5 big ideas
Posted: July 19, 2013
ATSU shines the spotlight on its thriving research community
ASDOH
Increasing access
Looking at the Affiliated Practice Relationship (passed into Arizona law in 2004), Michelle Gross-Panico, RDH, MA, DHSc, associate director, Dentistry in the Community, found it an opportunity for dentists and dental hygienists to increase access to dental care for underserved populations. Her study was published in the fall 2012 Journal of Dental Hygiene.
Why is your research important? Affiliated practice dental hygiene clinics can provide preventive dental services at less cost to underserved patients than private practice dental offices. My research indicated that the cost of preventive dental services is more important to the underserved population surveyed than are convenience of appointment time or distance traveled. Respondents also reported they would use preventive dental services more frequently as cost for the services decreases.
What do you hope to achieve? Legislative policies and reimbursement mechanisms should support the Affiliated Practice Relationship model because it promotes prevention and serves those who have no dental home. By publishing this information, I hope to gain support for this collaborative, non-traditional delivery model and to encourage the reduction of supervisory restrictions on dental hygiene practice.
What is the next big idea? The next big idea to increase access to dental care for underserved populations is to further reduce supervisory restrictions on licensed dental hygienists and to use midlevel dental providers, such as the advanced dental therapist and dental therapist in Minnesota and Alaska.
ASHS
Counting sheep
Dr. Miner
Patricia Johnson Miner, DHSc, MSN, RN, PNP-BC, is a pediatric nurse practitioner at Rockford Health System in Rockford, Ill., and an adjunct faculty member, Doctor of Health Sciences program. Her literature review and implications for practice on melatonin use for sleep onset insomnia (SOI) in children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) was published in Advance for NPs and PAs in July 2012.
Why is your research important? It is important to determine effective treatments for SOI in children with ADHD because it is a common characteristic of ADHD and a frequent side effect of stimulant medications used to treat the disorder. Lack of sleep may affect a child’s family life, social functioning, and academic performance. Many parents state their children with ADHD have sleep difficulties at night and fatigue during the day. In addition, these parents may experience, stress, fatigue, and anxiety due to the child’s insomnia.
What do you hope to achieve? I hope to establish evidence-based guidelines for using melatonin to improve SOI in children with ADHD. My patients’ parents like the idea of using a natural substance instead of prescription medication for sleep.
What’s the next big idea? Future ideas and research should include trials related to long-term safety and adverse effects of melatonin. In addition, studies to determine optimal dosing of regulated melatonin products are needed.
KCOM
Marring melanoma
Dr. Berjian
Richard A. Berjian, DO, ’55, Stuart, Fla., is putting metastatic malignant melanoma (MMM) under the microscope with Dr. James Welsh of the Fermi Institute. Dr. Berjian served as senior cancer research surgeon at Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, N.Y. His research can be found in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology and in the Journal of Oncology.
Why is your research important? Treatment for MMM has lagged until recently. We hope to develop an improved diagnostic staging modality and treatment for MMM. At present, there is no tumor-sensitive diagnostic screening modality that detects metastatic sites in the regional lymph nodes or at organ sites.
What do you hope to achieve? To develop a targeted radio-labeled compound that follows the metabolic pathway for melanin synthesis and destroys malignancy at all metastatic sites. This is the same principle used in the treatment of thyroid cancer.
What’s the next big idea? The next significant advance will be to tailor a patient’s treatment to their genetic immunologic profile directed by their own genome. However, until this is accomplished, we need a more direct approach to the treatment of MMM, which is the research we are investigating.
SHM
Autism beware
Dr. Laverty and son Connor
More than 20 years as owner/operator of a personal training business led Dawn M. Laverty, DHEd, MA, BS, ’12, to pursue a doctorate in health education. She dedicated her dissertation to her son, Connor, who was diagnosed with autism 10 years ago. Dr. Laverty currently resides in Tampa, Fla., with her three children and is a passionate advocate for autism awareness.
Why is your research important? It is estimated that one in 88 children in the United States has an autism spectrum disorder (ASD), according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The disorder continues to be detected at an alarming rate and poses multi-dimensional challenges for parents, teachers, therapists, and the field of health education. Many treatments are available to reduce or eliminate challenging characteristics manifested in those diagnosed, but my research investigates the efficacy of an educational intervention geared toward parents.
Most important scientific achievement of the past five years? Although numerous studies have linked pollutants, possible mutations, and immune changes to autism, a recent discovery revealed differences in brain white matter in infants as young as 6 months (American Journal of Psychiatry, June 2012). These findings, along with further research, could reveal targets for future treatments—decreasing or preventing the development of disabling symptoms associated with autism.
What is the next big idea? We must address the need for adult transition support. Autism is a lifetime issue. Once diagnosed individuals reach adulthood, many fail to achieve independence, contributing to an estimated lifetime cost into the millions for needed support services. Although much research on support services and treatment focus on early intervention, it is critical to increase research efforts for ASD in adulthood to improve quality of life.
SOMA
Word of mouth
Rosalee M. Nguyen, MS, was uncertain when it came to choosing a medical program. She felt there wasn’t enough written information on the Clinical Presentation Curriculum (CPC) at SOMA for prospective students to fully understand the integrated model. She wanted to know what current students had to say. Now a second-year student located at Lutheran Medical Center – Park Ridge Family Health, a community health center in Brooklyn, N.Y., Nguyen’s study comparing first-year students’ perspectives on the CPC to that of fourth-year students is helping spread the word.
Why is your research important? We used surveys to assess the perceived effectiveness of the scheme presentation model and the application of inductive reasoning, specifically questioning attitudes, preparedness, and expectations of the CPC in terms of students’ knowledge, comfort level, and use of the CPC model.
The majority of responses were positive, with first-year’s consistently responding more positively than upperclassmen. This finding may reflect the ongoing improvement of the CPC through faculty development and efforts to strengthen the curriculum. The study further suggests that 67-75 percent of students are successful in recalling pertinent basic sciences as well as 45-78 percent successful in using inductive reasoning to accurately arrive at diagnoses on rotations. This indicates that SOMA’s CPC is an effective method and foundational tool for delivering medical education.
The study also revealed the top three qualities that current SOMA students feel are essential to success with the CPC: independent learners, self-motivators, and multi-taskers.
Most important scientific achievement of the past five years? It was reported in 2002 that more than half of American medical schools are engaged in education reform. Both DO- and MD-granting institutions are sharing methods on their attempts to improve the current delivery of medical education. The CPC was first introduced at the University of Calgary in Canada and was implemented in 1991. Since then, medical schools throughout the world have been adopting this integrative approach. SOMA is the first U.S. medical school to adopt the CPC in its entirety, along with early clinical experience, and has proven successful with its third class having graduated in June.
What is the next big idea? The next step is to assess attitudes and expectations from both SOMA faculty on the main campus in Mesa and faculty at the 11 community campus locations throughout the United States. I anticipate the findings will further provide SOMA with more ways to improve the CPC and spark new ideas for faculty development.