Onward... by Alexis Mark

Graduation has come and gone for the PCOM Biomedical Sciences Class of 2012. I know that no matter what the journey has been to accomplish this achievement, we all have worked so hard and most definitely earned a moment of glory! Congratulations to everyone!

My experiences during the first year the Biomedical Sciences program at PCOM have strengthened my knowledge base of the sciences and enhanced my appreciation of just how complex and useful science is toward piecing together the processes involved in human health and illness. The advancement of medicine would be incomplete without scientific progress. And this was part of the big picture lesson that I more fully realized while pursuing the research concentration during my second year of the program.

Now, I would just like to take a moment to share with you some words of wisdom, a handful of hopefully helpful hints on surviving and thriving in graduate school. My first tip would be to work smart. While, of course it is a known fact that you must work diligently to achieve your goals, it is important to be efficient! This means understanding how you best study and absorb ideas with the goal of truly learning the material you need. Gauge the tools, tangible and abstract, that will help you move forward to thoroughly understand the concepts you will need, whether it be in preparation for a test, how to plan an experiment, or learning how one idea fits into a more complex one.

Secondly, take time. Remember to pencil in time for activities that make you, well ... you. Meaning to say, take time for what is important to shaping who you are and contributes to your success ... by the way, this includes SLEEP! Seize those opportunities that enable you to grow by stepping outside of your comfort zone. Take time to appreciate the resources available to you, and use them to your benefit to enhance what you know.

Lastly, have fun! No one wants to be around a boring grad student who only talks about their research all day and all night! Get out and live a little!

Also, the website scholarships.com reviews ways to make the most of your graduate eduction in the article, “Top 10 Tips for Surviving Graduate School,” found at the following website: http://www.scholarships.com/resources/after-college/graduate-and-professional-school/top-10-tips-for-surviving-graduate-school/. My favorite snippets of wisdom from the site’s features are: 1) Take initiative, 2) Get organized, and 3) Prioritize.

And now, as I end my final blog post, I am reminded of that cliché phrase that although graduation marks an end, it also symbolizes another beginning. So onward to next chapter I charge, full of unknowns and new horizons that I eagerly anticipate! But, I will remain thankful for and remember the challenging times and lessons learned, the people I met and true friends made, and the experiences I’ve gathered over the past two years.

V-Day: A Venue for Change by Alexis Mark

Many enter the healthcare field with the intent of helping people. This often becomes a challenge for many reasons. Sometimes this challenge is attributed to the fact that a disease is not fully understood. At others, it is because patients are noncompliant with treatment. Then there are instances in which environmental or lifestyle factors become hindrances. Throughout our professional lives, we will face circumstances in which a problem just seems insurmountable, and the intent to solve it gets lost in the reality of its power to overwhelm us. However, we also hold the power to decide to remain persistent. I’m now reminded of one of my former teachers who frequently said, life is a series of decisions. And, while I agree with this, I also posit that it is a series of actions that we take to define solutions and improvements.

So where does V-Day come into play with this post? And what, you may be wondering is The Vagina Monologues? V-Day and The Vagina Monologues are efforts that address the issue of violence, specifically tackling violence against women.

To briefly summarize, V-Day is a worldwide movement established in 1998 with a group of women in New York City as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Its goal is to empower anti-violence organizations and at the same time represents a commitment to ending violence against women and girls. According to the website, http://www.vday.org, V-Day’s purpose is to end violence against females, including rape, battery, incest, female genital mutilation, and sex slavery. This problem may be larger than you are aware of: according to the UN report The World’s Women 2012: Trends and Statistics one key finding was “Violence against women is a universal phenomenon.”

Eve Ensler, a Tony-award winning playwright and the author of The Vagina Monologues, decided to take action by expressing the voices of those women whose stories are often untold, forgotten, or deemed not as important as other matters. Her intention is to foster dialogues about and allow for an openness in understanding and breaking down this worldwide challenge. The play launched in 1994 and was the culmination of dozens of interviews administered by Ensler with women from a diverse set of backgrounds and experiences. The show initially ran in New York and then toured around the U.S.A.

