Category Archives: Physiology

Physiology

How to find the right athletics coach for you | PERFORMANCE – World Athletics

Finding the right athletics coach for you is important, ensuring they provide advice that fits your needs and lifestyle, and help to create a positive, sustainable relationship with the sport.

But how to go about it? Heres our quick guide on finding the right coach for you.

Different coaches will be valuable for different people, so finding a coach who matches your needs will help get the most out of your athletics journey.

Some coaches may foster a group with a focus on making sessions as fun as possible. These coaches can be great when first finding your way into the sport, encouraging you to learn its disciplines and make you want to keep coming back.

If part of the reason you are taking up athletics is for the social interactions it creates, these coaches may be the best place to start.

Other coaches may have more of a focus on the performance side of athletics and be more appropriate for those who feel they already have an understanding of the sport and want further guidance on particular aspects of their event.

For those doing multiple disciplines, some may even choose to have more than one coach, with specialists guiding them for jumps, sprints and throws, though there are multi-discipline coaches that focus on all the events.

These performance-focused coaches can take many different forms, from experienced coaches to former athletes as well as those with a science-focused physiology background. Think of what sort of advice you would see as valuable and select your coach accordingly.

To gain a sense of the types of sessions run by coaches, take a look on social media as well as on club and coach websites, or even ask if you can do a trial session.

Many national athletics federations have a list of qualifications available to coaches on their websites.

See if the coach you hope to work with has any of these, as it will be a good indicator of the experience they have gained.

As well as these qualifications, World Athletics offers aneLearning platform, which provides educational courses and webinars for people within the sport, including those in key stakeholder groups such as technical officials, coaches and medical professionals. Further information can be found here.

Like people in everyday life, coaches will have different personalities. Some people like working with enthusiastic and loud coaches, valuing the support and clear instructions. Others prefer a softly-softly approach, with less-frequent but nonetheless valuable feedback.

Think about what you require in a coach.Speak to current group members already guided by your potential coach to gauge their personality and contemplate whether that would work for you.

Ensuring you are both on the same page will create a more positive, long-lasting and sustainable relationship for athlete and coach.

Appraise yourself honestly and think about what sort of role you see athletics playing in your life. If family, work and other life commitments may affect your training, make sure you find a coach that understands that. Be honest and up front with that coach when it comes to how you see the relationship working.

A good indicator of this will be finding a coach who works with other athletes with a similar lifestyle to you, and a good way of finding this out will be heading down to the track and trying out a few sessions for yourself.

For tips on finding the right athletics club for you and getting into track running, check out the advice here.

George Mallett for World Athletics

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How to find the right athletics coach for you | PERFORMANCE - World Athletics

Physiology

A novel method for monitoring the ‘engine’ of pregnancy | Penn Today – Penn Today

A study published in Nature Biomedical Engineering details a novel method for imaging the placenta in pregnant patients as well as the results of a pilot clinical study. By combining optical measurements with ultrasound, the findings show how oxygen levels can be monitored noninvasively and provides a new way to generate a better understanding of this complex, crucial organ. This research was the result of a collaboration of the groups of the University of Pennsylvanias Arjun Yodh and Nadav Schwartz with colleagues from the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and was led by postdoc Lin Wang.

Schwartz describes the placenta as the engine of pregnancy, an organ that plays a crucial role in delivering nutrients and oxygen to the fetus. Placental dysfunction can lead to complications such as fetal growth restriction, preeclampsia, and stillbirth. To increase knowledge about this crucial organ, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development launched the Human Placenta Project in 2014. One focus of the program is to develop tools to assess human placental structure and function in real time, including optical devices.

For three years, the researchers optimized the design of their instrument and tested it in preclinical settings. The process involved integrating optical fibers with ultrasound probes, exploring various ultrasound transducers, and improving the multimodal technology so that measurements were stable, accurate, and reproducible while collecting data at the bedside. The resulting instrumentation now enables researchers to study the anatomy of the placenta while also collecting detailed functional information about placenta blood flow and oxygenation, capabilities that existing commercially devices do not have, the researchers say.

