NOXEN -- Identifying a heart murmur for the first time in her medical career, second-year medical student Brianna Shinn, of Clarks Summit, experienced firsthand the value of an early mentoring program between The Commonwealth Medical College and local medical practices.

The Continuity Mentor program with TCMC offers students a unique opportunity to develop a learning relationship with northeastern Pennsylvania doctors and patients. The integrated learning atmosphere helps to reinforce what the student is learning academically with supervised hands-on experience.

The in-field training only occurs once a week during a three-week period known as Community Weeks for first- and second-year students. The students shadow the physicians -- learning how to interview the patients and identify any history of family health issues -- and begin to perform the initial exam.

Third-year students continue the program but add the responsibility of figuring out the symptoms of the patient to develop a plan of action. By their fourth year, students will be expected to present a plan of treatment to their mentors.

Shinn and classmate Stephanie Veit, of Chesterfield, Mo., spent Tuesday at the Monroe-Noxen Health Center, a primary care facility in Noxen, with Drs. Krista Civiletti and Gwen Galasso.

The program covers 16 counties in northeastern Pennsylvania.

Wearing the standard white physician's jackets, Veit and Shinn visited with incoming patients.

"I love this office because you see a variety of things," Shinn said.

Shinn's excitement of recognizing a heart murmur comes after just finishing a cardiology and pulmonology unit in class.

"We just finished cardiology and pulmonology," she said. "We had a patient today with COPD and just being able to listen and understand what I was hearing was great."

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Giving medical school students a head start