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911 or Primary Care - Who Should I Call?
Jack F. Mangn
US emergency departments (EDs) are overcrowded & overwhelmed - especially in Vermont. An estimated 37% of all ED visits are for non-urgent complaints. Factors associated with frequent ED use for non-urgent complaints include overestimation of disease severity and lack of understanding of services provided.
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Accurate At-Home Blood Pressure Readings
Shivani Mathur and Shivani Mathur
Blood pressure follow-ups are some of the most common reasons for clinic visits. Patients are told to monitor their blood pressures at home and medication dosages are adjusted in clinic to reflect their blood pressure readings at home. However, many patients are not aware of proper blood pressure measurement techniques, which could lead to inaccurate readings and therefore, inaccurate treatment. This project will provide a simple infographic to increase compliance with accurate blood pressure measurements.
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Pediatric Anxiety - A Guide for Parents
Paul McCleary
As of April 2022, the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommends that all children age 8-18 be screened for anxiety. Whether this recommendation is due to the many changes and stress stemming from Covid-19, the community was left with a need for insight into properly addressing this issue. Whether it be for parents at home or physicians in the clinic, clear educational pamphlets identifying alarm signs and home recommendations will benefit the community.
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Pediatric Preventative Health Education
Trevor AR McDonald
Current education by primary care providers on preventative lifestyle and health habits for the pediatric population could be more effective. Limitations include short visit times, confusing existing resources, and lack of engagement from patients and their families. This project aims to develop a concise, interactive handout with specific, actionable recommendations for children ages 5-10 for healthy behaviors that can lead to improvements in chronic diseases.
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Improving Access to Mental Healthcare for Primary Care Patients
Kaela Mohardt
Access to mental health resources both nationally and in Vermont has become a challenge for both primary care clinics and patients to navigate. Attributed to a multitude of factors including cost barriers, limited health professional availability, societal stigma, this is a behavioral health need that requires attention to improve success of patients receiving mental healthcare. This project focuses on addressing one aspect of that need from a clinical level, creating and updating a referral handout for both patient and provider use. The outcome of this project aims to increase the likelihood of successful patient referral to needed mental health resources.
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Evaluating the Awareness of Medical Staff in Regards to the Environmental Effects of Single-use, Disposable Medical Gloves
Nathaniel Moore
This study was performed to evaluate the awareness of medical staff in regards to the environmental effects of single-use, disposable medical gloves. The volume and cost surrounding medical glove usage, waste production, and environmental effects require further attention. This research project outlines awareness as the first step in the right direction with future hopes to find a more sustainable solution.
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Brief Overview of Service Animals and the Laws in Vermont
Lara Murnik
Very few people are well versed in the various recommendations, laws, and rights of various types of assistance animals. This problem becomes more apparent as you look into the healthcare system where you see clinicians, other healthcare workers, and hospital systems struggling to navigate this field, especially in regards to their patients. The purpose of this project was to create informational flyers that could help elucidate the different rights and roles of different types of assistance animals, provide a deeper look into service animals specifically in the state of Vermont, and create a universal template for EHR's that clinicians may share and use to better serve their patient's requesting emotional support animals (ESAs).
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Accessible and Affordable Medications: MaineCare Edition
Amanda Nattress
Addressing gaps in prescriber tools for accessible and affordable medications regarding the most common diagnoses in primary care. MaineCare Edition.
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Compiling Diverse Affordable Housing Resources for Distribution in Primary Care
Arjune Singh Nibber
During primary care office visits, patients often mention concerns regarding social determinants of health that are unable to be fully addressed in the limited time of the appointment. Often, these concerns center around housing concerns and related financial strain. Several such instances were documented during this rotation.
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Increasing Advance Directive Participation in Primary Care
Rhys Niedecker
Advance directives are a critical part of patient management and care, yet the majority of adults have not completed the documentation. Using fliers in exam rooms and encouraging provider engagement can help increase the proportion of patients who complete advance care documents in Family Medicine settings.
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Patient Education: OTC Medications for Upper Respiratory Infection
Lauren A. Okamoto
Upper respiratory infection (URI) is among the top three diagnoses in the outpatient setting. Symptomatic relief is the reason for the most visits related to this diagnosis in the first couple of weeks after the onset of illness. Patient education on OTC medications for this use is often a component of these visits. The goal of this project is to create a standardized tool for patient education and reference to improve efficiency of education as well as patient understanding and future use of resources.
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Tracking Home Blood Glucose through MyChart
Zachary T. Osborn
Self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) is a crucial tool in the management of Type 1 and Type 2 diabetics on insulin, and for Type 2 Diabetics who are titrating medications and/or undergoing lifestyle changes. Patients often fail to bring in their SMBG readings (or monitor at all) for a variety of reasons, hindering efforts to adjust their therapy. This project aimed to address this issue by educating patients and attendings about EPIC's ability to log blood glucose measurements through MyChart.
