North Carolina Residents and Medical Students Selected for Emerging Leaders Program

RESIDENTS & NEW PHYSICIANS

By Tracie Hazelett

NCAFP Manager, Medical Student and Residency Relations

North Carolina Residents and Students Selected as AAFP Emerging Leaders

The AAFP Foundation’s competitive leadership development program has selected two residents and one medical student from North Carolina to participate in the Family Medicine Leads’ Emerging Leader Institute.

Karen Scherr, MD, PhD

Dr. Scherr obtained her undergraduate degree at Texas Tech in 2009 prior to relocating to North Carolina. She went on to complete her medical degree at Duke University School of Medicine where she also completed her doctorate as part of the Duke Medical Scientist Training Program. Dr. Scherr has also been a teaching assistant for courses in Duke’s Sanford School of Public Policy and The Fuqua School of Business. In addition to being selected for the Emerging Leader Institute, the research and poster she co-authored with fellow Duke resident, Matthew Geisz, MD, PGY-2, was selected as one of the winners in the Community Project category for inclusion in the (virtual) AAFP National Conference of Family Medicine Residents and Medical Students: Development of an Integrated Electronic Referral System to Local Diabetes Prevention Programs Within a Family Medicine Clinic.

Dr. Scherr is passionate about making a positive difference in people’s lives, whether as a physician or personally, in the community she has grown to love. She not only strives to provide excellent patient care and but also to use her knowledge and skills to empower people, families and communities to live healthier lives. Dr. Scherr is completing her Family Medicine residency at Duke Community and Family Medicine where she is a third-year resident and was recently selected as co-chief.

Gabriela Plasencia, MD, MAS

Dr. Plasencia completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Florida, followed by her Masters in Applied Science in Population Health Management at Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Plasencia then completed her medical degree at the Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine.

Plasencia’s career goals are to continue her work in population health, using health management strategies to decrease health disparities, especially in older adult populations, and to promote research in primary care, particularly in Family Medicine. Dr. Plasencia is completing her Family Medicine residency at Duke Community and Family Medicine where she was drawn because of their focus on social justice, community engagement and primary care research. She is excited to offer her skills in community-based participatory research experience, masters training and fluency in Spanish to the community. Plasencia is a second-year resident, and during the recent virtual graduation ceremony for Duke residents, was selected as the recipient of the Thomas Matheson, M.D. Award.

Benjamin Kaplan, MPH

Benjamin Kaplan, MPH, hails from New York City. He completed his undergraduate degree at Columbia University then moved to North Carolina five years ago to enroll at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine. In addition to being selected for the Emerging Leader Institute, the research poster he submitted was selected as a one of the winners in the Education category for inclusion in the AAFP National Conference of Family Medicine Residents and Medical Students: I Know Me: A Pilot Feasibility Study of Photovoice With Complex Care Patients.

Ben completed his Master’s in Public Health from the Gillings School of Public Health in June. He is now a fourth-year medical student, beginning the application process for Family Medicine residency programs. Ben looks forward to his career as a family physician, splitting his time between community-based primary care, health equity research, and medical education. He is passionate about increasing access to primary care, particularly for individuals living with chronic illness.

Mr. Kaplan and Drs. Plasencia and Scherr are among the 30 scholars selected nationwide to participate in the program’s sixth cohort. Scholars participated in the virtual AAFP National Conference July 30 – August 1, followed by two days of training led by the AAFP Foundation. Post conference, the scholars will develop a project based on one of three tracks: Policy & Public Health Leadership, Personal & Practice Leadership or Philanthropic & Mission-Driven Leadership; with Project Award recipients returning to present at the 2021 National Conference. A complete list of the 2020 FML Emerging Leader Institute Scholars is available (www.aafpfoundation.org). Congratulations!

NORTH CAROLINA’S 2020 Resident & Student Research Poster Presentation

The NCAFP Foundation’s twenty-seventh annual Research Poster Presentation will be held at the Academy’s Virtual Winter Family Physicians Weekend

The Foundation is interested in showcasing practice-based research, but poster presentations may address any topic relevant to Family Medicine. Works-in-progress may also be submitted, but submissions must be of original work not yet published. Projects previously presented at medical schools’ or student “Research Days” are acceptable, as are concurrent submissions to other conferences such as NAPCRG and STFM.

Posters will be judged for awards with winners announced at the Virtual Annual Meeting. For complete details and link to submission form, please visit www.ncafp.com

Please direct questions to Tracie Hazelett at thazelett@ncafp.com or 919-980-5357.

Resident and Student members interested in participating must submit their application and all corresponding materials (including final PDF of poster) by October 1st, 2020.

STUDENT INTEREST & INITIATIVES

By Tracie Hazelett

NCAFP Manager, Medical Student & Residency Relations er for medical students around the country. FaculParticipation was widespread among students on campus, however it is no surprise that students involved in these activities are also active members of their Family Medicine Interest Group (FMIG) on campus. A true representation of the spirit and heart of a Family Physician!

