Road to Medicine

Some of the 30 students who are on the “Road to Medicine”

Hand-on anatomy!

Ms. Collins’ science lab at Frederick Douglass Elementary is the place to be! One afternoon you might find pairs of students bent over a sheep heart dissection, learning anatomy for the first time. The next week, the group might be acting as “doctor detectives” working on an interactive medicine case with help from a diverse panel of healthcare professionals.

This is the “Road to Medicine” program, currently in its second year at Frederick Douglass Elementary in Walnut Hills, and part of a larger mentoring partnership between Frederick Douglass and Walnut Hills High School called See It, Believe It, Achieve It.

Home made ice cream is the best!

Over the last year our family medicine residents, Dr. Sara Maples, Dr. Melissa Saab and Dr. Laura Ledvora, with support of Dr. Anna Goroncy, expanded the Road to Medicine program to expose 6th – 8th graders to STEM education and health professions. Over the course of seven sessions, students explored the diversity of science, including the biology of making ice cream (which was delicious), the chemistry of extracting DNA from strawberries (less delicious),  and the physics of testing bike helmets. Along the way, students worked with medical students, residents and physicians, discussing pathways to careers in science and medicine.

“Road to Medicine” represents one part of a developing community-based partnership with Walnut Hills (the community adjacent to The Christ Hospital and the home to many of our patients). Our other current projects include:

• Working with the Walnut Hills Redevelopment Foundation to increase access to healthy food through community gardens and developing neighborhood healthy cooking classes.

• Developing Healthy Living classes at DOHN High School as part of the Outpatient Pediatrics rotation. Residents lead a monthly class covering topics from chronic diseases to recreational drug use, stress, sleep and exercise.

• Joining the Center for Closing the Health Gap to complete community needs assessments to better understand the needs of the Walnut Hills community.

Students engage in a medical “who done it”

As the partnership strengthens over the next years, we look forward to expanding opportunities to the residency faculty and Family Medicine Center staff. Special thanks to the Walnut Hills Community Partnership Steering Committee members: Dr. Sara Maples, Dr. Emily Levinson, Dr. Laura Ledvora, Dr. Melissa Saab, Dr. Alex Vance, Dr. Sammie Lammie, Dr. Rory Rivendale, Dr. Suzanne Watson and Dr. Brian Bouchard.

Getting to Know Our New Interns

While the initial excitement of Match Day 2019 might have slowed down, the process of having our newest residents join the program is only just beginning. Not only is there paper work to fill out (LOTS of paperwork… trust me) but we also start getting to know these amazing physicians. Below we have some happy match day faces, and thoughts on starting residency.

“As a UC graduate, I am so excited to be staying in Cincinnati to continue to train under the incredible family physicians who inspired me to pick this specialty in the first place! While I cannot wait to start expanding my global health experiences, I am also looking forward to continuing service to the surrounding community and building upon partnerships that have grown over the last several years.” ~Andrea Rosado

Xavier Douglas, super excited to join the Cincinnati Program!

“I am excited to join the program and receive training that is locally and internationally impactful. I look forward to learning from the faculty, my fellow co-residents, and the patients that I serve. “ ~LaToya Smith

“I can't wait to join and learn from a group of dedicated, like-minded colleagues, faculty, and mentors with a passion for community and global health! I likewise am excited to finally apply my medical school knowledge as a practicing family physician and look forward to getting to know the city of and communities in Cincinnati as new resident (in both senses of the word).” ~Josh D. Cockroft

Global Health Guatemala February 2019

This February, four residents, alongside program faculty, medical students and a public health student traveled to rural Guatemala. Wu Qu Kawoq, also known as the Maya Health Alliance, continues to be out fantastic NGO. The organization formed with the goal of providing grassroots healthcare delivered in native languages to many of the rural communities of Guatemala who previously were unable to access care. They are now one of the largest providers of healthcare in Guatemala and we are proud to work alongside them for in a culturally sensitive and continuity minded partnership.

You can see more more highlights of our Guatemala trip below. To learn more about our Global Health Curriculum click here. You can read more about the Mayan Health Alliance here.

Our core resident team along with two of the women most important to the health of Chocola, one of the communities we serve in Guatemala.

We traveled first to the small rural, coffee and chocolate farming town of Chocola. The team sets up clinic for the week in a small building centered in the community and provides care to numerous children and families – everything from treating acute infections, to minor injuries, chronic diabetes, hypertension and mental health conditions like depression and anxiety.

This model allows for follow up within the same week and we had several patients return for additional check ups or medications.

For the second week we traveled to the city of Tecpan which served as our base for daily clinics in more remote and outlying communities.

Places like Chichimuch, Chutiestantia, and Santiago were reached only after a long bus ride, and we set up day long clinics treating many of the same things as we did our first week.

We encountered more Mayan language speaking people when working in the Guatemalan highlands outside of Tecapn and gained a better understanding of the inspiration behind the Mayan Health Alliance. With incredible interpreters and a strong team we were able to provide care in those native languages.

All in all, we cared for 331 patients and will be able to provide follow up and continuity of care when our next team arrives in April.

Our Newest Family (Medicine Interns)

Florence Hsiao

YaleUniversity

Xavier Douglas

University of Toledo

Catlin Delong*

Indiana University

Latoya Smith

University of Cincinnati

Jordan Seto

University of Washington

Sean Lawson

University of Cincinnati

Andrea Rosado

University of Cincinnati

Josh Cockroft*

Vanderbilt University

• designates FMP

Welcome Class of 2022

We are so excited to introduce our new intern class! They’re an AMAZING group and we can’t wait to see how they take Cincinnati by storm. More photos of our match day celebration to come!

