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Suicide Screening At Tchc, William J. Yakubik Iii Jan 2023

Suicide Screening At Tchc, William J. Yakubik Iii

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

Vermont is currently battling with a mental health epidemic and one of the consequences of mental illness is suicide and self-harm. According to the Vermont Department of Health Vermont’s suicide rate is higher than the national average and suicide is the 8th leading cause of death in the state. Every part of medicine especially primary care is struggling with providing adequate resources for the demand needed to provide quality mental health care. Thomas Chittenden Health Center (TCHC) is no stranger to these demands and is working on ways to ensure each patient has access to the care they need. The …


Improving Primary Care Competency In Gender Affirming Care, Kae Luci Ravichandran Jan 2023

Improving Primary Care Competency In Gender Affirming Care, Kae Luci Ravichandran

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

No abstract provided.


Improving Cardiovascular Health In Low Socioeconomic Status Women Through The Vermont You First Program, Bradley M. Anair Jan 2023

Improving Cardiovascular Health In Low Socioeconomic Status Women Through The Vermont You First Program, Bradley M. Anair

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in men and women in the United States. Low socioeconomic status women are in a unique position because cardiovascular disease morbidity and mortality is higher in lower socioeconomic status groups, and the risks of cardiovascular disease are often underappreciated in women. This project aimed to improve cardiovascular health in low socioeconomic status women through increasing awareness of the Vermont You First program. This program covers the cost of screenings for cervical cancer, breast cancer, and heart disease for low socioeconomic status women. They also offer lifestyle perks to improve cardiovascular health. This …


Using Narrative Medicine To Address Healthcare Stigma In Washington County, Vermont, Finlay Pilcher Jan 2023

Using Narrative Medicine To Address Healthcare Stigma In Washington County, Vermont, Finlay Pilcher

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

Stigma is a barrier to good health for people with certain medical conditions and non-medical circumstances. The purpose of this project is to use stories from members of the Washington County Community to advocate for the use of narrative medicine to mitigate healthcare stigma. A 10-minute recording was shared of an interview with someone with opioid use disorder during the presentation. Afterwards, healthcare professionals were asked whether the presentation, including the recording, impacted their percetion of narrative medicine and its clinical utility.


Prescription Stimulants: Preventing Misuse Among Adults With Adhd, Sadie M. Casale Jan 2023

Prescription Stimulants: Preventing Misuse Among Adults With Adhd, Sadie M. Casale

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

Stimulant drugs are a cornerstone in the treatment of Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and are being prescribed at increasing rates. The safe prescription and use of these drugs by providers and patients alike is critically important to appropriately treating ADHD and preventing misuse. This presentation discusses how patients can be educated on the uses of stimulants and provides information on what to do in case of overdose. Additionally, resources for providers are provided to continue improving awareness of at-risk patients and community resources available to them.


Is There An App For That? Introducing Self-Guided Therapy-Based Mental Health Apps In A Primary Care Setting, Althea Jem Darbin Tapales Jan 2023

Is There An App For That? Introducing Self-Guided Therapy-Based Mental Health Apps In A Primary Care Setting, Althea Jem Darbin Tapales

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

The prevalence of mental health disorders in Vermont continues to be an economic burden, especially in Addison County. The Addison County, VT Community Health Improvement Plan 2022-2025 identified “Access to Mental Health Services” as the top priority with a general concern regarding the affordability and demand of such services, and shortage of providers in the general community. Consequently, the shortage of mental health services along with the coronavirus pandemic resulted in a mental illness epidemic which led to an accelerated growth of self-guided therapy-based mental health apps. Most apps are affordable, accessible, and prioritize patient privacy which overcomes barriers to …


Incorporating Social Stories Into Patient Waiting Room, Ashwini Sarathy Jan 2023

Incorporating Social Stories Into Patient Waiting Room, Ashwini Sarathy

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

Missed well child appointments are common across the country. In an effort to limit anxiety related to doctor's appointments, social stories were printed and offered to patients in the waiting room. The social stories went over common activities performed while at the doctor's office including taking blood pressure, height, weight, getting vaccines and physical exams.


