Students

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BERKELEY SPRINGS — To fulfill community service requirements toward graduation, two students of the West Virginia University School of Osteopathic Medicine began a project to educate arthritis patients through educational classes.

What they found was that this little idea about education blossomed into something special.

Dr. Rick Graves of Graves Medical Practice in Berkeley Springs wanted a local project in patient education. So Ajay Patil and fellow student Bill Cerrato began conducting classes in September 2006.

“Dr. Graves has a rather large patient base,” Patil says. “Bill and I work there once a week. A large number of his patients have the pathology associated with rheumatoid arthritis, lupus and a range of rheumatoid diseases.”

According to Patil, such cases are on the rise. “We’re seeing more cases now because we’re better at diagnosis,” he says. “Before, many had pain and symptoms but were not diagnosed.”

He says patients who have arthritic pain may be confused as to what causes the discomfort. They see multiple doctors to treat symptoms and do not get the full idea of what is going on. “They get frustrated, and their families get frustrated,” he says.

The doctor and two students conduct informal classes and lectures on various topics like lupus. Handouts are given with information on the various forms of the disease, and question and answer sessions follow. The goal is to help the patients deal with what is going on in their daily lives physically as well as emotionally.

“We felt we could empower them with tools like the handouts and lectures,” Patil says. “We meet once a month and ask them for their ideas on topics to discuss at the next meeting.”

To date, sessions have nine to 12 patients, depending on topic and interest generated in that topic.

But what the students didn’t imagine was how the educational sessions would help the patients and their families beyond the classroom.

“We didn’t expect them to talk to each other,” Patil continues. “They started to develop their own support system within the group. Some days patients couldn’t go out with family, and the other family members didn’t always understand why the one couldn’t complete those activities. The patients felt alone.”

Patil says they realized that the disease can cause more than just pain for the patients. “This affects the whole family,” he says. “And they realized they had a support network created out of the classes.”

Patil says he learned from his patients and their discussions. “This has taught me the importance of communication with the patient and the importance of education. It’s as important as the therapeutic side. We can help them to have some control over their health care.”

And he says he learned a lot about teaching. “It’s helped me be able to put lectures together and learn about myself. If I am asked something I don’t have an answer for, I research to find the answer. It feels good to go that extra mile,” he says.

Going that extra mile is part of the point of the community service. Students of WVU School of Osteopathic Medicine in Lewisburg are required to do community service in their third year. But if they choose to come to the Eastern Division of WVU Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center, they are required to complete more community service in the Eastern Panhandle.

The long-term goal by training them here with local physician leaders is that they will return to the counties of the Eastern Panhandle to practice, according to Patil.

Other programs included a Spanish outreach, Maintain, Don’t Gain and seven students teaching health classes at Musselman High School.


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