The Women in Medicine of The Christ Hospital

As part of the annual Christ Hospital “The Women in Medicine” event Dr. Montiel Rosenthal and multiple current and past residents hosted teen girls from DePaul Christo Rey High School and Mt. Notre Dame High School. As part of the event they were introduced to family medicine and heard stories about being a woman in medicine.

Dr. Anisa Shomo shares her story and her journey in family medicine.

Dr. Rosenthal provides an intro to ultrasound!

Getting to see a fetus on US is always fun.

Dr. Jaramillo teaches on how to look at the optic nerve. That girl has the nest physical exam I have ever seen.

Dr. Koch teaches not only on how to check a blood pressure, but also on the importance of treating hypertension.

Second Look 2019

(As we get ready for second look 2019 enjoy this UPDATED post with most commonly FAQs)

While we can't promise lanterns, The Transept is a cool converted church where we will host the resident and office staff cocktail hour on Jan 18..

Now that it's January, it's time to start thinking about Second Look Weekend! This year we will be hosting our events Friday Jan 18th and Saturday Jan 19th. Before we get to the details-- and trust us, they are exciting-- we figured we would answer some questions first.

What is Second Look?

Second look is a weekend-long event that allows you to come back and visit Cincinnati without all the pressure of interview day. You can meet more residents and attendings, ask any questions that may have come to mind, and also get a sense of if you can truly live in Cincinnati for the next 3-5 years. 

Is it mandatory?

Nope! While we invite all of our interviewees, this is not a mandatory event. We understand that you are medical students who have rotations and clinical duties which can make it hard (not to mention expensive) to come back. 

Winter wonderland? Yes

Cold? Also yes

[Editors Note: The forecast currently calls for snow so this Californian will wear triple layers]

Can my family come?

Absolutely! We welcome you to bring any of the “significant figures” (math joke) in your life. In the past we have had spouses, partners, siblings, and children. Remember that moving to Cincinnati does not just affect you. Making sure that the people in your support network can see themselves here is important to us too. Do remember to RSVP for these folks if they are joining any of the events. 

Your eyes do not deceive you. The night sky does say Cincinnati!

What should I bring?  Do I need a suit?

No suit required for this event, but make sure that you bring warm clothes and check the weather before hand. (Trust us, one of our Californian residents current has her office set to 82 and is working on transitioning blankets into daywear).  If you stick with business casual and warm coat you should be fine. No need to bring copies of your resumes or professional folios. We always recommend bringing a sense of adventure!

While we are pretty sure we wont meet Fiona at the Zoo, we do usually get to pet a friendly penguin.

[Editor Note 1: You should 100% follow the Cincinnati Zoo on Instagram because they keep posting adorable photos of all the baby animals]

[Editor Note 2: I don’t care what anyone says, Winsol the Aardvark has been lovable since day one]

What is happening?

By now you should have gotten an e-mail from the program coordinator regarding the schedule. We start from 7-11 on Friday at The Transept for a cocktail hour with the residents- this gives you the chance to get a sense of us in a less formal atmosphere. Then Saturday from 9:30 to noon is the legendary Cincinnati bus tour. This is a can't-miss introduction to the city with commentary by our very own Reid Hartman and Jeff Schlaudecker. Finally we have lunch from 1-5 at the Cincinnati Zoo. Probably slightly more formal in tone, you can meet with residents and attendings to find out even more about our program. Also we usually get to pet a baby animal of some sort... which is awesome. (FMP applicants please note you have a slightly different schedule and we will reach out to you directly)

What if I can only come to part of the event?

Let us know! We would love to see you as much as we can. 

My roommate/best friend/adviser said that if I really want to be considered I have to go? 

It is our pleasure to host you for Friday night the 18th at Spring Hills Suites!

See question 2, definitely not mandatory. Being able to come does not affect your position on the rank list. Communication is key from here on out. Email us and stay in touch. If there are any questions we can answer, let us know! If you want to come for a visit on a different date, reach out! Making sure to show us your interest in super important. 

Wait! You are paying for a hotel?!?!?

Yep! We are pleased to offer lodging for Friday the 18th at Spring Hills Suites. 

Office Thanksgiving

Sometimes being in health care is hard. It’s not just the knowledge you need or the illness you see, but that you are asked to spend time away from your family and loved ones to help care for others. We strive to make sure our office family gets to enjoy the holidays no matter what our schedule looks like. This year we held an office wide potluck- which included no less than 9 types of desert. So yummy!

Global Health Book Club

The global health book club group— enjoying snacks, conversations and a baby!

Latest book club book.

Looking for a book to read while you’re traveling to interviews? You might want to consider the latest read from our global health book club! Factfulness by Hans Rosling encourages the reader to look beyond the headlines and see what the data says the world is actually like— not just what we think it’s like. You might be pleasantly surprised at how much progress has been made. If you want to start to test your world view take the GapMinder quiz by clicking here.

We have a twice yearly book club, one book focused more of domestic health and the other with a more global perspective. This is part of creating well rounded family medicine physicians.

[Editors Note: If you are a fiction fan, you will find more than a few residents at our program who love YA novels. We are eagerly awaiting the release of the final Throne of Glass!]

Intern Love Part 2

Our interns continue to prove that one of the best ways to adapt to a new city and new responsibilities is to practice wellness. This weekend they enjoyed a hike at Red River Gorge a beautiful spot about 2 hours from Cincinnati. Look at the smiling faces and after 3 months of residency!