Medical Humanities Commons^™

Diabetes-Related Bias In Electronic Health Records And International Classification Of Diseases., Mihail Zilbermint

Journal of Community Hospital Internal Medicine Perspectives

Diabetes mellitus is a chronic health condition that affects the body's ability to convert food into energy. People living with diabetes, as well as doctors and hospitals, struggle to handle the challenge. Among these challenges is that the field of diabetology is filled with bias. People living with diabetes will say that “diabetes does not define them,” yet they often refer to themselves as “diabetics.” Doctors are frequently “trained” to call people “diabetics,” and I am one of them. Psychological consequences associated with diabetes and obesity bias and stigma have been previously reported studied. People with diabetes may experience stigma …

A Qualitative Study Of Preclinical Medical Students Randomized To Patient-Partnered Vs Traditional Clinical Experiences, Joyce W. Tang, Tia Kostas, Anshu Verma, Valerie G. Press, Josef Kushner, Nicole Gier, Lauren O. Wiklund, Vineet M. Arora, Jeanne Farnan, David O. Meltzer

Journal of Patient-Centered Research and Reviews

Purpose: Longitudinal patient-partnered experiences may promote medical student empathy, but evaluation of such programs is limited. The aim of this study was to compare areas of learning among first-year medical students randomized to a patient-centered track (PCT) or traditional track (TT) longitudinal clinical experience.

Methods: PCT students (n = 24) were paired with 2 patients and a physician to participate in their patients’ care across multiple settings. TT students (n = 56) were paired with a physician preceptor and participated in caring for a variety of patients in a single setting. This qualitative study used a phenomenological approach to template …

The Relationship Between Emergency Physicians’ Creative Thinking Preference And Their Risk Of Burnout: An Opportunity To Make A Difference, Naghma S. Khan

Creativity and Change Leadership Graduate Student Master's Projects

The FourSight theory contends that individuals exhibit a preference for the mental operations involved in creative problem solving. The four fundamental mindset preferences measured by FourSight are Clarifiers, Ideators, Developers and Implementers. Individuals can exhibit a peak preference for one, two, or three of these mindsets, or they can show an even distribution of energy across all four creative-thinking preferences. Robust and creative solutions to complex and recurrent problems are only possible if an individual or a team of individuals consciously move through the four stages of problem solving. Creative problem-solving can be taught. The ability to be creative at …

A Resident Retreat With Emergency Medicine Specific Mindfulness Training Significantly Reduces Burnout And Perceived Stress, James O'Shea, Mark Dannenfelser, Melissa White, Anwar Osborne, Timothy P. Moran, Michelle D. Lall

Journal of Wellness

Introduction: We hypothesize that a resident retreat with mindfulness training tailored for Emergency Medicine (EM) physicians can significantly reduce levels of burnout and perceived stress in EM residents.

Methods: We conducted an intervention study of 60 EM residents undergoing an annual resident retreat with a 2.5-hour mindfulness training. The retreat was a department-funded 2-day off-site experience with a wellness theme. The training was developed and delivered by an EM physician (JO'S) who is a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) teacher trainee, and a certified MBSR teacher (MD). The training focused on techniques that can be used on shift, such as mindful …

Asking The Question ‘What Matters To You?’ In A London Intensive Care Unit, Harriet Pittaway, Laura White, Karen Turner, Angelique Mcgillivary

Journal of Patient-Centered Research and Reviews

Purpose: At the heart of the paradigm shift in approach to patient care from paternalism toward shared decision-making lies the international “What Matters To You?” (WMTY) movement. However, WMTY principles are not frequently applied to the critical care setting. The aim of this quality improvement project work was to design and integrate a tool for all patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) that helped answer WMTY.

Methods: Using Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) methodology across 8 cycles, a multidisciplinary team designed and integrated a bedside poster into the ICU. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected via a bedside audit process on …

Is There A Bias Toward Unvaccinated Covid-19 Patients?, Abbas B. Jama, Anwar Khedr, Hisham Mushtaq, Nitesh K. Jain, Thoyaja Koritala, Syed Anjum Khan

HCA Healthcare Journal of Medicine

With more than 22% of the United States still not vaccinated for COVID-19, we are trying to shed some light on whether there is any bias when treating unvaccinated COVID-19 patients. We highlight several reports where some individuals or organizations displayed possible bias, whether implicit or explicit. We examine the legal and ethical implications of these biases and offer a general overview of how to tackle them.