Because the placenta is located far below the bodys surface, one of the key technical challenges addressed by Wang, a postdoc in Yodhs lab, was reducing background noise in the opto-electronic system. Light is scattered and absorbed when it travels through thick tissues, Yodh says, and the key for success was to reduce background interference so that the small amount of light that penetrates deep into the placenta and then returns is still large enough for a high-quality measurement.

Were sending a light signal that goes through the same deep tissues as the ultrasound. The extremely small amount of light that returns to the surface probe is then used to accurately assess tissue properties, which is only possible with very stable lasers, optics, and detectors, says Yodh. Lin had to overcome many barriers to improve the signal-to-noise ratio to the point where we trusted our data.

Notably, the paper also describes the results of a pilot study where 24 pregnant patients in their third trimester were given supplemental oxygen for a short time period, creating placental hyperoxia. Using the device, the team collected measurements of the placentas oxygenated and deoxygenated blood concentrations before and during hyperoxia; the results demonstrated that the device could be used to study placental function in real time. The research also provided new insights into the relationship between blood flow and maternal vascular malperfusion, which occurs when blood flow into the placenta is impeded.

Not only do we show that oxygen levels go up when you give the mom oxygen, but when we analyze the data, both for clinical outcomes and pathology, patients with maternal vascular malperfusion did not have as much of an increase in oxygen compared to patients with normal placentas, says Schwartz. What was exciting is that, not only did we get an instrument to probe deeper than commercial devices, but we also obtained an early signal that hyperoxygenation experiments can differentiate a healthy placenta from a diseased placenta.

While the device is still in development, the researchers are currently refining their instrument to make it more user-friendly and to allow it to collect data faster. The team is also currently working on larger studies, including recently data from patients during their second trimester, and they are also interested in studying different regions of the placenta. From an instrumentation perspective, we want to make the operation more user-friendly, and then we want to carry out more clinical studies, Wang says about the future of this work. We have lots of interesting ideas.

And because there are many unanswered clinical questions about the placenta, for Schwartz the biggest potential of this work is in providing a way to start answering those questions. Without being able to study the placenta directly, we are relying on very indirect science, he says. This is a tool that helps us study the underlying physiology of pregnancy so we can more strategically study interventions that can help support good pregnancy outcomes.

The authors are Lin Wang, Jeffrey M. Cochran, Kenneth Abramson, Lian He, Venki Kavuri, Samuel Parry, Arjun G. Yodh, and Nadav Schwartz from Penn; Tiffany Ko, Wesley B. Baker, and Rebecca L. Linn from the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia, and David R. Busch, previously a research associate at Penn and now at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School.

Arjun Yodh is the James M. Skinner Professor of Science in the Department of Physics and Astronomy in the School of Arts & Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania.

Nadav Schwartz is an Associate Professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology in Penns Perelman School of Medicine.

Lin Wang is a postdoc in the Department of Physics and Astronomy in Penns School of Arts & Sciences.

This research was supported by National Institutes of Health grants F31HD085731, R01NS113945, R01NS060653, P41EB015893, P41EB015893, T32HL007915, and U01HD087180.

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A novel method for monitoring the 'engine' of pregnancy | Penn Today - Penn Today

Physiology

What is Physiology | American Physiological Society

Physiology is the study of how the human body works under normal conditions. You use physiology when you exercise, read, breathe, eat, sleep, move or do just about anything. Physiology is generally divided into ten physiological organ systems: the cardiovascular system, the digestive system, the endocrine system, the immune system, the muscular ...

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What is Physiology | American Physiological Society

Physiology

Lecturer in Physiology, Teaching and Leadership job with MACQUARIE UNIVERSITY – SYDNEY AUSTRALIA | 303859 – Times Higher Education

The Role

We seek a dynamic and exciting lecturer in physiology to join Macquarie Medical School in the Teaching & Leadership academic job family. You will have experience in teaching in the physiological sciences, ideally with broad expertise in reproductive, musculoskeletal or gastrointestinal physiology, immunology, pharmacology, endocrinology or anatomy.

