Feinberg
Northwestern Medicine | Northwestern University | Faculty Profiles

News Center

  • Categories
    • Campus News
    • Disease Discoveries
    • Clinical Breakthroughs
    • Education News
    • Scientific Advances
    • Podcast
  • Press Release
  • Media Coverage
  • Editor’s Picks
    • COVID-19
    • Cardiology
    • Cancer
    • Neurology and Neuroscience
    • Aging and Longevity
    • Artificial Intelligence in Medicine
  • News Archives
  • About Us
    • Media Contact
    • Share Your News
    • News Feeds
    • Social Media
    • Contact Us
Menu
  • Categories
    • Campus News
    • Disease Discoveries
    • Clinical Breakthroughs
    • Education News
    • Scientific Advances
    • Podcast
  • Press Release
  • Media Coverage
  • Editor’s Picks
    • COVID-19
    • Cardiology
    • Cancer
    • Neurology and Neuroscience
    • Aging and Longevity
    • Artificial Intelligence in Medicine
  • News Archives
  • About Us
    • Media Contact
    • Share Your News
    • News Feeds
    • Social Media
    • Contact Us
Home » Physician Assistant Students Explore Correctional Medicine at Cook County Jail
Education News

Physician Assistant Students Explore Correctional Medicine at Cook County Jail

By Sarah PlumridgeMar 9, 2016
Share
Facebook Twitter Email
Second-year physician assistant students, Martin Cahillane and Ingrid Busching, recently completed a correctional medicine rotation at Cook County Jail, learning about the correctional medicine specialty.
Second-year physician assistant students Martin Cahillane and Ingrid Busching recently completed a correctional medicine rotation at Cook County Jail, learning about the correctional medicine specialty.

Ingrid Busching, a second-year physician assistant student, says that treating incarcerated men and women at the Cook County Jail during a four-week elective clinical rotation left a lasting impact on her.

“Taking care of the detainees made a difference to me, because after the rotation, I felt better equipped to care for people who have experienced things like homelessness or addiction,” said Busching.

The correctional medicine experience is one of four elective rotations students can complete in the Physician Assistant program.

Busching said she decided to complete this rotation because she has an interest in primary care delivered to vulnerable populations.

“The jail represents a medically underserved population,” she said. “I really wanted to expand my ability to care for people that are incarcerated or have been incarcerated.”

Martin Cahillane, another second-year PA program student, said he was also interested in underserved populations in medicine, having enjoyed his previous psychiatry rotation. He said the correctional medicine rotation was an opportunity to deepen what he learned previously, while working with detainees with mental illness.

While at Cook County Jail, Cahillane and Busching spent most of their time taking medical histories and performing exams, but they also had the chance to deliver counseling on substance use and shadow health professionals in different specialty units. They even spent a day assisting with the jail’s art therapy program, part of the psychiatric unit, singing, drawing and writing poetry with detainees.

“I was able to gain more experience treating patients who struggle with addiction,” Cahillane said. “It’s a unique opportunity, because maybe a person has been there for nine months and they’ve been off drugs for the first time in 10 years. I could talk to them about methods to stay off drugs once they get out of jail.”

Busching said, “Seeing patients in jail has a different feel than your standard outpatient clinic because the patients live there are in a stressful environment.”

The students also learned about other aspects of correctional medicine, like considering what resources are available to a patient when selecting treatment for them.

“We had to adjust treatment plans based on a lot of things, like they eat the same food at the same time every day, and they also have limited opportunities for exercise,” Cahillane said. “A lot of them are in danger of violence or the threat of violence everyday.”

As Cahillane and Busching continue their clinical rotations, they both said they would encourage their peers to choose a correctional medicine rotation.

“Besides the unique social environment, this rotation was a good review of everything, and we saw a lot more advanced disease states, such as manifestations of diabetes that has gone unmanaged for many years,” Cahillane said.

Busching added, “It was like applying what we learned in all our different rotations to a specific population.”

Education Medical Education Students
Share. Facebook Twitter Email

Related Posts

Student Spearheads Ukraine Aid Efforts

Jun 27, 2022

Pride Panel Highlights LGBTQ Leadership and Activism

Jun 16, 2022

Physician Assistant Students Help Save a Life

Jun 14, 2022

Comments are closed.

Latest News

Epigenetic Biomarkers Predict CVD Risk

Jun 28, 2022

Student Spearheads Ukraine Aid Efforts

Jun 27, 2022

Hospitals Bound to Patient Safety Rules that Aren’t all Backed by Evidence

Jun 24, 2022

Identifying Protein Interactions that Promote Cancer Growth

Jun 24, 2022

Combination Treatment May Improve Quality of Life in Kidney Cancer

Jun 23, 2022
  • News Center Home
  • Categories
  • Press Release
  • Media Coverage
  • Editor’s Picks
  • News Archives
  • About Us
Flickr Photos
20220617_NM_0434
20220617_NM_0858
20220617_NM_0643
20220617_NM_0835
20220617_NM_0544
20220617_NM_0450
20220617_NM_0790
20220617_NM_0811
20220617_NM_0851
20220617_NM_0696
20220617_NM_0779
20220617_NM_0838

Northwestern University logo

Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine

RSS Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Flickr YouTube Instagram
Copyright © 2022 Northwestern University
  • Contact Northwestern University
  • Disclaimer
  • Campus Emergency Information
  • Policy Statements

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.