NME 28th Annual Research Competition Winners Announced

PORTSMOUTH, Va. (NNS) -- The Naval Medical Center Portsmouth (NMCP) commander announced April 1 the winners of the 28th annual Navy Medicine East Academic Research Competition (ARC) Poster Session after residents and interns from around NME presented their posters March 22.

Eighty-three entries were presented to the judges. The primary presenter for each research project and poster is either a resident or an intern who was assisted by an NMCP staff member in the completion of the project. The research competition gives residents and interns the practice in completing such a project and making a presentation of their work.

The first place winners are from the Pediatrics Department: Air Force Capt. Elizabeth Schulz, a pediatric resident, and NMCP staff Cmdr. Matthew McLean and Cmdr. Stephanie Kapfer. They presented "Partial Deletion and Duplication of the Long Arm of Chromosome 4: A Previously Described Genotype with New Phenotypic Qualities."

"I still think I'm in shock!" said Schulz about her win. "With all the great competition, especially the innovative surgical procedures and fascinating cases that entered the competition, I feel quite honored to have won. It is definitely not just a win personally, but a 'Team Pediatrics' win. I just feel blessed to have so much support, especially as an Air Force resident at a Navy hospital."

Second place went to Lt. Mary Thorpe, Lt. Cmdr. William Ward, Lt. Daniel Z. Adams and Cmdr. Christopher Scibelli of Vascular Surgery for "An Odd Variant of Thoracic Outlet Syndrome - A Case Report," and third place to Lt. W. Michael Pullen and Lt. Cmdr. Robert Gaines in Orthopedics for "Dual Plating Technique with Iliac Crest Autograft for Symptomatic Non-Union of Medial Clavicle Fracture."

The topic of each poster differed, ranging from patients with a lung abscess or Crohn's disease to care given to a patient who had swallowed a sharp object. Because of the success of their work, many of the resulting studies have been submitted to medical journals for publication.

"A testament to the quality of the submissions was that the judges had a very tough time determining the winners as there were so many good posters," wrote Rear Adm. Elaine C. Wagner, NMCP commander, in the announcement.

"I'm proud of all of our trainees, but am especially appreciative of those who went above and beyond to enter posters in the recent research competition," said Capt. Tim Porea, Pediatric Residency Program director in Pediatric Oncology at NMCP. "These projects take a good deal of time on top of all their regular duties, and they are to be congratulated on their efforts.
"I'd also like to recognize the staff physicians who served as mentors for these projects. It is contributions like these from both residents and staff that make our joint Navy-Air Force residency a highly sought program in military pediatrics."

For the competition, residents and interns conduct case studies over weeks or months and present them to hospital staff for review. In some cases, special surgeries or specific drug treatments were involved, many requiring X-rays and photographs to be taken and follow-up care.

"The research effort was an endeavor, especially in the amount of data gathering involved," Schulz said. "Dr. Kafer continued surgical follow-up and documentation for this patient, which helped to put the pieces of this child's life together for us. Dr. McLean devotes much of this time to resident education and played a vital role in gathering data."

After their research was completed, they compiled the information and images into a presentation poster and prepared for a 10-to-15 minute question and answer session with the judges.

"Every time a physician is presented with an opportunity to speak about their area of interest, it is a new opportunity to educate others on your work and passions in medicine," Schulz said. "My panel of judges had great questions, posing some I myself hadn't thought of. It was a great opportunity to have insight from other fields of medicine on one of your own specialty cases. This competition only gave me more confidence about potential future presentations."

The poster competition has been steadily gaining ground, with the number of entries growing by about 10 percent each year. NMCP's leadership actively supports research which has had a positive effect the number of presentations and the quality of the research. One of the elements of the command's strategic plan is research and its contributions to the success of the medical center. The focus on research also upholds the Navy Surgeon General's goal of providing value within Navy Medicine.

Thomas Rieg, Clinical Investigation Department head, who had a large part in organizing the poster competition, noted these kinds of competitions help those in the medical community gain insight into and knowledge about cases and conditions they may not have seen before, or may not know much about.

"For me, being a researcher, I think research is fun," Rieg said. "Being able to come up with a question and answer that questions and contributes to science or medicine is really a fun thing. I think this is an opportunity to showcase research so other people become interested as well. Without research, medicine isn't going anywhere. Everything we know is due to the result of some kind of research project."

The next portion of the annual ARC will be April 25, where NME staff and trainees will present their Institutional Review Board-approved entries in the oral portion. The first place winners of the oral competition then will compete against regional winners from Navy Medicine West and Navy Medicine Capital Region at the Navy-wide ARC at Naval Medical Center San Diego in May.

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