Teaching & Leadership Academics are specialist academics who dedicate their workload contribution to Teaching, Teaching Leadership, and Service. You will contribute to units within the Bachelor of Clinical Science, Bachelor of Medical Science, and Doctor of Medicine programs through the design & delivery of tutorials, lectures and practical classes, both in person and using innovative asynchronous technologies; convening, review and development of units; designing, administering and marking assessments; participating in peer review of teaching and further educational skill development. Higher degree research supervision may also form a part of teaching-related activities in this job family. The Macquarie University Academic Job Family Framework recognises and rewards the breadth of academic work.

About Us

Macquarie is a university engaged with the real and often complex problems and opportunities that define our lives. Since our foundation 54 years ago, we have aspired to be a different type of university. Over the years, we've grown to become the centre of a vibrant local and global community. Connect with us today.

Macquarie University's Faculty of Medicine, Health, and Human Sciences builds on our aspiration to have the nation's first fully integrated Academic Health Sciences Centre under a university's leadership. It brings together the excellent work of medical and allied-health clinicians and researchers across the University and around the country, with unparalleled access to world-leading clinical resources and research facilities found only on our campus.

The Faculty offers a distinctive suite of capability-based educational programs. Macquarie Medical School is a newly formed unit that combines research excellence in the biomedical and clinical sciences and passion and innovation in our educational missions. In research, the School consists of multidisciplinary teams that span cellular and systems neuroscience, cancer, ophthalmology, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. In education we train the next generation of successful scientists and doctors to be impactful, insightful and collaborative members of society through out innovative Bachelor of Clinical Science, Bachelor of Medical Science, and MD programs.

To Apply

To be considered for this position please apply online by submitting your CV and a separate (2-3 page) document that describes how you meet each of the itemised selection criteria below.

Essential

Desirable

Appointment level will be in accordance with demonstrated qualifications, skills, and experience. Please note: Applications for this position are only being accepted from Australian citizens or permanent residents or people currently residing in Australia with full working rights.

Specific Role enquiries: Associate Professor Simon McMullan at simon.mcmullan@mq.edu.au

Recruitment Enquiries: Jasmine Xia, HR Assistant at jasmine.xia@mq.edu.au

Applications Close: Sunday 28 August 2022 AEDT 11:55 pm

If you're already part of the Macquarie Group (MQ University, U@MQ, MQ Health, MGSM), you'll need to apply through your employee Workday account. To apply for this job: Login to Workday and go to the Careers App > Find Jobs.

At Macquarie University, we are committed to providing a working environment where each individual is valued, respected and supported to progress. Our priority is to ensure culture, policies and processes are truly inclusive and that no-one is disadvantaged on the basis of their Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander identity, gender, culture, disability, LGBTIQA+ identities, family and caring responsibilities, age, or religion. We encourage everyone who meets the selection criteria and shares Macquarie University's values of scholarship, empowerment and integrity to apply.

Learn more about our progress towards Equity, Diversity and Inclusion.

https://staff.mq.edu.au/work/diversity-inclusion

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Lecturer in Physiology, Teaching and Leadership job with MACQUARIE UNIVERSITY - SYDNEY AUSTRALIA | 303859 - Times Higher Education

Physiology

Meet a Loper Graduate: Madi Stearnes reminds Lopers to work hard, but also have fun – University of Nebraska at Kearney

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Madi Stearnes of Omaha graduates Friday with a bachelors degree in biology with a health science emphasis. She plans to pursue a nursing degree through the accelerated UNMC program in Kearney.

What does this moment mean to you?This moment is a symbol of all the hard work and amazing times Ive had in the last five years.

How did UNK help prepare you for your future career?UNK helped me prepare by giving me resources that I learned to use during my time here and will continue to use along my path in life.

What activities/organizations were you involved in at UNK? How did that enhance your education?I played volleyball at UNK during my freshman through junior years. This helped a lot with time management and teamwork.

What was your most memorable experience at UNK?I would have to say my most memorable experience was probably when they have the booths out on campus at the beginning of the year (Blue and Gold Welcome Week) and you get to see people you havent seen all summer. It really got me excited for the upcoming school year!

Whos someone from UNK youll never forget?Paul Twigg. He was my Biology 106 professor freshman year and also my research mentor. Not only was he my research mentor, but he offered a lot of good life advice and help in many more ways than just research. For that I have to thank him.

Whats your favorite place on campus?Its got to be Bruner Hall of Science. I spent the majority of my days in that building for classes. Its also where I made a lot of friends.

