Coat program isn ’ t designed just to bring students to the Lewisburg-based osteopathic medical school .
“ The goal is to enhance students ’ opportunities for acceptance into various healthcare professions ,” Thacker said . “ It ’ s not just focused on turning students into osteopathic physicians . We have had Green Coat participants go to each of the state ’ s three medical schools . We have students who have gone into dentistry , nursing , radiology , and other fields . We want them to see different levels of practitioners in multiple departments in a clinical setting so that we can expand the healthcare workforce in West Virginia .”
Bright said she has personally seen the program help students identify a direction for their career .
“ Part of the idea is to help students decide what they want ,” she said . “ There might be a pivotal moment during the program where a participant says , ‘ Now I know for sure that this is the direction I want to go in .’ Some come in aiming for medical school , but after their rotations they say , ‘ I ’ m changing my track because I want to be a physician ’ s assistant ,’ or ‘ I ’ m going to nursing school .’”
Additionally , Bright said she tries to tailor the program to meet the needs of individual students through specialty of choice rotations .
“ We had one student who was interested in pathology , so I worked
with our pathologist and got them an extra rotation . We had one who was interested in general surgery . I talked to one of our general surgeons , and she took her for a day ,” Bright said .
For Gateless , the Green Coat program solidified her resolve to enter medical school at WVSOM . She pointed out that students at small undergraduate colleges such as Davis & Elkins often have few opportunities to gain real-world experience in medical facilities .
“ Green Coat gave me the opportunity to make sure medicine was where I wanted to be ,” Gateless said . “ If I hadn ’ t had this program , I wouldn ’ t have had any idea what happens in a hospital until my third year of medical school .”
College students who would like to apply to the program can do so at www . wvsom . edu / academics / programs / rhi / greencoat . The application deadline for the fall 2022 semester is April 1 . For more information , contact Rebecca Thacker at rthacker @ osteo . wvsom . edu or 304-647-6298 .
WVSOM also offers a Green Coat program through the Charleston Area Medical Center . That program is currently on hold as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic .
Image : Valerie Bright , Davis Medical Center .
WVHA and WVSMA to Host Joint Annual Meetings
November 13-15 , 2022
Physicians and hospital leaders are joining together to learn from each other and share common interests during the Health Care Leadership Summit . The Summit will combine the annual meetings from both Associations and will offer shared educational sessions , as well as networking opportunities . Leaders from the hospital and physician communities are collaborating to expand the discussion on improving West Virginia ’ s health care delivery system .
The meeting will be held November 13-15 at The Greenbrier . Please mark your calendars and plan to join us !
For additional information , contact the West Virginia State Medical Association ( 304 ) 925-0342 or the West Virginia Hospital Association ( 304 ) 353-9723 .
West Virginia Medical Journal • March 2022 • 59