Assessing Adherence With Naloxone Prescription Guidelines For Chronic Pain Patients: Recommendations For Improvement, Elizabeth O'Neill Jan 2023

Assessing Adherence With Naloxone Prescription Guidelines For Chronic Pain Patients: Recommendations For Improvement, Elizabeth O'Neill

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

Although the Vermont statute governing prescription of opioids for chronic pain states that patients taking over 90 morphine milliequivalents daily or opioids with a benzodiazepine should receive a naloxone prescription, there is no mechanism within the Chronic Opioid Protocol report at Colchester Family Medicine to assess adherence to that policy. This project sought to determine if there is a gap between patients who should receive a prescription and patients who have a prescription to see if there is a need to alter the Chronic Opioid Protocol or provide greater monitoring to ensure patient safety while on opioids for chronic pain.


A Healthier Diet For Weight Loss, Hannah White Jan 2023

A Healthier Diet For Weight Loss, Hannah White

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

Many patients presenting to clinic have the goal of weight loss to improve their health as obesity has many comorbidities. Many patients have multiple health concerns like Diabetes Mellitus, Hypertension, Hyperlipidemia, PCOS, or joint pain. Part of the management of their conditions include weight loss, but many patients struggle, for years, to lose weight. A referral to the Metabolic Weight Loss clinic in Newtown, which will provide patients with nutritional information, evidence based diets, medications, exercises, and more, can take up to 1 year to get an appointment. The goal of this project is to provide information to patients in …


Healthcare Against Exploitation: Empowering Clinics To Identify And Support Human Trafficking Survivors, Daniel Mitchell Jan 2023

Healthcare Against Exploitation: Empowering Clinics To Identify And Support Human Trafficking Survivors, Daniel Mitchell

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

No abstract provided.


Access To Prep In Plattsburgh, New York (Cvph Family Medicine), Kelly Knight Jan 2023

Access To Prep In Plattsburgh, New York (Cvph Family Medicine), Kelly Knight

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

This project examines ways to increase access to HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) in Plattsburgh, New York (located in Clinton County). After a review of the current literature on the subject and interviews with community members, an intervention was conducted at CVPH Family Medicine. EHR tools were generated and distributed to providers in the practice, with the goal of increasing the distribution of patient education materials about PrEP.


Pamphlet For Identifying Anxiety And Initial Coping Strategies, William Hsu Jan 2023

Pamphlet For Identifying Anxiety And Initial Coping Strategies, William Hsu

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

Anxiety affects up to 1/3 of the population in their lifetime. The geriatric population is especially susceptible to anxiety due to comorbid conditions and limitations in mobility. Anxiety is also difficult to identify, with mental health literacy with regards to anxiety being limited. This project aims to education patients on common symptoms of anxiety and at home interventions that can be initiated with helping to manage anxiety.


Screening For Ptsd In Veterans And Expanding Awareness Of Ptsd Resources, Audree S. Baroni, Bradford Clark Jan 2023

Screening For Ptsd In Veterans And Expanding Awareness Of Ptsd Resources, Audree S. Baroni, Bradford Clark

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

PTSD is a prevalent mental health disorder that is especially prominent in the veteran population. Often veterans go without diagnosis and subsequently without treatment due to lack of awareness, screening, and a stigma they will loose benefits from the VA. This project aimed to identify the number of veterans with PTSD and provide alternative treatment methods for symptom management.


Addressing Non-Emergent Medical Transportation Barriers For Rural Vermont Patients, Casey D. Krueger Jan 2023

Addressing Non-Emergent Medical Transportation Barriers For Rural Vermont Patients, Casey D. Krueger

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

Access to transportation is a Social Determinant of Health, yet many rural Vermonters face barriers to adequate transportation. Consequently, patients face difficulties accessing primary care and completing recommended health screenings. Destigmatizing ride programs and effective communication are key components of connecting patients with transportation resources. This project sought to develop a reference tool for clinic staff to improve communication about transportation barriers with patients and ultimately improve health outcomes.


