Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Adverse Cardiovascular Function Secondary To Inappropriate Exogenous Androgenic Anabolic Steroid Usage In Young Adult Males, Nicholle Rothengass

Physician Assistant Scholarly Project Posters

• In today’s society body image and athletic performance are emphasized and influenced by peers’ perception. The inappropriate use of AAS in young males has steadily increased over the past few decades. The purpose of this study is to determine the long-term effects AAS have upon the cardiovascular system. The review of literature will explore studies that identify long-term abuse of injected AAS, which are used by adult male athletes’ ages 18-40 compared to those equivalent male athletes who have never used any form of drugs or steroids and their effects on the cardiovascular system. The researcher plans to analyze …

Substance Abuse Amongst High School And College Students, Herman Kalsi

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

Substance abuse among young adults is hardly a new trend. About 50% of full-time college students binge drink or abuse prescription drugs, 25% of which meet the definition of having substance abuse or a dependence. That is three times the rate of the general population. Estimated overall total cost of substance abuse in US is $600 billion annually. Ease of access is a main contributor to drug abuse amongst college students.

Implementing Developmental Screening Per Aap Guidelines, Douglas Handley

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

"Fewer than half of the nation's pediatricians conduct systematic surveillance of young children's development… time and cost are among the barriers." Missing developmental delay leads to further attenuation of the problem and can lead to additional developmental problems. Developmental delay can often be corrected or treated to reduce the impact it has on the child. The AAP suggests "developmental surveillance" at every well child visit and standardized "developmental screening" at WCC 9 months, 18 months, and 24 or 30 month.

Improving Vaccination Rates At Uvmmc Family Medicine, Berlin, Emily G. Jones

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

Practitioners don't know current vaccination rates for their practice. Some current reported rates look incorrect, according to the Medical Director. Other reports show areas for improvement. One problem is that patients no longer in the practice remain in the system and decrease rates; another problem is that paper records were loaded manually by persons without medical training when the electronic medical record.

Implications Of Long-Term Proton Pump Inhibitor Use: Promoting Step-Down Therapy For Management Of Gastro-Esophageal Reflux Disease In The Outpatient Setting, Sonam Kapadia

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

Per the International Montreal Consensus, gastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD) is defined as a "condition which develops when the reflux of stomach contents causes troublesome symptoms or complications". GERD is the most common disease of the gastrointestinal tract with an estimated prevalence affecting 20% of the Western population. According to the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, 38.53 million annual outpatient visits are related to GERD. The ABIM Foundation's "Choosing Wisely" initiative in collaboration with the American Gastroenterological Association draws attention to the evidence based recommendation: "For pharmacological treatment of patients with gastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD), long-term acid suppression therapy (proton pump …

Screening For Developmental Delays In Brandon Vt, Flang Nguyen

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

Brandon Medical Center (BMC) currently uses the developmental milestones screening tool built into their electronic medical record to look for developmental delays. Usage of the tool has been awkward, inconvenient, and unmanageable in the office setting. BMC, being the main health care provider for newborns, infants, and toddlers of Brandon, VT, is looking to improve their screening systems for developmental delays during well-child visits

Diagnosis And Treatment Of Ptsd And Other Service-Related Conditions In The Veteran Patient Population, Christopher Mayhew

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

There are approximately 48,602 veterans living in the state of Vermont with roughly 20% residing in Chittenden County. According to national VA statistics, only 40% of the veteran population receives some health care from the VA. Currently UVM providers receive no formal training in delivering care to veterans and there are no military history templates or PTSD screening tools in PRISM. Giving community providers access to basic VA tools, information and resources will help improve the quality of care they offer to their veteran patients.

Barriers To Recovery For Bangor's Buprenorphine Patients, John R. Mclaren, Erin Keller

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

There are several buprenorphine providers at EMMc's Center for Family Medicine serving the greater Bangor, ME region - an area of substantial opiate use. Among the patient population of outpatient buprenorphine users, both locally and nationally, there are high rates of relapse (~32%). In order to decrease relapse rates, it's first imperative to conduct a baseline review of the current buprenorphine population to identify specific types of patients who are at higher risk of relapse. By understanding the barriers to recovery, the office hopes to apply an intervention to the current program, targeting this local demographic more effectively.

Mental Health Awareness Among High School And College Students: Barriers To Knowledge, Accessibility, And Utilization Of Resources, Imelda Muller

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

In 75% of individuals with mental health illness, age of onset is prior to 24. High School and College Students often face unique life stressors that increase their vulnerability to mental health challenges, including anxiety, depression, and suicide. Students facing mental health issues in Danbury often do not receive adequate support. This is partially attributable to lack of knowledge about mental health, stigma, and lack of available mental health resources specific for this age group. Students who do not receive these supports during times of vulnerability perform more poorly in school, have lower rates of completing high school and college, …

Lewiston Community Health Improvement Project, Bryce M. Bludevich

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

Community Health improvement project about low back pain and alternative treatment options. Particularly focuses on different treatment options in Lewiston, ME.

