Geisinger Wyoming Valley residencies generate research opportunities for medical students

The new Emergency Medicine Residency Program at Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center is set to accept residents in 2023 — which means more research activity. And the chief beneficiaries will be patients and Geisinger Commonwealth medical students.

Under the mentorship of Program Director Keith Willner, MD, second-year Geisinger Commonwealth medical students taking part in the Summer Research Immersion Program are researching a wide range of topics. For student Alden Mileto, the research he’s undertaken, called “Reduction in Computed Tomography Pulmonary Angiography (CTPA) Utilization in Pregnant Patients Suspected of Pulmonary Embolism via Pregnancy-Adapted YEARS Criteria,” has opened his eyes to the complexity of evidence-based care. Mr. Mileto reviewed charts of pregnant patients who presented to the Emergency Department with complaints that indicated pulmonary embolism — a life-threatening condition that requires immediate intervention. The standard procedure for a suspected pulmonary embolism is a CT scan. However, with pregnant patients, it’s preferable to avoid such scans, which expose the patient to some radiation. Some physicians use an adapted version of the proven algorithm, called YEARS, for pregnant patients. The objective of the study was to measure the potential avoidance of CT utilization if the pregnancy-adapted YEARS algorithm was applied more broadly. While more data is required, initial results are promising.

“I’ve done research before, but it wasn’t clinical, and I’ve never collected and analyzed the data myself. It made me understand it and appreciate it. Someone’s done an entire research dissertation on one line in our textbook,” he said. “Thanks to this experience, I’m interested in research. And even though I haven’t done all my rotations yet, I think I want to continue in emergency medicine.”

The students’ mentors praised the work. “Having an excited crop of students has really breathed some new life into my budding research career,” Dr. Willner said. “I’ll be delighted to take on future students.”

Dr. Ronald Strony, chair of Emergency Medicine for the Geisinger Medicine Institute, agreed. “My colleagues have shared how rewarding it’s been to work with such a motivated and resourceful group of students,” he said. “I’m glad our program contributed to their learning.”

Mileto

Willner