MOULTRIE PCOM South Georgia medical students showcased their research discoveries with colleagues and medical officials during PCOM South Georgias first research symposium Tuesday.

PCOM South Georgia medical students showcased their research discoveries with colleagues and medical officials during PCOM South Georgias first research symposium Tuesday.

At Research Day, PCOM South Georgia students gave poster and podium presentations of their research and evidence-based projects.

Research Day here at PCOM South Georgia is an opportunity for our students to engage in scholarly work. It gives them the opportunity to ask a research question, go through the research question process and interact with clinical researchers if they do a clinical case report, Dr. Jennifer H. Shaw said.

PCOM South Georgia held its first Research Day program Tuesday afternoon. More than 50 medical students shared their discoveries while presenting their findings to colleagues and health professionals.

The annual symposium began with students attending a presentation from the keynote speaker, Dr. Herman Staats, PhD, a professor of Pathology, Immunology & Medicine at Duke University School of Medicine, Duke Human Vaccine Institute.

Staats's presentation, Development of Intranasal Vaccines for Infectious Agents, Drugs of Abuse & Food Allergy, focused on food allergy development and how to improve therapeutic methods for food allergies.

The medical students took the floor presenting their work to colleagues in the multipurpose room.

PCOM South Georgia student Comfort Orekoya conducted research along with Tiffany Pittman, Kylie Parrish, Grace Perry, Shiv Dhiman and Savita Arya on a case study called, Colonic stenosis in an elderly patient.

PCOM South Georgia Medical Student Oyindamola "Comfort" Orekoya is pictured in front of her group research project, Colonic stenosis in an elderly patient. Orekoyaconducted research along with, not pictured, Tiffany Pittman, Kylie Parrish, Grace Perry, Shiv Dhiman and Savita Arya todetermine the underlying cause of colonic stenosis, which is the inflammation of the small intestines, in a deceased 83-year-old Caucasian female.

Orekoya explained the study aimed to determine the underlying cause of colonic stenosis, which is the inflammation of the small intestines, in a deceased 83-year-old Caucasian female.

Her group analyzed Did the patient's colonic stenosis cause diverticulosis a condition where parts of the colon wall become weakened or did the diverticulitis cause the colonic stenosis?

Orekoya participated in research projects during her undergraduate studies but found conducting them at PCOM South Georgia was different.

What I really learned this time around was how to work in a group and research. We had to [learn how to] divide up the parts, have a group effort and get the results. Celebrating the results as a group was definitely a unique experience for me, and it also taught me that science is advancing in the healthcare profession. As medical professionals, hopefully doctors one day, we will need to use this research and knowledge to advance in the field, she said.

Daniel Santiago, MD, a postgraduate year two Family Medicine Resident at Georgia South Family Medicine Residency Program, took the floor kickstarting the 10-minute podium talks segment. Santiago worked with PCOM students Danielle T. Rosenzweig, Humaira Bibi and Woodwin M. Weeks of the Georgia South Family Medicine Residency Program on an analysis of vulnerable obstetrics patients: A needs assessment of migrant farmworkers in rural South Georgia.

Pictured from left are Daniel Santiago, MD, a postgraduate year two Family Medicine Resident at Georgia South Family Medicine Residency Program; PCOM students Danielle T. Rosenzweig, Humaira Bibi and Woodwin M. Weeks of the Georgia South Family Medicine Residency Program. The group members project was "An analysis of vulnerable obstetrics patients: A needs assessment of migrant farmworkers in rural South Georgia."

Rosenzweig said, We were focused on patients at Ellenton Clinic and what their barriers might be to accessing healthcare not only during their pregnancy but beyond. We gave them a survey questionnaire and it was presented in English and in Spanish. They rated on a scale from one to five what they felt impacted their access to healthcare.

Their findings were skewed due to survey complications. The students are reviewing their work and determining how they can move forward with the study to potentially provide resources to the clinic patients in the future.

Didem Aydin with Zizah-Wosseni, Blair Justice Dove and Stacie Fairley, PhD, found that there was an 61.9% increase in opioid overdoses in Georgia from 2019 to 2021. Through their research, Aydin said, the distribution of methadone clinics and Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) by county demonstrated that urban communities had a higher number of these facilities compared to rural communities.

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Medical students present their discoveries at PCOM South Georgia ... - Moultrie Observer