UTMB Galveston FMIG holds their annual Primary Care Procedures at the Primary Care Pavilion

By Perdita Henry

On October 12, 2017 the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston’s Family Medicine Interest Group — and first place winners of the Texas FMIG Program of Excellence Award — held their seventh annual Primary Care Procedures at the Primary Care Pavilion. It was an evening of hands-on training and interactive workshops taught by UTMB family medicine faculty and residents.

The event kicked off with an opening dinner and statements from FMIG leaders and UTMB faculty. Once the audience was told what to expect for the evening, the 80 medical students in attendance headed off to one of 11 procedure stations to learn about endometrial biopsies, vaginal deliveries, colposcopy, dermatology, joint injections, circumcisions, splinting and casting, knot tying, suturing, and more.

Seven years ago, UTMB’s family medicine department received grant money for student education. Numerous ideas were considered, but ultimately the FMIG officers pitched the idea of a suturing workshop. That initial workshop grew into PCP at the PCP and is one of the FMIG’s most popular events. One of the faculty members who helped bring PCP at the PCP to UTMB Galveston students is Julie McKee, MD, Associate Professor and Assistant Dean of Student Affairs. “It is really awesome to see PCP at the PCP continuing,” she said. “It has grown every year and has become kind of famous on campus.”

As medical students moved through the building to their assigned workstations, Edward Strecker, third-year medical student and president of the FMIG, reminisced over his first time attending PCP at the PCP just two years before and hoped that students would come away with a better understanding of the variety within family medicine. “A lot of people view family medicine as just basic problems and nothing more,” he said. “But you can do sports medicine, obstetrics, academic medicine, geriatrics, see the pediatric population, help people with psychiatric conditions. When you fully understand the scope of family medicine you realize you can do so much to help your patients.”

The seventh annual PCP at the PCP was a success. Students got a taste of the variety of procedures family medicine docs can do and they seemed pleased overall with the experience. Lenexa Morais, a first-year medical student and first-time attendee, attended the circumcision procedure workshop. Morais was all smiles as she prepared take on the challenges waiting for her at the next station. “The doctors and the residents are very kind and explained the different materials and tools, as well as how it mimics real-life application.” In the end, medical students who attended the event left talkative and excited about what they learned. Years from now, when those medical students are residents and physicians, they may walk into an exam room to perform a procedure they experienced for the first time at the Primary Care Pavilion.