Scholars Practicum Poster Project

Presenter: Olivia Rullo, Family Science, Global Public Health Scholars

---

---

---

For my practicum, I worked at the West Chester Oral surgery office in West Chester, PA. There I gained knowledge about surgery and consults that doctors do with their patients. I was not able to do a lot of hands-on experience since that requires extensive training and certification, but I was able to sit in on every part of Dr. Kazemi’s day and be right by his side during surgery and in consultations. Throughout my time at the office, I became familiar with the instruments used to perform each procedure and how pretty much every procedure is different and can require different instruments to effectively perform the surgery. It was eye-opening to learn about why and when medications are prescribed after surgery. The main public health connection that I made during my time with the oral surgery office was how there are so many different factors that go into whether or not doctors will choose to prescribe painkillers, which is likely the reason why they can be overprescribed since doctors want to avoid having unhappy patients in pain and calling the office post-surgery.