Deja Rice, MS4, is a current TIP student at the Sparrow/MSU Family Medicine Residency Program.
by Deja Rice, MS4
As young as eight years old, I knew I wanted to be a physician in an underserved community. I was deeply impacted by the numerous hours spent with my late mother, a sickle cell disease patient, in emergency departments, hospital wards and critical care units. As her daughter, I knew that she had an expired driver’s license and no access to personal transportation. As someone who has experienced the healthcare field as both a patient and a provider, I now question if doctors would have changed their care or instructions based on knowing the socioeconomic hurdles my family faced. I often sat with my mother as we spent countless hours in an overcrowded emergency department where a lot of other frequent fliers received their only form of healthcare. I recall hearing hours on end of relentless moans for help and seeing overworked and understaffed emergency departments try their best to keep up with the crowds with what they had. My experiences have fostered a passion for not only caring for people’s medical conditions, but ensuring care prioritizes their access to resources in order to maximize positive health outcomes.
The lack of preventive and primary care, low health literacy, distrust, and poor access to health insurance are common contributors to chronic conditions and comorbidities. Furthermore, the lack of follow up for chronic and acute conditions leads to progression of disease sequelae and long-term complications. Because of my background and role as a medical student, I was able to spend extra time during my clerkship and have breakthroughs with patients who were once considered difficult. During my family medicine clerkship, I had the honor of providing care for a woman who struggled with alcohol use disorder who was concurrently diagnosed with a Trichomoniasis infection. Due to the inability to safely treat a trichomoniasis infection with Flagyl due to this patient’s alcohol use, it presented a unique challenge which was overcome by fostering a safe environment for an honest, judgment free conversation. Ultimately, we came up with a safe plan to effectively treat the patient’s trichomoniasis infection with Flagyl while preventing serious alcohol withdrawal complications such as death from seizures. We were also able to provide her with naltrexone, an online alcoholic anonymous support group, other resources, and our continuous support while she tries to maintain abstinence from alcohol. Throughout the clerkship it was great to see the benefits and increased treatment compliance that came along with establishing trust in families through continuity and shared decision-making. These moments made me realize the importance of considering a patient’s social history, mental health, and knowledge of their medical condition when coming up with the best treatment plan together.
In order to gain a stronger foundation for a career as a family medicine physician, I am currently researching the process in which training resident physicians can better identify social determinants of health in primary care settings and connect patients living with chronic conditions to community resources. Being awarded the TIP scholarship would help to advance my current research as a focused area of excellence along with the opportunity to fuel my passion as a future family medicine physician by being able to share my findings as a presentation and possibly implement the findings into clinical care.
I aspire to become a family physician in an urban, underserved area in Michigan because of my passion to serve the community and increase primary prevention methods. The curriculum at MSU’s College of Human Medicine and my family’s experience have both enhanced my desire and has provided me with skills necessary to serve vulnerable patient populations. I value the longitudinal care in Family Medicine and TIP will allow me the ability to start developing relationships with patients early on. Furthermore, continuing my research and care for underserved patients, I want to pursue Osteopathic manipulative treatment training and an OB track that would allow me to gain additional Women’s Health training during my residency. In doing so, TIP would greatly assist me with a seamless transition from medical school into the MSU College of Human Medicine’s family medicine residency program in Lansing or Southfield, Michigan by preparing me with the skills necessary for community outreach and patient advocacy.
