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Welch (M.D., '25), Hogans-Mathews earn blue ribbon at conference

The Society of Teachers of Family Medicine (STFM) awarded Florida State University College of Medicine student DanTasia Y. Welch (M.D., '25) and her mentor, Dr. Shermeeka Hogans-Mathews, a blue ribbon for the poster they presented at the 2023 Conference on Medical Student Education Jan. 26-29 in New Orleans.

DanTasia Y. Welch
DanTasia Y. Welch

Welch presented a poster summarizing her research on the effect of breastfeeding on postpartum depression (PPD) in non-Hispanic Black women. She proposed the project in her successful application for the 2022 Summer Research Fellowship Program. Hogans-Mathews, an assistant professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Rural Health and a 2015 graduate of the College of Medicine’s M.D. program, supervised the research.

Research has shown that breastfeeding releases “feel good” hormones like oxytocin and reduces the levels of stress hormones, such as cortisol. Yet, breastfeeding rates are lower among Black women and PPD rates are higher. Welch’s research explored the reasons behind the lower rates of breastfeeding.

Of the more than 80 posters at the conference, only 13 were selected for blue ribbons. A panel of three judges independently evaluated each poster. Criteria included clarity, relevance to family medicine student education, strength of methods and overall effectiveness.

Welch was also one of the 2023 STFM Foundation Student Scholarship award winners, which provided financial support for her to attend the conference. Hogans-Mathews' department nominated Welch for the scholarship and assisted with her travel expenses.

“I am very honored to be one of the scholarship award winners and to attend and present at the conference,” Welch said.

Welch also co-presented, with Hogans-Mathews, a seminar on promoting wellness while tackling perfectionism – shining a light on the inner critic – at the conference. Both were national presentations. Hogans-Mathews hopes to navigate a path as a leader in physician wellness, specifically the perils of perfectionism, and is providing Welch a chance to accompany her on that journey.

“DanTasia exemplifies the College of Medicine mission and is inquisitive, teachable and very intelligent. She caught on to research very quickly,” Hogans-Mathews said. “Our time together solidified the need for mentorship of all students, especially those from groups that are traditionally underrepresented in medicine (URM), particularly as we advance academic medicine.”

URM groups – Black, Hispanic and Indigenous – together comprise one-third of the U.S. population, Hogans-Mathews said, but less than 7% of U.S. medical school faculty.

In notifying Welch and Hogans-Mathews of the scholarship award, the STFM Conference co-chairs said the award not only recognizes Welch’s strong commitment to academic family medicine through scholastic, volunteer and leadership pursuits, it also acknowledges her potential for a career in academic medicine.

“I had a great experience working with and learning from my mentor, Dr. Hogans-Mathews, and advisor, Dr. George Rust, for my Summer Research Fellowship,” Welch said. “I am also super-excited about networking with students, faculty and other health professionals passionate about academic family medicine.”

The Summer Research Fellows' posters, including Welch's, were on display Oct. 26, 2022, in the atrium, as well as Feb. 3, 2023, at the College of Medicine's annual Research Fair.

“The opportunity to conduct research under the guidance of a faculty mentor, especially on a topic of their own choosing, has been a tremendous asset for the medical careers of our students,” said Jeffrey N. Joyce, senior associate dean for research and graduate programs.

“We believe that the support we provide, both financially as a stipend and through connecting our students with mentors, allows our students to conduct research that impacts communities. It also is a great environment to develop leadership skills, such as those demonstrated by DanTasia.” 

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Sep 30, 2022
WTXL
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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) — Florida State University and Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare say they are teaming up to bring a big economic boost to the area.

“I’m very excited,” shared FSU President, Richard McCullough.

“It’ll have a big impact,” added TMH CEO, Mark O’Bryant.

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Sep 28, 2022
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(CNN) — Covid-19 changed a lot – how we socialized, where we went, and even what work looked like. A new study shows the pandemic may have changed our personalities as well.