Increasing The Recognition Of Generalized Anxiety Disorder In Primary Care, Sarah Rosner

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

National Comorbidity Survey has shown that anxiety disorders are the most frequent disorders in the population, with a lifetime prevalence of 28.8%, and a 5.7% lifetime prevalence of Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) specifically. The presence of anxiety disorders contribute in an additive fashion to poor function, reduced quality of life, and more sick days from work. Despite being as common and impairing as depressive disorders, anxiety disorders have received much less attention in terms of the media, research, and public health efforts, and are often undetected and undertreated. Only a minority of patients with anxiety, 15-36%, are recognized in primary …

Educating The Colchester Community About Measles And Its Prevention, Phildrich Teh

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

Measles is a highly contagious disease with potential complications ranging from diarrhea, pneumonia, otits media, uveitis, and encephalitis. Since the introduction of the measles vaccine in 1967, incidence of measles in the United States has drastically decreased: by 1985, number of cases had fallen by 99%, by 2000, measles was declared to be eliminated from the US. Over the last decade, measles cases per year has been limited to a median of 70. In recent years however, the U.S. has seen an alarming rate of measles cases. The increasing number of measles cases per year in the U.S. highlights the …

Education In Over The Counter Medications, For High School Freshmen, Ian Crane

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

Over the medications offer numerous benefits, allowing short term treatment of symptoms, and reducing unnecessary Doctor’s visits for things like viral illness. Yet these medications also have potential for misuse. Roughly 10% of Danbury High School students abused OTC medications in 2013.

Allergic Rhinitis: Treatment Of A Seasonal Problem, John Whittier

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

Allergic rhinitis affects up to 30% of the population yet there is evidence that it is under treated and misdiagnosed. Allergy symptoms closely mimic other common illnesses and most medication used to treat seasonal allergies is now available over the counter. This shift in therapy means that patients are now self-medicating with little knowledge of what they are actually treating. Therefore this project aims to clear common misconceptions that prevail in the general population of Vermont as well as provide some guidance on the types of medications used to treat seasonal allergies.

Assessing Patient Barriers To Community Health Team Referral, Benjamin Scott Albertson

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

Objective: To assess patient barriers to Community Health Team (CHT) referrals at Hinesburg Family Practice.

Methods: Patients of Hinesburg Family Practice who were referred to the CHT by a physician and subsequently declined to be seen within the last 15 months were interviewed via telephone to assess what barriers prevented them from accessing CHT services. Twenty five patients were identified and called a minimum of 3 times using contact information obtained from the EHR. Eleven patients were contacted, one of whom had since followed through with the CHT. Responses from the ten patients who met the criteria and …

Increasing Naloxone Availability, Brian Till

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

Administration of naloxone is credited with the reversal of at least 10,000 opioid overdoses in the United States between 1996-2010 alone.[i] Moreover, intranasal naloxone has proven an equally effective route of drug administration when compared to IV dosing in emergent prehospital settings[ii], and retrospective studies have shown no significant difference in efficacy between doses delivered by healthcare professionals and non-healthcare professionals.[iii] Despite these facts, and broad protections provided to physicians prescribing naloxone and citizens administering naloxone outlined in Vermont Act 75, few if any Vermont physicians have incorporated prescribing naloxone into their practice. This project intended …

Osteoporosis: Prevention, Screening, And Treatment In The Primary Care Setting, Jeanne T. Gosselin

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

Osteoporosis, with its related fragility fractures, is largely a preventable disorder, not an inevitable part of aging. Through effective education, screening, and treatement in the primary care setting, it may be possible to curb the impending rise of osteoporosis and costly fractures as the population ages. A time-conserving patient education pamphlet on osteoporosis was developed for a family medicine practice in central Vermont. The educational intervention is sensitive to the time constraints of a busy practice and may provide a much needed foundation for osteoporosis education in the primary care setting.

Online Summer Activity Tracker For Teens, Jamie E. Richter

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

To address teenage obesity by encouraging physical activity and making teens aware of time spent in passive activities. Teens will be able to log onto an interactive web site to track their physical activity and earn raffle entries for reaching fitness goals. Teens will also be asked to track their computer and TV time to make them more aware of how much time they spend in these passive activities.

Pediatric Lipid Screening Guidelines: Information For Patients And Families, Erin R. Pichiotino, Mph

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

Universal Pediatric Lipid Screening Guidelines are currently based on expert opinion only. Bright Futures/American Academy of Pediatrics currently recommends screening all patients ages 9-11 and again at ages 17-21. The US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), however, concludes the evidence is insufficient to recommend for or against routine screening. This discordance leaves ambiguity for implementation in Family Medicine practices in Vermont. A survey of providers at Milton Family Practice showed that only 14% of providers at Milton Family Practice regularly perform lipid screening on their pediatric patients.

