 |
Karen Holdeman, M.D., assistant professor of radiology, looks at a poster designed by senior medical student Joanna Quigley. Quigley won $250 from the Department of Family Medicine for her poster, which focused on using computers to track health histories of patients at a rural health clinic. (Photo taken by Chuck Brown, UNMC public affairs) |
Quigley’s poster, which focused on using computers to track medical histories of patients at a rural Nebraska health clinic, earned her $250 from the Department of Family Medicine.
McGargill also took home $250 for his poster about diagnosis of Acute Bacterial Rhinosinusitis (ABRS). McGargill’s prize was awarded by the Nebraska Academy of Family Physicians.
The posters were part of a project the students did during their M3 Family Medicine rural rotations.
During the rotations, Quigley, McGargill and many other students did a clinical quality improvement project, meaning they spotted an area of concern and explored the problem in terms of care given.
Quigley focused on how using computers to track medical histories would be received by patients of the clinic and how it would improve efficiency at the clinic.
She found most patients had access to a computer and would be willing to enter some medical history into the computer before meeting with a doctor. She also found that most patients would still prefer to have a face-to-face discussion of their medical history with their doctors as opposed to handling it all by computer.
McGargill examined how ABRS was diagnosed at the clinic he worked at. He found that in 13 out of 20 cases the correct diagnosis was made.
To improve that rate, he suggested that laminated cards noting the symptoms of ABRS be hung on the door of each examination room in the clinic.