From his corner post in a lobby of a building at Campbell University, Stephen Marquardt stood ready. In the midst of a space filled with people and research posters, Marquardt was eager to present his research, part of a team effort with Nikita Janodia.
The pair were part of a large group of students, faculty and staff who gathered April 2 for the 14th Annual Interprofessional Education Health Sciences Research Symposium.
In all, about 65 students took part in the symposium, which allowed them to display their work and compete for an award in a variety of categories.
Many of the Campbell students, who represented the medical school and most health sciences programs, were taking their first steps in a process that will continue throughout their careers.
Learning and discovering. Researching and asking questions. Building relationships.
“For a healthcare professional, it’s really important that they’re able to contribute to the body of knowledge,” said Dr. Pam Edwards, chair and director of the Catherine W. Wood School of Nursing and assistant dean for Interprofessional Education.
It’s also important, Edwards says, to become an expert at developing the poster, mastering technical writing, correctly categorizing items and citing sources. It was the first interprofessional symposium at Campbell for Edwards, who follows Dr. Paige Brown in the role.
“To me,” says Edwards, “what’s most important is the excitement and the poise and the professionalism they show when they walk you through the poster, when you’re walking around and they tell you about their findings, and you see the excitement.”
Marquardt and Janodia are pursuing degrees in the Master of Physician Assistant Practice and the Master of Science in Clinical Research programs at Campbell.
They called their research, “An analysis of Opioid Use for Chronic Pain in U.S. Adults Utilizing the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey from 2010-2019,” the most recent data available to them.
“Probably the biggest takeaway from our study … was that those with a chronic pain diagnosis had an 11 ½-fold increase in odds of receiving an opioid, which was absolutely mindblowing to us,” Marquardt said.
The pair considered the finding. Researching further, deeper.
“In an ambulatory-type survey … you’re looking at the extremes, either those who have chronic pain and those who don’t. And those who don’t are probably very unlikely to receive an opioid.”
They also found that about 57 percent of patients with chronic pain left that visit with an opioid, “which is still a very high number,” said Marquardt, adding that published literature found numbers in the 20 percent to 30 percent range.
The students’ findings spanned myriad topics, the research diverse and meticulous.
Medical students Lauren Wozny and Anna Dederowski, for example, presented their research, called “The Microbiota Gut Brain Axis: An Integrative Approach to Targeting Neurodegenerative Diseases.”
As the students talked about their research, Dr. Snezana Petrovic, who stood nearby, smiled. Petrovic is chair of Physiology and Pathophysiology and an associate professor at the Jerry M. Wallace School of Osteopathic Medicine.
“It’s a faculty mentor project. Students choose the topic and I help them navigate that,” Petrovic said.
At the end of a long hallway in the building, Public Health students Sarena Gresko and Jasmine Chanel talked about their work, “Depression and Sleep Duration in U.S. Adults: Racial Disparity and Contributing Factors, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2021-2023 Data.”
Their project originated in an epidemiology class.
“We did find a correlation between fewer hours of sleep and depression,” said Chanel of their many findings.
“We were also interested to find that lower hours of sleep correlated with people who were below the poverty line and less educated and, also, younger individuals, surprisingly,” Gresko said.
The overarching purpose of interprofessional learning, Edwards said, is understanding how to work together.
“If we just throw people of all different professions together after they graduate, it’s not really fair,” she said. “They need to learn about each other’s profession, and that’s why we have an IPE program here — to help people learn, and how to work together across disciplines. I think Campbell does a great job of that.”
Poster winners:
Biomedical/Basic Science
“Investigating the Relationship Between Serum PFAs and Hormone Levels in Adolescent Males: NHANES 2013-2016” — medical school students Jordan Tuck, Mimi Coleman, Shameka Wilkes, DO Program
Clinical Case Study
“Comprehensive Management of Fals in Patients with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis” — Second-year medical school students Cami Czejdo, Madelyn Bullard, Emily Powers, Seth Shearer, Baileigh Laipply; Drs. Alan D. Proia and Terence R. Mitchell
Clinical Research
“An Evaluation of Depression and Anxiety in US Adults Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic (2019-2022)” — Gabrielle M. Schmale, Master of Physician Assistant Practice and the Master of Science in Clinical Research (MPAP/MSCR); Michael R. Jiroutek, Doctor of Pharmacy and Master of Science in Biomedical Services (MSBS); Melissa Holland, Doctor of Pharmacy
Education
“Utilization of Pharmacist Instructors to Didactic Curricula Across Graduate Healthcare Education” – River Medlin, Doctor of Pharmacy
Health Economics/Health Policy
“Evaluation of the Potential Barriers and Facilitators of Data Collection in the National Pediatric Registry in Ethiopia” — Doctor of Pharmacy students Chloe Lavieri, Ni Penn-Henry, Amina Bash, Vanessa Ayer Miller
Social/Behavioral
“Evaluating Risk Factors for Disability Among U.S. Adults” — Master of Science in Public Health students Kathy Huynh, Sydney Altizer, Sarah Cruz, Jada Frederick, Bailey Hall, Natalia Najjar, Victoria Reynolds
