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►2018-19 Class of 2020 Longitudinal Integrated Clerkship students (top, L-R) Chad Serels, Dylon Gookin, Isabella Kratzer and Collin York (front, center) pose with Hudson Headwaters Health Network LIC Site Director Colleen Quinn, M.D. (left) and Site Coordinator Jane Morrissey. (Photo: Jim McLaughlin)

Hudson Headwaters LIC Students Present Community Projects

Dozens of preceptors, as well as leaders and staff from the Larner College of Medicine and its Longitudinal Integrated Clerkship (LIC) partner Hudson Headwaters Health Network (HHHN) gathered at the historic Queensbury Hotel in Glens Falls, N.Y. for dinner and community project presentations by Class of 2020 medical students Dylon Gookin, Isabella Kratzer, Chad Serels and Collin York on February 20. The students, who are finishing up their year-long LIC in a couple of weeks, took on community health issues such as opioid use disorder treatment, vaping, and colon cancer and cervical cancer screening. Read more.

Learn more about LIC programs at the Larner College of Medicine at UVM.

Exploring Interdisciplinary Approaches to Addressing Opioid Use Disorder

The Department of Family Medicine's 18th annual Cultural Awareness Conference focused on a public health crisis that claimed the lives of 72,000 Americans in 2017 and continues to plague communities around the U.S. today. Titled "Opioid Use Disorder: What is Our Role in Building a Humanistic Response," the conference took place February 20 and was required curriculum for all students in the Class of 2022. Community members and support organizations including the Howard Center, The Turning Point Center of Chittenden County, Vermont CARES, as well as the Burlington Police Department and State of Vermont Hub and Spoke program participated and panelists and presenters.

The conference provides an opportunity for students to learn about a timely cultural issue that they will encounter regularly in their work and the space to reflect on how they will approach it. This year's objectives for students included - but were not limited to - appraising one's own experiences and biases in relation to opioids and people who use them; identifying the intersection of social determinants of health and opioid use and misuse; articulating public and population health implications of opioid use; comparing and contrasting harm reduction approaches and strategies related to reducing risk for people who use drugs; and advocating for a human-centered approach to care delivery for individuals in relation to opioids.

Class of 2022 students Richard Brach and Alim Esemenli agreed that the conference was essential and an impactful learning opportunity for them and their classmates. Read their thoughts and learn more about the conference. 

►Save-the-Date! Class of 2019 Match Day will take place on Friday, March 15th at 11:45 am in the Hoehl Gallery. Important Information for Students Here. 

Neurosurgery Chief Durham Answers the Question "Why Aren't there More Female Surgeons?"

Ever wonder why people think of a man when they hear the word “surgeon?" Associate Professor Surgery and Neurosurgery Chief Susan Durham, M.D., posed that question to more than 30 medical students on February 21, during a lunchtime lecture she presented, titled "Addressing Gender Disparity in Surgical Subspecialties." Hosted by the Surgical Subspecialty Experience Program for which she serves as a mentor, Durham’s session delved into historic and current gender disparity among surgical subspecialties, and encouraged students to question why the societal stereotype of a surgeon continue to lag behind other medical specialties. Durham also proposed strategies to promote recruitment and retention of female physicians in surgical specialties. 

Class of 2022’s Kalin Gregory-Davis attended the presentation to "gain the skills and awareness" she feels she needs not only to "personally succeed as a woman, but also to encourage our profession to take a serious look at where we need to make the necessary changes towards greater equity in medicine."

Read more about Durham's lecture.

►Explore Ethical Dilemmas on Global Health Diaries

On the blog: Learning About Adverse Childhood Experiences in Medical School

Larner Medicine blogger Kelsey Veilleux ’19 discusses the connections between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and lifelong health. “Adverse childhood experiences and how they impact health is important for every physician to understand, whether you are a primary care doctor, a psychiatrist, or an orthopedic surgeon.” Read her full reflection 

► Follow us on Facebook and Twitter @UVMLarnerMed and on Instagram at @UVMMedicine and use our hashtags #UVMLarnerMed #LarnerLearning and #UVMFutureDoc to join in the conversation!

SIG Highlight: Family Medicine SIG Injection Clinic

Last night, 28 medical students sat poised over unsuspecting oranges – syringes in hand. The students were attending an injection clinic hosted by the Family Medicine Student Interest Group (SIG) and led by Associate Professor of Family Medicine Martha Seagrave, PA-C. 

Before the hands-on practice began, Seagrave spoke about important steps when giving injections such as ensuring they have the correct patient, dose, and medication; how to select the appropriate needle and syringe; and how to clean an injection site. With help from fourth-year students Holly Bachilas, Althea Morrison, and Jenna Jorgensen, students practiced how to draw medication, remove air bubbles, and how to inject their orange “patients” using a variety of techniques. 

Led by students Alim Esemenli, Diane Kim, and Erick MacLean with support from advisors Seagrave, Assistant Professor of Family Medicine Aaron Reiter, M.D., and Family Medicine Medical Student Education Coordinator Luke Hebert, the SIG seeks to “provide a forum where medical students interested in family medicine learn about, address, celebrate, and integrate themselves in the dynamic specialty.”

MacLean and his fellow leaders plan on holding additional events in the future such as a casting clinic or vital signs clinic.

View all Student Leadership Opportunities