Rowan Community Health Center’S Ask First Model: Building Authentic & Impactful Community Relationships By Asking A Simple Question, Patrick J. Tempera, Christian Diliberto, Ruchi Shah, Daniel Hurst

Cooper Rowan Medical Journal

Spring of 2017, Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine’s student-run free clinic, the Rowan Community Health Center, launched an outreach initiative named the Unity Project. This is an ongoing initiative aimed at fostering relationships with Camden, New Jersey organizations to both educate community members about our clinic services and collaborate on improving Camden’s health. The objective of the Unity Project is to work towards affecting long-term change by forming authentic and impactful relationships with organizations that are already participating in meaningful community work. In order to achieve such a goal, we needed to overcome the traditional model of medical school …

Factors Influencing The Need For And Access To Ivf Treatment, Catherine Alapatt, Yoona Choe, Anthony Knepp, Shika Veera, Shawna M Rotoli

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

Infertility is defined as the inability for a couple to become pregnant after 12 months of regular unprotected sexual intercourse. Infertility can stem from an issue with the female reproductive tract, the male reproductive tract, or both. Individuals struggling with infertility seek medical assistance for a successful reproductive course. However, there are many aspects outside of pathology that may encourage or deter an individual to elect for medical assistance such as in vitro fertilization (IVF). In vitro fertilization is defined as a medical procedure in which an egg is fertilized outside the body. The increased usage of IVF demonstrates the …

Literature Review: Palliative Care In The Emergency Department, Alice Chang, James Espinosa, Alan Lucerna, Neelesh Parikh

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

With current medical advances, our patient population continues to age. This poses new challenges for healthcare practitioners to provide for elderly patients with complex and multifactorial medical needs. Particularly, this is a growing challenge in the emergency department (ED), where patients often present towards the last months of their lives. A study conducted by UCSF indicates 75% of patients in their last 6 month of life visited the ED. 56% to 99% of older adults do not have advance directives available at ED presentation. Therefore, ED visits towards the end of life is an opportune teaching moment for physicians to …

Comparative Assessment Of Grit In The Allopathic Versus Osteopathic Physician, Amber Cheesman, Meagan Vermeulen, Joanna Petrides, Charalampos Papachristou

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

Matriculating into medical school is a strenuous process, including numerous roadblocks unique to both allopathic and osteopathic schools, with osteopathic applicants often jumping more hurdles in the journey.

Grit: passion and perseverance towards long term goals, especially in the setting of failure/adversity

High levels of grit correlate with low levels of burnout

Purpose: examine grit in allopathic versus osteopathic physician to help identify resources to prevent physician burnout

Investigation Of Emergency Department Visits And Hospitalization Rates Of Child Physical Abuse At Cooper University Hospital Prior To And During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Afeerah Ahmad, Rachel Silliman Cohen, Laura Brennan

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

The COVID-19 pandemic has been detrimental for children. Many families have experienced stressors, including unemployment, financial hardship, and familial illness. These factors all pose increased risk for child physical abuse. Limitations in child welfare services affected investigations and provision of services to high-risk families. The extent to which the rates of physical abuse in NJ have been affected is unknown. We sought to answer the question of whether the COVID-19 pandemic affected the severity of physical abuse and the incidence of physical abuse presenting to Cooper University Hospital.

We hypothesized that there would be a higher proportion of severe child …

A Survey To Highlight Areas Of Focus For Patient Care In Settings Utilizing Medical Interpretation, Azayzel Deregis

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis recounts my personal experience working as a volunteer medical interpreter for the Language and Culture Resource Center at East Tennessee State University. The result of my time spent volunteering as a medical interpreter, shadowing professional medical interpreters, and witnessing patient-provider interactions during interpreted sessions was an inspiration to study medical interpretation further and delve into the challenges faced by patients who require medical interpreters. During my time researching this topic, I found that the United States is severely lacking in Spanish medical interpreters—with some healthcare facilities employing no medical interpreters—even though the size of the Hispanic population is …

When Worlds Collide: Boundary Management Of Adolescent And Young Adult Childhood Cancer Survivors And Caregivers, Elizabeth A. Ankrah, Arpita Bhattacharya, Lissamarie Donjuan, Franceli L. Cibrian, Anamara Ritt-Olson, Joel Milam, Lilibeth Torno, Gillian R. Hayes

Engineering Faculty Articles and Research

Adolescent and young adult childhood cancer survivors experience health complications, late or long-term biomedical complications, as well as economic and psychosocial challenges that can have a lifelong impact on their quality-of-life. As childhood cancer survivors transition into adulthood, they must learn to balance their identity development with demands of everyday life and the near- and long-term consequences of their cancer experience, all of which have implications for the ways they use existing technologies and the design of novel technologies. In this study, we interviewed 24 childhood cancer survivors and six caregivers about their cancer survivorship experiences. The results of our …

Downward Spiral, Meghan Hickey

Akesis

There are still moments when I find myself folding inwards: sinking, spiraling, struggling. I become attacked by my own intrusive thoughts. I’ve been my own monster all along.

It took me a long time to understand that progress is never linear. And I bring that idea into my PT practice. I want my patients to understand that set backs, both mental and physical, can occur throughout the healing journey. I often tell my patients expressing anxieties and concerns to observe the way they speak to themselves. Our self talk is influenced by our subconscious mind, and it reveals our thoughts, …

Deeply Rooted, Maryam Nahidian

Akesis

I captured this photo on my first solo hike, a very memorable moment for me. I was tired and questioning why I was putting myself in this position. No one would know if I turned back, but I would. Right at that moment, I stopped looking down at my feet and looked up at this scene. “Oh wow,” I said. The trees, strong and tall, but that was not what captured my attention. It was the roots. Exposed, intricate, and vulnerable and I realized at that moment that this scene portrayed me. The journey has been an uphill climb that …

Sitting, John Brill

Journal of Patient-Centered Research and Reviews

A family physician volunteers for a hospital shift as a patient sitter and reflects on the experience in this creative writing article. Freed from clinical responsibilities in a hospital setting, sitting and observing the patient’s interactions with health care professionals and staff reinforced the importance of human connection to recovery.

