James Antoon MPH ’22 reflects on systems of care for pediatric patients who have medication allergies
by David Cohen
As a year of quarantining and stress comes to a close, Vanderbilt students in the Master of Public Health (M.P.H.) Program reflected on perseverance despite complications with COVID-19.
James Antoon M.D. Ph.D. ‘22, a student in the Epidemiology track of the M.P.H. program and pediatric hospitalist at Monroe Carrell Jr. Children’s Hospital, completed his practicum experience and gained insight into aspects of public health amid the pandemic.
“The goal of my practicum project was to establish a medication allergy evaluation and stratification program that’s embedded within the children’s hospital at Vanderbilt. In order to better understand the barriers and facilitators to implementing this kind of (medication allergy) program amongst families, we developed several focus groups of parents with children with drug allergies,” said Antoon. Antoon’s project required stakeholder engagement and collaboration with nurses, doctors, and other medical professionals to ensure intervention effectiveness. “On the provider side, stakeholders and I had to determine the practicality of this kind of program within the hospital system. We did a feasibility project, surveying feedback of several (healthcare) workers to make this as seamless as possible” said Antoon.
Although he originally came to Vanderbilt with a research background in basic science pharmacology, Antoon transitioned into health services research with a focus on data analytics and clinical practice. Antoon used his practicum as an opportunity to learn methods for qualitative research and implementation science. “One of the primary takeaways from this project has been the importance of understanding the underlying interest and motivation of a person’s decision making, and getting at the heart of those decisions in order to make changes in a system… It had more to do with process and workflow than other projects I’ve engaged in,” said Antoon.
Antoon also recognizes how much fellow hospital staff members value children’s health, and how incentivized they were to work on public health issues. “I don’t think I truly understood what was involved in the scope of public health until dealing with the complications of COVID. COVID has changed almost every single aspect of the hospital system, even things you wouldn’t expect. The ability to measure, respond, and adapt to children’s health needs, for example, was something I severely underestimated could change,” said Antoon.
Antoon credits the Vanderbilt M.P.H program for the additional skills he has gained this past year. “I started this program taking Epidemiology and Biostatistics. Learning epidemiological methods [in class] and implementing them at a patient level within an established program has been challenging but also incredibly useful. The program has given me many practical skills and triggered my interest in health,” said Antoon.
Although COVID restrictions have halted many individuals’ work progress worldwide, Antoon has managed to make valuable public health contributions that will surely jump-start his career. The Vanderbilt M.P.H. program is extremely proud of all of its students’ efforts and eagerly awaits their next impact in the public health sector.
Quotes have been edited for clarity and length.