A team of faculty from the Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine (ACOM) was awarded a grant this summer from the American Medical Association (AMA) to enhance medical student training through the association’s new “Student BP Measurement Essentials” online modules. The modules focus on key aspects of blood pressure measurement and are designed to be integrated throughout the medical school curriculum to improve training. Hypertension, or high blood pressure, is a contributing risk factor for heart disease and stroke, underscoring the need for enhanced training in proper blood pressure measurement to ensure proper treatment. ACOM was one of five medical schools nationwide and the only osteopathic college to receive the grant.

ACOM is implementing the blood pressure training modules during the first-year Primary Clinical Skills course, in second-year fall semester systems courses and during the third-year ACOM Ashford Clinic rotation. The team plans to utilize the grant to purchase equipment to help assess the student’s learning of the modules by determining how accurately they are able to measure blood pressures on simulated models in the classroom setting and real patients in clinic.

The faculty team includes: Lauren Clemmons, DO, Principal Investigator; Ronda F. Carter, MD; James Lyons, MD; Mark Hernandez, PhD; Audrey Vasauskas, PhD; and Veronica Hill, MSN, NP-C. 

“Accurate measurement of patients’ blood pressure is the first step in making sure that hypertension is recognized and treated appropriately,” Dr. Clemmons explained. “The grant will allow us to use innovative methods to assess our students’ learning of this foundational skill.”

Additional information about this grant is available here.