Elizabeth “Liz” Ciociola, MS4, was selected in a highly competitive process for the National American Medical Association Foundation Physicians of Tomorrow General Scholarship.
Elizabeth “Liz” Ciociola is a fourth-year medical student pursuing a career as an academic ophthalmologist with a commitment to conducting research and advancing the field. She was inducted into AOA in her junior year for her academic and professional accomplishments and her application to the American Medical Association Foundation Physicians of Tomorrow was selected amongst a highly competitive pool of applicants.
Her research interests are in ophthalmic genetics, epidemiology, and using real-world data to improve patient outcomes. She has given multiple oral presentations of her work investigating glaucoma genetics and surgical outcomes at national meetings, won the first-place poster prize at the state ophthalmic society conference, and published her work in esteemed ophthalmology journals. Ciociola has also shown a commitment to caring for underserved populations.
As a medical student, Ciociola ran a free eye clinic for uninsured patients, increasing access to eye care for North Carolinians and assisted with the organization of clinics for medically-disabled refugee patients. Ciociola has also sought to improve care for local patients with her quality improvement work. She was selected as a UNC Clinician Leadership in Quality and Safety Scholar and is now driving the change from single- to multi-use perioperative eye drop vials to reduce waste and increase cost savings for both patients and the hospital. She was also recently elected as the student government chief advocate for her class wherein she represents the interests of her classmates and serves as the liaison for the college advisory system.