A. Student Research / Summer Research
Research is clearly going to be a big part of a lot of doctor's careers, and whether you just want a taste, or are trying to put together a resume to improve your chances of getting that to-die-for residency, you may want to look into doing research the summer of your first year.

Medical students may choose to spend ten weeks during their summer (either before first year or between the first and second years) doing research under the supervision of a senior faculty member. Research projects are designed by the faculty although students have input.

Abstracts of the projects are available in the Dean's office in the spring and interested students should contact the Dean's office as soon as possible in the second semester. Students may read the abstracts of the projects being investigated and then contact the appropriate faculty member to discuss the project. If the student and the faculty member agree then the student should notify the Dean's office and have all the appropriate forms completed. Alternately some students design a project with a faculty member and then contact the Dean's office for approval.

Approximately 30 positions are available each year. Each student receives a $3000 stipend to do the research. Each student is required to attend a series of lectures during the summer, and present a poster in the fall of his or her research. Cash awards are given for first and second place in the poster competition, and UofL winners go on to represent the school at the Midwest Regional Science Forum in Omaha, NE.

B. Adopt-a-Student
We asked Tim Peters of the Class of 2000 to write about his experience doing an Adopt-a-Student rotation the summer of his first year:

Well, you made it through your first year. Summer is here and its time to vegetate in whatever method suits you: Sitting by the pool side sipping a frozen beverage, tilling your backyard, joining the circus etc...Or maybe the idea of letting your brain gelatinize all summer long is anathema to you. You need an engaging intellectual experience where you can toil to expand on the knowledge that you attained. In that case, DO RESEARCH.

On the other hand, if you just craving to know it little bit more about the profession you have chosen, see a little more of Kentucky, and still have some time to goof off between first and second year? Plus it just so happens that you have an interest in primary care. Maybe you should look into the Adopt-a-Student program run by the Kentucky branch of the American Association of Family Practitioners. Adopt-a-Student is a program pairing you, the post-first year medical student, with a family practice physician somewhere in the state of Kentucky for one month during the summer. As a medical student you will work with the physician in a limited capacity, doing histories and physicals mostly, and observing the workings of your sponsor and his or her office. Depending on the location of your assignment, your physician may sponsor your living expenses or provide you with housing. The length of the assignment is one month.

My experience with Adopt-a-Student consisted of a month in Evarts, a tiny coal town in Harlan county. I lived in a trailer behind the clinic (very comfy) and worked with two Family Practitioners and one internist in the Clover Fork Clinic, a subsidized clinic with a mission to treat the under-served population of the area. I felt very involved in the day to day business of the practice. I saw patients, did a ton of coal mining physicals, worked in the lab and the business office, and made the occasional presentation to the medical staff about interesting cases. I went home on the weekends, or would stay around Evarts to explore or attend a concert at the Appalshop theater an hour away.

Find out about more about Adopt-a-Student from the Family Practice Club, and look for the fliers in your boxes or on the board. Apply early. In past years the KAFP has provided a stipend of $1,000 for the students, but due to funding constraints student will now have to petition for sponsorship from various sources. This may require some creativity on your part. Some possible sources for sponsorship might include a KAFP physician, hospitals, insurance companies, or foundations.

For more information about the funding changes or about the Adopt-a-Student program, contact the KAFP coordinator, Claire Arnold, at 451-0730. You may be able to choose your assignment location near your hometown, but why not take a chance and see something new?

C. International Electives After Your First Year
We asked Bradley Olds of the Class of 2000 to write about his experience doing an overseas elective:

Are you anxious to put that newly acquired medical knowledge to use? Ever dream of spending time abroad? Maybe you'd like to help a relieve the medical suffering for members of a third world community. Here's your chance! I worked in Kenya for two months after my first year. I had an awesome experience, and I'm even planning a trip for some of my classmates during our fourth year. The following is a step-by-step guide to making your international travel dream a living reality.

1. Get Committed to the idea of going now. I had always regretted not traveling abroad during undergrad and the summer after your first year is a wonderful opportunity. Don't let this opportunity get away! Make a personal commitment to yourself and the people that you will help. This first step is the difference between the dreamers and the successful travelers. There will be some small hurdles ahead, so make the commitment now. You need to start about one year from estimated departure date. (If you do the group trips mentioned below you can arrange a trip in less time if you need to.)

