More than 25 medical students, residents and faculty will represent the Wayne State University School of Medicine at the Society of General Internal Medicine's annual meeting April 23-26 in San Diego. The group will share memorable case reports, patient stories and game-changing educational innovations in several sessions during the conference.
"This year we had a large number of students submit posters. This is due to the wonderful support from our residents and faculty," said Associate Professor Diane Levine, M.D., the Department of Internal Medicine's vice chair for education and clerkship director. "We will have a great showing at SGIM. We try to foster an environment of intellectual curiosity. This is reflected in the number of acceptances students have at national meetings. They have outstanding role models in our residents at the Detroit Medical Center, Henry Ford Hospital and Crittenton."
At least three third-year students will present clinical vignettes in poster form based on patient care they helped provide during their internal medicine rotation directed by Dr. Levine.
This is student Karl Kirschke's first time presenting at a major conference. His poster illustrates a possible newfound association of erythema nodosum, a rare scalp disease also known as dissecting cellulitis of the scalp. Dr. Levine was his mentor on the project.
"I was excited when I found out my abstract was accepted to the conference. I look forward to the opportunity to present my poster and meet other physicians and students with similar interests," he said.
His classmate, Michelle El-Hosni, will present a poster on a patient with a history of untreated hypertension that led to fatal cardiovascular complications. "During the writing process, it was my goal to present the case from both a medical and socioeconomic viewpoint," El-Hosni said.
The clinical vignette highlights the importance of early management of hypertension to prevent the development of atherosclerosis, peripheral artery disease and critical limb ischemia leading to amputation. Her abstract aims to recognize racial disparity in the diagnosis and progression of peripheral artery disease.
"While participating in this patient's care, I became interested in the risk factors leading to the development of severe vascular disease," she said. "I was disturbed by the fact that this patient's death may have been prevented or delayed by early treatment. However, it was evident to me that successful disease management relies on both access to health care and patient compliance. There are unfortunate situations when patients are unable to comply with treatment due to lack of finances, health education, transportation, etc."
Student Ryan Morton's poster is a case report on Lofgren's syndrome, a rare form of an inflammatory disorder that usually affects multiple organ systems. "The most interesting part by far is the diagnostic process during the hospital course. It is one of the top things that draws me to internal medicine. With an unusual presentation it could be a number of different types of disease. Narrowing it down to a group can be quite the process on its own, as well as pinpointing the disease and optimizing treatment. I feel lucky I had the opportunity to be involved in the process, as well as the opportunity to discuss this at a national meeting - which I am grateful to WSUSOM and Henry Ford Hospital for providing assistance that makes it possible," he said.
Students, residents and faculty will present in other sessions as well. Second-year medical student Darshan Patel will deliver a presentation on quality improvement to increase HIV screening in the Wayne State University Physician Group's General Medicine Ambulatory Clinic in Detroit.
"Through his efforts, we were able to increase HIV screening by 300 percent," Dr. Levine said.
Ron Omino, who leads the medical students' Internal Medicine Clerkship Advisory Committee, identified an orientation required by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education as an opportunity for educational quality improvement.
To address this expectation, "we have created an 'Orientation to My Team' document and a 'Teaching Manual for Resident Physicians,'" Omino said. "Our goal is to provide more structured guidance for internal medicine residents who teach medical students on the wards. Once the tools have been distributed, residents will be given time to personalize their orientation document. We will then assess the impact of these tools on the quality of the team orientation and resident teaching quality and effectiveness during the Internal Medicine Clerkship."
He will present the work in the Advancements in Medical Education session.
"We also have a large number of outstanding residents and fellows who are presenting clinical vignettes and educational innovations," Dr. Levine said.
They include Chaitanya Mandapakala, M.D., a chief resident for safety and quality at the John D. Dingell Veteran Affairs Medical Center, who will present two posters related to safety and quality. "His use of 'walk rounds' to increase error and near-miss reporting improved reporting at the VA, which will translate into increased opportunities to provide safer high quality care," Dr. Levine said.
His second poster describes using a popular television show as a centerpiece for delivering a workshop on patient safety related to transitions of care. Dr. Mandapakala delivers the workshop with Dr. Levine to rotating students.
Additional presenters and authors include students John Joseph, Huixia Wei, Vahid Pasovic, Caitlin Biedron, Amy Li, Elizabeth Grier, Katherine Fontichiaro, Khalil Mroue and Ashleigh Porter; and residents, fellows and faculty, Drs. Robby Singh, Dipenkumar Modi, Muhammad Usman, Naveen Nannapaneni, Adeeb Bulkhi, Maha Al-Hajeili, Alaa Elkhider, Herva Mamdani and Larry McMann, and Drs. Theresa Vettese, Nader Mina, Paul Kleinow, Jarrett Weinberger, Sayf Al-Tabaqchali, Azzat Ali, Joel Steinberg and Lucero Chueca Villa.