Psychologists have long believed that a person’s traits stayed pretty much the same, evenin the wake of stressful events. But by looking at pre-pandemic levels of neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness and conscientiousness and comparing that to data collected in 2021 and 2022, researchers found notable personality changes among the United States population, according to the study.

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Sep 30, 2022
Smithsonian Magazine
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American adults experienced about a decade’s worth of personality change in just two years of the Covid-19 pandemic, a new study revealed.
The research, published Wednesday in the journal PLOS ONE, found declines in extroversion, openness, agreeableness and conscientiousness among adults, with the most dramatic shifts displayed in people under 30.

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Sep 26, 2022
Tallahassee Democrat
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A nearly $5 million grant to Florida State University's College of Medicine can possibly change the trajectory of young adults affected by the HIV epidemic, which remains a main health concern decades after the initial outbreaks in the U.S.

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Sep 20, 2022
Tallahassee Democrat
PRESS RELEASE

Florida State University invites the community to engage in the research process as its scientists look to better understand complicated diseases and other medical conditions.

The institution has joined ResearchMatch (researchmatch.org), a nonprofit program funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) where people - healthy or not - can sign up to participate in health-related research.

 

MD 2024 students (Behers, Carr, and Melchor) publish paper

Jun 30, 2022
journal

Myocarditis Following COVID-19 Vaccination: A Systematic Review of Case Reports

 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9235262/#__ffn_sectitle

 

Learn More

Hayden Greene (M.D. 2023) publication

Aug 16, 2022
Hayden Greene

Fourth-year College of Medicine medical student Hayden Greene shared how connecting with a terminal patient provided an important lesson on her path to becoming a physician. Greene's first-person article - An Unexpected Apology - was published by in-Training, the online peer-reviewed publication for medical students.

Greene, a student at the Sarasota Regional Campus, is a St. Petersburg, Fla. native. She has been actively involved in research throughout her academic career. As an undergraduate at Florida State University, where she graduated magna cum laude with a degree in dietetics, her research led to contributions in two publications in the American Journal of Physiology.

Following her graduation she worked at an assisted-living facility in her hometown, where she continued working with memory- and cognitively-impaired individuals. Greene returned to school and completed here master's degree in medical sciences at the University of South Florida. Following her degree completion she began research work at USF, where she studied Angelman syndrome. Her research efforts led to a potential patent and publication.

CHARTIER (M.D., 2024) A RECIPIENT OF KNAPP MEDICAL STUDENT AWARD

Sep 13, 2022
Marc Chartier

 

Marc W. Chartier, a third-year medical student at Florida State University’s College of Medicine, is one of 15 medical students from across Florida to be honored as 2022-2023 recipients of the Dr. Robert C. Knapp Medical Student Award.

The award, established in 2011 by Hearing the Ovarian Cancer Whisper (HOW), an advocacy, educational and support group for ovarian cancer research and patient support, allows medical students to spend a minimum of four weeks with a gynecologic oncologist as one of their elective clinical rotations. Honorees submit a report to HOW about their experiences; they also receive a $3,000 cash award.

Chartier, a Sarasota native now studying at the Sarasota Regional Campus, majored in biochemistry and minored in chemistry as an undergraduate student FSU. He has long planned to focus on obstetrics and gynecology as a medical specialty and the Knapp Award will expand his training in the sub-specialty of gynecologic oncology.

“The state of women’s healthcare and women’s rights needs greater representation
and advocacy,” he wrote in his College of Medicine student profile. “The stories of
poor healthcare outcomes for disadvantaged women of all ages and demographics are too myriad to list.

“My mission is to use medical education and the subsequent practice of medicine to directly influence clinic care in an obstetric and gynecologic setting, as well as shape healthcare policy in the legislative environment at the state and federal levels.”

This year’s recipients included medical students studying at the University of Florida, the University of Miami Miller School Medicine, the Florida International University Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine, the University of Central Florida College of Medicine, the University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine, and the FSU College of Medicine.

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