The road to becoming a physician extends beyond the classroom. The journey can be described as a series of paths, on which students learn to interact with patients and to show compassion and empathy, for example.
Events and showcases, such as the annual N.C. Chapter of the Society of Hospital Medicine Annual Scientific Abstract Competition, is one of those paths. The event was held Oct 15 at the N.C. Biotechnology Center in Research Triangle Park.
Dr. Chris Stewart is an associate professor and vice chair of Internal Medicine at the Jerry M. Wallace School of Osteopathic Medicine. He joined several Campbell medical students at RTP and also helped judge the competition, which included med students from Triangle-area universities such as Duke and the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.
“It’s great for the students,” Stewart said. “Part of being a good physician is learning professionalism, learning presentations, learning how to conduct yourself at meetings.”
Students present their findings and research, explained in detail, on large posters, the genesis of which centers on a particular interest or about rare or unique cases.
Fourth-year student doctors Delaney McPhail and Mikayla Luke took part in the event, as did Arsalaan Sayyed, a second-year med school student at Campbell.
McPhail and Luke presented a poster, “Tell A fib: A Case of Eosinophilic Granulomatosis with Polyangiitis (Churg-Strauss Syndrome) Masquerading as Heart Failure.”
Sayyed presented a poster, “Overcoming Diagnostic Limitations: A Case of Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma with Negative PET CT Findings.”
Luke said their project consisted of a case presentation overviewing a rare disease — Eosinophilic Granulomatosis with Polyangiitis — which presented masquerading as a common clinical presentation, heart failure.
“I was able to care for this patient on my Internal Medicine rotation and was encouraged to make a presentation about this interesting case,” Luke said. “After presenting it to faculty, my classmate and I decided to create a poster to show at the local SHM conference in order to further our own, and others, education on this rare disease and the current guidelines.
“We were able to learn about new treatment guidelines for rheumatic diseases and new genetic conditions associated with them for the presentation, and we enjoyed learning about other local research while there.”
Stewart said the event offers a great opportunity for students and residents to showcase their ongoing work.
“It’s great for our exposure, for our residencies and our med school,” he said. “We get to show off what we’re doing to other schools, and it’s also good for them to mingle and interact with medical students and residents from throughout North Carolina. It’s also a really good way to advance the name of our school and our hospital.”