For the third consecutive year, medical students at the Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine (ICOM) had the opportunity to participate in a literature competition organized by the Idaho Urologic Institute (IUI).
Over the last several months, groups of second-year medical students worked together to demonstrate their proficiency in producing patient-friendly content in the form of informational videos pertaining to current urological guidelines, including a comprehensive critical evaluation of current literature.
“The students made a deep dive into a pathologic topic in Urology and created communication tools to educate physicians and patients,” said Dr. Joseph H. Williams, physician and founding member of the Idaho Urologic Institute and Surgery Center of Idaho. “Both groups did excellent work! We are posting the presentations on our website to help with our patient information efforts.”
The entries were judged by a panel of physicians at IUI, including Dr. Williams and Drs. Cynthia Fairfax and Lisa Parrillo. The participating students were recognized during a small ceremony on Thursday, Oct. 28.
The winning team included Student Doctors Madison Summers, Kristie Nguyen and Dania Abid. These students also serve as Secretary, Vice President and President, respectively, of ICOM’s Obstetrics & Gynecology (OB/GYN) Interest Group.
“Dania, Kristie and I decided to participate in the competition because we were enticed by the idea of creating a relationship with the physicians at IUI,” said Student Doctor Summers. “The opportunity to network and receive mentorship from physicians is an invaluable resource, and this was the perfect opportunity for us to begin building those relationships while also having fun. The physicians and staff at IUI were so helpful and kind throughout the entire process, and we’re very appreciative of the connections we were able to make.”
Participating students were tasked with creating two educational videos — one geared toward physicians and one geared toward patients — that focused on their chosen topics. Student Doctors Summers, Nguyen and Abid chose to detail the human papillomavirus, or HPV.
“For the past year or so, we’ve been thrown a ton of medical terminology and facts from our lectures that we often forget how to communicate these topics in everyday terms,” said Student Doctor Nguyen. “Through this project, we realized the importance of taking into account the health literacies of our audiences when communicating. To better incorporate our future patients in the formulation of their healthcare, it’s extremely important that we learn to effectively communicate with patients in a way that is unbiased, open, and informative.”
The group who took second place was comprised of Student Doctors Dallas Meredith, Thomas Tolman and Jarom Clark. Their project focused on Peyronie’s disease.
This is the third year ICOM students have participated in this competition. Both winning teams received a financial award for their efforts and credit IUI for offering a rewarding research experience for ICOM students.
“We collaborated on a topic we were passionate about in a way we haven’t done before — especially as medical students navigating learning in a pandemic,” said Student Doctor Abid. “We were able to share our opinions and suggestions comfortably with one another and everyone’s flexible attitude made it a really enjoyable experience overall.”