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| University of South Alabama College of Medicine medical student Richard Huettemann explains his research to Dr. Philip Almalouf, assistant professor of internal medicine, during the M3 Case Report Symposium on June 9, 2017, at the Strada Patient Care Center. |
During the event, 35 rising fourth-year medical students at the USA College of Medicine gained scholarly experience by presenting poster presentations of interesting, rare or novel case studies observed during their third-year rotations.
Rising fourth-year students Alex Wiles and David Rizk worked together to organize the symposium and offered medical students the opportunity to discuss their case reports. The symposium also served as a platform for faculty members to provide constructive criticism and feedback on poster presentations.
The first place poster presentation award was presented to Jordan Nickols, a rising fourth-year student at the USA College of Medicine. His case report, titled “NMO: Revised Diagnostic Criteria and Importance of Serology,” focused on the diagnostic differences between neuromyelitis optica and multiple sclerosis.
“I chose this case because it has very applicable clinical knowledge,” Nickols said. “This symposium taught me a lot about the work involved in properly presenting a case report and the importance of sharing your clinical experiences with your colleagues so that we can continue to learn from one another.”
The second place award was presented to Richard Huettemann for his report on “Cutaneous Leukocytociastic Vascuitis.” Imran Mohiuddin and Daniel Johnson received the third place award for their case report titled “Breakneck Speed: Understanding the Timing of Fracture Management in the Polytraumatized Orthopaedic Patient.”
USA medical student Winston Crute, also presented at the symposium. He said his interest in urology inspired him to present “Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia: A Complicated Presentation.”
According to Crute, the patient had an enlarged prostate and presented as if he had bladder cancer. “The presentation was different than the typical presentation for benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and it would have been easy for any doctor to proceed down a different path in diagnosing the patient,” he said. “I wanted to illustrate the complications of BPH, such as blood in the urine and kidney failure, so my classmates would remember to consider BPH when a patient presents with these troubling symptoms.”
Crute said the case report symposium provided him with an opportunity to read about the disease process in depth and become familiar with many different treatment options. “I will be doing rotations in urology this fall and this experience prepared me for one of the more common diseases that I will see, which will help me deliver better patient care,” he said.
Wiles — who also presented at the symposium — said the purpose of the symposium is to showcase interesting cases, and also to encourage students to become more active in research experiences. “The event was beneficial because students were able to learn from each other’s presentations, preparing them for future research opportunities,” he said.
Both Wiles and Rizk considered the symposium a “great success.” “The first floor conference room at the Strada Patient Care Center was fantastic,” Rizk added. “The space was the perfect size and allowed for guests to walk about and enjoy the different posters.”
The case reports were judged based on originality, strength of conclusions, quality of references, overall appearance, organization and topic.
Click here to view more photos from the symposium.
