Author: himed.1

AHSS Project

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One aspect of the interpersonal communications competency is to be able to effectively prepare and deliver educational materials to individuals and groups. My competency level has progressed from novice to satisfactory during my medical school career. I will describe a few experiences that characterize my journey in this competency. Early on in medical school during part one, we gave presentations on patients as well as the science and social topics related to them. I was given feedback throughout these presentations that helped me improve on these skills. This was continued in part 2 during presentations on specific topics to my team during service. I may have initially thought it important to just always present facts, but with repetition learned it also important to consider the purpose of the presentation and the intended audience.

My skills in this competency continued to develop during part 3 with the AHSS project I was working on. My team and I aimed to lower the average hemoglobin a1c at the upper Arlington family medicine practice. Our analysis identified that patients had little to no access to appropriate materials on diabetes management. We developed an educational pamphlet that provided patients with knowledge. We saw the percentage of patients with A1c greater than 9% improve from 42 to 22 percent with the implementation of the flyer distribution.

I hope to continue to be able to develop, prepare and present educational materials in my career. I think it is extremely important for us physicians to be able to help our patients understand the complex diseases that they live with. I think I have improved in this competency because I have learned how to distill medical information into actionable items for my patients. My goal is to be able to continue to identify areas where educational materials where are needed and deliver them in a way to maximize impact. I think success is defined much in the same way success was defined in the AHSS project. Seeing an actual improvement in the lives of our patients. I will work with a faculty member during residency to identify an area where educational materials could be beneficial for patients. I believe there will be adequate opportunities available. I think it is realistic to envision implementing a similar intervention by the end of residency.

Diabetes Management

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For the systems based practice competency, the graduate must be able to appropriately use system resources and assist patients in accessing health care that is safe, effective, patient-centered, timely, efficient and equitable. For this competency, I had a goal of understanding and implementing care for at least one patient who was dealing with an aspect of a long term medical condition. I believe my current competency level is satisfactory. Some of the stories I would like to discuss involve my experiences in medical school with diabetes management. During part two, I had the opportunity to do my family medicine rotation at the Philip Heit Center for Healthy New Albany. I worked with several different physicians in clinic who saw patients of all ages for both follow up visits as well as for acute complaints. I also spent a half day with the in house pharmacist and another half day with the dietician. The pharmacist and dietician independently saw patients who were referred to them from the other physicians in the clinic.

This was a cool experience to see the continuation in management of the patients seen in clinic. There was a level of detail the pharmacist and dietician were able to approach with their patients that made each visit special. Several of the patients we saw together were following up for their diabetes management. We discussed several types of insulin and delivery methods, including common brands like Novolog, Levemir and Lantus. I had not previously realized there was such variation in the amount of medicine each brand dispensed. This added another layer to my consideration when thinking about starting or managing insulin therapy for a diabetic patient. I had never really considered this aspect before and the impact a small detail like medicine volume could make, especially in the case of a medication such as insulin that is administered several times daily.

During part 3 I did a hospital medicine rotation. A few of the attending physicians I worked with encouraged me to work through some modules online pertaining to hospital medicine. One of the topics discussed was managing diabetes. I remember being really excited to piece together the knowledge presented with what I had already previously learned, like with my experience in family medicine in New Albany. Later on in the rotation, one of the patients I saw was a female truck driver. We were consulted to help her set up a plan to manage her diabetes. She told me that she wanted to find a way to manage without insulin so she could keep her job. We were able to get her off sliding scale insulin and onto metformin. This experience helped solidify the important of my goal to the development of my career. I think success is defined as improving or learning in one area of utilizing resources and improving patient care. I hope to continue to pursue this goal for other aspects of patient care within medicine. I will track my progress with the help of my attending physicians during residency. I think there will be adequate opportunities to realize progress in this goal within my training.

The Interview Trail

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For the professionalism competency, a graduate of THE Ohio State University College of Medicine shall exemplify the ethics, values and behaviors of the medical profession and as such, the graduate must consistently demonstrate compassion, respect, honesty, integrity, accountability, altruism, prudence, social justice and commitment to excellence in all professional and personal responsibilities. I feel like my competency level is satisfactory. This interview season was a tiring yet rewarding experience that contributed significant growth in this competency for me. Each interview was significant because I pieced through my medical school journey with the faculty and program directors I talked with. Initially I was concerned that my journey through school wasn’t enough, that my story wasn’t complete. Throughout the process I became more sure of myself through speaking with others. I realized that my experiences in medical school were sincere and that I had learned alot. I was honest much in the same way I am honest with patients.

I have set a goal for myself to continue to carry myself with the highest of standards. I will continue to develop my professional ability through residency as I look forward to applying to fellowship. Success is defined in this competency by being able to characterize each encounter, whether it be with patients or with colleagues, as compassionate and understanding. My faculty members and co residents will be able to hold me accountable through out residency.