During the Board of Medicine meeting in Deerfield Beach on August 2nd, 2013, Chairman Dr. Zachariah P. Zachariah presented a medical student from the University of Miami (UM) with the Chairman’s Recognition Award for exemplifying the professionalism, moral character, compassion, and intellect essential to the future leaders of the medical profession.

Kartik Sainag Telukuntla, a senior medical student at the UM Miller School of Medicine, received Bachelor of Science degrees in Biology and Political Science from the University of Miami. During his undergraduate career, Telukuntla was involved in the student government Supreme Court, elected as President of the UM Undergraduate Honor Council, and inducted into the Iron Arrow Society. While in medical school, he also participated in student government as treasurer and executive president. As president of the student government, he implemented a debrief program for third year medical students designed to help with the transition into the clinical environment.

Mr. Telukuntla is a member of the Jay Weiss Social Medicine Pathway, a four-year longitudinal pathway that includes weekly seminars and Grand Rounds focused on themes of social medicine and health equities. As a part of this program, he developed an acuity tool to assess health literacy for children with special health care needs with Dr. Lee Sanders.

Mr. Telukuntla has exemplified compassion in service to the community. He has been an active member of the Department of Community Service (DOCS) volunteering at student organized health fairs to screen uninsured and mostly indigent patients for conditions such as glaucoma, diabetes, depression, and other illnesses. At the Big Pine Key Health Fair, he served as assistant manager and later was selected as the site manager. He also participated in other community service organizations such as Medical Students in Action, Physicians for Human Rights, and the Miami Poverty Initiative.