Laissez les bon temps roulez! - October 2009 Student Association e-Newsletter

Professionalism at Conventions
November 1st-5th, 2009 the AOA/ACOFP convention will take place in New Orleans, Louisiana! Hopefully many of you will be able to take a few days off from classes or rotations and join us.

One of the coolest things about the AOA/ACOFP convention this year is that James Carville, the Ragin’ Cajun Democratic strategist, and his wife, Republican pundit Mary Matalin, are Monday morning’s keynote speakers. Now that you’re fired up and ready to roll in NOLA, here are some tips for the conference!

Registration:
Be sure to register at www.omedconference.org for the AOA convention. Registration is free for students! Visit the website for accommodation information and programming, and you can see which lectures pique your interest. Check with your school—3rd year students may be able to get off-site OMM/OPP credit for attending manipulation workshops. For all the runners and walkers, the Still Fit For Life 5K run is Tuesday morning.

Threads:
Dress during lectures is business or business casual (no white coats necessary), and dress at night or outside the convention center is at your professional discretion. Average temperatures for November in New Orleans are 50-71°F; the convention center and nearby hotels are next to the Mississippi riverfront. The AOA/ACOFP convention starts on Sunday, November 1st, but if you decide to arrive one day early, then bring your trusty ninja or pirate costume.

Good times:
New Orleans is a great city with tons of culture, food, and fun, so be sure to enjoy it while you’re there! Remember that you are representing Osteopathic medicine and your respective schools, so make us proud by being good examples of what awesome medical students should be. Please be early or on time to all meetings, and behave respectfully. The doctors sitting next to you at the conference or at local hotspots may be residency program directors at your dream hospital, so let’s be sure they see you at your best, no matter the situation!

Let’s get together, yeah yeah yeah!!
Join us for an awesome night of good food and fun times with new friends! Meet us inside and we’ll have bracelets to give out!
Who: Students and Residents
When: Monday, November 2nd at 7pm
Where: Alibi Lounge, 811 Iberville St., NOLA
Alibi Lounge is within walking distance from the Convention Center and surrounding hotels, so bring your party shoes and come on down to hang out on Monday night!

For some other great ideas on cool places to visit, check out our Facebook page!
It’s easy to get caught up in the extra-curricular activities, so please remember that your main goal should be to learn new things and make professional connections. Your national student executive board is excited about seeing you all in New Orleans. We can’t wait to attend lectures with you and hang out after hours in the city (responsibly, of course!). Laissez les bon temps roulez!!

		NYCOM Picnic

The NYCOM student chapter ACOFP held an outdoor picnic meeting in the month of September. This was an excellent opportunity to get members outside of the classroom, and enjoy some sunshine and fresh air, as well as mingle with other members and the officers. They were joined by eight family practitioners, who are also members of the faculty. This gave the members an opportunity to ask them questions and learn about their careers. These physicians, some of whom are residency directors and administrators, were able to answer any questions the students may have had, ranging from the daily activities of a family practitioner, to questions regarding rotations and residencies.  This event was very successful in terms of attracting new members, and also provided the current members a unique opportunity to informally speak with family physicians while learning more about different aspects of primary care.

Congratulations to chapter president, Jennifer Marie Caruana, for thinking outside the box. Keep up the great work!!

Be creative when planning events for your chapters. Simple things such as moving your meeting outside, holding a BBQ/potluck, or moving it to the beach are just some examples of ways in which you can increase member activity and new member recruitment. Make the meeting more appealing by inviting local family physicians and residents. This will promote networking and give students a chance ask questions.

Step 1
A 32 year old Caucasian male presents to the emergency department with bilateral pneumonia. Patient's history insignificant except for the fact that he has a water cooler that he uses for humidification of his house. The patient is further evaluated and found to have a positive urinary antigen. What organism is the etiological cause for his pneumonia?

1. Legionella
2. Chlamydia
3. Pseudomonas
4. Pneumocystis
5. Klebsiella

Step 2
A 43 year old male come to the urgent care for the follow up of his hypertension and hyperlipidemia. The patient has been taking lisinopril and simvastatin for two years. His BP is 135/86 mmHg with HR of 76bpm. On the auscultation, you find rhythmic SI and S2, and the review of systems did not review any deterioration of the patient’s state of health. Out of the tests below, which one would you perform for a routine follow up of his therapy?

