A Student's Summer Experience: The Summer Institute

This past summer, second-year student Kurt DeVaney participated in the Summer Institute 2014, a week-long event and education program organized by the School of Community Medicine at the University of Oklahoma-Tulsa.

Kurt, who will be starting his administrative residency with INTEGRIS Health in January 2015, was the lone health care administration participant in the entire program, and we thought his experiences were fascinating and worth sharing!  He was gracious to provide the following account:

"During this past summer, I had the opportunity to attend the University of Oklahoma School of Community Medicine's Summer Institute.  The Institute took place over a week's time and focused on the state of Oklahoma's health along with that of the community of Tulsa.  It started with a bus tour of Tulsa, showing us historical parts of town and where low-income communities are located.  The program focused on low-income families and those who cannot afford to purchase health care, and the program's organizers wanted to give participants a firsthand look at low-income neighborhoods and the conditions these families experience.

As the week went on, we partook in many different activities and listened to many different lectures on topics circling around the concepts of population health and treating the underprivileged.  The activities included interviewing patients, touring different organizations focused on low-income individuals and families, engaging in a poverty simulation, and developing a "prototype," with the goal of creating a program or initiative that will add value to the health care system in the area.

It was interesting throughout my time at the Institute to be the only health care administration student attending.  Most of the people attending were students working towards different degrees, including medical students, social work students, physician assistant students, and nursing students.  Having such a wide spectrum of students included in the program allowed for different points of view to be shared on all of the topics we discussed.  Through working with students of different disciplines, we collaborated on different ideas and appreciated how everyone brings a different perspective and can contribute things others can't.  It was a great experience for my career, as a lot of meetings will be held where I am the only administrator and need to understand where others are coming from when different topics are brought up.

Overall, the main theme I took away from the week was to make sure you are focused on the patient.  There was an emphasis on listening to what the patient is telling you, because although we would like to "power through" appointments to see as many people as possible, taking that extra few minutes to listen to what the patient has to say will save you time and money in the long run.  You don't know what your patients are going through in their lives, and although you can prescribe medicine and tell them what to do, taking the time to get to know them and creating a connection is going to result in increased appointment adherence as well as a healthy individual."

Appreciating others' perspectives, making a positive difference in the community's health, and focusing on the patient: sounds like some great lessons learned and experiences gained.  A summer well spent...thanks, Kurt!