Tell me about the time when you worked the hardest during your undergraduate career:Probably during my sophomore year when I was in organic chemistry and anatomy and physiology while playing volleyball. That was the year I got little sleep.

What was your favorite class?I would have to say anatomy and physiology was probably my favorite, because it doesnt just have to do with the bones, muscles, organs, etc. Its the what is it and what all can it do that I loved the most.

Who was the most influential person during your undergrad career?My best friend Lexie Trimble. We struggled, laughed, cried and had so much fun together, and today we are still the best of friends. I dont think I would have made it through without her.

What advice do you have for current and future Lopers?Study hard, but dont forget to have fun. And most importantly, if you feel like someones holding you back, let them go. There will be someone a million times better on the other side!

If you could go back in time and do something differently, what would it be?I wish I wouldnt have been so hard on myself. People make mistakes and college is hard. I wish I would have been able to tell myself that.

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Meet a Loper Graduate: Madi Stearnes reminds Lopers to work hard, but also have fun - University of Nebraska at Kearney

Physiology

Engineering the Microbiome to Potentially Cure Disease – UC San Diego Health

Residing within the human gut are trillions of bacteria and other microorganisms that can impact a variety of chronic human ailments, including obesity, type 2 diabetes, atherosclerosis, cancer, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and inflammatory bowel disease.

Numerous diseases are associated with imbalance or dysfunction in gut microbiome. Even in diseases that dont involve the microbiome, gut microflora provide an important point of access that allows modification of many physiological systems.

An artists rendering of the concept of re-engineered native bacteria that serve as chassis to introduce therapeutics into the gut microbiome to treat or cure disease. Photo credit: Thom Leach, Amoeba Studios

Modifying to remedy, perhaps even cure these conditions, has generated substantial interest, leading to the development of live bacterial therapeutics (LBTs). One idea behind LBTs is to engineer bacterial hosts, or chassis, to produce therapeutics able to repair or restore healthy microbial function and diversity.

Existing efforts have primarily focused on using probiotic bacterial strains from the Bacteroides or Lactobacillus families or Escherichia coli that have been used for decades in the lab. However, these efforts have largely fallen short because engineered bacteria introduced into the gut generally do not survive what is fundamentally a hostile environment.

The inability to engraft or even survive in the gut requires frequent re-administration of these bacterial strains and often produces inconsistent effects or no effect at all. The phenomenon is perhaps most apparent in individuals who take probiotics, where these beneficial bacteria are unable to compete with the individuals native microorganisms and largely disappear quickly.

The lack of engraftment severely limits the use of LBTs for chronic conditions for curative effect or to study specific functions in the gut microbiome, said Amir Zarrinpar, MD, PhD, assistant professor of medicine at UC San Diego School of Medicine and a gastroenterologist at UC San Diego Health. Published human trials using engineered LBTs have demonstrated safety, but still need to demonstrate reversal of disease. We believe this may be due to problems with colonization.

In a proof-of-concept study, published in the August 4, 2022, online issue of Cell, Zarrinpar and colleagues at University of California San Diego School of Medicine report overcoming that hurdle by employing native bacteria in mice as the chassis for delivering transgenes capable of inducing persistent and potentially even curative therapeutic changes in the gut and reversing disease pathologies.

Using this method, the group found they can provide long-term therapy in a mouse model of type 2 diabetes.

In theory, native bacteria are already maximally adapted to the luminal environment, Zarrinpar said. Thereby bypassing nearly all the barriers to engraftment and making them an ideal chassis for therapeutic delivery.

In the study, the research team showed that they can take a strain of E. coli native to the host and engineer it to express transgenes that affect its physiology, such as blood glucose levels. The modified native bacteria were then reintroduced into the mouses gut.

After a single treatment, Zarrinpar said the engineered native bacteria engrafted throughout the gut for the lifetime of the treated mice, retained functionality and induced improved blood glucose response for months. The researchers also demonstrated that similar bacterial engineering can be done in human native E. coli.

This work is an exciting step in demonstrating that live bacterial therapeutics can be used for treating or possibly even curing chronic conditions, said the studys first author Baylee Russell, now a graduate student at Harvard University.

