Alumnus Highlight: Peter Murr

Peter Murr, 2012

Name: Peter Murr

Class Year: 2012

Role at Promise Clinic: Phone Coordinator 

What did you do after graduating from Robert Wood Johnson? 

Internal Medicine prelim year at the VA Caribbean Healthcare System

Ophthalmology residency at Medstar Georgetown University Hospital/Washington Hospital Center 

What are you currently doing?  
Ophthalmology private practice 

  
How has Promise Clinic influenced your clinical training?

I had a lot of fun doing Promise Clinic.  It was great to be there with everyone and I enjoyed teaching when possible.  I was the phone coordinator MS3 and MS4 but never on a team; if we were to go by the 6 ACGME core competencies, for me the Promise Clinic would weigh more heavily on everything except medical knowledge.  By the end I knew who was on what team and which patient(s) each team had, and I'd try to make dealing with the Promise Clinic as seamless for both parties as I could.  All of us phone coordinators had to know Spanish, which to this day remains a very useful skill when dealing with patients. In any office, the patients with Medicaid or are self-pay have various barriers which limit their access to care, both personal and systemic. Regardless, it is our job as physicians to do our best for every patient, and by remembering experiences from the Promise Clinic, I feel I am better able to do the best for my current patients. 

How would you like to see Promise Clinic grow?  

Well it has been a while since I was there, but of course involving more med students and helping more patients would be ideal. 

Do you have any advice for our Student Doctors?  

Yes, be advocates for your patient and get to know as much as you can about him/her.  For first and second years, it's a great opportunity to learn presentation skills from the older students.  You'll never have such continuity of care anywhere else in training, and so enjoy it and learn something from everything and everyone there.  As far as the patients go, you're doing a great service to them but don't forget they're doing a great service to you too. 

Any other comments?

For lower classmen, take advantage of your upper classmen as much as possible.  They're the ones who have just gone through what you'll go through.  They're probably the best and most up to date sources of advice since things change quickly.  Also learn and practice good presentation skills--they will help you a lot MS3 and MS4.  (Hint: pertinent negatives, be concise, and resist the temptation to say every single thing you know--know everything but triage what's pertinent aka think like a doctor.)  And what goes around comes around: as upperclassmen, be sure to spend time teaching your first years, take initiative and offer to discuss a topic next time, and set a good example.  This goes for everywhere, not just promise clinic.