Today over 5,800 performances are put on annually during the months of March, April, and May. Last year I had the honor of participating in PCOM's annual production of The Vagina Monologues. It required me to step outside my comfort zone, but this is something I believe I need to continually push myself to do. It also allowed me to come together in solidarity with others for a cause that DEMANDS attention. While violence against women may seem deep-rooted and overwhelming, there are steps we can take to educate and change cultural and societal attitudes about violence against women.

This year, PCOM’s performance of The Vagina Monologues will take place Saturday, February 11 at 7pm and Sunday, February 12 at 2pm. I urge you to come support your classmates who have put a TON of effort into this production and support V-Day as a way to implement change.

An Apple a Day Keeps the Doctor Away: Old Wives Tale or Old Wise Adage? by Alexis Mark

The other week I was in the supermarket waiting to pay for my groceries when I noticed the person behind me with a cart full of apple juice bottles (literally, her cart was filled ... I’m not exaggerating!). Now, despite realizing that apple juice was on sale that day, I still thought it a bit odd at the quantity being purchased. Perhaps seeing my bewildered expression, my fellow consumer explained to me about the wonders of the apple that resulted from drinking apple juice. After her daughter was diagnosed with fibromyalgia, she tried numerous drug and physical therapies to manage her pain. Some of the medications made her ill with unbearable side effects, some made the pain worse. After reading about the possible link between pain reduction and malic acid, a compound present in the apple fruit, she asked her daughter’s physician about the validity of this claim. Her physician recommended giving it a try. She says it has helped immensely with minimizing her daughter’s aches and increasing the quality of her daily life.

Intrigued, and maybe a little bit skeptical, I did some background research. Although complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is not new by any means, the validity of these therapies and treatments is constantly being questioned. A double-blind, placebo-controlled trial study, performed by Russell, Michalek, Flechas, et. al described in the Journal of Rheumatology, analyzed the effects of a therapy consisting of a combination of 600 mg of malic acid and 150 mg magnesium versus a placebo. The therapy was administered twice daily over the course of four weeks. It was found to be safe, but no improvement was seen during the randomized-controlled phase of this study. However, after two months, pain and tender point scores markedly improved. Improvement was also seen after six months in tender point scores.

One article from 2001 in Current Rheumatology Reports discussed CAM options for treatment of fibromyalgia, some of which include magnesium, ginseng, valerian root, acupuncture, and osteopathic manipulations. Many of the effects of these therapies were believed to be short-lived but with low risk for serious complications. The authors noted the need for conduction of longer-term studies to adequately assess the benefits of various therapies and/or supplements.

So in this case, does an apple a day really keep the doctor away? For me, the jury is still out for the treatment goal of pain reduction. But with that being said, I am looking forward to discovering the possibilities alternative medicine has to provide for pain alleviation of fibromyalgia and other chronic illnesses. I think it’s important to stay open minded to learning something new, whether it is inside or outside of the classroom. Happy learning!

Congratulations! by Alexis Mark

I just want to start things off with a couple of congratulations. Firstly, best wishes to the PCOM D.O. class of 2015 on receiving their white coats yesterday! I truly admire your dedication toward reaching the goal of becoming a physician. Good luck with your pursuits over the next four years! Secondly, congratulations to the first year biomeds on completing their first Molecular Basis of Medicine (MBM) and Infectious Process (IP) exams!

