MSU Physician Assistant students present research
Apr. 30—The 24 students who will graduate from Mississippi State University-Meridian's Master of Physician Assistant Studies program in May took part in a second annual research poster symposium last Friday with their research representing countless hours of work and covering a wide range of health care topics.
From studying the benefits aerobic exercise can have on adolescents with depression to whether social media has had a positive influence in lowering HPV rates to whether medication prescribed for ADHD can increase the cardiovascular risk in pediatric patients, the PA students lined the hallways in the Physician Assistant Studies area of the Rosenbaum facility of MSU-Meridian's downtown Riley campus. Their posters, which represented hours and hours of research into their chosen topic, were tacked to the wall above their heads as faculty members, visitors and MSU-Meridian administrators walked the area to peruse their work.
"This is their capstone project for their master's degree. This is the culmination of all of their hard work that they've done since they have been here," said Debra S. Munsell, an associate professor in the program.
She said the students picked their own topic for their thesis paper to research, which must come from evidence-based medicine.
"They fulfill their requirements with a rather lengthy paper and then they present their findings in a poster session," Munsell said. "They must do this or they cannot graduate."
Through her research, PA student Hailey Detillier wanted to determine the optimum amount of time adolescents who suffer from depression should participate in aerobic exercise each week to see a benefit in their mental health.
"I wanted to look at if doing aerobic exercise for less than 60 minutes a week decreased depression symptoms compared to doing aerobic exercise for more than 60 minutes a week," she said.
"As someone who suffers with depression and who has enjoyed activities, I think it's very interesting to see what kind of healthy coping mechanisms we can instill in adolescents to help them to develop further," she said.
Detillier discovered in her research that about 20% of the adolescent population suffers with depression and can show symptoms that include eating or sleeping too much, excessive worrying or showing poor school performance and poor self esteem.
From all of the studies she came across, she said, "as of right now, it has been recommended that doing about 30 minutes of exercise three to five times a week will decrease symptoms of depression but there's been no clear guidelines as to what that optimum time would be."
She concluded more research needs to be conducted to analyze the long-term benefits aerobic exercise can have on adolescents with depression, including comparing aerobic exercise with medication or cognitive behavioral therapy or indoor versus outdoor exercise.
For his project, student Jordan Black, a Wisconsin native, researched stimulant therapy for treating ADHD and its effects on cardiovascular risk in pediatric patients.
"I was prescribed stimulants for ADHD at some point in my life and I wanted to see if it was messing up my heart or not," he said.
He did a systemic review of numerous studies that met his criteria, discarding those that did not meet his research parameters.
"With direct and indirect exposure to the stimulants, there was a small association with a possible increase risk for CVD," Black concluded, "but I think we need longer studies."
He only researched patients from birth through age 18. He suggested studies should continue to following the pediatric patients into adulthood or later to see if any cardiovascular risks, such as strokes or heart attacks, arise.
"That might come later, but we can't assume that," he said of cardiovascular disease.
During Friday's symposium, the students presented their research to a panel of judges made up of MSU-Meridian faculty from both the Riley Campus and the main campus in College Park. An overall winner was selected and will be recognized at the graduation dinner on Wednesday night, May 8, where the PA students will receive their long white coats.
Contact Glenda Sanders at gsanders@themeridianstar.com.