2. Outline your ideal trip/experience. This is the time to start focusing in on your fuzzy dream. You need to think about the following list:

a. Location. You literally can go anywhere in the world. What's your dream tell you? My dream was to go to Africa.

b. Language. Do you have special language skills? Remember that your college conversational Spanish probably didn't go into taking a CC, PMH, ROS, etc...But you can certainly learn more Spanish or learn another language. I chose a previous English colony where my English could help me navigate the new country and then I learned my medical interview in the local tribal language.

c. Surroundings. Do you want to be in the rural countryside or in the busy city? Does your dream picture you living in a guest house in a city with electricity and running water (and flush toilets) or in a hut lit by a lantern and squatting over a latrine a few times a day? (My suggestion is to live like the people that you are helping. Except boil your water.) Are you interested in assisting in surgery or working in a primary care clinic? How about a women's and children's health clinic? I worked in a very rural clinic without electricity and running water. I felt I was able to contribute more in an environment free of the technology I had not yet learned about in medical school. Due to the limited supply of medications and straight forward medical problems, many of these rural clinics feel like first aid stations with a few medications.

d. Do you want to travel in a group or alone? Some of the group trips are a bit more expensive, but you often get an experienced leader and there is "safety in numbers." I opted for a group trip organized through a non-profit organization called Operation Crossroads Africa (OCA). OCA was the forerunner to the Peace Corps program. There are other groups like Christian Medical Dental Society (CMDS), Global Volunteers, etc., you can look them up on the web by searching some combination of "medical, volunteers, etc." These organizations typically arrange all of your transportation to and within your country, housing,project sites, food, and often a sight seeing trip at the end of your work period. AMSA has an international program that doesn't follow this "group model" I've outlined above. Many of the arrangements are left up to you, and they don't let you know you are accepted until the spring and. Apply early. If you want to travel alone and arrange your trip yourself, the curriculum office has an AMSA book with contacts in every nation you could want to go to. You can certainly write/call/email one of those persons and arrange your own trip. Don't forget about the resource of students and physicians who have traveled abroad.

e. Cost. Realize that airfare to South America is a lot cheaper than Africa. Start considering how much money you can spend on this adventure. (More on $ below.)

3. Do your homework and work your plan. Finish researching your options and decide which one best matches your dream trip. Once you've targeted your efforts and revised your ideal outline, it's time for a few "housekeeping" projects.

4. Coming up with the $$$. You can of course pay for this trip ($1000-3500) out of your own pocket if you are able. I needed to raise the money so I could participate in an experience like this. First, the school Travel Committee will reimburse you up to $750 once you return. Second, AMSA has a book of scholarship/funding ideas for international travel (it's in the Curriculum office.) You probably know some people. Let's give them the opportunity to help you help others. I made a brochure about my trip that outlined where I was going, what I'd be doing, and how much I needed to raise. I included a brief mission statement for my life and medical career that explained how this trip fit into that plan. Attach a nice cover letter and mail it to every grandma, grandpa, aunt, uncle, cousin, neighbor, college contact, friend, physician, church, and business that you've come across in your life. This is an exaggeration, but you get the point. Agree to send postcards or speak to groups if necessary.

5. Get your Passport and Shots. The passport can take 6 weeks (there are express services that do them in 3 days for $100 if yours gets stolen like mine did.) The CDC web page have everything you need to know about immunizations. I'd suggest contacting Dr. Clover and McKinney's Travel Clinic. They do a really good job and have everything you need on hand, unlike your hometown family doc who usually doesn't vaccinate for yellow fever.

6. Getting Elective Credit. This is a simple procedure. Go to the curriculum office and get an off-campus special project form and fill it out. It will require that you have a clinical faculty sponsor to sign off for your credit. You can get the 2 hours of elective credit you need for your second year by going abroad. You can negotiate whether or not you have to write a paper or submit a reading list to get your full credit.

7. A brief word on getting your skills up to par. Some faculty will suggest hat you'd be better served by waiting to go on an international medical project until "you've had more experience." I think anyone can learn and help so much in a third world country that you'd be short changing yourself not to go. You need to take advantage of your IMP preceptor and get them to teach you a physical exam, let you interact with patients, and let them critique you. I also participated in the Pediatric Summer Externship the month before I left. (OK, so maybe I only had two weekend off that summer, but man was I having fun!!!) The faculty knew about my upcoming trip and helped to push me to get ready. Take advantage of every opportunity. While on ambulatory peds I spent extra time with the faculty in the newborn nursery and in the ER. It never hurts to ask if you can tag along. Once you know what's going on, they let you get that valuable hands on experience. Once you are abroad, you shouldn't do anything that you are not trained to do. BUT, that certainly doesn't mean you can't learn how to start IV's and deliver babies while you are there!