In principle, live bacterial therapeutics may be a relatively non-invasive, low risk and cost-effective option for treating a number of diseases. It is worthy of additional exploration. There's still a lot of work that needs to be done, but it will be exciting to see this technology expand in the years ahead.

Zarrinpar said the reluctance by some groups to use undomesticated native bacteria rather than well-known laboratory strains is driven by the assumption that they are difficult to culture and modify, although the study authors note recent studies have demonstrated they can be modified more consistently using newer methods.

None of the individual steps we used or described are particularly difficult, but in combination, they are novel. Together, they clearly demonstrate that we can accomplish what has yet to be achieved with other synthetic biology approaches, said Zarrinpar. That is, functional manipulation of the luminal gut environment to create persistent physiological effects.

Co-authors include: Steven D. Brown, Nicole Siguenza, Irene Mai, Anand R. Saran, Amulya Lingaraju, Erica Maissy, Ana C. Dantas Machado, Antonio F. M. Pinto, Concepcion Sanchez, Leigh-Ana Rossitto, Yukiko Miyamoto, R. Alexander Richter, Lars Eckmann, Jeff Hasty, David J. Gonzalez and Rob Knight, all at UC San Diego; Samuel B. Ho, UC San Diego and VA Health Sciences; and Alan Saghatelian, Salk Institute for Biological Studies.

Funding and support for this research came, in part, from the National Institutes of Health (grants F32 DK113721, F31 HD106762, R01 HL148801-02S1, T32 AR064194, T32 GM007752, K08 DK102902, R03 DK114536, R21 609 MH117780, R01 HL148801, R01 EB030134, R01HL157445, U01 CA265719, P30 DK120515, P30 DK063491, P30 CA014195, P50 AA011999, and UL1 TR001442), the Glenn Foundation for Medical Research Postdoctoral Fellowships in Aging Research, UC San Diego Eureka Foundation, UC San Diego Collaborative Center of Multiplexed Proteomics, AFAR Research Grant for Junior Faculty, National Phenylketonuria Alliance, American Heart Association Beginning Grant-in-Aid (16BGIA27760160), Kavli Institute for Brain and Mind at UC San Diego, Jon I. Isenberg Endowed Fellowship, AASLD Liver Scholar Award and AGA Microbiome Junior Investigator Award.

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Engineering the Microbiome to Potentially Cure Disease - UC San Diego Health

Physiology

WVU Today | EXPERT PITCH: WVU toxicologist calls passage of burn pit bill ‘critical step in improving veteran health’ – WVU Today

Timothy Nurkiewicz, chair of the WVU Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, conducts research in WVUs Inhalation Facility. Nurkiewicz can discuss burn pits, why they pose serious health risks and how theyve made veterans ill. (WVU Photo)

A West Virginia University researcher with expertise in air pollution and inhalation exposures is available to discuss burn pits following this weeks U.S. Senate passage of a bill expanding health care benefits for veterans who developed illnesses after being exposed to such pits.

At WVUs Inhalation Facility, Timothy Nurkiewicz, chair of the School of Medicines Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, and his research team are safely recreating burn pit conditions to examine why they pose such health risks and how theyve made veterans sick.

Quotes:

On the contents of burn pits

A military base isnt like a campsite. In camping, what you pack in, you pack out, right? Well, the military has to prevent the enemy from benefiting from their presence. So, they destroy everything they have. In concept, that makes perfect sense, but in practice, its a horrible thing because youre throwing in everything from standard garbage paper, plastic, fabric, food to paint, oil, batteries, computers and unspent ordnance. And I havent even mentioned the medical waste as well as standard human waste. All of that goes into burn pits, too. Jet fuel was widely used as the main accelerant and the collective process burns at a lower temperature than incinerators. The result is incomplete combustion and tremendous emission production.

On the prevalence of burn pit exposure

If you were deployed in the Middle East, you were probably exposed to the emissions from a burn pit. Every base was a different size, had different operations and burned different things, so everybody was exposed to different toxicants in different combinations. If you jump forward, now you have veterans who are ending their deployments and theyre coming back in large numbers and presenting with some very serious health issues.

