November 30, 2017

Story by Lucy Stenzel-Poore

A record number of medical students from the OHSU School of Medicine presented research and clinical vignettes at the annual state chapter conference of the American College of Physicians on Nov. 2. In partnership with both OHSU and non-OHSU faculty mentors, 21 medical students submitted and presented posters at the meeting.

In recent years, the Oregon Chapter of American College of Physicians has conducted extensive outreach to medical students to encourage extended scholarship and to foster the mentorship needed for effective poster presentations. In conjunction with ACP outreach, the OHSU Internal Medicine Interest Group, a student-run resource group, has placed a significant emphasis on professional development for medical students in recent years. Interest group members recently developed an information session called "Abstracts 101"; the session has stimulated students to pursue scholarship and, as a result, participation in ACP meetings has significantly spiked.  

In order for medical students to present their scholarship at a national ACP meeting, their abstract must be selected from the thousands student member submissions across the country. Among the many abstracts submitted, the following OHSU students presented posters at this year's Oregon ACP meeting: Sweta Adhikary, Hannah Jacob, Christian Lindner, Laurence Moore, Nga Nguyen, Emily Ager, Austin Igelman, Cliff Moeckelman, Ramy Sadek, Andrew Summers, Talitha Wilson, Claire Groth, Antonious Hazim, Dagnie Howard, Jung "Jay" Kim, Allison Munn, Ryan Nesbit, Katherine Runkel, Minhazur Sarker, Victoria Walston, and Lauren Wessler.

Students presented in four categories: clinical vignette, clinical research, quality improvement research and basic research. Ryan Nesbit, M.D. Class of 2019 (above, right), took first place in the clinical vignette category with a poster titled "An Unusual Presentation of Non-Uremic Calciphylaxis." Emily Ager, M.D. Class of 2019 took second place in the quality improvement and basic research – closely followed by Minhazur Sarker, M.D. Class of 2019, in third place.

Katherine Runkel, M.D. Class of 2019, placed first in the quality improvement research category with a project titled "Hospitalist Perceptions Of Fall Prevention: A Comparison Of Two Healthcare Systems."

Students also presented research conducted with faculty members performing innovative work at OHSU, including Talitha Wilson, M.D. Class of 2019 (at right), who presented her research on innovations in inpatient addiction treatment with Honora Englander, M.D., associate professor of medicine, OHSU School of Medicine. Wilson placed first in the clinical research category, along with Emily Ager, M.D. Class of 2019, and Austin Igelman, M.D. Class of 2021, who placed second and third, respectively. The first place winners from each category are invited to be the Oregon ACP Governor's submission to National ACP, bypassing the usual vetting process.

Many OHSU School of Medicine faculty are greatly involved in the ACP organization, Tom Cooney, M.D., M.A.C.P., professor of medicine, who previously served as the governor of the Oregon ACP chapter and the ACP's Board of Governors chair. Avital Y. O'Glasser, M.D., F.A.C.P., F.H.M., associate professor of medicine, serves on multiple Oregon ACP committees including the governor's council, women's council and medical student council. Sima Desai M.D., associate professor of medicine, serves as the chair of the Oregon ACP Program Planning Committee.

The American College of Physicians is a national organization of internists, and with 148,000 members, including internists, internal medicine subspecialists, and medical students, residents, and fellows, ACP is the largest medical-specialty organization and second-largest physician group in the United States. Involvement with the ACP provides medical students with outstanding professional development opportunities including networking and complementary skill set development.

"The student and faculty mentor have a chance to exchange, with the case as the focal point. It provides an opportunity to engage in deeper dialogue about a given case, share reflections and gives the faculty a chance to teach the student how to put the case together for conferences," said Rebecca Harrison, M.D., F.A.C.P., professor of medicine, who serves as the director of rotations for fourth-year medical students and plays an instrumental role with the Internal Medicine Interest Group. Dr. Harrison mentored multiple student posters for this year's Oregon ACP conference.

Dr. Harrison believes that ACP involvement provides very special exposure to the medical community: "Students often have a chance to see a community of physicians, in this case internists, that might give them some insight and impression into the culture and the way internists, or other profession-focused conference audiences, think and what they value in health care."

Pictured (top to bottom): Ryan Nesbit in front of his poster; Talitha Wilson presenting to conference judges; (left to right) Hannah Jacobs, Christian Lindner, Nga Nguyen and Austin Igelman during the Oregon ACP meeting.