Pub 5 2021 Issue1

I want to embody in my practice and hopefully develop enough trust that people recommend me to their friends and family. The medicine itself is also highly appealing because of the wide diversity of patients and problems present in a family medicine clinic. I love the idea of being well versed in my knowledge and being able to help patients with a broad spectrum of problems. To this point, I am also very passionate about the manipulative component of my education, and being a family physician will give me ample opportunity to use that to benefit my patient population. What was it that drew you to apply at Rocky Vista University Southern Utah? The main aspects that drew me to Rocky Vista University- SU are that I wanted to attend a DO school, their emphasis on manipulative medicine, the proximity to my family in Salt Lake City, and the sense of community I got from the students. In talking to my parents and providers I shadowed, I found that much of the advice I was given was echoed in the philosophies taught and emphasized in DO programs. Through my mom’s work as a PT, I also saw how helpful manipulation could be to patients. Through visiting schools during interview season, I was impressed by how many of these tenets were heavily emphasized at RVU and the scope and depth of the manipulative training compared to other programs. Also, when visiting the school, students went out of their way to talk to all the interviewees. They weren’t officially part of the interview day, but throughout my visit, the fact that people took time out of their busy study schedule to talk to us, heckle each other in a good-natured manner, and overall seemed to actually be a community thoroughly impressed me. These reasons, combined with a competitive match rate and being close to my support network in Salt Lake, made it an easy decision for me that I am exceedingly happy with. Looking back on the past year of medical school during COVID-19, how has the pandemic affected your learning experience? Are you optimistic that the upcoming school year will look a bit more traditional? The most significant detriment to my learning experience from the pandemic has been the severely decreased hands-on skills and patient interaction. We still had all our regular classwork but could not see patients at the veterans’ home like usual or have the same number of practice patient encounters. With conditions improving, I’m very optimistic that this will change for the upcoming year, especially with vaccinations being widely available. It is essential to have these experiences to become more comfortable with patients because it ’s one of the main things they will judge us on. This is one reason I’m very excited I was selected for a manipulative medicine teaching fellowship. I will get additional time working with patients and be more confident with my exam skills and patient interaction. 2021 was another record year for the number of students matching into family medicine residencies. What do you think the general public needs to understand about the importance of more doctors going into family medicine? What is it that makes you most proud of going into this specialty? I think the most crucial aspect of increasing the number of physicians going into family medicine and the public awareness of it is simply lowering the perceived barriers of going to the doctor. Many of the long-term health conditions plaguing our population would benefit significantly from preventative medicine and early diagnosis. On top of this, many of the things people are My decision to pursue family medicine is again because of the people. I love getting to know patients over time, understanding many of the challenges they are facing in their lives, and working on aspects of health that may not be strictly medical. Student Spotlight | Continued on page 20 19 |