VCOM View Magazine Vol. 12 | No. 1

Student Spotlight

VCOM-Louisiana Students Place First in Global Health Competition S cabies is a common disease, but it is not as widely researched as other infectious diseases. Ariana Faraji and Faith Sharp, both Class of VCOM’s campus in Monroe, Louisiana, may be the College’s newest campus, but the students there are already showing the world what they can do. Here are just a few of the students in Louisiana who are making the VCOM family proud. & DETERMINATION EXCELLENCE VCOM-Louisiana Students Show

more frequently in poverty-stricken areas where people have limited access to clean living conditions. “A lot of endemic parasitic diseases in these tropical countries can be eradicated by improving living conditions and by using preventative strategies. By determining a weather correlation with scabies, we can potentially predict when more scabies cases will occur and help those countries prepare through prevention strategies and lessen the caseload of scabies,” says Sharp. The American Osteopathic Association’s Bureau of International Osteopathic Medicine (BIOM) hosts a global health competition each year for medical students and residents. Faraji and Sharp showcased their poster, “Effects of Weather Patterns on the Incidence of Scabies,” during a virtual presentation at the BIOM International Seminar in October 2022, where they received first prize in the Research Abstract category.

2024 medical students at VCOM-Louisiana, wanted to see if they could change that, so they used VCOM’s CREDO patient database to study the condition.The database is a collection of notes that VCOM students and faculty use to record the type of patients they see during their clinical rotations. “We looked up the number of scabies cases, and we were able to see when those cases were reported, how old the patient was and at what clinical site that case was seen.We used that data along with gathered weather data from that time frame to perform our research,” says Sharp. Looking at data from both international and U.S. sites, the pair discovered that the disease occurred

Ariana Faraji

Faith Sharp

Austin Bolay Honored for his Work to Promote LGBTQ+ Engagement and Inclusion V COM-Louisiana student Austin Bolay is committed to equality and inclusivity for members of the LGBTQIA+ community.The Class of 2024 student serves on VCOM-Louisiana’s Diversity and Inclusion Board and has worked with other students and state groups

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