Passion Drives Medical Students' Scholarly Projects

Capstone Projects: The Culmination of 4 Years of Scholarly Work

Medical students in the Population-based Urban and Rural Community Health (PURCH) pathway at  Baystate Health gathered with their peers at the UMass Chan Medical School main campus to present their Capstone projects.

In the Capstone Scholarship and Discovery (CSD) course students choose project topics based upon their interests and their project advisor  mentors them throughout their four years of medical school.

2023 Capstone Awards

Capstone Merit Award

This award recognizes students who exemplify the spirit of the CSD course—they not only accomplish an advanced level of scholarship, they also exhibit tenacity and maintain high levels of professionalism.

Kendall Burdick | What 9-1-1 gets you: Who has access to a pediatric trauma center?
Project Advisor - Eric Fleegler, MD, MPH | Learning Community Mentor - Jacqueline Wu, MD

Sarah Calove | An Investigation Into Medical Practices Contributing to Sexual and Gender Minority Disparities
Project Advisor - Carey Candrian, PhD | Learning Community Mentor - Jacqueline Wu, MD

Eve Manghis | Perceptions of the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program Among Massachusetts Emergency Department Leaders: A Qualitative Inquiry
Project Advisor - William Soares, MD, MS | Learning Community Mentor - Eric Churchill, MD, MPH

Victoria Powell | Assessing and Reducing Barriers to Treatment for Hepatitis C on Tapestry Health’s Mobile Health Van: Survey and Pilot Program Development
Project Advisor - Anne Jenney, MS, PA-C | Learning Community Mentor - Eric Churchill, MD, MPH

Capstone Project Advisor Award

This award recognizes project advisors for their continued support and dynamic involvement in the Capstone Scholarship and Discovery Course. (Photo-right: Dr. Jesse Casaubon)

Jesse Casaubon, MD | Assistant Professor, Department of Surgery, UMass Chan - Baystate
Advisees - Zilin Cui and Emily Vicks

Mitchell Cahan, MD, MBA, MLS, FACS | Adjunct Professor, Department of Surgery, UMass Chan Medical School
Advisees - Jennifer Sullivan and Chloe Young

2023 PURCH Capstone Projects

Annabelle Batten | Assessing the Utility of Telehealth in Franklin County
Project Advisor - Cheryl Pascucci, NP | Learning Community Mentor - Eric Churchill, MD

Hannah Caringal | Creating a Resource Directory for those Utilizing the Worcester Asylum Clinic
Project Advisor - Payal Modi, MD, MPH, MSc | Learning Community Mentor - Eric Churchill MD, MPH

Zilin Cui | Mental Health Attitudes and Help-Seeking Behaviors of Chinese Americans during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Project Advisor - Xiaoduo Fan MD, MPH | Learning Community Mentor - Sam Borden, MD

Joe Douglass | Assessment of the Impacts of Climate Change on Human Health in the Undergraduate Medical Curriculum
Project Advisor - Christopher Sassetti, PhD | Learning Community Mentor - Elizabeth Eagleson, MD

Colin Hart  | Improving Deaf Patient Interactions through Curriculum Development
Project Advisor - Tim Moriarty, MPA | Learning Community Mentor - Eric Churchill, MD, MPH

Kristina Jakobson & Taylor Dickinson | Assessing the need for a clinical terminology curriculum during the preclinical years: Survey of UMass Chan Medical School Students
Project Advisor - Alexandra Wink, MD | Learning Community Mentor - Sam Borden, MD

Rachel Lister  | Knitted Connections: A Quality Improvement Project for a Knitting Group
Project Advisor - Bonnie O'Donnell | Learning Community Mentor - Elizabeth Eagleson, MD

Mary Marchese  | Wellness on Wheels: Proposing a Mobile Health Intervention to Improve Adolescent Sexual Health Education and Screening Services in Western Massachusetts
Project Advisor - Kelly Lamas, MPH | Learning Community Mentor - Jacqueline Wu, MD

Paige Mastalerz | MELAS: A Case Report and a Psychiatric Perspective to a Neuropsychiatric Condition
Project Advisor - Deepika Sundararaj, MD | Learning Community Mentor - Sam Borden, MD

Saranya Ramandurai | Assessing Barriers and Motivators to Voter Mobilization in Springfield Massachusetts
Project Advisor - Kathryn Jobbins, DO | Learning Community Mentor - Sam Borden, MD

Calvin Schaffer | Patient Assessment of Resident Care (PARC): Evaluating the care and communication of resident physicians
Project Advisor - Reva Kleppel, MSW, MPH | Learning Community Mentor - Sam Borden, MD

Diana Sibai | Identifying Barriers to a Healthy Diet in Pregnant Patients with a History or Risk of Hypertension: A Focus on Food Insecurity and Access
Project Advisor - Lara Kovell, MD | Learning Community Mentor - Eric Churchill, MD, MPH

Jennifer Sullivan | Influence of Insurance Status on Subdural Hematoma Management- An NTDB Analysis
Project Advisor - Mitchell Cahan, MD, MBA, MLS, FACS | Learning Community Mentor - Elizabeth Eagleson, MD

Nathan Taber | Medical Spanish: One Student's Approach to Combatting Language Barriers
Project Advisor - Nathan Macedo, MD, MPH | Learning Community Mentor - Jacqueline Wu, MD

Emily Vicks | Association between multiple breast lesions of uncertain malignant potential discovered by core needle biopsy on upstage to malignancy in surgical excision
Project Advisor - Jesse Casaubon, DO | Learning Community Mentor - Jacqueline Wu, MD

Paula Whitmire | Intimate Partner Violence: Experiences of Rural Healthcare Workers in the UMass Chan – Baystate Network
Project Advisor - Emma Wood, DO | Learning Community Mentor - Sam Borden, MD

Jaclyn Wong | Evaluating and Improving an Annual Community Health Fair
Project Advisor - Jacqueline Wu, MD | Learning Community Mentor - Jacqueline Wu, MD

Chloe Young | Hispanic Farmers Experience Shorter EMS Response Times But Longer Emergency Department Length of Stay Following Occupational Injuries
Project Advisor - Mitchell Cahan, MD, MBA, MLS, FACS | Learning Community Mentor - Jacqueline Wu, MD