Geisinger Commonwealth announces winners of 2019 Robert W. Froberger and Walter D. Gemmill teaching awards

These awards are presented annually by rising fourth-year medical students completing clinical rotations at GMC. The awards recognize clinicians who demonstrate a passion and talent for teaching and who have made significant contributions to the learning of others.

The Robert W. Froberger Award was presented to Malachi Courtney, MD.

Dr. Courtney is a board-certified hospitalist specializing in internal medicine. His clinical interests include biomedical ethics, graduate medical education, international medicine and patient flow. His research interests include biomedical ethics. Dr. Courtney attended Wake Forest University, where he earned his medical degree. He completed his residency at Yale-New Haven Hospital. Dr. Courtney is certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine and by the American Board of Pediatrics. He speaks English and Spanish. Beyond the office, Dr. Courtney is a native of Richfield.

The Froberger Award is bestowed annually to honor a faculty member at the GMC for excellence in teaching. This award is a memorial to Robert W. Froberger for his dedication to lifelong learning, professionalism and service. Robert W. Froberger served the George F. Geisinger Memorial Hospital faithfully as a superintendent, fundraiser and friend in the early 1900s. He first met Geisinger founding physician-in-chief, Dr. Harold Foss in rural Alaska, where he supported Dr. Foss in providing medical care to injured gold miners at the Fair Haven Hospital. He grew in his skills alongside Dr. Foss, transforming from an accomplished sailor and navigator, to administering anesthesia during Dr. Foss’s surgeries in the Yukon and studying roentgenology at the Mayo Clinic, before building the department of radiology in Danville and finally serving as George F. Geisinger Memorial Hospital’s administrator. 

The Walter D. Gemmill Award was presented to Katelyn Welshans, MD.

Dr. Welshans is in her third year of OB/GYN residency and is a 2016 graduate of Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine. She is originally from Jersey Shore and received her bachelor of science degree from Temple University.

The Gemmill Award is bestowed annually to honor a resident or fellow at the GMC for excellence in teaching. This award is a memorial to Walter Dempster Gemmill, MD (1890 – 1981) who served as the first intern/resident physician at the George F. Geisinger Memorial Hospital. Dr. Gemmill was born in Allenwood  and graduated from Bucknell University and Medico-Chirurgical College of Philadelphia. On Sept. 12, 1915 the George F. Geisinger Memorial Hospital opened during a typhoid epidemic. On the following day, Dr. Gemmill joined Dr. Foss as an intern/resident physician. He remained as a resident physician until May 1916, then again from December 1917 – July 1918. Dr. Gemmill practiced ophthalmology, otology, laryngology and rhinology in Monessen.

About Geisinger
Geisinger is among the nation’s leading providers of value-based care, serving 1.2 million people in urban and rural communities across Pennsylvania. Founded in 1915 by philanthropist Abigail Geisinger, the non-profit system generates $10 billion in annual revenues across 134 care sites - including 10 hospital campuses, and Geisinger Health Plan, with 600,000 members in commercial and government plans. The Geisinger College of Health Sciences educates more than 5,000 medical professionals annually and conducts more than 1,400 clinical research studies. With 26,000 employees, including 1,600 employed physicians, Geisinger is among Pennsylvania’s largest employers with an estimated economic impact of $14 billion to the state’s economy. On March 31, 2024, Geisinger became the first member of Risant Health, a new nonprofit charitable organization created to expand and accelerate value-based care across the country.  Learn more at geisinger.org or connect with us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and X.