1. CBC
2. HbA1C
3. Troponin
4. Creatine Kinase
5. Aspartate aminotransferase

Answers to September e-Newsletter Prep Kwon DO Steps 1 & 2:
Step 1:
The patient has Marfan’s syndrome. Marfan’s syndrome is inherited in Autosomal Dominate manner. People with Marfan’s can be tall, lanky, and thin with long arms and fingers. Ocular involvement is seen with Marfans and includes len subluxation and myopia. A dissecting aorta aneurysm is a complication of Marfan. A dissecting aorta can present with a sudden onset of severe chest pain as seen in the case. The pain of a dissecting aorta is often termed “tearing” and may radiate to the back.
Reference: Andreoli, Tomas E., M.D., Carpenter, Charles, C.J., M.D., Griggs, Robert C., M.D. Benjamin, Ivor J., M.D., Andreoli and Carpenter’s Essentials of Medicine. 7th Edition. Philadelphia, PA. 2007)

Step 2:
A. Treatment of symptoms: antipyretics, analgesics, decongestants. Most cases of acute sinusitis are caused by viruses and do not require antibiotics. A secondary bacterial infection should be treated with antibiotics, and for this reason, a patient whose symptoms worsen or persist for greater than 7-10 days should be treated with antibiotics covering Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae, and Moraxella catarrhalis.
Chan, C.H. (2008). Internal Medicine. Lange Q&A USMLE Step 2 CK (pp. 2, 26). New York:McGraw-Hill.
Wong, D.M., et al. (2006). Guidelines for the use of antibiotics in acute upper respiratory tract infections. American Family Physician. 74(6):956-966.

Answer to October e-Newsletter Prep Kwon DO Steps 1 & 2.
Step 1:
A. legionella.  This is the best choice because of the positive urinary antigen.  The use of the humidification system is often a major distributor of the legionella organism.

Step 2:
E. Aspartate aminotransferase
The patient you have been seeing has history of hypertension and hyperlipidemia. The hypertension is controlled daily with lisinopril. The hyperlipidemia is controlled with a statin, which requires periodic checks of the liver function enzymes. Measuring AST enyzmatically reflects the function of the liver- AST rises correspondently to the toxicity of the liver. If the AST is 2.5 times the normal level, it means that the medication is damaging the patient’s liver and new alternative medication needs to be found.

Valley Hospital Medical Center Family Medicine Residency Program
620 Shadow Lane
Las Vegas, NV 89106
Resident Recruiter Katie Howe-Scott, DO, PGY3, Family Medicine

Q: Why do you recommend your osteopathic residency program to prospective medical students?
A. Our program offers many unique opportunities that are simply not available anywhere else. Being located in the heart of Las Vegas, we provide the benefits of an urban program in the Valley Hospital Health System, a national private network of Universal Health Services, Inc that represents several private hospitals across the country. Residents receive all the urban hospital and clinic exposure to pathology along with the business of medicine only available in private hospital and clinic settings. In addition, our continuity clinic and urgent care exposure is in combination with Southwest Medical Associates, a large HMO group here in Southern Nevada. Affiliations with both UHS and SMA also provide Residents with amazing exposure for possible job opportunities upon graduation. On top of all of these benefits, we are located in Las Vegas, NV, which offers all of the entertainment and outdoor outlets one could possibly imagine to fully maximize off duty hours!

Q: What advice do you give to prospective medical students trying to choose the best residency program for themselves?
A. When trying to choose the best fit in a Residency program, it is important to focus on what you want to learn in the next 3 years and the overall “feel” of a program. Residency may seem like a long time and lots of medical students are eager to head home or to their end destination during Residency. However, I like to challenge medical students that this is the last three years of learning you have prior to being “on your own”. I believe that rather than focusing on where they want to be on a map, students should focus more on where they want to be in their career once their short 3 year Residency is completed. Residency is a time to learn, to grow, and to become exposed to everything your specialty has to offer from practice styles to fellowships. Depending on your long-term practice goals, choosing the right residency can provide you with the skills and networking required to effectively and efficiently achieve your goals. In addition, each Residency program has its own “feel”. Don’t be afraid to ask questions and to talk to as many Residents as possible. Fitting into the group of future Residents and going somewhere where the Residents seem to be happy with their education and Residency experience is generally a good approach to finding a “best fit” program for yourself.

Q: Any other information you would like to pass on to prospective residents for your program?
A. Our Family Medicine Residents are a tight knit group who genuinely care about one another. We are always eager to meet prospective residents who are passionate about Family Medicine and working well in a team environment. Residency can be challenging time in a person’s life and we pride ourselves in working well together to support each other as well as care for our patients. As Residents, we are always learning more about medicine, our patients and ourselves. Here at Valley, we choose to enjoy the journey of the Residency process and supporting each other towards achieving our future practice goals. For more information, please contact us or visit our website. We look forward to seeing you in Las Vegas!