Despite pandemic year, scholars stayed busy, innovative while staying connected

April 20, 2021
The Colbert Education Center and MUSC Library on the Horseshoe. Photo by Sarah Pack

Each year, the Raymond S. Greenberg Presidential Scholars Program (PSP) brings together students from MUSC’s six colleges and students from the Charleston School of Law. The program is a way for students to work together in an interprofessional manner and to have shared experiences throughout the year with community partners. Faculty scholars and fellows - past student participants - work with the students to advise them and support their work throughout the program. The program is led by Jillian Harvey, Ph.D., College of Health Professions.

Traditionally, scholars have worked with a community partner to develop a project or program to benefit the community in some way. This year, due to COVID-19, the program had to look for a new, innovative way to continue on while taking into consideration the closure of the campus and social distancing requirements. The faculty scholars and fellows met before the program started for the year and decided to pursue a “master class” concept. With this format, the students would still be divided into teams based on self-identified interests and would work to develop an education session for the rest of the PSP participants.

While the year presented many challenges, the students came together and provided excellent speakers and topics. The program’s leadership remains impressed by how well the students adapted within the uncertainty and that the students still feel as though they had a rewarding experience with the PSP, even if it ended up being quite different from what they signed up for.

Following, each of the groups describes their topics and speakers as well as lessons learned.

Group 1

This year, the PSP has been filled with a variety of unique opportunities to be creative and innovative. Despite the in-person restrictions, we had the chance to learn from experts in the medical, educational and legal fields on the topics of health care disparities and telehealth. Our team created virtual expert panels, where speakers shared stories of their various practices and interactions with patients and students. They also elaborated on their roles in combating challenging systemic issues. These panels not only provided us with a valuable understanding on the current climate of these topics but also with hope for the future.

Our first virtual panel focused on the topic of health care disparities, with an emphasis on the social determinants of health. We learned about the disproportionate burden of death and illness experienced by Black and other minority groups in America and the root causes that impact these negative health outcomes. In addition to the social implications, we also learned how COVID-19 exacerbated the risk of health disparities and further widened the gap of equitable care. Our panelist educated us on the issues of access to care, insurance coverage and diversity in health care to help to achieve the goal of teaching us, as students and future healthcare providers, how to address these disparities and communicate effectively with our community and colleagues.

MUSC Presidential Scholar Seal 

Our second virtual panel was particularly relevant in lieu of social distancing restrictions and the transition to telemedicine. We presented on the topic of telehealth examining the legal standards of telemedicine, school-based telehealth and the access to telehealth in rural and underserved areas. Pioneers in the field of telemedicine, our panelists provided us with an in-depth look on the successes and challenges they face navigating telehealth and how it has evolved since the beginning of the pandemic. One poignant concept covered included debunking the myth of sacrificing the quality of care when transitioning to telehealth. We learned how telehealth has helped patients to avoid unnecessary costs and achieve equitable primary care support.

Throughout this year of expert panels, we have learned invaluable information that would not have been available without the PSP. The knowledge gained has given us more compassion, insight and confidence as we strive to become leaders and advocates for our community.

Group 2
The interdisciplinary team of presidential scholars includes students from both MUSC and the Charleston School of Law. Specifically, the team comprises medical, dental, pharmacy, nursing, physician assistant, health care administration, doctoral and law students, along with fellows and faculty mentors. This multidisciplinary composition is beneficial for our team, as our perspectives and backgrounds are diverse. The pandemic introduced new obstacles to interdisciplinary collaboration, but video conferencing technology enabled diverse speakers to join virtual discussions from across South Carolina and beyond. During the 2020-2021 year as presidential scholars, the team organized two seminars for the group as a whole. Both presentations allowed experts in their respective fields to educate our interprofessional group on timely and important topics that span multiple disciplines.

The first seminar titled “Effects of COVID-19: A Look from Different Perspectives,” explored the effects of the pandemic in different populations. The discussion with virtual panelists included a clinical psychologist, an ICU nurse, infectious disease physicians and epidemiologists, an elementary school teacher and S.C. Rep. Terry Alexander. Panelists discussed COVID-19 from an epidemiological and medical standpoint and its effects on mental health and underserved populations. In response to the discussion, several participants indicated that they were alarmed to hear how significantly "mental health issues have increased due to the events of COVID-19 and the lockdown" and surprised to learn “the increase in mental health problems isn't just being seen in people who had existing problems. There are new cases attributed to COVID.” One commented that “The epidemiology and consequences of COVID-19 is even more uncertain than I realized,” and another said that “There is a lot more to COVID than what the general public knows.” Multiple people reflected on their increased appreciation of the serious and disproportionate impacts of COVID-19 on underrepresented and minority patients. All participating panelists continue to shoulder heavy professional responsibility in responding to COVID-19. The presidential scholars are indebted to these panelists for their gift of time and expertise to discuss the ongoing pandemic.

