Compassionate & Quality Care for All

“The physician who knows only medicine, knows not even medicine.” – Mark Twain

USCSOMG M1’s: Ashley Williams-Hernandez, Payal Patel, and Rachel Heidt pictured with keynote speaker, Dr. Rick Hodes

Over the first weekend of February, several USCSOMG students (pictured above) had the opportunity to attend the Third Annual Global Health Conference at UCF College of Medicine in Orlando. The conference focused on Refugee Health. In the morning, Dr. Rick Hodes (http://rickhodes.org/), the keynote speaker, spoke about his work in Ethiopia over the past 20 years. There was also a panel of refugees from all over the world (Iraq, Egypt, Myanmar, Cuba, & Venezuela) who answered questions about the healthcare they have received since immigrating to the U.S. (The most recent had just arrived in Orlando two weeks prior to the conference!) In the afternoon, there were many interesting and exciting workshop and simulation options offered to conference attendees, followed by a night on the town at Universal Studio’s CityWalk.

My afternoon looked like this

• 1-1:50pm: PTSD Simulation with a standardized patient (patient actor) in the Clinical Skills Lab. The simulation involved counseling a man who had suffered traumatic losses before recently emigrating from Syria.
• 2-2:50pm: Then & Now: Trends & Cultural Considerations in Domestic Refugee Health with Kelly A. Browne, MPA, MSW
• 3-3:25pm: Triage Simulation. We had the opportunity to take a history on a standardized patient located in the mobile hospital of a refugee camp and present our differential diagnosis to the physician running the simulation.
  

• 3:30-3:55: Life as a Refugee/Nutrition. We explored what refugee housing and food options/ rations looked like, including tasting a sample of “Plumpy Nut”, the miracle peanut paste that is used to treat severe acute malnutrition. See the following article for more information: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/05/magazine/05Plumpy-t.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0)

• 4-4:50pm: Human Trafficking: Exploring 21st Century Slavery with Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist John Bersia

All in all, it was an amazing experience, and members of the Global Health Interest Group at USCSOMG came back to Greenville inspired and enthusiastic about arranging events on similar topics to be held in the near future at our school.

Want to learn more? I invite you to get a taste of the conference by exploring the articles, photos, and especially the video imbedded in this link: http://med.ucf.edu/news/2014/02/global-health-conference-focuses-on-refugee-health/

I am originally from Beaufort, South Carolina, and graduated from New York University with my B.A. in Psychology in 2009. Unsure of exactly what I wanted to do with my life, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to work, travel, and volunteer for two years while discovering my desire to become a physician. I lived in Alaska, Belgium, Australia, and Thailand before beginning a one-year post-baccalaureate pre-medical program at Bryn Mawr College in 2011. I spent the past year in Berkeley, California, working for the University of California San Francisco as the analyst for the Division of Hospital Medicine at San Francisco General Hospital, the safety-net hospital for the city of San Francisco. My interests include integrative medicine, global and community health, narrative medicine, and working with underserved populations. Other interests include hiking, yoga, and exploring Greenville and the surrounding areas with my husband. I’m thrilled to be back in my home state and to become a member of the second class at USC School of Medicine Greenville. I look forward to sharing my journey into medical school with you!