Two mission-centric resolutions authored by PNWU students were recently passed at the Osteopathic Medical Education Conference’s (OMED’s) House of Delegates. PNWU Student Doctors Jenna Seeley, Victoria Sefcsik, Polly Wiltz-Medina, Monica Ketchum, Dannica Thornton, Kendra Swope, Tsaina Mahlen, Angie Yossef, and Nalee Little all participated in the vision-defining advocacy work, which led to the passing of the following resolutions.
- SUPPORT OF GRADUATE MEDICAL EDUCATION FUNDING TO INCREASE PHYSICIAN RESIDENCY SLOTS AND ADDRESS THE PHYSICIAN SHORTAGE
- PROMOTING ACCESS TO MATERNAL CARE TO PREVENT MORBIDITY AND MORTALITY
“The passage of these two PNWU student-led resolutions is a testament to their evolving physician leadership and patient advocacy,” said Thomas Scandalis, DO, dean of PNWU’s College of Osteopathic Medicine (COM). “They now know that their voices can have an impact on policy that can contribute to patient care and to our profession.”
PNWU Student Doctor Victoria Sefcsik (PNWU-COM Class of 2023) joined us to discuss the inspirations behind the successful efforts and the experience of working with her PNWU peers.
Can you tell us about your involvement in this work?
This year, I was involved with three resolutions that focused on GME funding to increase residency slots, promoting access to maternal care, and screening for intimate partner violence.
Jenna Seeley had a list of these topics when we all started and these three spoke to me — especially the one regarding residency spots and screening for intimate partner violence — so I was first author on these two and was able to coordinate them.
What inspired the resolutions? Do you have any personal experiences that may help to display the importance of these causes?
During my OB/GYN and Family Medicine rotations, I saw various methods for screening for intimate partner violence. There seemed to little-to-no standardized way to do it from clinic to clinic. It is an easily overlooked component if one is not looking for it, but it affects every single aspect of our patient’s health. We also found lack of screening requirements when it came to men. If we aren’t properly screening patients for things that we can give them resources and help with, we are doing them a disservice.
With regards to GME funding, the bottleneck to more doctors is residency spots. It’s our job as students to advocate for that, and to find ways to decrease the shortage of doctors, specifically in primary care.
What was your reaction to the passing of these two resolutions?
We were all really excited to have the first two pass the first time around, and the last one was referred back to the us, so we are thankful for the opportunity to do more research and expand on the topic as there was much support for it.
I’m so thankful for what’s to come with the first two resolutions passing! It’s incredible that, as medical students, we can present our thoughts, ideas, and research to large organizations and actually be heard. We don’t always feel that we have the resources to make big changes, but by coordinating with SOMA and other organizations, we can really make things happen.
Can you tell me about the students you worked with? What was the experience like, and what would you like people to know about them?
I worked with an amazing group of individuals who were dedicated and passionate about these topics. I specifically wanted to highlight Jenna Seeley, who was the one who came up with these topics and has extensive experience writing resolutions. While traveling the country for audition rotations, Jenna still made time for this because of how passionate she is.