Increasing Patient Knowledge Of Obstructive Sleep Apnea And Sleep Studies, Billy Tran

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

Sleep Apnea is a common and shockingly under-diagnosed disorder. OSA has various health consequences, including increased risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke. Many patients don't ask about OSA due to lack of awareness and an intimidation about the process of care for OSA. This project helps to increasing understanding of the sleep study and make OSA a more approachable disorder

Lyme Disease Awareness In Downeast Maine, Justin L. Genziano

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

Lyme disease is caused by the bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi and is transmitted by the deer tick (Ixodes scapularis). Lyme disease is endemic in the state of Maine with 1,399 probable and confirmed cases reported in 2014. The rate in coastal Hancock County has doubled since 2012, and has the third highest rate of infection in the state.

Medical providers in Hancock County have observed an increase in anxiety and concern about Lyme disease in the community, and have found that much of this is driven by hearsay or unreliable information from the internet. The goal of this project …

Screening, Brief Intervention And Referral To Treatment For Substance Abuse In Waitsfield, Vt, Chi An Liu

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

Substance abuse is an issue in Waitsfield, VT and currently there is no formal program or intervention at Mad River Family Practice to help patients overcome their addictions. Screening, brief intervention and referral to treatment (SBIRT) is a program to identify at risk patients, raise awareness of their abuse, and help them find support and treatment they need.

Application Of One Key Question At Hinesburg Family Practice, Katherine Y. Wang

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

About one half of pregnancies in the United States are unintended (mistimed or unwanted). Only 54% of pregnancies in Vermont are planned and only 29% of women in Vermont have talked to a health care worker about healthy pregnancies prior to conception. Physicians are equipped to provide the necessary information to women about preconception care and contraception, but do not regularly have these conversations with the majority of their patients. One Key Question is an initiative developed by the Oregon Foundation for Reproductive Health that allows providers to screen women patients for their pregnancy intention in the next year and …

Barriers To Recovery For Buprenorphine Patients In Bangor, Maine, Erin L. Keller, John Mclaren

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

Opiate addiction is a major public health problem in Maine. Addiction is a chronic disease with high relapse rates. A better understanding of the demographics and barriers to recovery in opiate addicted populations can help to improve the success of buprenorphine treatment programs.

Assessing The Perceptions And Knowledge Of Breast Cancer And Mammography In The Refugee Population, Patrick Silveira

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

No abstract provided.

Identifying Sleep Disorders And Proper Sleep Hygiene In School-Aged Children, Kathryn Colelli

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

Sleep is a daily struggle for many people. Children in particular often suffer from sleep restriction and poor sleep hygiene. Poor sleep can have a negative impact on their physical, social and emotional health. Children in our community are rarely educated about sleep disorders or sleep hygiene. The goal of this project was to create a learning tool to help facilitate sleep education in children.

Resources For Smoking Cessation In Milton Vt, Kai Ping Wang

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

Today, Tobacco is still the #1 leading cause of preventable death in the United States. Use of tobacco products leads to chronic illnesses such as asthma, heart disease, cancer, lung disease, and stroke. According to the latest data in 2013 from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, 16.6% of adults in Vermont are current smokers compared to 19% of adults nationwide. This projects seeks to provide easier access to the available resources in the local Milton, VT community for smoking cessation.

Managing Medications: Promoting Awareness Of The Importance Of Accurate Medication Lists, Christopher Meserve

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

Extensive medication lists are a problem everywhere throughout the United States. As a rural state that has a rapidly aging population, these lists will continue to grow and the added aspect of lack of access to services (whether via the internet or transportation) makes managing these medication lists harder for Maine’s population. The perspectives of patients at the CMMC Family Medicine Clinic were obtained through an anonymous survey, and two interviews with community members were conducted to identify specific issues. The feedback and responses from both of these methods were incorporated into an informational pamphlet that was distributed within the …

Increasing Provider Awareness Regarding Act 39 In Middlebury Vermont, Kyle F. Concannon

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

Vermont passed the Patient Choice and Control at End of Life Act (Act 39) in 2013 and as knowledge of this law is increasing in the community more patients are requesting it. To address the need for further education, an educational pamphlet was produced and provided to practitioners in Middlebury Vermont, many of whom had patients request Act 39.

Better Teeth, Better Health: Identifying Challenges With Dental Care In Lewiston, Me, Mary B. Ledoux

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

My project aimed to elucidate barriers to dental health care in the Lewiston-Auburn community. Obstacles highlighted included cost of care, lack of education and guidance in preventative oral health, and paucity of resources available to aid patients in identifying affordable programs. The data generated can be used in the future to better direct oral health interventions at CMMC Family Practice Clinic. Additionally, the survey responses were used to assemble educational material to distribute to patients.