began with an exercise. Kids were asked to write down one fact they knew about HIV. Dr Trooskin and I went over the accuracy of those facts, using the presentation as reference.
2. A question and answer session was held. Kids wrote down questions on a piece of paper, which were then answered using the presentation as reference.

3.  A brainstorm session about other STDs . Kids share what they know about them, and questions are answered

4. Last anonymous Q&A session

5. distribution of educational material with directions to free testing.