Medical student David Pickering meets with Regional Statewide Campus Director Susan Berry to discuss his rotations.

Med School
By: Leah Smith
As a regional medical center, Camden-Clark is recognized as a leader in quality health care. Now, thanks to a new program, it’s become a learning center too.

CCMH's partnership with the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine has resulted in a host of new faces on the hospital's campus. Currently, a handful of third and fourth year medical students from the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine (WVSOM) are training at CCMH. That will increase significantly by the end of August.

WVSOM sends medical students to over 55 hospitals throughout West Virginia so they can complete their clinical rotations required for medical school. First and second year medical students stay on campus in Lewisburg, WV for classroom instruction and study from books; however, third and fourth year students require hands-on clinical experience. Through July, there will be five medical students in the area completing their clinical experience, and in August, that will increase to 16 medical students in the Parkersburg and Marietta area beginning their clinical rotations.

Physicians (either an osteopathic D.O. or an allopathic M.D.) take on the role of preceptors, or otherwise known as clinical faculty, who teach the rotating student.
According to David McClure, vice president of Operations and Professional Services at Camden-Clark, the partnership between the WVSOM and Camden-Clark benefits both institutions as well as the community.
"Medical Students will be more visible,” said David McClure, vice president of Operations and Professional Services. “Community physicians will be asked to commit to being a preceptor and provide for medical student clinical experiences.”

Third year medical students spend four weeks with physicians in specialty areas that are required for the hands-on educational part of their training. Required rotations include Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, Psychiatry, Geriatrics, General Surgery, OB/GYN and Emergency Medicine. The students also choose their own preceptor for a four-week rotation in several electives.

“It's a real partnership for our hospital and the community physicians,” McClure said. “Our hope is that it will continue to improve the level of health care we provide from a quality and knowledge standpoint. The greatest learning tool is when we can challenge one another, and the students and residents will challenge all of us. The students here will challenge the staff because they will be asking questions…the more questions they ask, the more attuned everyone is to their environment.”

In addition to accepting medical students into the halls of Camden-Clark Memorial Hospital in 2006, Camden-Clark will begin accepting internal medicine residents in July 2009. Camden-Clark has made it part of its mission to take on the challenge to provide education – not only among physicians, but among all those in the medical field who are working towards the same goal of providing better health care.

“We all support one another,” said Stephanie Schuler, assistant dean for Pre-Doctoral Clinical Education at WVSOM. “If you’re going to provide high quality health care, it’s not just one entity. We’re a team.”
Schuler has helped develop the WVSOM program in the Parkersburg-Marietta region, with the WVSOM local office being located at Camden-Clark.

“The relationships with our hospitals is extremely important because it is the home for our students for at least a year…also, Camden-Clark is starting an internal medicine program which is very important,” Schuler said. “Our hope is that some of our students will stay. Then, they will move their families there, and practice at the hospitals that we have affiliations with.”

Camden-Clark provides a headquarters in the Parkersburg-Marietta region for WVSOM. Susan Berry, regional statewide campus director for Parkersburg from WVSOM has made her home in the offices Camden-Clark has provided. The importance of accessibility in the area is to help the students find preceptors for their rotations.

"This is an exciting opportunity," Berry said, "Basically, we're growing the project from the ground up at Camden-Clark and in the process, and we’re building some great relationship as well."
David Pickering, a current medical student beginning his fourth year of medical school, said he has had a great experience at Camden-Clark Memorial Hospital. According to Pickering, the choice for Camden-Clark to add internal medicine interns in the hospital in July of 2009 has worked out in the favor of the Williamstown native.

"This has worked out perfectly for me," Pickering said. Pickering graduated in 1986 from Fort Frye High School and is married with three children. He worked for 15 years as an engineer when he decided to go back to school to become a doctor.

"I just always wanted to be a doctor,” Pickering said of his choice to go to medical school.

The osteopathic program is a D.O. program, but goes year-for-year matching a M.D. program. “Both D.O.’s and M.D.’s have the same responsibilities,” Pickering said. “They are both medical doctors and specialize in the same things.”

While in Lewisburg for the two years of courses, his family stayed in Williamstown. During his time back in Parkersburg for his required rotations, Pickering has been able to work many hours at Camden-Clark, and will continue to work with doctors during his fourth year as he chooses to stay in the Parkersburg area.

"I have worked with several doctors at Camden-Clark, on the behavioral health unit, in internal med with Dr. Leavitt and Dr. Onestinghel, in the emergency room and I've worked with other doctors that come in and out of Camden-Clark," said Pickering.

One doctor that has served as a preceptor, Dr. Bairava S. Kuppuswamy M.D., says he has always been interested in teaching. Dr. Kuppuswamy says his style of teaching is preferably at, beside or in his office with patients. He gives tasks to his students; such as to examine patients then to discuss their findings or a discussion of the diagnosis and management. He also has students do interpretation of labs.

“Medicine is an art,” Dr. Kuppuswamy said. “You learn from your patients. I have always been interested in teaching at any opportunity. Here I have one.”

According to McClure, the level of commitment Camden-Clark has made to medical students the past two years, and the new level of commitment Camden-Clark is making to internal medicine residents in the future represent a commitment to patient care, growth, employees and to all students in the health care profession.

"Camden-Clark has made a commitment to not only medical students, but to all health care students," McClure said. "Education elevates the level of health care we provide which ultimately benefits patient care."