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 …

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 …

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

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 …

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 …

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 …

An Investigation Into The Prevalence Of Use And Availability Of Information On Contraception For Female Third Level Students Aged 18-24, Barbara Dymet, Jane Hyde, Chloe Madden, Ciara Walsh

International Undergraduate Journal of Health Sciences

Introduction:

The purpose of this investigation was to find out the amount of female students in third level institutions who use contraception as well as their attitude towards the availability of information about female birth control options in these institutions.

Materials and methods:

An online survey was created using Google Docs which was then sent out to undergraduate third level female students over the age of 18. All gathered data was analysed using Microsoft Excel.

Results:

The vast majority of the surveyed population was sexually active and used contraception with the most common form being a combination of the contraceptive …

Feasibility Of A “Network Of Champions” In Implementing A Program To Address Physician Well-Being, Kerri Palamara, Sara Poplau, Cheryl Rusten, Maria L. Walter, Cynthia D. Smith, Clare Sipler, Susan Hingle, Mark Linzer

Journal of Wellness

Introduction: Healthcare leaders have been challenged to mitigate burnout and foster well-being among physicians. Professional societies are beginning to address this in a systematic manner.

Methods: In 2014, the American College of Physicians (ACP) endeavored to improve well-being for its 160,000 members of internists and trainees through a Well-being Champion (WBC) program based in the majority of its 85 national and international chapters. The program was supported by an evidence-based curriculum, chapter volunteers who served as champions, and in-person and virtual trainings. Training included a 1-2 day program in 2018 and 2019, focused on educating champions on causes …

Data-Driven Statin Initiation Evaluation And Optimization For Prediabetes Population, Muhenned A. Abdulsahib

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation develops quantitative models to support medical decision making of statininitiation considering the uncertainty in disease progression for prediabetes patients. A mathematical model is built to help medical decision-makers take action of statin initiation under uncertainty in future prediabetes progressions. The association between cholesterol drug use, such as statin, and elevating glucose level attracted considerable amounts of attention in the literature. Statin effects on glucose vary with respect to different levels of glucose. The first chapter of this dissertation introduces the problem and an overview of the tools that will be used to solve it. In the second chapter …

Black Infertility And Social Media Engagement: A Mixed Methodology Analysis, Melody Rasouli, Benette Krizel Sagun, Kajal Verma, Cindy M. Duke

Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology Faculty Research

Objective: To study social media engagement on black infertility to better understand why there is lower utilization of in vitro fertilization by black women despite higher infertility rates. Design: The online analytics module BuzzSumo was used to quantify total engagements with the search term “black infertility” across the commonly used social media platforms. The 10 article links with the highest engagement were selected from periods in 2020 and 2021. Sources cited in each article were reviewed to identify those that had citations of scientific peer-reviewed journals or national medical organizations. The contents of each article were reviewed for accuracy by …

In Pursuit: A Mother’S Account Of Her Son’S Rare Disease Diagnosis Journey, Anne M. Jones

Journal of Patient-Centered Research and Reviews

A personal account from a mother’s perspective on her undiagnosed son’s medical journey over almost 6 years toward a diagnosis of a rare genetic variant in mitogen-activated protein kinase 8 interacting protein 3 (MAPK8IP3) resulting in neurodevelopment disorder.

Substance Abuse Relapse Is Not About Willpower But Is The Culmination Of Psychological And Socioeconomic Stress, Paul A. Steffes

Clinical Research in Practice: The Journal of Team Hippocrates

The author reflects on the impact of non-judgmental listening on patient care outcomes.

Emergency Medicine Shift Factors Causing The Most Stress Among Emergency Medicine Residents, Mohamad Moussa, Kristen Hayden, Chia-Hao Shih, Sadik Khuder, Zayd Safadi, Connor Parsell

Journal of Wellness

Introduction: Past studies demonstrate that stress and anxiety affect emergency medicine physicians, but the causal factors identified are usually from sources outside the work shift. We attempt to show the relationship between intrinsic factors of a work shift and anxiety perceived by residents, while also examining differing gender responses.

Methods: In 2018, a cross-sectional survey of emergency medicine residents in the United States was distributed anonymously through the Emergency Medicine Residents Association. The survey consisted of demographic questions, novel questions identifying intrinsic factors, and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item (GAD-7) scale. Spearman correlation, independent t-test, and multivariate analysis of variance …

A Patient’S Narrative Of Engaging Hiv Care: Lessons Learned To Harness Resources And Improve Access To Care, David Lessard, Serge Vicente, Patrick Keeler, Bertrand Lebouché

Patient Experience Journal

In Canada and the USA, about 30% of people with HIV are uninsured or not covered by government-subsidized health insurance. This paper presents a patient’s narrative of his experience being diagnosed with HIV and accessing care in the midst of his process of immigrating to and studying in Canada. The narrative explores how Vincent Croft (pseudonym) has coped with the chronicity of the infection and its associated social stigma, and the temporary solutions he found to access treatment. Engaging with healthcare providers, researchers, and other people living with HIV has allowed Croft to share his experience, including the barriers he …

Medical Schools Ignore The Nature Of Consciousness At Great Cost, Anoop Kumar

Journal of Wellness

The essential question of the relationship between consciousness and matter is ignored in medical school curricula, leading to a machine-like view of the human being that contributes to physician burnout and intellectual dissatisfaction. The evidence suggesting that the brain may not be the seat of consciousness is generally ignored to preserve the worldview of the primacy of matter. By investigating new frameworks detailing the nature of consciousness at different levels of hierarchy, we can bring intellectual rigor to a once opaque subject that supports a fundamental reality about our experience: We are human beings, not only human bodies.