8. Pack, Get on the Plane, and Have FUN.

D. Student Clinic Electives

1. HOPE Clinic for Women & Children:
HOPE is a student-directed clinic which was founded in 1991. It is a service and teaching clinic which provides free, non-emergency, primary care to women and children who are medically under served. The target population includes women and children who are living in homeless shelters, who are not insured and/or who cannot afford to access their available health insurance. The clinic is staffed by volunteer physicians and medical students. Students complete an eight week rotation for which they receive two elective credits. The rotation provides clinical and educational experiences that promote understanding of the health and health care access issues which confront the poor and medically under served as well as the challenges facing medical professionals who deliver services to this population. Students learn to ascertain the chief complaint, complete a S.O.A.P. note, present to an attending physician and perform simple laboratory procedures. The clinic directors are medical students who serve a one year rotation. They perform the same duties as the students and are responsible for the management of the clinic.

Interested students may sign-up during the fourth quarter of their first year. Sign-up sheets are posted on the first year bulletin board. Students are selected by a random draw. Eight students are selected for summer (and serve for eight weeks) and five students for each of the four quarters of the academic year. A Saturday orientation is required before each semester including summer.

Operated by: University of Louisville Department of Family and Community Medicine and the Jefferson County Medical Society - Outreach Program
Advisor: Dr. Steve Wheeler
Location: Family Health Centers, 914 East Broadway
Time: Every Monday evening from 5:45 p.m. to approximately 10:00 p.m.
The clinic is closed during mid-term & finals weeks and on holidays that fall on Monday.

Clinic Directors

Three directors (first year students) are chosen by the current directors by an application and interview process. One year terms begin the first Monday after spring break of the first academic year and conclude one year later. Interested students may sign up during the 2nd quarter of their first year. The selection process is completed the first week of the 3rd quarter.




2. GLOH Clinic:
The G.L.O.H. clinic (Greater Louisville Organization for Health) is a primary care clinic that is run by the second year medical students in conjunction with the Department of Family and Community Medicine. The Family Health Center Iroquois allows the medical school to use their facilities on Monday evenings between 5:30 and approximately 9:00 (or whenever the last patient is finished). The second year medical students are responsible for taking vital signs, history, and performing any necessary physical examination. The students report their findings to the attending physicians from the Department of Family and Community Medicine, and then determine an appropriate treatment for the patient. The clinic is open to men, women, and children and the fee to see a medical student and a physician is $8.

Students may choose to work at the G.L.O.H. clinic for elective credit during the summer after the first year of school, or during any one of the four quarters of the second year. An elective "rotation" at the clinic is 8 weeks long.

Operated by: University of Louisville Department of Family and Community Medicine and the Jefferson County Medical Society - Outreach Program
Advisor: Dr. Patricia Quinby & Dr. Donna Roberts
Location: Family Health Centers, Iroquois, 4100 Taylor Blvd.
Time: Every Monday evening from 5:45 p.m. to approximately 10:00 p.m.
The clinic is closed during mid-term & finals weeks and on holidays that fall on Monday.

Clinic Directors:

Any student who would like to become more involved with working at the clinic, keeping track of the budget, and making sure that the clinic runs smoothly each week can apply to be a clinic director. Four students from the first year class are selected to be clinic directors in March of the first year, and they will be responsible for the clinic until the following March. The four directors from the previous year select the new directors through an interview process. Clinic directors work closely with the faculty in the Department of Family and Community Medicine, make sure the clinic has plenty of supplies, keep track of the budget, and make sure that the clinic runs efficiently.

3. LIFE CLINIC:
Louisville Inner-city Family care Education at the Healing Place

The LIFE Clinic was founded in the Spring of 1998. The focus of this student-run clinic is to provide quality primary care services while focusing on Women's Health issues in a Substance Abuse population.

The LIFE Clinic offers two unique qualities:

• it is located at a homeless shelter / residential setting,

• the patients are voluntarily participating in a substance abuse recovery program.

The Healing Place is sponsored by the Jefferson County Medical Society. Patients seen in the LIFE clinic range from people just spending a night off the street to people involved in a residential six month recovery program. Students will have the opportunity to do complete H&Ps on patients, write SOAP notes, present cases to the volunteering physicians and participate in patient education. Two hours of elective credit will be available to students participating in the eight week elective starting Summer 1998.

This is an exciting time for the Healing Place! The clinic facilities have recently been expanded from one exam room to four. A new women's facility has been purchased and this program will be expanding within the next year.

How to get involved: Students may sign up (outside the lecture hall or through second year elective registration) for the elective during the fourth quarter of their first year. Spaces are limited for each quarter rotation.

Location: 1020 W. Market Street, Louisville, KY
Meeting Time: Tuesday evenings from 5-9 pm

Contact Information:

Faculty Advisor: Mark Pfeifer
Site Coordinator: Karen Newton
Founder: Brad Olds (Class of 2000)
Co-Founders: Amy Tucker (Class of 2000) & Susan Greene (Class of 2000)

Clinic Directors:

Students interested in serving as one of the Directors during their second year are encouraged to apply during the third quarter of their first year. Applicants for Director are selected on the basis of written responses and a group interview.