Local Experts, National Leaders
With respect to starting clerkships, the class of 2022 started their clerkships on time, and except for brief interruptions to take the Step 1 examination and quarantine restrictions, students have not been removed from clinical activities due to increasing COVID 19 cases in our communities.
THE CLASS OF 2023
Your Partner in Gastrointestinal Health
As with the class of 2022, within 3 days of the stay at home order in New Orleans, we quickly transitioned to a virtual format, including all lectures and TBL sessions. Thus, this class of students did not have a significant disruption to their educational and curricular continuity. Indeed, they are expected to take the Step 1 examination before starting their clerkships and will start their clerkships on time in July of 2021. This continuity notwithstanding, there are two notable exceptions that were disruptive for this class. The first is a valued clinical experience, the Longitudinal Selective (LS), which allows our second-year students to spend time in clinical or research experiences. This did not occur for this class due to concerns about student safety and hospital concerns about numbers of learners in clinical environments. The second is the opportunity for some students to participate in clinical preceptorships in our Area Health Education Center (AHEC) programs around Louisiana, which normally occurs in the summer between first and second years. This was not available that summer. Another opportunity for students between their first and second years is research. We were able to offer virtual basic science and clinical research projects, and participation in these was higher than in previous years. This expands the potential for students to engage in research activities in the future.
THE CLASS OF 2022
GastroIntestinal Specialists, A.M.C., is the largest independent gastroenterology group in Northwest Louisiana. Our 14 physicians and 11 mid-level practitioners are dedicated to providing personalized care for patients experiencing problems related to the digestive tract. Our physicians have more than 150 years of combined experience, specializing in Biliary Disease and Transplant Hepatology.
Within 3 days of the New Orleans stay at home order, we transitioned all classes for the sophomore students to a virtual format, using Zoomas the platform. Our Information Technology department played a vital role in helping us modify our strategies, including working out licensure issues, training faculty, and providing space and support for classes. New formats for Team-Based Learning (TBL) sessions, which are a core piece of our interactive learning curriculum, were also shifted to a virtual platform, wherein students formed their own Zoom small groups and then joined a ‘large group Zoom’ for clinical application exercises, similar to how in-person TBL sessions in our TBL classroom were conducted previously. The same USMLE examination cancellations described above also occurred for the class of 2022 with respect to the Step 1 examination, which is taken at the end of the second year. Typically, students are given several weeks to dedicate study time and take this examination prior to starting their third-year clerkships. The cancellations produced a delay in taking the examination for many of our students, changing their preparation and compounding more anxiety on the common nervousness surrounding the examination. While most students were eventually able to reschedule their examinations before their clerkships, some traveling far distances to do so, approximately one quarter of the class had to take the examination at some point during their clerkships. It is difficult to fully attend to clerkship responsibilities and prepare for Step 1, so there have been more students than usual taking time out of clinical duties to take the examination. In some cases, this means a delayed start to their senior year. We are evaluating the full impact on scores, although, as with Step 2 CK, the average for students taking it so far has been similar to prior years.
• CT • Ultrasound • FibroScan ® • BioFire ® Stool Test for Chronic Diarrhea Services Available:
• Clinical Drug Research • Hemorrhoid Banding (non-surgical) • Office Lab
• Infusion Center • Capsule Endoscopy • Bravo™ pH Testing
To make a referral, call 318-631-9121.
Our Doctors
THE CLASS OF 2024
The group of students who started medical school in August of 2020, in addition to having a virtual first year of school, had orientation virtually, significantly limiting their ability to meet their classmates in person and gather as a class. We were very concerned about welcoming them to LSU SOM NO and helping them build connections with our faculty, our administrative staff, senior students, and their peers. Leaders from the class of 2023, who are responsible for planning orientation activities, did a spectacular job of
Humberto Aguilar, MD John Bienvenu, MD Natravis Cox, MD David Dies, MD James Hobley, MD
Sathya Jaganmohan, MD L. Webster Johnson, MD John Kirkikis, MD Nicolas LaBarre, MD Abby Linzay, MD
David Philips, MD Arthur Poch, MD J. Mark Provenza, MD Douglas Rimmer, MD
TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE VISIT WWW.LSMS.ORG/JLSMS
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30 J LA MED SOC | VOL 173 | SUMMER 2021
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