Graduate profiles

GRADUATE PROFILES Annie Park, D.O.

Park completes international rotation at her childhood medical center

When Annie Park was in sixth grade she broke her arm and was hospitalized for three weeks at Asan Medical Center (AMC) in South Korea. She remembered that the facility is a well-established teaching hospital as well as one of the biggest quaternary care centers in Seoul, so it was no surprise when the recent WVSOM graduate wanted to complete an international rotation there.

“I was very impressed by the quality of care at the facility and thought to myself that I would recommend my Korean relatives to go there for medical care,” Park said. “I was treated with respect by attendings, residents and other hospital team members and most of them were eager to help me.”

During Park’s one-month rotation during her fourth year of medical school she learned much about gastroenterology. She wanted to learn all she could about the specialty and knew that AMC had a higher number of gastric cancer incidences.

“If cancer is found in early stages there are procedures such as endoscopic mucosal resection that are done daily, which are not commonly performed in the U.S.,” she said. “I wanted to be exposed to those procedures.”

Academically, Park said she couldn’t be more satisfied with her rotation experience and is thankful that WVSOM provides opportunities for students to complete international rotations. “International rotations allow students to take an active role when resources may be limited,” Park said of overseas facilities. “Additionally, the experience will help students become more open minded when it comes to patients with different cultural background and different beliefs.”

Park, a native of Korea, also wanted to see if she would be able to communicate with patients and understand Korean medical terminology.

“As a student, I think it was good to see how the medical system was in Korea,” she said. “Residents are responsible for at least 50 patients daily and they were expected to work seven days a week. Residency is brutal and hours are long. I heard that doctors are not paid by the time they spend with patients but by the number of patients they see and the procedures they perform. I learned quickly the importance of asking pertinent questions and how to maximize efficiency.”

Students interested in honing their medical knowledge should consider an international rotation, because according to Park, the experience is a reward of its own. “My international rotation provided me a unique opportunity to experience different cultures and gave me medical exposure to pathologies and treatments that are not common in the U.S.,” she said.

Park also completed a twoweek elective orthopedic surgery rotation in her third year in Landstuhl, Germany. She is currently completing her residency in internal medicine at Plaza Medical Center in Ft. Worth, Texas.

Idowu assists underserved patients in Ghana

Benmichael Idowu learned firsthand what it was like to serve the underserved.

For four weeks he lived and worked in Kumasi, Ghana, seeing patients who had limited or no access to health care. He witnessed how a majority of people who succumb to illness in Ghana do so because they can’t afford care.

“In rural Ghana I saw that people are still underserved and sometimes

without access to care,” Idowu said. “Scanty populations are scanty populations, and such places have a proportionately lower health care provider population.”

Idowu decided to complete an international rotation during his medical school career to improve his physical exam and physical diagnosis skills, but what he got from the experience was much more than that.

“I wanted to get a different perspective on the delivery of health care in the world,” he said. “In engaging in this experience, I sought to relight my appreciation for what the U.S. health care system has to offer to its citizens.”

Being able to experience other cultures, other ways of life, other health disparities and other health systems is a fulfilling experience for medical students choosing to complete an international rotation, according to Idowu.

“I feel that the opportunity for international experience in medicine

is valuable for anyone who wants to become a world citizen. Traveling is a rewarding experience and traveling while doing a job you love adds to the pleasure,” he said.

While overseas, Idowu completely immersed himself in the culture while learning medicine — he even learned how to speak Twi (“chwee”), the common language of Ghana. He spent a total of 23 days in Ghana learning such things like how to treat malaria and Buruli ulcers.

Prior to Ghana, Idowu completed a fourweek ear, nose and throat rotation in London.

Idowu is currently completing his residency in internal medicine at East Liverpool City Hospital in East Liverpool, Ohio.

Patrick Wright, D.O.

Wright uses rotation site to learn more about epidemic

Cape Town is the most popular international tourist destination in South Africa with rolling hillsides and clear water. But South Africa as a whole has been challenged with a staggering number of HIV/AIDS cases. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at the end of 2010 an estimated 5.7 million citizens were living with HIV/AIDS.

Recent WVSOM graduate Patrick Wright spent six weeks there during an international rotation in his fourth year of medical school and learned first-hand what it was like treating patients of the epidemic.

“The experience exceeded my expectations. My exposure to a spectrum of infectious diseases was invaluable,” Wright said. “While there, I was trained to manage HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis according to the South Africa government standards.” Wright said he wanted the opportunity to become a universal physician, which he thought he could do through the international rotation program at WVSOM.

“I think the best way to gain perspective on anything is to change the vantage point,” he said.

He was also able to gain perspective from esteemed peers and leaders such as a man he referred to as “Mr. Henry,” a social worker in the anti-retro viral (ARV) unit in Elsies River Community Healthcare Clinic.

“He was responsible for counseling and educating patients diagnosed with HIV/ AIDS about the disease as well as the treatment strategies,” Wright said. “His ability to connect with patients on an individual level was outstanding and truly inspirational.”

Following physicians in South Africa wasn’t entirely different than shadowing them in West Virginia. In fact, Wright said,

international medicine is pretty similar to rural medicine.

“I think the art of rural medicine relies on the physician’s ability to provide the best care with limited means,” Wright said. “The clinics in the townships of Cape Town provide service to underserved populations similar to the rural populations of West Virginia on a much larger and more limited scale. It was a good application of a field of medicine that I had previously been exposed to during my time at WVSOM.”

Wright is currently completing his residency in diagnostic radiology at Franciscan St. James Health in Olympia Fields, Ill. He said his rotation in South Africa was an experience of a lifetime.

“The additional knowledge I gained during this rotation is invaluable and will be applicable during my career,” he said.