On the passage of this bill

The passage of this bill is a critical step in improving veteran health. It comes at a time when a significant number of veterans are ending their deployments and returning home. We have a large population of exposed veterans who can be identified and proactively treated. The challenges in diagnosing CMI (chronic multisymptom illness) associated with burn pit exposures have made it difficult to allocate resources for the illness. This, in turn, leads to the symptoms being treated,but not the root cause. Identifying the mechanisms of toxicity that result from burn pit exposures will lead to more effective treatment, so, thats the greater goal of our research, to provide a more exact diagnosis that is irrefutable from a clinical perspective.

West Virginia University experts can provide commentary, insights and opinions on various news topics. Search for an expert by name, title, areas of expertise or college/school/department in the Experts Databaseat WVU Today.

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se/08/04/22

MEDIA CONTACT: Cassie ThomasDirector, Communications and MarketingWVU School of Medicine304-293-3412; cassie.thomas@hsc.wvu.edu

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Jessica WilmothSenior Communications SpecialistWVU Health Sciences304-293-9528; jessica.wilmoth@hsc.wvu.edu

Call 1-855-WVU-NEWS for the latest West Virginia University news and information from WVUToday.

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WVU Today | EXPERT PITCH: WVU toxicologist calls passage of burn pit bill 'critical step in improving veteran health' - WVU Today

Physiology

A common parasite is making people more attractive to try and spread itself through sex – indy100

A study has found a common parasite is making people more attractive to increase the likelihood of sexual transmission.

According to a study published in journal PeerJ, and led by Javier Borrz-Len from the University of Turku in Finland, men with the common parasite T.gondii had more facial symmetry, which is considered a marker of attractiveness, than those without the parasite.

Women with the parasite were seen to have a lower body mass index and were also more confident in their attractiveness, the study found.

Meanwhile, as part of the research, 200 subjects from all over the world looked through a photos of infected and uninfected people and rate the photos based on attractiveness and health. Images of those infected with T.gondii were rated healthier and more attractive.

It is not the first time the parasite has been studied. Previous studies on T. gondii found that infections among rats appear to correspond with heightened levels of testosterone in infected males.

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Borrz-Len told Atlas: "It has been observed that male rats that have been experimentally infected with Toxoplasma gondii, have some changes in their testosterone levels, and are also more sexually attractive and preferred as sexual partners by non-infected females, which supports our evolutionary interpretation of the results.

Research into the effect of T.gondii on human physiology is still in early stages and Borrz-Len is planning more investigations into it.

So now you know...

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

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A common parasite is making people more attractive to try and spread itself through sex - indy100

Physiology

Graduate program aims to improve health outcomes with focus on community needs – Furman News

Mohammad Hooshmand Zaferanieh M21 had always wanted to go into health care, but while getting his bachelors degree in biology in 2016, he took a hard look at the system he was about to devote his working life to.

Mohammad Hooshmand Zaferanieh M21

I was a little disheartened by the way this system was set up and the number of people who were still falling through the cracks, he said. He started work in the medical devices industry, but I was denying something that I truly felt compelled to do.

To provide the best care for his future patients, Zaferanieh realized he would need to learn more.

A large conglomerate of factors goes into someones health, he said. It starts off in the social setting, in where they live, which neighborhood theyre in, what type of food theyre eating, how much exposure they have to chronic stress or environmental pollutants. Someones well-being starts miles away from the health care setting.

Jessica Accardi M19 came to a similar conclusion while working in the emergency department of Greenville Memorial Hospital after earning her Bachelor of Science degree in 2016.

Interacting with people from many different backgrounds, I began to gain insight into the various barriers that impacted individuals access to medical care, she said. This left me wanting to gain different skills to help mitigate these barriers.

Jessica Accardi M19

To continue their education, Zaferanieh and Accardi both found a distinctive graduate program: Furmans Master of Science in Community Engaged Medicine (MSCEM).

Launched in 2018 with a partnership between Furman and Prisma Health, the 12-month MSCEM program puts students into the field to learn about health disparities firsthand, leading to an advanced understanding of science and population health and all of the social and biological factors that can affect it, said Rachael Bowers, director of the MSCEM program and director of education for The Institute for the Advancement of Community Health.

By combining biomedical science, social science and practical experience, Furmans MSCEM program offers an advantage over programs that focus on only one aspect of health care, said Bowers.

