How Cabrini's advancements as a teaching hospital benefits patients, Central Louisiana

Enhancing the quality of care for Central Louisiana is the goal behind CHRISTUS St. Frances Cabrini Hospital making advancements as a teaching hospital. Currently, third-year medical students from Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine (VCOM) at the University of Louisiana at Monroe are doing clinical studies in hospital's new doctor of osteopathic program. In addition, military personnel from Fort Polk are also training at the hospital.

What does this mean for patients?

That’s an important question, said Dr. Amar Nijar, medical director of medical student education and the new DO program.

Two of the complaints patients have is not getting to spend enough time with doctors and not enough communication, Nijar said. Medical students, supervised by senior doctors, will be able to spend more time with patients and listen and talk to them. Even after the patients have gone home, the medical students will remain in contact.

He said the program isn’t only teaching future doctors procedures but transforming them into doctors who are competent, compassionate and caring and inspire a patient’s trust.

Serving as a training center for medical students, nursing students and others in allied health pushes the hospital to be at the forefront of technology, said Dr. Sara Kelly, DO, and CHRISTUS physician consultant. Students also benefit from having access to physicians and staff connected with Cabrini.

“I think it’s great that our medical students coming here right now are going to have the benefit of not just being in a teaching hospital, they are also going to have the ability to work with private physicians in our community,” she said. “So this is going to give them great exposure to what it’s like to be in a private practice and in a patient setting when they’re here at the hospital.”

That is not something every teaching program has, she said, so it is a big plus for Cabrini.

What students have learned so far

Two students in the hospital's doctor of osteopathic program talked about their experiences.

“Overall, I think it’s really great to be able to interact with the staff here, and even patients,” said Miranda Mingen of Houston, Texas.

“It’s been really cool just having a hands on experience versus being in school because it’s a whole different world, understanding how clinical medicine is in real life,” said Smita Mahajan of Orlando, Fla.

She said they are learning about things like insurance and the hardships some patients go through to get healthcare.

Mingen says she has learned a lot since starting her clinical studies in August. For her it’s been an exciting experience to interact with people in Alexandria and learn about the common health conditions here compared to the ones in Houston.

Nijar said that some of the more interesting, complex cases will be discussed in a conference-like setting where multiple doctors will discuss patients’ conditions and assess them to help teach students. All this will benefit the patient, he said. The hospital staff also benefits because they get to pass on their knowledge from years of experience.

Students in their third year have to complete primary care requirements such as obstetrics and gynecology, internal medicine, family practice and surgery, Kelly said. After completing those sections, they’ll expand to emergency medicine, anesthesiology and surgical subspecialties like urology and internal medicine subspecialties such as gastroenterology.

The first two years of medical school are theoretical classes while the third and fourth years are clinical, explained Nijar. After the four years are finished, they choose what kind of doctors they want to be.

Mahajan would like to pursue obstetrics and gynecology because she likes the one-on-one continued care and seeing the patient through the whole birth process.

Mingen is drawn to emergency medicine. She has always been active in sports, which allows her to think on her feet, and emergency medicine provides the same kind of stimulation.

“I think in emergency medicine, you’re going to see everything from ob/gyn to cardiac,” she said. “I love the chance that you’ll get to see everything and continue to see everything. You’ll have to think on the spot. I just really love that aspect of it.”

What is osteopathic medicine?

Kelly said it’s easier to talk about the similarities of osteopathic and allopathic, or what people know as modern medicine, because everything has become integrated.

“Both an allopathic and osteopathic physician both go through traditional medical school. They’re qualified to enter the same residency programs and so therefore come out to be the same type of physicians depending on what their specialty is that they select,” she explained. “Many osteopathic schools focus on primary care as one of their areas of interest. So, like the school that we’re working with, their hope is that they’ll be able to produce a large number of primary care doctors for the state of Louisiana. And they have specifically selected students that have a connection with the state or an interest in practicing in a rural community.”

One of the differences between the two positions is that osteopathic physicians are also trained in something called osteopathic manipulative medicine, she said, which is a hands on approach to medicine that has a more holistic feel.

Training military personnel

Military personnel from Fort Polk are also training at Cabrini Hospital with four military units rotating through the year representing every aspect of healthcare from respiratory, anesthesia, nurses to pharmacists.

“Fort Polk is a training center for combat medics,” said Dr. Stanley Guillot, group director of clinical improvement and simulation, who is a former combat medic. “They come here to keep their experience level up.”

Advantages for Central Louisiana

Mahajan and Mingen said they like the culture of the area. Mahajan said the people here are nice compared to the "big city life" that both she and Mingen were raised in. And they see that at Cabrini, too, where people smile at them every morning.

Mahajan thinks the people here are also different than in Monroe, where they had been living for two years as VCOM students, even though the cities are only two hours apart.

Mingen added that there always seems to be something going on in Alexandria. Once while she was at the Tamp & Grind Coffee Shop in downtown Alexandria, there was a children’s event happening right down the street. Mahajan added that the coffee shop is always filled with posters of events going on around town.

“For Central Louisiana, I think it’s a big win in a sense that these people will get trained here, hopefully they will like it here, they will stay here and they will be part of the community, and that’s a big benefit from the Central Louisiana point of view,” Nijar said.

This article originally appeared on Alexandria Town Talk: Cabrini's advancement as teaching hospital benefits Central Louisiana