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Tracking Home Blood Glucose through MyChart
Zachary T. Osborn
Self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) is a crucial tool in the management of Type 1 and Type 2 diabetics on insulin, and for Type 2 Diabetics who are titrating medications and/or undergoing lifestyle changes. Patients often fail to bring in their SMBG readings (or monitor at all) for a variety of reasons, hindering efforts to adjust their therapy. This project sought to address this gap through educating patients and providers about the EPICs ability to track SMBG readings submitted through MyChart.
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Tracking Home Blood Glucose through MyChart
Zachary T. Osborn
Self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) is a crucial tool in the management of Type 1 and Type 2 diabetics on insulin, and for Type 2 Diabetics who are titrating medications and/or undergoing lifestyle changes. Patients often fail to bring in their SMBG readings (or monitor at all) for a variety of reasons, hindering efforts to adjust their therapy. This project sought to address this gap through educating patients and providers about the EPICs ability to track SMBG readings submitted through MyChart.
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Approach to Providing Culturally Sensitive Gynecologic and Obstetric Care for Somali Women
Izabella Ostrowski
Many refugees have fled Somalia over the past 30 years due to political instability and civil war. Since 1980, over 8,000 refugees have settled in Vermont, with about 9% of refugees being from Somalia. Community Health Centers of Burlington (CHCB) provides prenatal and primary care to many Somali women in the community. There are known gynecologic and obstetric health disparities for Somali women, such as significantly lower completion rates of mammography and pap smears than non-Somali patients. Research has shown that an understanding of cultural health beliefs and values are crucial for creating tailored prevention programs for refugee women. This project aims to outline several examples of beliefs, values and traditions of Somali women that are important for students and providers to know in order to provide the most culturally sensitive care.
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Accessibility and Normalization of wearable pronoun identification in healthcare professionals
Dinukie-Chantal Perera
Healthcare can be an incredibly intimidating machine to all demographics of patients. One uniquely challenged group are patients who are gender diverse, trans, and/or gender nonconforming. This group of patients experiences systemic discrimination through institutional practices embedded in healthcare.
Gender affirming care can be improved on many levels, but one straightforward and actionable way to support gender diversity and demonstrate enthusiasm and awareness for the community is to encourage the use of pronoun pins/ labels in individuals willing to use them.
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Patient Education: Sexual Violence, Intimate Partner Violence, and Healthy Relationships
Elise A. Prehoda
Sexual and Intimate Partner Violence are a public health crisis across the United States. In Vermont alone, nearly 7% of the population experiences sexual and/or domestic violence annually. Despite these numbers, less than 20% of those affected seek assistance. Increased access to education materials regarding these topics will serve to increase dialogue with at risk patients who might otherwise refrain from discussions on home or social environment. By increasing discourse and education, we hope to more frequently identify and assist patients who are experiencing violence in their relationships as well as prevent the formation of unhealthy relationships at the level of adolescence.
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Differentiating Annual Wellness Visits and Health Maintenance Visits
Benjamin N. Price
Due to recent changes in workflow at the office, many visits that should be Medicare Annual Wellness Visits are incorrectly scheduled as health maintenance visits (yearly physical). These mistakes are not always identified leading to confusion for both patients and providers and unnecessary bills for the patient
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Cervical Cancer Screening in the LGBTQ+ Community: Dispelling Common Misconceptions and Improving Patient Comfort
Rebecca B. Rawlings
LGBTQ+ patients are more likely to forgo cervical cancer screening due to common misconceptions/misguidance about who needs screening and increased likelihood to experience emotional and/or physical discomfort during screening visits. This project aims to educate LGBTQ+ patients about cervical cancer screening and provide them with tools to improve their experiences during screening visits.
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Cervical Cancer Screening in the LGBTQ+ Community: Dispelling Common Misconceptions and Improving Patient Comfort
Rebecca B. Rawlings
LGBTQ+ patients are more likely to forgo cervical cancer screening due to common misconceptions/misguidance about who needs screening and increased likelihood to experience emotional and/or physical discomfort during screening visits. This project aims to educate LGBTQ+ patients on cervical cancer screening recommendations and provide them with tools to improve their experiences during screening visits.
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Increasing healthcare delivery to the Abenaki people through health screenings
Warrick Sahene
Utilizing health screenings can increase the number of Abenaki individuals identified with comorbidities related to diabetes and hypertension. Education and resources for health maintenance are also provided to this patient population through physician counseling.
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