Ashley Morrow, coordinator for the Essentials of Clinical Medicine Program at the Georgia Health Sciences University/University of Georgia Medical Partnership, said that she’s always been health conscious, exercising regularly and eating healthy, but after her mother, Shannon Bledsoe, was diagnosed with ovarian cancer 16 years ago, she turned her interest in health into a career.
“I just remember thinking back then, how did we not know the signs and symptoms?” Morrow said.
More than a decade later and Morrow’s mother is now cancer free, she said that being blindsided by her mother’s cancer had a profound effect on her life.
She went on to study health promotion at UGA, then work for the local public health district as a breast and cervical cancer health educator. She then spent six years at the American Cancer Society before coming to the Medical Partnership last year.
“I’m excited to be a part of developing medical [education] from the ground level and seeing how everything’s changing and growing as we go,” she said. “And I like being part of an initiative that will eventually improve the overall health in the state of Georgia by educating more physicians.”
Part of her job is coordinating the simulated patient program, where around 40 volunteers and 14 UGA drama students act out scripted scenarios for medical students to learn bedside manner, history taking and data gathering.
Morrow is responsible for recruiting and training volunteers from the community.
“I coordinate and develop schedules for the volunteers, faculty, and students, determine who will play which case, and train the volunteers the week prior to an encounter,” she said.
For example, the scenario might be for the volunteers to act out that they have recently gained weight and are concerned. The medical students would then discuss with the volunteers behavior change such as diet modification and implementing regular exercise into their current routines.
These encounters are all monitored. Faculty can be in the exam room or watch in live time in nearby viewing stations.
Morrow said the volunteers have said they enjoy being part of a physician’s education. “These medical students have a better bedside manner than my own doctor,” one of the volunteers once told Morrow.
“In general, the Essentials of Clinical Medicine’s goal is to teach students how to deliver informed and compassionate patient care,” she said.
Morrow also helps coordinate the community health component of students’ medical education. The students are divided into groups and are tasked with defining a local health problem, investigating it and implementing a project. Groups are working with the Medical Partnership’s community partners: the Athens Council on Aging, the Athens Nurses Clinic, Early Head Start with the Athens-Clarke County School System, Nuçi’s Space and the University Health Center.
She is the adviser for the group working with the University Health Center which is investigating sleep deprivation. They’ve researched what the health center has already done about the issue, what other colleges have done and the students are working on a plan to develop their own intervention.
“It could be anything from an educational seminar, health fair, brochure or a media campaign,” she said.
“I’m learning every day here. I did not know much about medical education, aside from the community health component, however, I have learned so much in the last year,” she said. “It’s fascinating what our students are tasked with every day.”
