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February 2010 Student Association e-Newsletter

By Danielle Lynn Barnett, OMSIII

The end of the 2009-2010 ACOFP year is rapidly approaching. As I look forward to the future of our student association, I am optimistic and excited for what the new year will bring. All the schools have held elections and the new officer-elects will soon attend the 47th annual ACOFP national convention in Las Vegas, Nevada. Conventions are an excellent opportunity for all medical students, especially new officers, to learn what the student association is all about. Our board has been working throughout the year to bring you innovative student programs with outstanding speakers. I am looking forward to seeing familiar faces and meeting all the newcomers in Vegas. Remember, be a sponge and soak it all up!

It has been a pleasure serving you this past year as your National Student Executive Board President. I remember attending the 45th ACOFP convention in Denver, Colorado a couple years ago. It was my first convention and I was a new chapter president. It was there I was inspired to participate on the national level as Parliamentarian. Two years later and with two positions behind me, I am still eager to serve the students. For this reason, I would be honored to serve my last year as the Student Academic Member on the ACOFP Board of Governors. Thank you to all the outgoing chapter presidents for all your hard work this year. Your efforts have helped us fulfill our goal as a national board to promote osteopathic family medicine. With more osteopathic medical schools opening nationwide, our impact is immense. You should feel very proud of your accomplishments.

Lastly, I would like to remind everyone, including outgoing chapter presidents, that there are many ways you can remain involved in ACOFP. In Las Vegas we will be electing a new national student executive board. There are positions available for all years, OMS-I through OMS-III. If interested please submit your CV and a letter of intent to Tobi Kelmer. If you would like to be considered for a national committee, please visit the ACOFP website for more information. Also, don’t forget to remain involved with your local chapters and state societies. Thank you for a great year!

ACOFP students at Des Moines University joined chapter president Chelsey Fields and members of the Pediatrics Club and Women’s Medical Alliance in hosting a Christmas party for the residents of House of Mercy. House of Mercy provides housing to women and children in need. Many of these women are in the process of undergoing drug and alcohol detox. The Christmas party included visits from Santa and Mrs. Claus (played by faculty advisor Robert Wattleworth, DO, FACOFP and her husband), toys for each of the children, delicious holiday treats, and a Christmas carnival! Thank you to the DMU ACOFP Student Chapter for showing the SAACOFP spirit and spreading holiday cheer to those in need!

Are you planning your chapter’s trip to convention in Las Vegas? Have an extra spot in a hotel room? Need a room for one or two of your members? Use the SAACOFP discussion board on Facebook to coordinate with other chapters. Working with other chapters on travel arrangements can help to minimize costs for everyone! We can’t wait to see all of you in Las Vegas.

By Lynn M. Wilson, OMS IV

I convened a meeting of the ACOFP Board of Governors on January 22-23 to address several key issues facing our profession, including revamping basic standards for our residency training programs and pending requirements for osteopathic continuous certification. We work hard to help our interns and residents become the best physicians you can be, but I would like to know what you think should be in the Basic Standards for residency programs. Have an opinion? Let me know at lynnwi@pcom.edu!

Lynn M. Wilson, OMS IV
Student Academic Member to the ACOFP Board of Governors 2009-2010 SAACOFP National Vice President 2008-2009 Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, 2010 Cedar Crest College, 2006
330.727.4868 (c)

Step 1:
A 22-year old man is starting medical school. He received a hepatitis B vaccination series several years ago and needs serology to verify his immune status. What serology results would indicate continuing immunity to hepatitis B?

1. Negative hepatitis B surface antigen and hepatitis B surface antibody
2. Positive hepatitis B core antibody
3. Positive hepatitis B e antibody
4. Positive hepatitis B surface antibody
5. Positive hepatitis B surface antigen
   

Step 2:
A 28-year-old Japanese G1P0 female, MN, presents at 10 weeks EGA per LMP c/o vaginal bleeding. This is her first visit to an OB since discovering she was pregnant by urine hCG test 6 weeks prior. She has been bleeding for 2 days now, and the flow is moderate and without clots. Her pregnancy thus far has been complicated by nausea and vomiting, which MN has self-treated with hydration. MN is Rh-negative and rubella-immune. She has no past medical or surgical history, and family history is noncontributory. MN lives with her husband of 3 years, works as an architect, and denies ETOH, tobacco, and drug use. The only medications she takes are daily multivitamins and she has an allergy to PCN—she gets a rash when she takes it. On physical exam, MN is a thin female who appears nervous, has dry mucous membranes, an elevated heart rate, a fundal height of 16cm; the rest of the physical is unremarkable. On ultrasound, you do not find fetal heart tones and there appears to be a blizzard in her uterus in place of an intrauterine pregnancy. Which of the following is not an appropriate step in this patient’s management?

1. Giving her Rhogam
2. Obtaining a chest x-ray
3. Medical induction of labor with misoprostol (CYTOTEC)
4. Getting a baseline quantitative β-hCG with serial follow-up
5. Putting the patient on oral contraceptive pills (OCPs)

Answers below.

Overlook Hospital
33 Overlook Road
Suite L01
Summit, NJ 07901
Phone # 908.522.5700
Resident Recruiter: Robert Lukenda, DO, phone # 973.635.2432

Q: Why do you recommend your osteopathic residency program to prospective medical students?
A: As residents we are treated by the faculty as colleagues, encouraging autonomy and decision-making. We are provided with high quality, evidence-based education and are expected to demonstrate our program's mission to bestow compassionate, cost-effective, evidence-based services to our patients and their families. In addition, the residents incorporate osteopathy throughout their entire residency and are encouraged to perform osteopathic manipulation in all the settings we encounter whether it is an inpatient, an obstetric patient, or an outpatient.

Answers to February e-Newsletter Prep Kwon DO Steps 1 & 2.

Step 1: The correct answer is D.
Positive hepatitis B surface antibody (HBsAb) indicates that the patient has acquired immunity, either via a now resolved infection or vaccination.

Step 2: The correct answer is C.
Medical induction of labor with misoprostol (CYTOTEC). The correct treatment for a molar pregnancy (gestational trophoblastic disease, GTD) is a suction dilatation and curettage (D&C). Because of the risk of invasion of the myometrium and molar tissue deposition in the lungs, all cells need to be promptly evacuated from the patient’s uterus. A chest x-ray is necessary before evacuation to rule out deposition of molar tissue. All Rh-negative patients should receive Rhogam after evacuation to protect future pregnancies. Serum β-hCG levels are extremely elevated in gestational trophoblastic disease, and can easily be >100,000 mIU/mL. Decrease in the quantitative hCG is indicative of proper removal of trophoblastic tissue. The patient should not get pregnant while being treated for GTD. The most widely used method of contraception is OCPs.

Source: Lange’s Current Diagnosis and Treatments in Obstetrics and Gynecology, McGraw-Hill, 2007.