MEDICAL EDUCATION
I plan to be involved with medical education throughout my career, supported by my formative experiences as a TDOS board member, research fellow, student of the Medical Education Scholarly Inquiry track, and Simulated Patient Educator.
The Thomas Duane Ophthalmology Society
The first month of medical school I participated in a TDOS-organized wet lab, which was my first experience with suturing, microscopes, and eyeballs! I had never considered ophthalmology until then, and joined the TDOS board to create similar opportunities for students to explore the field.
Initially I served as Communications Chair and advertised TDOS events, developed an organizational logo, branding, and promotional materials, helped organize TDOS programs and acted as Junior Editor of inSIGHT.
As Program Director I took on a more active role in the coordination of TDOS programs, spearheaded the Mentor/Mentee Program, and served as an inSIGHT Senior Editor. I also initiated and oversaw the organization’s first research symposium!
As Research Symposium Chair I enjoyed taking more ownership over my brainchild and leading the committee as we worked to implement significant changes to the event. Having learned from the first iteration, I restructured the event’s awards/judging framework and overall organization to better align participant experiences with our mission.
TDOS is a busy student organization which benefits from its affiliation with Wills Eye Hospital and ophthalmologist advisor, Dr. Bruce Markovitz, making robust programming possible.
TDOS organizes a longitudinal ophthalmology curriculum (“Pupils“) which encourages student exposure and education through wet labs, clinical skills sessions, journal clubs, and a points-based exposure incentive program.
Through the Mentor/Mentee Program, ophthalmology-interested upper- and lower-year students are paired. I paired students based on self-reported career goals, interests, strengths, and barriers to exploring the field/confidence in applying to the field.
inSIGHT is the organization’s student-led, student-written, non-peer-reviewed journal. Student writers are paired with an ophthalmologist and a board member who mentor their development of an article targeted to other ophthalmology-interested students.
The Symposium is the latest addition to the organization’s programming, organized by its committee starting a year in advance and requiring all-exec-hands-on-deck to ensure it runs smoothly!
Mission: Provide regional medical students (especially those at schools without an ophthalmology program) with opportunities to gain ophthalmology knowledge, engage with research, network with peers and ophthalmologists, and foster a collaborative, supportive community among trainees
> 60 medical student attendees from 5 schools (Jefferson, Drexel, Temple, PCOM, Cooper)
5 oral and 25 poster presentations evaluated by 15 judges (Wills Eye Hospital attendings, fellows, and residents)
Multimedia educational projects
Eye Pathology Education
During my research fellowship I oversaw the grossing of ophthalmic specimens, teaching and supervising medical students and residents. To disseminate proper ophthalmic specimen procedures and clinicopathologic correlation to a wider audience, the series “From Eyes to Slides” was started! The next episode (in progress) will cover vitreous specimen cellblock preparations.
Medical Education Research
As part of my school’s Medical Education track, I worked with two of my peers to develop a research project exploring ophthalmology-interested medical student motivations, experiences, and reservations related to the field.
We used strong qualitative methodology to examine various influences like family in the field, institutional affiliation and home ophthalmology programs, competition among peers, mentorship, and recent changes in undergraduate MedEd like the transition of Step 1 to Pass/Fail.