Meeting Widespread Community Needs

COVID-19 Spurs As is the case with the spectrum of Family Medicine,

Unexpected Medical activities at the Brody School of Medicine ranged from working with the very young to the elderly. Students

Student Experiences provided childcare for essential workers, stepping up when schools and daycare centers closed. Medical students helped children learn and adapt to their new normal, and parents were able to continue to serve the needs of their community in their essential roles. The medical school year 2019-20 ended like no othwere supported academically and socially. Parents felt safe and reassured, knowing their children ty created new curriculum and students adapted to Brody students have also worked in coordination with virtual learning in record time, with the impact felt Meals on Wheels, delivering fresh quality food to seby all. Students completing rotations have had their niors that need this nutritional support and benefit educational experiences most directly impacted, but from the social aspect of the face to face contact each whether a first-year on campus, or a fourth-year day. Many of the regularly scheduled volunteers are in whose graduation celebration took place in a way a vulnerable population group themselves and therenever imagined, no one has been unaffected. Stufore have been forced to step back from volunteering dents are left feeling anxious, nervous, angry and during this time for their own safety. These friendfrustrated at how their medical education ly mask-wearing and approach to applying to residencies has student faces have been forced to change. Those feelings aside, most have chosen to see the silver lining and make the most of time “It gave me an opportunity to expand my creativity and reminded me what it feels like to helped to ensure seniors in their community are safe and cared for during this unexpectedly available. While maintaining be a 12-year old again!” time of crisis. academics virtually, North Carolina medical students found creative and useful ways — Hannah, M4 Other Brody stuto meet the needs of those around them. dents worked to The activities that follow are only a sampling of the create a fundraising platform to provide support to acts of service and kindness students performed; we local businesses and eateries that were negatively afknow there are many more! There isn’t enough space fected by COVID. This effort simultaneously prohere to share all that has been done by each school, vided support to healthcare staff that were impacted so a few things specific to their respective universiby increased work hours and demands. A variety of ties are noted in this article. family style meals were purchased from locally owned

restaurants and were delivered to the hospital’s emergency department and intensive care units.

Two of Brody’s FMIG leaders who also happen to be Albert Schweitzer Fellows, completely pivoted their Schweitzer project when seeing the strain placed on individuals who use opioids and utilize harm reduction programs. In May 2020, there were 828 ED visits for opioid overdoses across NC, which is up from 658 visits in May 2019. The pandemic has challenged syringe exchanges to adapt to this new climate and maintain access to harm reduction supplies. Students partnered with a program in Greenville to address transportation barriers by delivering clean harm reduction supplies to clients’ homes. They have slowly reopened the in-person exchange and are closely adhering to social distancing requirements. A Facebook group has been created to improve communication with those served to stay updated on changes and ask questions. Necessary stay-at-home orders may be obscuring rates of opioid abuse and overdoses across the nation, therefore accessibility to harm reduction supplies and adapting to change is crucial for reducing overdoses and infectious disease during this challenging time.

Supporting Senior Citizens

One population particularly touched the hearts of Campbell students— those in long-term care facilities. Everyone has been faced with new challenges, but life for the elderly changed dramatically when restrictions on visitors from family and friends were implemented. Many of these individuals struggle with health issues, but there are also those who have cognitive

Helping physicians in medicine, business, and life.

Curious to know more? Visit curi.com

CORPORATE SPONSOR OF THE NORTH CAROLINA ACADEMY OF FAMILY PHYSICIANS

ADVERTISE!

Reach many types of Family Medicine professionals in North Carolina. Contact Peter Graber with the NCAFP at pgraber@ncafp.com

conditions that add confusion to their daily battles. This has been a distressing time for many. The disruptions in routines, restrictions on visitors and other preventative measures have left many residents in long term care centers feeling lonely, confused, worried and uncertain about what is happening and what is to come. This prompted students with Campbell’s FMIG to initiate a letter writing campaign with residents at Emerald Health and Rehab Center in Lillington. These letters of encouragement to the residents demonstrated care and kindness and let them know they have not been forgotten. The letters were a reminder of the good in their community and served as a welcome distraction for recipients. numerous food and non-food essentials. ly sourced produce and shelf-stable items to food insecure patients young and old. Many community partners have been involved in these efforts. Referrals to the program are made by clinicians affiliated with the Duke Outpatient Clinic and the Duke Healthy Lifestyles Clinic. Many patients have multiple chronic health conditions that make them particularly vulnerable to unstable food access. Root Causes also partnered with the student led Hotspotting Initiative at Duke Outpatient Clinic to deliver non-food essentials such as hand sanitizers, soap, disinfecting wipes, and sanitary pads. The partnership with Healthy Lifestyles Clinic also provided for delivery of Grow-It-Yourself Home Garden Box

