For 45 years, Art Cohen has been an alcohol and drug abuse counselor at the University of Maryland Medical Center, helping our sickest and most complex patients through the darkest times in their lives. If you walk around the hospital with him, you'll feel like you're with a celebrity. Patients, nurses, custodial staff, doctors, the person who sells you your cup of coffee in the morning - they all come up to Art, hug him, laugh about life. That's because he makes every person feel valued and important. Art is retiring, and it's hard to imagine our medical school and hospital without him. In this episode, we learn about Art's life, why he was a "bad kid," how his own life changed after a difficult few years, and how he knew that helping people with addictions was his passion. He also shares his approach to interviewing and caring for patients, as well as a few memorable patient stories. He tells us it's not easy to say goodbye to a place after 45 years. For everyone who knows Art, it's definitely not easy to say goodbye to him. 

What exactly IS the OSA? And who are the OSA deans? In this episode, we introduce you to... us! Drs. Parker, Martinez, and Frayha answer student questions, dive into the role of the Office of Student Affairs, and share some stories about our own lives. Think family, hobbies, regrets from residency, our favorite parts of working in the OSA, and how we landed in academics in the first place. Get to know us better, so we can get to know you better. 

We love to cover transitions in this podcast. Transitions in medical education like the leap to third-year clerkships, or from med school to internship. Today, we are taking it back to the very beginning of the journey. Our new first years are starting soon, and the entire world of medical school will be new to them. To help welcome them to the family, today’s episode has advice, tips, and happy memories from class of 2020 president Brigit Baglien as well as our OSA deans. This is where it all begins.