The VALUE of physiatry
Like many medical students, Kersten Schwanz, MD, had multiple areas of medical specialty she could choose for her career. Many specialties interested her, but the one thing this former college athlete knew was she wanted to work with athletes.
Then, she found the value of physiatry and rehabilitative medicine through her participation in VA’s Longitudinal Integrated Clerkship (VALUE).
The VALUE clerkship gives third year medical students a year-long opportunity to work with a group of Veteran patients learning continuity of care while completing clinical competencies across multiple disciplines such as internal medicine, surgery, neurology and primary care. Each year, the Minneapolis VA Health Care System – one of a handful of VA-sponsored VALUE programs – welcomes approximately 10 VALUE clerks from the University of Minnesota Medical School, exposing them to various clinical areas and involving them in Veteran care which often leads to students discovering their preferred medical specialty and a passion to serve at VA.
When Schwanz first came to the Minneapolis VA, she had no idea what a physiatrist did. Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PM&R) physicians, also known as physiatrists, treat a wide variety of medical conditions affecting the brain, spinal cord, nervous and musculoskeletal systems with a focus on improving patient function and treating the whole person. At the Minneapolis VA’s spinal cord injury unit, Schwanz found her niche under the mentorship of fellow physiatrist and Olympic-class athlete Alexander Senk, MD.
“I knew I wanted to learn more about sports medicine,” said Schwanz. “I have a strong athletic background, so the VALUE director plugged me in to Dr. Senk because he’s a sports medicine physician.”
Schwanz says one of the first questions Senk asked was what she wanted to do as a clinician. She told him about her background in rowing and her interest in both the muscular and nervous systems because both are intricately involved in strength training.
“He just sort of laughed and said I think you just said you want to be a physiatrist,” she said with a grin. “After a few weeks of being in his clinic I was like ‘Wow, this is a really good path for me.’”
Today, Schwanz is in her third year of residency following medical school, working daily with Dr. Senk at the PM&R team. In addition to treating patients who have suffered significant injuries or conditions leading to functional losses such as spinal cord or traumatic brain injuries, Schwanz is assisting with a research study that involves an idea she had for an adaptive rowing seat when she was a VALUE clerk. She also went to the National Veteran Wheelchair Games working alongside Dr. Senk and the National Veterans Wheelchair Games medical team and as a coach for the Veteran athletes.
“I’m very grateful for getting there,” said Schwanz. “The experience was profound.”
“Caring for patients, especially who have had devastating injuries, is heavy to carry,” she said. “But I think PM&R brings some light to that. They’re able to do these new movements that they couldn’t do before, and it almost adds a bit of buoyancy to that heavy situation.”
She credits the VALUE program and the opportunities it gave her to explore different areas of medicine while working closely with patients over the course of that critical third year of medical school for shaping her as a physician.
“The VALUE program allows you the freedom to explore things that you never knew you liked,” said Schwanz, adding the relationships she developed with VA faculty members and mentors like Senk led her back to the Minneapolis VA for her residency training.
She also credits the relationships she built with the Veterans she followed during her clerkship.
“It gave a really cool vantage point where you’re understanding their perspective over time,” she said, “where you’re not just seeing them once or twice. You see them this month when they’re doing well; next month when they’re not doing well and then how they rebound from that. I think that gave me a unique vantage point in PM&R and helped me find the field that I ultimately wanted to go into.”
VA salutes the more than 118,000 HPTs who train each year in VA, VA’s clinical educators and the more than 1,400 educational institutions that partner with VA to train future health professionals. These academic affiliations, some of which began more than 75 years ago, are coordinated by VA’s Office of Academic Affiliations (OAA). Find out more about VA’s academic mission by watching this video and visiting the Office of Academic Affiliations website.