Raquel D. Arias poses with recruitment scholarship recipients at the 2016 Keck School of Medicine of USC Scholarship Gala at Town & Gown on March 12.

The event raised close to $300,000 to help fund recruitment scholarships at the Keck School, surpassing their goal of beating the previous gala total of $225,000.

The Distinguished Faculty Award was presented to Donald I. Feinstein, MD, MACP, emeritus professor of medicine, a revered hematology-oncology doctor and a Master of the American College of Physicians. His areas of expertise include hematologic disorders associated with bleeding and thrombosis, and he was responsible for naming the most common inhibitor of the partial thrombosis time (PTT), the Lupus Anticoagulant. Even after his official retirement eight years ago, he still continues to work at the Keck School.

Drew Pinsky, MD ’84, assistant clinical professor of psychiatry, received the Distinguished Alumni Merit Award for his work as a doctor and as a health and wellness advocate, specializing primarily in addiction medicine. He is a diplomat of the American Board of Addiction Medicine and the American Board of Internal Medicine. Throughout his career he has authored several bestselling books and hosted a multitude of programs on television, radio, and podcasts.

The Distinguished Alumni Service Award was presented to Michele M. Cannis, MD ‘77, former associate clinical professor. Cannis is a respected pediatrician and educator, as well as the former president of the volunteer and support organization the Salerni Collegium Alumni Association. She has given countless hours of service as a volunteer throughout her long-standing relationship with USC.

In addition to these honorees, Betty Schreiner, MD, ’61, was also recognized for her recent $1.25 million gift that established the Joseph and Mariette Schreiner Scholarship Fund in honor of her parents, who worked hard to send her to medical school at the Keck School in the late 1950s. Schreiner attended the event with the inaugural recipient of this scholarship, Chioma Moneme.

The program for the evening also included a presentation from Raquel Arias, MD ‘82, MPH, associate dean for admissions, associate professor of clinical obstetrics and gynecology, and a recruitment scholar herself. She highlighted the fierce competition the Keck School faces with other schools and how scholarships are needed to continue to attract the best and brightest medical school applicants.

by Amanda Busick