Were not a masters in biomedical science, were not a masters in public health, and were not a service year, said Bowers. We are uniquely giving students some of each of those experiences in a way that helps them understand the challenges in our health care system, but also reflectively understand what inspires them to be part of that system.

The MSCEM program, which has graduated 66 students in four cohorts since 2018, will begin hosting two cohorts each year in 2023. The fifth cohort, which will graduate in May 2023, will overlap with the sixth cohort, which will launch in January 2023 and graduate that December. Meanwhile, the seventh cohort will begin in summer 2023.

The curriculum of the MSCEM program is designed to parallel the collaborative philosophy of the community health concept, emphasizing interdisciplinary partnerships to improve outcomes, said Bowers. In classes, students explore subjects such as implicit bias, community engagement and health policy, as well as clinical anatomy and physiology, genetics, epidemiology and metabolic biochemistry.

Rachael Bowers, director of the MSCEM program

Theories from the classroom gel as students begin to see how the concepts play out in real-world community settings.

During a nine-month applied experiential learning course, each degree candidate works with Greenville-area organizations serving under-resourced populations. Fieldwork includes 12 or more hours per week directly observing and engaging with people to gain tangible skills in areas not often served by traditional internship or shadowing opportunities.

Partner organizations include the Greenville Free Medical Clinic, FoodShare, Project Hope, the Upstate Medical Legal Partnership, the Prisma Health Center for Family Medicine and the Bradshaw Institute for Community Child Health and Advocacy.

As the program expands in 2023, students will begin working with Reach Out and Read Carolinas, Unity Health on Main, New Horizon Family Health Services, Triune Mercy Center and the Phoenix Center.

Fieldwork for the MSCEM students is incredibly important, said Dr. Kerry Sease, a physician with Prisma Health and medical director of the Bradshaw Institute. As medicine shifts to focus on better understanding the impacts of the social drivers of health, these experiences allow the students to see firsthand how important community-based interventions can be.

Accardi, who served at the Greenville Free Medical Clinic as an interpreter, medical assistant and patient intake specialist, found her fieldwork gave her a better understanding of the resources available to the community as well as some new personal connections.

It gave me a true appreciation for the clinic staff, for the numerous roles they fulfill daily, she said. I also enjoyed getting to know the patients on a deeper level and hearing their stories beyond their medical history.

Throughout three terms, seminars feature conversations, case studies and expert lectures, and students work on individual thesis projects to consolidate their experiences. This is when the three curriculum pillars biomedical courses, population/public health courses and the applied experiential course really come together, said Bowers.

It allows students to think of how what theyre learning in anatomy, physiology, genetics and biochemistry is enhanced and complemented not replaced by what theyre learning in epidemiology and policy, Bowers said. And theyre seeing it in action in their fieldwork sites, so they can understand all things at the same time.

The interdisciplinary program is suited to applicants from all backgrounds, Bowers said. We have students who were science majors, and we have students who have more of a public health and social sciences background, she said. Were not just putting the material in front of them and hoping they can make those connections. Were leaning on their applied experience and the seminar course to intertwine them.

Students also receive career counseling and test preparation for professional examinations such as the MCAT, DAT or GRE.

More than half of the programs graduates entered (or plan to enter) medical school or other training for a career as a health care practitioner. Many of them, like Zaferanieh and Accardi, were accepted to the University of South Carolina School of Medicine Greenville.

As he begins his second year in medical school, Zaferanieh said the in-depth analyses of the social determinants of health has given him a unique perspective among his classmates.

Throughout the first year when we would go through cases and study pathology, Im thinking, What things in this patients life could they modify to reduce the severity of this state? How could this be prevented from the get-go? he said. And in the discussions were having about holistically approaching a patients care, I was ahead of a lot of my peers who had previously not been exposed to these social determinants at an academic level.

Although Furmans program remains distinctive, community engaged medicine is an emerging and increasingly necessary field, said Sease.

Students who understand the value of community health as it relates to a populations health will better respond to the countrys health care crisis, said Sease. The benefits of traditional health care paired with the tenets of public health is a win-win for everyone involved.

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Graduate program aims to improve health outcomes with focus on community needs - Furman News