Food Insecurity on the Rise Supplies, Access and

“Growing up in Pitt County and Behavioral Health Duke students have been involved in a variety of efforts, but one dynamic partnership that has watching different restaurants open up and develop Greenville, and UNC students traversed the community to collect flourished has been with memseeing them struggle, made me think donated supplies for debers of the FMIG team and the critically about ways to support livery to those in need, Root Causes Fresh Produce Prothem throughout the quarantine.” including citizens in the gram. The weekly fresh produce delivery program is an effort —Sydney, M4 community and healthcare workers. Students that needs volunteers to call paassembled boxes of face tients, coordinate food sourcing, shields and in the end pack food bags, and make touch-free home delivdistributed several thousand to healthcare facilieries to patients in the Durham community. Even ties in the Charlotte area. In another effort to help before COVID-19, food insecurity was a signifimanage supplies, students started a PPE monitoring cant issue in Durham County, with 1 in 5 residents program in the Emergency Department. They asstruggling with food security. The economic impact sisted ED staff with proper utilization of PPE and of COVID-19 has exacerbated food insecurity for limited the number of times personnel had to enter many low-income Durham residents by decreasing and leave patient rooms by providing needed assisfinancial stability, job security, and safe access to tance or obtaining more help if needed. Students public transportation. For those with chronic health also helped the ED initiate their reusable respirator conditions, the idea of getting food has become program where staff were issued elastomeric N-100 risky, scary, and uncertain. Getting food has become masks that are reusable. This included cleaning and more complicated because of COVID-19 transmisstoring masks to help minimize the use of dispossion risk and grocery stores running out of stock on able N-95s in the ED. projects for pediatric patients. Several FMIG leaders were involved in other comThis program has worked closely with amazing munity outreach activities too, one of which is the community partners to package and deliver localZero Suicide Program. The intent of the program

is to provide regular non-clinical, well-being phone check-ups and social support to patients who were recently hospitalized for suicidality. The goal is that with additional contact and support, it will help to decrease future suicidality.

Additional efforts included supporting the Atrium community paramedics Virtual Hospital Program. Through the virtual hospital, students joined community paramedics to deliver kits with blood pressure cuffs, pulse-oximeters, thermometers, and medications to patients who were experiencing symptoms, or had tested positive for COVID-19, and were in quarantine in their home. When supplies were delivered, students also assisted the provider to conduct a virtual visit and perform recommended therapies such as a nebulizer treatment, draw labs, or give IV fluids.

Students worked at the NC Poison Control Call Center and helped operate the Coronavirus Hotline to answer questions people from across the state had related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Students were able to guide callers to local services and supports, the CDC or NC Department of Health & Human Services resources and in some cases direct the individual to call 911 or their hospital.

“It was rewarding to speak with people and help them stay informed so they could make the safest decisions related to employment issues, accessing financial assistance, food supplementation, or healthcare”. Rob, M4

Homelessness

Student members of the FMIG at Wake Forest SOM have immersed themselves in a medical outreach project in Winston Salem. In April, a local nonprofit organization working to end homelessness in the Winston Salem community partnered with local shelters to quarantine medically fragile adults, who have high-risk co-morbidities, in an area hotel. Student volunteers visit the hotel multiple times each week to assist with COVID-19 symptom screening questions and temperature checks. Students perform a wide variety of support during the visit. They provide basic consultation and triage new medical concerns, assist individuals with medication reconciliation, offer support and guidance to adhere to their treatment plans and assist in scheduling future healthcare appointments. The students strive to listen with compassion and connect vulnerable individuals to resources for consistent, longitudinal care. Numerous hotel patients have now been established with their own personal primary care physician, with the first step for many being in the Department of Family and Community Medicine.

Gleaning motivational interviewing experience and developing clinical skills in a resource-limited setting will undoubtedly serve future Family Physicians. The students involved in this project continue to be inspired by the resiliency of the patients, dedication of the entire care team, and support from faculty.

“As an aspiring Family Medicine physician involved in this project, Dr. Shauna Guthrie’s recent NCFM Today podcast resonated with me in terms of her hopes for continued positivity for the medical community, the inherent overlap(s) between holistic primary care and public health, and the importance of partnerships with local health departments. Many of the resources we are connecting patients with have been sourced through partnerships with the local health department.” Collette, M2

As students begin the next academic year, it is clear there is anxiety about the upcoming application and interview season. There have also been many sleepless nights resulting from rescheduled Board exams, cancelled acting internships and challenges to complete labs and learn in the new virtual world. However, it is also obvious that medical students are a resilient group and Pandemic or not, these individuals know they are fortunate to be in pursuit of a profession that is admirable, respected and in high demand. They have a bright future indeed.

In addition to their community service and support, special thanks to NC FMIG leaders for their contributions to this article.