Surgical And Non-Surgical Gender Euphoria Options For Bottom Dysphoria, Hunter Myers, Neeki Parsa Jan 2023

Surgical And Non-Surgical Gender Euphoria Options For Bottom Dysphoria, Hunter Myers, Neeki Parsa

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

No abstract provided.


The Medication-Assisted Therapy (Mat) Program Algorithm At Community Health Centers Riverside (Chc-R), Aathman Swaminathan Jan 2023

The Medication-Assisted Therapy (Mat) Program Algorithm At Community Health Centers Riverside (Chc-R), Aathman Swaminathan

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

No abstract provided.


Increasing Access Of Outpatient Therapeutic Services For Adolescents With Persistent Symptoms After Sport-Related Traumatic Brain Injury, Natalie J. Bales Jan 2023

Increasing Access Of Outpatient Therapeutic Services For Adolescents With Persistent Symptoms After Sport-Related Traumatic Brain Injury, Natalie J. Bales

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

Persistent symptoms lasting at least 21 days after initial traumatic brain injury occur in about 15-20% of adolescents. Initial assessment of concussions can be done using the SCAT5 and a wide variety of other standardized assessment tools. However, there are striking gaps in standard clinical procedure for follow-up care for athletes who have persistent symptoms. Furthermore, there are many issues with accessibility to therapeutic services including long wait times that prevent timely referral to those services. This pilot intervention was implemented at the University of Vermont to address those issues by providing a hotline resource for families to use and …


Improving Access To Snowmobiling Safety Information, Sean Taylor Jan 2023

Improving Access To Snowmobiling Safety Information, Sean Taylor

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

Snowmobiling is a common activity for rural people in areas like the North Country of New York state. There are inherent risks associated with an activity like snowmobiling, and a primary care office is a location at which patients and their families can be informed of recommendations from professional associations, state laws regarding the activity, and recommendations on safer practices and safety courses that are available. I modified an informational flyer that caters to patients in the Plattsburgh area of New York to try to encourage safer snowmobiling, especially for children.


Pre-Visit Questionnaire For Diabetic Patient Visits, W. Evan Shaw Jan 2023

Pre-Visit Questionnaire For Diabetic Patient Visits, W. Evan Shaw

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

What role does a pre-visit questionnaire, such as a "diabetic distress tool," play in optimizing diabetic patient visits?


Improving Safety For Recreational Water Sports At Candlewood Lake, Ct, Brian L. Shaw Ii Jan 2023

Improving Safety For Recreational Water Sports At Candlewood Lake, Ct, Brian L. Shaw Ii

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

Every year millions of people utilize bodies of water to participate in recreationally acitvity. Although the time spent outside and being physically active are widely endorsed as healthy habits, any body of water comes with safety risks that many do not anticipate. This project looked to improve safety for recreationally water sports and activity at Candlewood Lake, CT the largest lake in the state that is accessed by thousands evach year.


Implementing A Patient Resource Guide On Intimate Partner Violence (Ipv) At A Connecticut Primary Care Practice, Mahima R. Poreddy Jan 2023

Implementing A Patient Resource Guide On Intimate Partner Violence (Ipv) At A Connecticut Primary Care Practice, Mahima R. Poreddy

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

Intimate partner violence is an ongoing public health crisis in the United States. According to the Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence, nearly 39,000 victims were served in 2021, which was a 5% increase from the year prior. As intimate partner violence continues to affect numerous lives in Connecticut and across the nation, the risks of seeking assistance in these situations prevent those experiencing domestic violence from accessing support services. The cost of intimate partner violence can range from an increase in health care utilization to restricted access to safe housing. The Ridgefield Primary Care practice does not currently have educational …


Empowering Providers To Treat Menopause, Aranshi Kumar Jan 2023

Empowering Providers To Treat Menopause, Aranshi Kumar

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

This project created a brochure designed to empower providers to sift through the myths surrounding prescribing for the treatment of menopause.


