Dr. Adnan Alsaka is pictured with USC School of Medicine Florence Regional Campus medical students Matthew Lancaster and Autumn Lupotsky.

McLeod Health congratulates Dr. Adnan Alsaka and Dr. John Sonfield for honors they recently received from the Class of 2021 and 2022 with the University of South Carolina School of Medicine Florence Regional Campus.

Medical students Autumn Lupotsky and Matthew Lancaster presented Dr. Alsaka with the O’Neill Barrett Teaching Award during the Medical Staff meeting on June 7. This award is given for outstanding Clinical Science Teaching throughout a student’s four years of medical school. Dr. Alsaka previously received the Teacher of the Year award for 2018, 2019 and 2020.

Dr. Sonfield received the Teacher of the Year Award for the fourth consecutive year. This honor is selected by vote of the medical students pursuing rotations at McLeod Regional Medical Center.

In addition to these honors, Dr. Paul DeMarco was nominated for the Leonard A. Tow Humanism in Medicine Award.

“Since 2017, the USC School of Medicine Regional Campus in Florence has educated between 20 to 30 third and fourth year medical students,” said Dr. Alan Sechtin, Assistant Dean of Medical Education at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine Florence Regional Campus. “We consistently receive incredible feedback on our faculty, and our family medicine residents who teach. The time spent teaching, whether on the wards, the operating room, in private offices, or in didactic session is invaluable to the next generation of physicians.

“On behalf of the USC School of Medicine, I can’t thank our faculty enough for what each of them does for our regional campus. I also have to thank the McLeod Health system for its continued support. Without the commitment by McLeod to education in our region, we could not have a regional campus,” added Dr. Sechtin.