Our second seminar, “Human Factors and Human-Centered Design in Healthcare and Beyond,” examined the challenges of creating a safe health care system that accommodates all patients and health care workers effectively. Our three panelists included a member and co-chair of the Parent Working Group of the collaborative chronic care network ImproveCareNow, a nurse who is also the director of compliance for her hospital and a PGY-3 internal medicine resident physician. Each panelist discussed improvements needed in health care to accommodate better a diverse population of patients. Improving patient outcomes is very important as health care continues to advance. As reiterated by the director of compliance, many human and nonhuman factors have affected and are affecting health care, including the latest challenge of COVID-19. Procedures in health care have surely changed since the onset of this current pandemic. Now is a good time to refocus on the center of health care, the patient and evolving into a system that is well-rounded and can meet the needs of all involved. The group discussion evoked comments directed at achieving better patient outcomes. Participants observed that health care providers should “meet patients at their level,” use “less medical jargon” and consider other relevant factors such as language and technology barriers. Participants commented that providers should recognize “many types of diversity” and should also customize care to improve communication and trust. The presidential scholars appreciate the patient care expertise, professional advice and personal insights offered by each of the panelists. The presidential scholars will carry these lessons forward as we pursue future training and practice and continue to collaborate across disciplines.

Group 3
The Policy and Leadership group facilitated its first session on Oct. 26, 2020. Because of the timeliness with the upcoming presidential election, the presentation focused on how voting impacts health care. U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn spoke about how access to broadband internet can impact and improve overall health care in South Carolina.  Elizabeth Brown and Joan Zaleski work with the League of Women Voters in the Charleston area and presented information about how different government policies affect health care, how voting impacts health policies as well as voting trends and how voting can improve a person’s well-being.

The Policy and Leadership group held its second session on March 8. The session focused on health care leadership. Carol Brown, Pharm.D., pharmacy coordinator of MUSC Investigational Drug Services/Research Pharmacy, and Dan Furlong, director of IS service delivery for MUSC Information Solutions, touched on topics of qualities that make a good leader, including being humble and direct when delivering constructive criticism. Additionally, the panelists discussed conflict resolution and how it is important to resolve conflicts as they arrive in order to maintain a team.

Group 4
This year as a part of the PSP, instead of working on community outreach programs, a series of “Master Classes” were designed to educate the members of the program on various health care topics. The team of scholars, fellows and faculty members included Nikita Patel (Health Professions), Bonnie Kwasnik (Health Professions), Madeline Anderson (Health Professions), Brittney Fitzgerald (Health Professions), Dhruv Chotalia (Dental Medicine), Anesa Stackhouse (Dental Medicine) Rebecca Stairley (Graduate Studies), Mark Spangler (Pharmacy), Taylor Trabant (Pharmacy), Daniel Cook (Medicine), Gabrielle Young (Medicine) and Donna Reinbeck (Nursing).

For the first session, the group organized a panel of speakers to address the broad topic of underserved and vulnerable populations. Our panel consisted of Anthony Poole, Elizabeth Sattin, Elizabeth Call, M.D., and Caroline Caldwell-Richmond, Ph.D. This diverse group of speakers addressed the specific health care needs of incarcerated individuals, children with disabilities, homeless individuals and veterans. Each speaker brought unique insight and answered questions, including what defines a vulnerable population? Which organizations and partnerships can increase the quality of care for these individuals? How have certain policies/laws helped or hindered the ability to care for these populations effectively? And, what can the average person or society as a whole do to support the care of underserved and vulnerable populations better?

For the second session our group had panelists on health policy and health insurance. Speakers included Lori Smith Johnson, Sean Markham and Sara Thigpen. Speakers addressed topics of BlueCare Medicare supplement, Medicaid, medical bankruptcy and dental insurance. Specific questions addressed focused on advice for someone struggling to pay their medical bills, how dental insurance differs from medical insurance, ways the medical insurance system could be improved and changes that this past year will have on insurance coverages.