Amanda Sacino, an M.D., Ph.D., third-year medical student, receives her first-place award, which was presented by, from left, Joseph Fantone, M.D., UF College of Medicine Dean Michael Good, M.D., and Greg Schultz, Ph.D. Photo by Charles Poulton.
Ninety-five research posters lined the halls of the Communicore building during the 2014 Medical Student Research Day May 7. It was the largest number of presentations the day has hosted, which shows the “emphasis the College of Medicine has on medical student research and discovery,” said Gregory Schultz, Ph.D., a professor of obstetrics and gynecology.
Amanda Sacino, an M.D., Ph.D., third-year medical student, took home $1,000 as the Alpha Omega Alpha award winner. Her poster, “Patient intake triage versus linear intake at UF Equal Access Clinics,” was a “very translational piece of research that can change the way the clinics can practice,” Schultz said. Ku-Lang Chang, M.D., a professor of community health and family medicine, served as mentor for the research project.
Sacino began working at the Equal Access Clinic during her research years, and began to notice an increase in patient volume, causing the clinic to send patients away. Sacino said she looked into why patients were visiting the clinic in the first place, and attempted to make the process more efficient. With the help of the UF Clinical and Translational Science Institute, she was able to gather necessary statistics and increase patient load up to 35 percent. Since the clinic could treat more patients, local emergency rooms saved resources by not having to treat as many cases.
Jodi-Anne Wallace was awarded one of three Lawrence M. Goodman Research Awards and $500 for her poster, “Prevalence of depression and association with ER visits among HIV patients in a developing Florida cohort.” Her mentor was Robert Cook, M.D., a professor of general internal medicine.
Peter Cai, under the mentorship of Sylvain Doré, Ph.D., director of research programs in the department of anesthesiology, was awarded $400 for “The serine protease cathepsin G is detrimental in low reperfusion subset of ischemic stroke.”
Jaclyn Smith took home $300 for her poster, “The effect of antibiotic prophylaxis in cleft lip repair,” and her advisor was Ashley Lentz, M.D., a professor of plastic and reconstructive surgery.
Samuel Lipten tied with Smith for third place and also won $300 for his poster, “Use of 3rd party Internet videos by preclinical medical students.” His advisor was Lou Ann Cooper, Ph.D., the director of the office of program evaluation in educational affairs.