Month: February 2016

Integrative Health Elective

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Completed Modules List

In the month of January, I completed an elective on Integrative and Complementary Health at the OSU Integrative Health Center. I had prior experience with herbal medicines, acupuncture and chiropractic medicine but never delved into osteopathic medicine, ayurveda, or mind-body interventions. This month was very eye-opening and I learned a lot about the supplements and alternative therapies that can be used in conjunction with modern Western medicine to not only lengthen but also improve quality of peoples’ lives.

My experience in integrative health truly enhanced my understanding of patient care. The primary care physicians at the integrative health center took an extensive medical history and spent anywhere from 40 minutes to an hour with each patient. This was a completely different approach from the 15-20 minute encounters I’ve seen in other internal medicine clinics. During that time, I learned more about the patients’ lives and personal stresses that greatly impacted their health and ability to access health care. The PCPs were able to review patients’ current medications and also advise certain vitamins and supplements as well as refer patients to nutritionists and mind-body therapists among others. In this way, my integrative health elective taught me about more ways that I can practice health promotion and disease prevention outside of the traditional Western medications.

I believe I will definitely utilize my knowledge from this elective in my future practice. Whether I pursue primary care or a specialty, my knowledge about alternative medicine can be used to provide great patient care. During my month long elective, I also completed an herbs and dietary supplements course through OSU. This was very informative and I am planning on furthering my integrative health education through the Integrative Medicine Pilot program offered this spring to OSU medical students.

Research Publication

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Pre-menopausal Breast Cancer patients and Osteoporosis

During the summer between M1 and M2 year, I was fortunate enough to conduct research with my longitudinal practice preceptor, Dr. Charles Shapiro. After spending time at the Stefanie Spielman Breast Center I wanted to learn more about the long-term effects of chemotherapy. We decided to explore the effects of chemotherapy on premenopausal patients. Many breast cancer patients undergo chemotherapy-induced ovarian failure which predisposes them to early onset osteoporosis. We researched the current literature and found that there weren’t any standardized algorithms to manage this issue. Therefore our article created a suggested algorithm and emphasized the need to identify one primary doctor who can be responsible for tracking these patients’ risks for osteoporosis during and after chemotherapy. It was a great learning experience and I was amazed by how much I learned during the short summer break!

My research project enhanced my medical knowledge by teaching me more about scientific inquiry and the process behind identifying deficiencies in current medical literature. While breast cancer is one of the most researched cancers in the world, there are still areas that require further information. By reading through current studies on my specific topic I’ve also evaluated and learned more about the contraindications and efficacies of treatments for women undergoing early onset osteoporosis.

As a medical student that is pursuing internal medicine, this knowledge will be helpful when I encounter oncology patients. Though this topic is very specialized, the process of identifying research topics and systematically investigating a subject will be useful for me in whatever area of medicine I choose to pursue. I plan on pursuing research during residency to further this experience in the future.