Adolescent Substance Use: Standardizing Screening Methods In Clinical Practice, Bryan D. Shin Jan 2023

Adolescent Substance Use: Standardizing Screening Methods In Clinical Practice, Bryan D. Shin

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

Adolescent substance use is a highly pervasive issue that strongly correlates with increasing depression and anxiety rates. Standardized screening tools for substance use, such as the CRAFFT or the Screening to Brief Intervention Tool, are freely available but not widely utilized for every patient encounter in clinical practice. This project aimed to improve standardization of substance use screening at a primary care clinic located in Castleton, Vermont through implementation of the CRAFFT tool as an automatically-loaded form in each adolescent encounter note. The goal was to improve substance use detection rates by facilitating efficient incorporation of standardized screening into the …


Healthy Food Access And Education, Elizabeth Kelley Jan 2023

Healthy Food Access And Education, Elizabeth Kelley

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

Providing resources and educational materials to families about healthy foods


Advance Care Planning Documentation At Mad River Family Practice, Nicole A. Walch Jan 2023

Advance Care Planning Documentation At Mad River Family Practice, Nicole A. Walch

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

Advance care planning is a powerful tool that helps to guide clinicians and family members to make care decisions that align with a patients values when that patient is unable to speak for themselves. Advance care planning documents such as advance directives are the primary tool used to put these patient preferences in writing, but there is little information about the true rates of document completion in Vermont. This project was focused on determining how many patients at the Mad River Family Practice had advance care planning documents, developing a tracking tool in the electronic medical record to see trends …


Building Point Of Care Ultrasound Experience In A Rural Primary Care Network, Jamie A. Cyr Jan 2023

Building Point Of Care Ultrasound Experience In A Rural Primary Care Network, Jamie A. Cyr

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

Point-of-care ultrasonography (POCUS) is a safe, noninvasive and accessible diagnostic technique. In the outpatient setting POCUS enables improve access to timely care, raises patient satisfaction, and reduces the need for costly tests. While application of POCUS is well established in the emergency department and intensive care unit, its use in ambulatory medicine is still emerging. Prior literature has shown that while many rural care offices have access to POCUS equipment, however, the technology is not being used to its full potential. Prior family medicine projects have identified barriers to the use of ultrasound in rural Vermont outpatient clinics. A lack …


Community Doula Resources In Vermont, Grace Merritt Jan 2023

Community Doula Resources In Vermont, Grace Merritt

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

Doulas are an important but underutilized resource in the perinatal period. This project explores the benefits of doula care and provides resources for patients and providers at the UVMMC Family Medicine - South Burlington clinic. The result of this project was to produce an Epic dot phrase that providers can use and share with patients. This project concludes by addressing limitations of doula care and provides suggestions for follow-up and future projects.


Assisting Rural Mat Patients Through Peer Social Support, Anthony Plochocki Jan 2023

Assisting Rural Mat Patients Through Peer Social Support, Anthony Plochocki

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

Throughout the COVID19 Pandemic, there has been a spike in opioid relapse and opioid overdose related death. This problem, though multifactorial, can be attributed to lack of social outlets for MAT patients. Now that different social support groups are reopening, there is a greater emphasis placed on groups for patients suffering with alcoholism rather than those suffering from opioid addiction. This project hopes to plant the seeds for group therapy for MAT patients, giving them a social outlet with the hopeful outcome assisting patients with forming non-user networks.


Affordable Housing In The Northeast Kingdom, Alayna M. Westcom Jan 2023

Affordable Housing In The Northeast Kingdom, Alayna M. Westcom

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

Housing is an important social determinant of health for each patient. Affordable housing can be hard to find in many rural areas across the state of Vermont. North Country Hospital identified affordable housing as one of the top community and social needs during the 2021 Community Needs Assessment.


Obtaining A Gender-Affirming Sexual History With Gender Nonconforming And Transgender Patients, Gabriela Bosmenier Cruz Jan 2023

Obtaining A Gender-Affirming Sexual History With Gender Nonconforming And Transgender Patients, Gabriela Bosmenier Cruz

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

This project introduces a methodology to change how providers ask the 5 P's of a sexual history using gender-affirming language. Obtaining a gender-affirming sexual history will improve sexual health care, especially with gender nonconforming and transgender patients. Taking time to discuss sexual health and function can lead to prompt identification of sexual problems, risk-taking behaviors, and infection prevention. Using appropriate language to communicate with all patients can lead to better doctor-patient relationship.