Rochelle Rennie, OMS-IV
OUHCOM

This year, ACOEP hosted the annual Spring Seminar at the Hyatt Regency Coconut Point Hotel in Bonita Springs, Florida, from April 18-22, 2017. Dedicated student events took place on Thursday, April 20^th, and included first through fourth year medical students, with 15 different schools in attendance. The day commenced with breakfast followed by an informational lecture from the Osteopathic Political Action Committee (OPAC) about becoming involved in the organization.

The day then took off with rapid-fire lectures, which are designed to be 30-minute presentations focusing on high yield topics in emergency medicine. The first lecture, entitled “Ultrasound 101: Knobolgy and why you should learn POCUS,” was given by attending physician Andy Little, DO, from Doctors Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. Dr. Little gave an overview of basic ultrasound machinery as well as relevant machine settings that are used, and demonstrated the importance of point of care ultrasound in the emergency department through high yield images. Furthermore, Dr. Little gave out helpful resources such as podcasts and twitter accounts that medical students can follow for more practice.

Next, ACOEP’s Immediate Past President Mark Mitchell lectured on “How to Run an Emergency Department.” Dr. Mitchell gave some valuable tricks of the trade, while also emphasizing that it is the EM physician’s job to set the tone of the department. Therefore, it is important to know your limitations and take the time to talk with your patient in order to set the patient’s expectations.

With lectures concluded for the morning, students were broken up into groups of eight for the USACS and Sonosite sponsored ultrasound lab, which was run by the resident chapter of the ACOEP. During the lab, students were given demonstrations of what a focused assessment with sonography for trauma (FAST exam) entailed. Additionally, students were shown how to use the ultrasound machine as a guide for vascular access. In the small group setting, students were given crucial hands on time with the ultrasound machine. They experienced more one-on-one time with their instructors, moved through the different assessments and views at their own pace, and had ample time to interact other students in their group.

The afternoon session began with a rapid-fire lecture from attending physician John Casey, DO, from Doctors Hospital entitled, “Anaphylaxis.” This lecture highlighted the physiology, symptoms, and treatment of anaphylaxis, but also discussed what to do when IM epinephrine fails. The next lecture, “Neurological Emergencies: Stroke and ICH,” was given by Stephanie Davis, DO,  who incorporated personal anecdotes about her experiences into her presentation. She reviewed how to determine strokes and ICH and their treatments, while explaining the importance of understanding how national statistics and studies may or may not relate to your specific patient population. The following lecture, “Management of Acute Psychotic Patients,” was given by ACOEP President Elect, Christine Giesa, DO. Dr. Giesa kept students engaged with interactive demonstrations on how to safely interview and restrain psychotic patients. She also lectured about excited delirium, a topic that was new to many students. We then had a short coffee break before starting our last lecture of the day, “Respiratory Monitoring.” Joseph Beirne, DO, attending ED physician from Missouri Baptist Medical Center, presented this lecture discussing the use of pulse oximetry as well as its limitations. Dr. Beirne discussed how understanding the different capnography waveforms can be essential in patient care. The student events concluded with a medical Jeopardy match organized by the ACOEP resident chapter. Students were broken up into teams and answered questions on different medical topics, with the winning team members each receiving a Starbucks gift card.

The day ended with a social event at Coconut Jack’s restaurant, where students, residents, and attendings were all able to meet and unwind. This was a great opportunity for students to find out more information about different residency programs and also interact with students from other schools. While at Coconut Jack’s, we also broke up into teams and played a couple rounds of trivia and shared a few laughs, which was the perfect way to end the day.

One of the best aspects about attending a conference as a student is that there are so many activities that students can be involved in, aside from the specific student events. While at this Spring Seminar, some students took part in the FOEM Case Study Poster Competition, which was a great way to work on presentation skills and pick up some extra cash if you placed first through third. There were also other resident lectures that students could attend and learn about various topics. One of the events that students were able to participate in during this conference was the Active Shooter Scenario Training. Student volunteers acted as victims, but were also allowed to attend the morning lectures regarding mass shootings. Students, alongside residents and attendings, learned how to use different tourniquets, the role of EMS, police, and fire departments in these situations, and the importance of practicing for these events in the ED.  After the morning lectures and demonstrations, we grabbed lunch and boarded a bus to the training site where students glued on fake injuries and covered themselves in fake blood as victims. Physicians then practiced providing care for and removing these victims from the different buildings in a variety of scenarios. It was another great opportunity to network with residents and attendings, as well as fellow medical students. Overall it was a very educational and unique experience.

The ACOEP Student Chapter would like to thank all of our presenters during the Spring Seminar. The lectures provided the medical students with information about important topics that we can use every day, and were greatly enjoyed. We would also like to thank ACOEP’s Resident Chapter who graciously put together our ultrasound lab and Jeopardy game; your hard work did not go unnoticed. We appreciate all those who volunteered to make our student events possible.

Don’t miss our future events coming soon! Keep a look out for our upcoming new RSO website and follow us on social media to stay in the know for up to date information. Add us on Twitter @ACOEPSC or on Snapchat: ACOEP.