WVU Eastern Campus medical student attends and presents at statewide surgical conference
A medical student at the West Virginia University School of Medicine’s Eastern Campus recently attended a statewide surgical conference, where she represented the campus by giving a poster presentation to students and surgeons from across the state.
Andrea Hincapie-Bendeck attended the West Virginia Chapter of the American College of Surgeons Annual Meeting, held at the Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs from May 8-10. Over the three days, she had the opportunity to view presentations from general surgeons, residents and medical students from across West Virginia, while also giving one of her own during the student poster competition.
Hincapie-Bendeck’s presentation highlighted the importance of looking for potential vascular issues when dealing with any form of liver trauma by detailing a surgical case she observed during her trauma surgery rotation at J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown.
A total of five medical students from across the state were selected to present at this conference, including one from each of the WVU School of Medicine’s three campuses, a student from the Marshall University School of Medicine and a student from the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine.
She said that while she did not win the competition, she was honored to be invited to the conference to share her findings and engage with the other students.
“I am incredibly proud to have been selected to represent the Eastern Campus by participating in this competition,” Hincapie-Bendeck said. “It was exciting to share my presentation and to see some of the great work being done in the field of surgery by other medical students from across the state.”
In addition to the poster competition, the conference hosted various educational events for medical students, including lectures and presentations from West Virginia surgeons and hands-on learning modules where students could utilize state-of-the-art simulation equipment to practice their surgical skills.
Medical students in attendance also had the opportunity to meet with a panel of clerkship directors from all of the medical schools in the state and discuss any questions or concerns relating to surgical residency.
Hincapie-Bendeck said she highly encourages any West Virginia medical student with an interest in surgery to attend this conference, even if they are not selected to present.
“Regardless of whether you are presenting at the conference or not, I could not recommend this event more to any student with a keen interest in the field of surgery,” she said. “I found the lectures and presentations both fascinating and beneficial, and enjoyed the opportunity to network with fellow students and surgeons from institutions across the state.”
Hincapie-Bendeck was the lone medical student in attendance from the Eastern Campus, but she was also joined by several other students from the School of Medicine’s Morgantown and Charleston Campuses. See the full list of attendees below:
Morgantown Campus
- Michael Grimm
- Tatiana Henriksson
- Yaheya Idris
- Hakam Rajjoub
- Justin Williams
Charleston Campus
- Ryan Blake
- Janna Garrow
- Hayley Harman
- Bethany Koontz
- Jordyn O’Dell
- Obadah Tolaymat
- Alex Wyler
The annual meeting hosted by the West Virginia Chapter of the American College of Surgeons aims to bring together West Virginia general surgeons and medical students with an interest in the field to discuss and share ideas about acute care surgery.
To learn more about educational opportunities at the Eastern Campus, visit medicine.hsc.wvu.edu/eastern/students.