TCOM student gives presentation at NAPCRG International Conference
It was a rare and prestigious accomplishment for Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine student Rebecca Modisette who became the first medical student from TCOM to give an oral presentation at the world-renowned North American Primary Care Research Group’s 52nd annual meeting in Quebec City, Canada. Modisette was chosen to present her research on “Do sociodemographic, health behaviors, and clinical factors predict levels of hs-CRP stratified by race and ethnicity?”
“It was a great honor to be selected as the first TCOM student to give an oral presentation,” Modisette said. “This was a huge international conference and most of the people selected to present at this conference are residents or those heavily involved in research. Being around so many prominent and influential people in the research field was a great experience.”
Modisette, a third-year student at TCOM, began her research project in the summer of 2023 as part of TCOM’s Pediatric Research Program. She worked with Kimberly Fulda, DrPH, the executive director of NorTex and Dr. Andrew Yockey, an assistant professor in the University of Mississippi’s College of Public Health. They analyzed data gathered from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.
The research was in the health disparities category and utilized the hs-CRP test, which is a laboratory test that measures systemic inflammation in the body.
“We looked at things that could potentially impact markers of inflammation within different races and ethnicities,” Modisette said. “We looked at stress levels if you were married or not, and a variety of different factors. Overall we found that gender had a huge impact.”
The goal of the research was to give providers more data to make early interventions in chronic disease processes, such as heart disease and diabetes, which can be associated with this type of inflammation.
It was in the spring of 2024 that Modisette submitted to present at the NAPCRG, and to her surprise was selected as an oral presenter.
“I definitely thought I was shooting for the stars when I applied for it,” Modisette said. “It was very intimidating because this was my first oral presentation. I’ve done poster presentations before, but not this. After my presentation, two residents came up to me and applauded me for doing it as a medical student, much less a third-year. They told me I did a great job, and that was really nice to hear.”
Modisette is no stranger to research. As an undergrad student at Baylor, Modisette had years of experience working as a research and lab assistant and was even published and seemed to be headed down that path, but soon realized it wasn’t her passion.
“I have a great appreciation for research, but it wasn’t my true passion,” Modisette said. “I did find a special calling to research and I wouldn’t mind doing it again down the road.”
Her passion is medicine and specifically women’s health. Modisette’s research in undergrad focused on women’s health concerns and as she has progressed through medical school, that’s her focus as she prepares to pick a specialty, which will more than likely be obstetrics & gynecology.
“I find myself just going back to that, I really just love it,” Modisette said.
Her research won’t stop at just an oral presentation as her acceptance to the NAPCRG conference will automatically allow her publication in the Annals of Family Medicine Journal.
“This is a great honor and such an impressive accomplishment for Rebecca to give an oral presentation at a conference of this magnitude,” Fulda said. “I’m so proud of her and the presentation was fantastic.”
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