Communicating Comfort In Crisis: A Literature Review On Overcoming The Emergency Room Environment To Foster The Nurse-Patient Relationship, Faith G. Davenport

Senior Honors Theses

The average emergency room patient is not receiving the compassionate nurse-patient communication that patients experience on other hospital floors. Fewer positive nurse-patient interactions prompt patients to state that they feel uncomforted and dissatisfied on hospital exit surveys, inciting hospital management to investigate how to reverse this trend to retain their federal funding. Emergency room nurses cite multiple barriers inherent in their work environment that prevent them from building rapport with their patients, including a layout not conducive to private conversations, strict time constraints, and a fluctuating workload. Working for a prolonged period under these conditions is driving many nurses to …

Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals And Breast Cancer: Disparities In Exposure And Importance Of Research Inclusivity, Ashlie Santaliz Casiano, Annah Lee, Dede Teteh, Zeynep Madak Erdogan, Lindsey Trevino

Health Sciences and Kinesiology Faculty Articles

Endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are known contributors to breast cancer development. EDC exposures commonly occur through food packaging, cookware, fabrics, and personal care products as well as through the environment. Increasing evidence highlights disparities in EDC exposure across racial/ethnic groups, yet breast cancer research continues to lack the inclusion necessary to positively impact treatment response and overall survival in these socially disadvantaged populations. Additionally, the inequity in environmental exposures has yet to be remedied. Exposure to EDCs due to structural racism poses an unequivocal risk to marginalized communities. In this review, we summarize recent epidemiological and molecular studies on two lesser-studied …

Perishing Personhood, Alaina Mann

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

Many people think that art and science do not overlap, especially in an educational sense. As someone who is both a biology and studio art major, I wanted to explore this mentality. This past semester I dived into a project to prove just how much these subjects can work together to expand our understanding of how art can be used for research purposes in a medical setting. With support from my Life Drawing professor, I was able to create multiple drawings from life and from photographs centered around my grandmother's Alzheimer’s Disease during my frequent visits to her nursing home. …

Implementation Of A Drive-Through Covid-19 Mass Vaccination Site: Experiences From Louvax–Broadbent In Louisville, Kentucky, Ruth Carrico, Sarah Beth Hartlage, Valenchia Brown Msn, Aprn, Fnp-C, Sarah M. Bishop, Luanne Didelot, William Hayden, Beverly Williams Coleman, Sarah Tan, Delanor Manson, Kellie Kane, Dawn Balcom, Paul Kern

The University of Louisville Journal of Respiratory Infections

Background: Response to the COVID-19 pandemic has required innovative approaches to vaccination, including methods to rapidly and safely immunize communities. A major challenge to such a response involved access to untapped healthcare worker resources. The Louisville, Kentucky, response involved the use of a large volunteer workforce to supplement local public health employees in planning and implementing a large-scale drive-through vaccination event. The objective of this manuscript was to outline processes involved in training a mass immunization workforce and implementating a large-scale COVID-19 community vaccination.

Approach: Competency-based and standardized training was provided for every volunteer before working their shift. Volunteers worked …

Medical Repatriation In Vermont: The Current Landscape And Recommendations, Olivia Dominque, Kelly Knight, Aathmika Krishnan, Kassondra Little, Clara Maxim, Sofia Toro Alvarez, Patti Smith Urie, Mark Pasanen Md, Charles Maclean Md

UVM AHEC

Background: Medical repatriation is the practice of returning patients to their country of origin when they have major medical problems_. Forced repatriation, or “medical deportation”, disproportionately affects undocumented individuals. This project aimed to assess the prevalence of medical repatriation in Vermont, identity factors that lead to it, and recommendations to prevent it.

Methods: Interviews were conducted with ten stakeholders including physicians, lawmakers, and advocates for undocumented patients. Team members then analyzed interview transcripts for major themes.

Results: This study did not uncover any occurrences of forced repatriation. Qualitative themes included: lack of awareness about medical repatriation, inability to track …

The Program To Reduce Implicit Bias In Carroll Hospital Center Using The Implicit Association Test, Katherine E. Traynor

Capstone Showcase

Natural brain processes make all individuals susceptible to unconscious bias; however, stressful, fearful, or anger-evoking situations as well as the negative influence of media and social surroundings increase the risk of holding obstructive bias, and there is a greater risk of being negatively impacted by this phenomenon when belonging to a minority population (Rose & Flores, 2020). As a result, high rates of infant mortality (10.2 deaths per 1,000 live births for the Non-Hispanic Black population compared to 4.1 in the White population) and cardiovascular related diseases (190.0 cases per 1,000 in the Non-Hispanic Black population compared to 161.3 in …