Faculty, residents and students representing the Wayne State University School of Medicine's Department of Family Medicine and Public Health Sciences won four first place awards at the 38th annual Michigan Family Medicine Research Day Conference, held May 21 at Cleary University in Howell, Mich.
"It was a fantastic day for our department, and a testament to our commitment to academic pursuits and successful collaborations at all levels, including medical students, graduate public health students, residents and faculty," said Professor and Chair of Family Medicine Tsveti Markova, M.D., F.A.A.F.P. "Congratulations to the winners and to all presenters."
The event was well-attended by students, residents, faculty and staff from throughout the state, Dr. Markova said. Hosting responsibilities rotate yearly among the Family Medicine departments within Michigan's universities. The University of Michigan hosted the 2015 conference, in collaboration with WSU, Michigan State University, Oakland University Beaumont School of Medicine, Western Michigan University and the Michigan Academy of Family Physicians Foundation. WSU Department of Family Medicine and Public Health Sciences conference assistant Rose Moschelli, Assistant Professor William Murdoch, M.D., and Professor Victoria Neale, Ph.D., M.P.H., represented WSU on this year's planning committee, with Assistant Professor Joseph Giannola, M.D., Professor John Porcerelli, Ph.D., and Associate Professor Jinping Xu, M.D., representing the university on the judging panel.
Wayne State's winners, out of 61 total entries in the oral and poster presentation categories, included Assistant Professor and Director of Patient Safety Dennis Tsilimingras, M.D., M.P.H., who won first place in the Best Faculty Oral Presentation category for "Post-Discharge Adverse Events Among Urban and Rural Patients of an Urban Community Hospital: A Prospective Cohort Study." The report revealed that adverse events after discharge from the hospital were common in urban and rural patients, and many were preventable or ameliorable, yet urban adverse events were more often associated with hypertension, type 2 diabetes and some secondary discharge diagnoses.
Master of Public Health student Elyse Reamer and her mentor, Associate Professor Jinping Xu, M.D., won in the Best Student Oral Presentation category for "Prostate Cancer Knowledge, Information Sources and Qualities of Treatment Decisions for Localized Prostate Cancer." The study found that for patients with localized prostate cancer, African-American men had a much greater knowledge gap about their disease than Caucasian men. Increased knowledge can help both groups make informed decisions about their care, increasing treatment satisfaction and decreasing treatment conflict and regret.
Dr. Xu also mentored fourth-year medical student Albert Ma, who won the Best Student Poster Presentation category for "Left Lower Limb Weakness as the Initial Presentation of Glioblastoma Multiforme: A Case Report with Literature Review." GBM is the most prevalent and malignant adult primary brain neoplasm, and is characterized by rapid progression and ultimately poor diagnosis, Ma wrote. The case report described a 56-year-old female patient who initially presented with symptoms suggestive of a lumbosacral radiculopathy, nerve damage that often causes chronic lower back pain.
Third-year resident Katharine Lounsberry, M.D., and second-year resident Matthew Clifford, M.D., won first place for Best Resident Poster Presentation, for "Rhabdomyolysis in Collegiate Swimmers: A Case Series." The residents were mentored by Dr. Porcerelli and Assistant Professor John Otremba, M.D., Pharm.D. The series involved male and female competitive NCAA Division II swimmers who initially presented to the Emergency Department with complaints of myalgia, muscle stiffness, decreased range of motion at the elbow and brown urine following a new and challenging circuit training workout. Rhabdomyolysis causes damaged skeletal muscle tissue to break down rapidly, and can be harmful to the kidneys.