{"id":52236,"date":"2018-05-08T11:15:53","date_gmt":"2018-05-08T15:15:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/?p=52236"},"modified":"2018-05-08T10:57:32","modified_gmt":"2018-05-08T14:57:32","slug":"medical-student-to-receive-excellence-in-public-health-award-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/2018\/05\/08\/medical-student-to-receive-excellence-in-public-health-award-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Medical student to receive Excellence in Public Health Award"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Alexandra Lawson<\/p><\/div>\n

The U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS) will recognize Alexandra Lawson, an M.D.\/M.P.H. dual-degree student at the Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine<\/a>, with a 2018 Excellence in Public Health Award during the pre-graduation award ceremony<\/a> on Thursday, May 10, at the Schuster Center in Dayton.<\/p>\n

The award recognizes medical students who are involved in public health issues in their community. In 2017, USPHS presented awards at 78 medical schools throughout the nation.<\/p>\n

Throughout her medical school and public health training, Lawson has focused her clinical and research efforts on addressing the goals and objectives of Healthy People 2020, a 10-year national plan for improving the health of all Americans. Lawson is committed to helping others attain high-quality lives, achieving health equity, creating social and physical environments that promote good health and promoting quality of life and health across all life stages.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to become a doctor, because I enjoy learning about science and medicine, and I want to be able to help people,\u201d Lawson said. \u201cIt is an incredibly humbling and rewarding field.\u201d<\/p>\n

She pursued both her Doctor of Medicine and Master of Public Health degrees (M.D.\/M.P.H.) through the Boonshoft School of Medicine Physician Leadership Development Program (PLDP)<\/a>, a dual-degree program through which medical students can obtain a master\u2019s degree in public health or business while pursuing their medical degree over five years. She spent her third year of medical school finishing her M.P.H. coursework, a 200-hour practicum and a culminating experience, while also completing an eight-month, longitudinal, pediatrics clerkship at a comprehensive community health center that serves an underserved population.<\/p>\n

Lawson is drawn to primary care and addressing conditions that improve the health of others. \u201cI see myself treating the whole patient, including the physical, mental and emotional aspects of people\u2019s health,\u201d she said. \u201cI want to provide that level of care to all patients, regardless of age or gender.\u201d<\/p>\n

She is looking forward to helping patients manage and take control of their illnesses. \u201cI want to help my patients prevent diseases by encouraging healthy lifestyles and appropriate screenings,\u201d Lawson said. \u201cI want to be an advocate for my patients and connect them to the resources they need to be successful in living a healthy life.\u201d<\/p>\n

During her Master of Public Health program, she conducted research with a physician at a children\u2019s hospital, examining the effects of secondhand smoke exposure on children. Her research findings of a relationship between secondhand smoke exposure and metabolic syndrome in children with elevated body mass index led to several presentations at national conferences and submission to a peer-reviewed journal. She was selected as one of only a few students to present her research at the Delta Omega Honorary Society in Public Health poster session at the 2016 American Public Health Association annual meeting.<\/p>\n

As a medical student, she has participated in health promotion initiatives to increase influenza vaccination and colorectal cancer screenings. She also worked to address medication nonadherence by patients. In addition, she volunteered at local homeless shelters with a student organization, Students Teaching Educational Plans for Success.<\/p>\n

Throughout medical school, Lawson has been a leader. She served as a student teaching assistant for the Boonshoft School of Medicine Prematriculation Program after her first year of medical school. She was president of the Wright State University chapter of the American Medical Women\u2019s Association in 2014-2015. During her M.P.H. graduate year, she served as president of the Physician Leadership Development Program Council. She also served one semester during that year as the graduate assistant for the program.<\/p>\n

She was inducted into the Phi Rho Sigma Medical Society and the Delta Omega Honorary Society in Public Health. She was the recipient of the John D. and Gretchen H. Bullock Endowed Public Health and Medicine Award and the John C. Gillen, M.D., Clerkship Award for Family Medicine.<\/p>\n

Sabrina Neeley, Ph.D., director of the Population Health Curriculum and director of the Physician Leadership Development Program<\/a>, praised Lawson\u2019s commitment to public health.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlexandra will advocate for her patients and utilize her public health training to address the relationship between medical issues and social determinants of health,\u201d Neeley said. \u201cShe is one of the most intelligent, insightful and compassionate medical students I have ever met.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lawson will begin a residency in family medicine this summer at the University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine in Tampa. After residency, she hopes to work in family medicine, spending the majority of her time seeing patients. She also wants to dedicate some of her time to community health projects and public health research. In addition, she hopes to be affiliated with a medical school, so she can teach medical students and residents.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The U.S. Public Health Service will recognize Alexandra Lawson, an M.D.\/M.P.H. dual-degree student, for her involvement in public health issues. Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":50,"featured_media":52240,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[722,725,2130,2149,2016,715,3768],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-52236","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academics","category-home-news-sidebar","category-public-health","category-medical-students","category-medicine","category-news","category-physician-leadership-development"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52236","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/50"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52236"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52236\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52244,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52236\/revisions\/52244"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52240"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52236"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52236"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52236"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}