Washington, DC, AMA Legislative Awareness internship: Sen. Durbin (IL), Sara Brenner, MD, Sen. Obama (IL)

Sara Brenner, MD

I came upon preventive medicine through a combination of searching and providence during my third year of medical school after I won a national grant to attend the 2005 American College of Preventive Medicine (ACPM) Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. During that gathering of preventive medicine physicians, residents, and speakers, I caught my first glimpse of a specialty that immediately resonated with my personal and professional philosophies about health. The macroscopic, systems-based investigation of population medicine and focus on prevention was exactly what I had been looking for but not found in medical school. Not only were the topics and sessions fascinating, but the doctors themselves were a vibrant, diverse group of inspiring, progressive thinkers. I launched a full investigation of training and careers in preventive medicine and public health and decided to pursue the most direct route into the field of preventive medicine.

After completing my intern year in Internal Medicine in Chicago, I anxiously began the PMR program in Albany. This program offers solid coursework, practicum year flexibility, incredibly supportive program staff, and a unique collaboration with the New York State Department of Health. The wide range of training opportunities allows for a well-rounded general preventive medicine education as well as training in specific areas of interest. I am currently focusing on cancer screening and prevention and health policy through my MPH coursework, ongoing projects, and planned practicum rotations. My areas of interest also include international medicine and the health care systems analysis.

I continue to be heavily involved with ACPM, currently serving as the President of the Association of Preventive Medicine Residents (APMR), as a track chair for Preventive Medicine 2008, and am a member of the Code of Ethics Committee and the Graduate Medical Education Committee. I thoroughly enjoy outreach efforts to medical students, physicians, allied health care workers, patients, politicians, and the general public to raise awareness of and interest in preventive medicine. Personal dedication to a healthy lifestyle demonstrates belief in and endorsement of the practices we prescribe to patients. Not only do I believe we should practice what we preach, but also that physicians are more likely to preach what they practice. Upstate New York is a great place for trail running, marathon training, kayaking, hiking, backpacking, and a variety of other outdoor adventures!

 

Christine Compton, MD

My desire to pursue a career in preventive medicine is a direct result of my own personal experience with cancer. As I began my cancer journey, I was given an invaluable opportunity, as a physician, to see medical care from the perspective of the patient. I discovered that while I received excellent care focused on the acute treatment of my cancer, there was a lack of input from the medical community on prevention beyond basic screening measures and maintenance medications. There was little information given or emphasis put on tertiary prevention including lifestyle changes, exercise, nutrition, appropriate supplements and avoiding potential treatment related side-effects such as lymphedema. Whatever changes I personally made, targeting prevention, were completely self-motivated. There are many outside sources available to the individual, who seeks prevention information, but the information is fragmented, often anecdotal and the scientific reliability is unclear. As a patient, I was often overwhelmed and unsure as to the most efficacious measures for preventing a recurrence. I believe there is a need to clearly define and consolidate the clinically relevant and scientifically supported information regarding prevention of cancer and actively incorporate this information into the overall treatment plan for the patient.

After completing an Internal Medicine internship, my practice experience has been in an outpatient primary care setting, for over ten years. After a period of time away from medicine to care for an elderly parent, I once again desired to play an active role in the medical community. I fortunately happened upon the Albany Preventive Medicine Residency web site. I was ecstatic to discover a training opportunity locally that targets prevention of disease with a specific emphasis on cancer prevention. I instantly knew this was the career path I wanted to follow. My own experience with cancer has made me keenly aware of the dire need to change the existing paradigm of cancer care to include intentional, comprehensive, and reliable patient education on prevention as an integral part of treatment. Empowering patients to become educated and active participants in their cancer care will not only decrease the incidence of recurrence but will enhance survivorship. The residency program is providing me with the needed training and skills to equip me to become a member of the team with a vision to implement changes in existing cancer care to improve prevention practices.

 

David Pratt, MD

In thinking about how I came to the Preventive Medicine Residency I am reminded of the quote attributed to Winston Churchill after the US finally entered World War II. Lord Churchill said, “America always makes the right decision…. after they have exhausted all other possibilities”. While I did not exhaust all the possibilities in medicine before preventive medicine, I certainly dabbled in a lot of the wonderful worlds that medicine encompasses. During my training and my career I have gone towards and away from public health and prevention several times. My clinical training is as an internist and pulmonologist. In the middle of my internal medicine residency I served as an Epidemic Intelligence Officer with the CDC. The work entails 2 years of front line in public health – usually doing outbreak investigation, and acute illness epidemiology. After leaving the CDC I completed training in Medicine and Pulmonary Disease and pursued a career in practice, teaching and research for 14 years. In the middle of that career I spent a year with the Immunization Branch at the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland. When I returned to the US I was understandably restless and interested in things outside the intensive care unit. Closer to public health, I got involved in occupational medicine. That interest provided a chance to enter the world of corporate medicine with Hershey Foods and very soon after GE Energy. I spent another 14 years in the business world of occupational medicine, global travel, fitness and wellness, cardiovascular disease prevention and trying to be a prudent buyer of health care. Corporate medicine allowed me to travel extensively and to have a varied schedule that ran from budgets and personnel, to dengue fever and stress. It was exciting, exhilarating and exhausting. In the fall of 2006 I decided that it was time to get out of airports and get serious about public health and prevention. I had heard good things about the SUNY Albany program and had met prior residents at Albany Medical Center seminars. I was also attracted by the superb health professionals at the New York State Department of Health. Knowing that this residency would allow me exposure to both the School of Public Health and the Department of Health my decision was rather straight forward. Finding my way to the residency, it was fun to exhaust lots of possibilities. I matured and learned a great deal. Becoming a preventive medicine resident, on the other hand, certainly feels like the right decision (finally) to me.

 

John L. Silvernail, MD

I have never been able to figure out what I wanted to be when I grew up.  Some would say that’s because I still haven’t grown up.  My life has been defined by my involvement with the fire service for most of the last 26 years.  During the past 26 years I have completed College (BS in Biology with Departmental Honors, Union College 1987), Medical School (Albany Medical College 1991), and my first residency in Family Practice (St. Clare’s Hospital, Schenectady, NY).  I also have gone from firefighter to lieutenant, to captain in my hometown fire department.  At the state level I am a New York State Fire Instructor and have been teaching at the State Fire Academy Since the late 1990’s.  The combination of firefighting and medicine lead me to become the Chief Medical Officer for the NYS Urban Search and Rescue Team (USAR Team) based in Albany, NY.  With the USAR team I have responded to many disasters in New York State including the World Trade Center Disaster on 9/11/2001.

Currently in addition to the Preventive Medicine Residency I provide occupational health services to more than 20 volunteer fire districts, medical oversight to 2 EMS agencies, and limited primary care services to about 70 developmentally disabled persons.

I am married, have 4 children (2 daughters, and twin sons), and 2 Dalmatians.  I enjoy railroads, fishing and other outdoor activities.  

 

Sheila Bushkin, MD

Sheila Bushkin, MD, is helping at the Rescue Mission in Albany, 2008.

 

Graduates of the program