The other week I was reminded of that time last year when I was studying for the first MBM test and the IP midterm as I ran into a student who was in one of the smaller orientation groups I led just two months ago. Time flies when you’re busy studying, so use it wisely! IP was a class I truly enjoyed because it allowed me to connect some of the things I learned while working at MSKCC (www.mskcc.org) with more specific information on the processes at work in the immune system. One caution for learning the material for this class: IT’S EASY TO GET LOST IN THE DETAILS! This is especially true for the lectures leading up to the final, as you will soon experience. My tip would be to look at the big picture and THEN understand the building blocks that compose it. So as you’re going through cellular reperfusion and inflammatory pathways, try to first understand why and when this happens, and then how. To reiterate Susan’s first post of the blog, make the material your own. For me, I’m really a hands-on learner, so lecture-based classes can be challenging for me, but I will make topics into a project of sorts so that I can get a deeper understanding of what was covered. For someone else, “making the material his or her own” can mean coming up with mnemonics that make it easier to recall the order of certain processes, or making outlines, or drawing out diagrams and charts, but the bottom line is the same: do what works best for you.

Medical Decisions by Alexis Mark

Of all the professional arenas one could choose from, health and medicine calls to me the most. You might ask what is the attraction to medicine, as I too often ponder the reasons why I have decided to commit to this field and think about where I’m heading. Well, the simple answer is, I like it! The bit more involved one requires my learning more about myself and the fact that I am intrigued by science's endless possibilities to discover more about the human body and its intricate functions. My experiences over the first year of the Biomedical Sciences program here at PCOM have deepened my passion for further understanding the application of science to medicine. Currently I am pursuing the research track during the second year of the Biomedical Sciences master’s degree. Over the next few blog posts I will discuss classes in the first year in more depth and my experience with the research track.

But FIRST, allow me to introduce myself: my name is Alexis, and I am also a contributor to Biomedventures... welcome to joining our journey! Here is a little bit about me and what I have done before arriving at PCOM:

2007 - present: Medical Missions for Children Volunteer (www.mmfc.org)

I have been a volunteer with this incredible organization that is dedicated to providing medical care to global populations that do not have access to adequate medical care. Groups of healthcare professionals headline missions, which focus on surgical cases involving repair of cleft lip, cleft palate, and microtia, as well as skin grafts for burns patients. During the spring of 2008, I participated in a mission to L’viv, Ukraine and photographed patient cases and surgeries. Currently, I assist with procuring donations of medical supplies for future missions, and with donations for auctions at annual benefit galas.

2007 - 2010: Clinical Research Study Assistant, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC), NY, NY- (www.mskcc.org)

My position at this preeminent cancer research center focused on clinical trials within the Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) service. I worked with several principal investigators of studies to monitor regulatory processes, and was involved in ensuring trials were conducted according to FDA and sponsor rules and regulations. In addition, I created patient progress reports for those participants enrolled in BMT trials. MSKCC was a wonderful experience during which I had the privilege to work with highly-esteemed oncologists that affirmed my commitment to working in the medical field.

Summer 2007: Alpha One Foundation, Dublin, Ireland (http://www.alpha1.ie/)

My internship after graduating from college took me to the Emerald Isle! :) As a clinical research assistant I participated in many facets of the organization. I helped with recruiting potential candidates in clinics around Dublin for the Targeted Screening Detection Program with the head Clinical Research Nurse. The recruitment process entailed assessing patients’ medical history for respiratory illness and providing the patient with a brief summary of the condition Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency. By shadowing the scientists in the lab on site, I assisted with minor experimental procedures. I thoroughly enjoyed working with the team at this foundation and seeing firsthand the medical system of another country.

Spring 2007: Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA

During the spring semester of my senior year at Boston College, I was a health communication research assistant. I assisted in the development of studies, for a principal investigator in the Communication department, by collecting audio documentation of interactions between medical school students and standardized patient educators (SPE) within the context of a routine doctor’s visit. After each recording, I analyzed segments of dialogue between medical school students and SPEs for verbal and nonverbal communication behaviors. The results of this data collection and analyses by myself, other research assistants, and the principal investigator have been used in several health communication research publications. This area of research particularly exciting for its relevance and useful applications in fostering more productive medical visits.

Finally, I truly encourage all readers to post comments, feedback. Let us know how we all can help in answering questions you might have. And, if we don’t have the answer, we will work to find someone who does! Welcome to discovering more about PCOM and best of luck in your exploration of professional studies!