Interns from the Douglas Dickson Internship Program with Dr. H.M. Reynolds in 1999
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By: Robbie Sproul
The Jackson Arthritis Center (JAC) is committed to the education of the doctors of tomorrow. Each summer Dr. H.M. Reynolds and Kathy Geier, MS, RN, ONC, CNS, FNP run an internship program through JAC for college pre-medical students.
Started in 1997 while the center was still in the planning stages, this unique program has gained in popularity and prestige with each passing year. While interns during the early years received an informal introduction into medicine by shadowing Dr. Reynolds, the program has grown into a structured summer full of research, education, and office responsibilities. The internship has become so popular that now only a small percentage of the applicants are actually accepted.
Each year approximately four new interns are selected while several experienced interns return to help run and organize the summer. The internship begins with a rigorous one week crash course on relevant medical terminology, anatomy, and surgical methods taught by Mac Reynolds, M.D., Kathy Geier, R.N., and the senior interns. After this brief classroom style introduction, the interns begin their hands on learning.
During days where patients are in the office, the interns take turns shadowing Mac Reynolds, MD and Kathy Geier, CNS, working with the medical assistants to move patients through the office, and helping the X-ray technician develop the X-rays. On surgery days some of the interns accompany Dr. Reynolds to surgery. Although they can only observe from a distance, most of the interns agree that surgery is the most exciting part of the summer. Because only a limited number of people can go to surgery at a time, the remaining interns stay in the office and work on research projects.
Past research projects conducted by the interns have included such diverse topics as sickle cell anemia, the Sulzer recall, viscosupplementation, and anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction. Some of these projects were so well done that their final drafts were, or currently are, in the process of being published in medical journals.
The limited classroom time and extensive hands-on learning represents Dr. Reynolds’ view on the best way to learn about medicine. He firmly believes that seeing and doing is a much better way to learn information than simply reading an abstract description in a book. His interns whole-heartedly agree with him as many have stated that they learned more in one summer than they learned in a year of college.
The talented students who have participated in this program have been very successful in their pursuit of a career in medicine. Several past interns are currently attending medical school while others have gone to nursing school, physician’s assistant school, or have trained to become physical therapists or sports trainers. Others are still undergraduates in college and are preparing to apply to medical related graduate schools.