Since 2006, the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine Scholarly Concentrations Program has helped broaden the inquisitive minds of hundreds of medical students.

Supported through the MCOM Office of Research, Innovation and Scholarly Endeavors (RISE),  the program aims to support the educational development of the college’s core medical students through opportunities for scholarly and research endeavors in areas of special interest.   Today,  470 of 499 core medical students participate the program, according to RISE data.

Ingrid Bahner, PhD, program co-director, describes it as an opportunity for medical students to explore topics related to medicine that are not part of their curriculum.

“The goal isn’t necessarily to create academic physicians.  The goal is to create a life-long commitment to the scholarly approach to the practice of medicine,” Dr. Bahner said.

In the beginning only Research, Public Health and Health Disparities were offered, said Susan Pross, PhD, who co-founded the program and is currently program co-director with Dr. Bahner.  It wasn’t anticipated to be as successful as it is, according to Dr. Pross.  Passionate students and faculty offered ideas for other concentrations as the program grew more popular.  The program grew to eight concentrations in just three years.  Today, there are 11 mind-broadening concentrations available to students.  The concentrations currently reflect how the interests of practicing physicians continue to evolve, Dr. Pross said.

It takes an interprofessional approach for the concentrations to have their maximum desired effect.  Staff and faculty from other University of South Florida and USF Health colleges, including the College of Engineering, Muma College of Business, Taneja College of Pharmacy and College of Public Health, are all part of what makes the program a success.

“From the beginning, it created opportunities for students to collaborate with other like-minded students and professors throughout all four years of medical school,” Dr. Pross said.  “This is a great avenue for students to continue their passions, or discover new ones.”

Concentrations:

• Biomedical Research
• Health Disparities
• Health Systems Engineering
• Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Business in Medicine
• International Medicine
• Law and Medicine
• Education
• Medical Humanities
• Medicine and Gender
• Nutrition Research and Health
• Public Health

Medical students are required to complete their capstone project by February of their fourth year.  Graduating students are recognized with a certificate of completion, a capstone book, and the distinction of wearing an SCP honor cord at commencement.

I chose to join the health disparities scholarly concentration because I wanted to be part of a team with other motivated students and professionals who share my passion to learn more about disparities in healthcare and take action against them. My experience in this concentration has been so helpful, enlightening, and enjoyable over the past 2 years. Teamwork is a priority with this group. We recently had a group of students work with several faculty members from the concentration to run a women’s health night free clinic, which was a wonderful opportunity to help the community and a great learning experience for students who are unaware of all the moving parts and effort that goes into putting on a free clinic. Additionally, the faculty leaders are always encouraging us to work on projects that we are passionate about and always willing to provide help at any step of the way, whether it’s finding a project, working on the methods, or presenting the final results. Lastly, the students in this concentration are very respectful and compassionate. It is a great environment to have open discussions and learn from one another.

Michelle Savoldy, Class of 2024, Health Disparities Scholarly Concentration

Big data and real-time analytics are helping the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine (MCOM) track the coursework and efforts of medical students to better identify areas of struggle. The result is not only an enhanced education experience but also a direct impact on student success.

Tracking the curriculum as a whole and how students perform within it provides a large data set that can help identify which courses correlate to good and bad outcomes later, such as the link with struggles in a course to low scores on medical licensing exams.

As a result, the curriculum team is able to connect with students early to identify ways to support them and help them improve their work, and may even adjust the timing of certain courses to improve exam performance.

“We use data analytics in much the same way hospitals and researchers do, except we use it with students,” said Deborah DeWaay, MD, FACP, associate professor and associate dean of the Department of Medical Education for MCOM. “The main difference is we use standardized exam scores, course scores and other evaluations instead of weight and blood pressure.”

Dr. DeWaay said that the Department of Medical Education in MCOM works closely with the USF Information Technology experts to build and work with the analytics programs.

“Our informatics people and medical education people work very closely together to create the curriculum map and use business intelligence to analyze the curriculum, as well as student test scores,” Dr. DeWaay said.

Central to the effort is the use of an intelligent business process management system called Archivum (Appian). This large data set is useful to the Department of Medical Education and was originally built in an accreditation capacity.  However, the data the system produces has a much deeper and strategic purpose, said Swapna Chackravarhy, associate vice president of integrated data management for USF Information Technology.

“The wealth of the data that’s in there can be used for more test preparation and having the ability to pinpoint where certain test topics are being taught,” Chackravarhy said. “Our end goal in working with the DME is to provide them as much information as we can to help better serve the students.”

The effort can also identify potential risk for outcomes later on, such as a student’s performance on the USMLE Step 1 exam, part of medical licensing. If a student gets a certain score in certain courses, the data shows they are likely to score in a certain range in the Step 1 exam. Tracking the early performance can help instructors and advisors identify those who may potentially be at risk.

The next phase of using these data sets is to identify more targeted student strengths and areas that need improvement.  For example, Dr. DeWaay said, a student can pass every course with good scores, but levels of competency within the courses gives a much more in-depth look at what specific areas and competencies students should bolster.

The end goal is to deliver the most comprehensive medical school experience possible, Dr. DeWaay said. As MCOM moves downtown into its new building nearing completion in Water Street Tampa (classes begin Jan 13, 2020), “targeted efforts like this that support student success is how the Morsani College of Medicine will redefine how medical education is done,” Dr. DeWaay said.

“Producing the best medical school graduates who are ready to work in an ever-changing health care field is our primary mission here.”

Alicia Billington’s work offers  healing solutions for patients living with limited mobility

By Katy Hennig, USF News

TAMPA, Fla. (June 24, 2014) – By calculating movement and combining two different fields of research, Alicia Billington, M.D., is changing the way health care professionals diagnose and treat pressure sores—a common medical problem that affects millions of people each year.

“I think that a lot of the processes that we do in medicine can be optimized through engineering,” says Billington.

Billington is the first USF student to graduate with a dual M.D./Ph.D. degree in engineering, combining the two related but disparate disciplines of medicine and engineering. She is poised to become a leader for the next generation of physician scientists.

“It’s not easy,” says Dr. Peter Fabri, the academic adviser who co-designed Billington’s dual discipline research track along with William Lee, III. He describes the path as an integral connection between medicine and innovation, adding, “the shared skills and talents enrich medicine.”

Incorporating problem-solving skills from her background in biomedical engineering, Billington has invented a new method for analyzing how people move, which she is hoping one day could prevent pressure sores. The sores, commonly called bedsores, are injuries to the skin and underlying tissue that can result from pressure on the skin and muscles. They can occur in nursing home patients, who may lie in bed or remain seated for long periods of time and they may also plague patients of all ages who experience limited mobility, such as veterans in wheelchairs.

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