Since earning the 2023 MVPE Award for Research, Sarah Inman, MAE, has continued to cultivate robust research experiences for faculty, staff, residents, and learners at the College of Medicine-Bowling Green Campus.
Inman serves as registrar for the regional campus. Her contributions to its research mission include developing key partnerships that facilitate research opportunities for students, as well as promoting training and engagement in community research. The campus takes great pride in its growing research program, recently dedicating a research poster area in the student wing to allow learners to display their work year-round.
“There is a robust network of faculty members from all the UK College of Medicine campuses that collaborate with students, giving us firsthand experiences in medical and bench research,” shared Carmelo Venero, a second-year medical student. “They listen to your ideas and potential future projects too, which allows students to be creative.”
In Nov. 2023, the Bowling Green Campus hosted its first student research showcase, designed to highlight medical students’ research efforts and provide an opportunity to practice presenting to a group. The inaugural event featured 24 student posters and over 100 attendees from the University of Kentucky and its partners, including Western Kentucky University, Med Center Health, and the Western Kentucky Heart and Lung Research Foundation (WKHL).
Inman credits the ongoing partnership with the WKHL for much of the campus’ research success. The organization, founded by Mohammed Kazimuddin, MD, associate dean for graduate medical education at the Bowling Green Campus, hosts monthly research meetings, providing another forum where students can present their work alongside peers and other residents, fellows, and faculty.
“We are so grateful for Dr. Kazimuddin’s support— he has been a driving force in fostering relationships between attending physicians, fellows, residents, and our students,” expressed Inman.
Venero has been able to participate in several research events as a medical student, most recently at the student showcase and WKHL's December research meeting. Venero has also presented at the 2023 AOA Memorial Research Symposium, 2022 and 2023 WKHL Research Symposia, and at the Congress of Neurological Surgeons Annual Meeting in Washington, DC.
“I feel it is crucial as a medical student to understand how medicine evolves, and how it can impact patient care,” said Venero. “The opportunity to engage and collaborate with experts in the field through research is an outstanding opportunity to learn how research studies enhance and refine patient care.”
WKHL also hosts an annual symposium each spring, with Inman tapped to serve on the planning committee for the 2024 event. The WKHL Research Foundation Spring Research Symposium will be held April 19, 2024, and feature remarks from a variety of speakers, including two from our own UK HealthCare enterprise. More information about the event can be found here.
Photos below:
-(R-L) Dr. Deanna Morris, Dr. Mohammad Kazimuddin, Abbigayle Willgruber, and Sarah Inman. Willgruber, a fourth-year medical student, won best overall podium presentation at WKHL's 2023 research symposium
-(R-L) Dr. Melinda Joyce, Sarah Inman, and Dr. Deanna Morris
-Bowling Green Campus inaugural research showcase posters
-Bowling Green Campus inaugural research showcase held Nov. 2023
