Monday, December 16, 2024
It was a rare and prestigious accomplishment for student Rebecca Modisette who became the first medical student from The 's TCOM to give an oral presentation at the world-renowned 鈥檚 52nd annual meeting in Quebec City, Canada. Modisette was chosen to present her
research on 鈥淒o sociodemographic, health behaviors, and clinical factors predict levels
of hs-CRP stratified by race and ethnicity?鈥�
鈥淚t was a great honor to be selected as the first TCOM student to give an oral presentation,鈥� Modisette said. 鈥淭his was a huge international conference and most of the people selected to present at this conference are residents or those heavily involved in research. Being around so many prominent and influential people in the research field was a great experience.鈥�
Modisette, a third-year student at TCOM, began her research project in the summer of 2023 as part of TCOM鈥檚 . She worked with Kimberly Fulda, DrPH, the executive director of and Dr. Andrew Yockey, an assistant professor in The University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth鈥檚 . They analyzed data gathered from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention鈥檚 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.
The research was in the health disparities category and utilized the hs-CRP test, which is a laboratory test that measures systemic inflammation in the body.
鈥淲e looked at things that could potentially impact markers of inflammation within different races and ethnicities,鈥� Modisette said. 鈥淲e looked at stress levels if you were married or not, and a variety of different factors. Overall we found that gender had a huge impact.鈥�
The goal of the research was to give providers more data to make early interventions in chronic disease processes, such as heart disease and diabetes, which can be associated with this type of inflammation.
It was in the spring of 2024 that Modisette submitted to present at the NAPCRG, and to her surprise was selected as an oral presenter.
鈥淚 definitely thought I was shooting for the stars when I applied for it,鈥� Modisette said. 鈥淚t was very intimidating because this was my first oral presentation. I鈥檝e done poster presentations before, but not this. After my presentation, two residents came up to me and applauded me for doing it as a medical student, much less a third-year. They told me I did a great job, and that was really nice to hear.鈥�
Modisette is no stranger to research. As an undergrad student at Baylor, Modisette had years of experience working as a research and lab assistant and was even published and seemed to be headed down that path, but soon realized it wasn鈥檛 her passion.
鈥淚 have a great appreciation for research, but it wasn鈥檛 my true passion,鈥� Modisette said. 鈥淚 did find a special calling to research and I wouldn鈥檛 mind doing it again down the road.鈥�
Her passion is medicine and specifically women鈥檚 health. Modisette鈥檚 research in undergrad focused on women鈥檚 health concerns and as she has progressed through medical school, that鈥檚 her focus as she prepares to pick a specialty, which will more than likely be obstetrics & gynecology.
鈥淚 find myself just going back to that, I really just love it,鈥� Modisette said.
Her research won鈥檛 stop at just an oral presentation as her acceptance to the NAPCRG conference will automatically allow her publication in the Annals of Family Medicine Journal.
鈥淭his is a great honor and such an impressive accomplishment for Rebecca to give an oral presentation at a conference of this magnitude,鈥� Fulda said. 鈥淚鈥檓 so proud of her and the presentation was fantastic.鈥�
From - Community by Steven Bartolotta