Monday, March 25, 2024
LUCOM Marketing
Liberty University College of Osteopathic Medicine (LUCOM) OMS-II student, Davis Melin, earned first place on his poster presentation at the 2024 Mayo Clinic Wound Care Symposium in early March.
His poster, titled Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine and Wound Care: Physiology, Principles, and Application of Manual Lymphatic Techniques to Promote Wound Healing, won first place over 10 posters at the symposium.
The 2024 Mayo Clinic Wound Care Symposium was held at the Hilton Garden Hotel in downtown Rochester, Minn., in the heart of the Mayo Clinic campus in Rochester for the eighth year. The clinic featured a few students from the Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine and the University of Minnesota Medical School. Most of the attendees were physicians, physical therapists, lymphedema therapists, nurse practitioners, physician assistants (PAs), and nurses.
“It was a team effort with also SDs Madison Hutson and Taylor Edgar, my fellow OMM Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs), and the OMM Department Chair, Dr. Greg Heller, and finally my dad (Dr. Mark Melin) who works at Mayo and presented at the conference,” Melin stated.
His poster explored the research that has been conducted on how OMM, specifically lymphatic techniques, may be a complementary treatment modality for healing wounds. His team reviewed research studies that investigated if OMM can improve wound healing time and reduce edema (swelling), and they reviewed research that showed how OMM improves lymphatic function and immune system function. Wounds do not heal if there is too much edema and inflammation, and OMM has been shown to both reduce edema and improve immune system function, thereby decreasing inflammation. The hope from this group is that OMM could be used alongside conventional treatment to improve wound care management.
“The coolest connection between my poster and the conference at large was that there was an entire day of the conference dedicate to the importance of lymphatic function and the implications of lymphatic dysfunction,” Melin said. “My poster being primarily about lymphatic techniques was a good connection to the content of the conference from a uniquely osteopathic perspective.”
“I was surprised our team’s poster won first place because there were several other solid posters, but it felt amazing especially because our team put in a lot of effort collecting the research, reviewing the research, and putting it all together in a poster format,” Melin added. “I hope it was enlightening for anyone that read the poster at the conference and displayed the importance of considering lymphatic function in treating patients with wounds, and the unique skillset an osteopathic physician can bring to the healthcare team in order to improve patient quality of life.”
The next step in the process is to get the poster published in a manuscript format in a medical journal, especially an osteopathic focused journal.
I’d encourage students to take time to read about subjects you enjoy which you may not necessarily be learning about directly in your classes but using the skills and knowledge we learn in class and apply them to learning about a topic you’re interested in/a field you hope to practice in,” Melin concluded. “Also surround yourself by a team, get their input, and start your project early. Conferences are a wonderful opportunity to network, learn about cutting-edge research, and grow in your presentation skills. The whole process is challenging, but definitely worth it.”
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