A new opportunity at Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital allows NUHS diagnostic imaging residents and clinic interns the ability to study and learn from an array of patient cases.  Since hospitals like Good Samaritan have a large patient population, residents and interns see a wide variety, including trauma-related cases.

NUHS residents and clinic interns typically visit the hospital radiology center for 4-5 hours twice a month and see about 30 MRIs each visit. Located in Downers Grove, the hospital is only a 10-minute drive from the NUHS campus.

Brandon German, DC, an NUHS diagnostic imaging senior resident who participated in the program, said he has been able to see conditions like fractures, dislocations, brain injuries, and various abdominal pathologies.

“That has been tremendously helpful because hospitals usually deal with severe trauma cases that we don’t see in our clinic here at National University,” he said. “I’ve also gotten to see a decent amount of neoplastic disease (tumors) because of their large patient population.”

NUHS residents work alongside various radiologists at Good Samaritan like Ashwin Hampole, MD, a neuroradiologist who specializes in brain and spine. Dr. Hampole said students are able to see cancer, post-surgical and pediatric cases. “Usually it’s the end result of something chronic that has been affecting the patient,” he said.

After viewing the images, NUHS residents and the hospital’s radiologists will discuss what conservative measures can be taken before moving to surgery.  “There’s definitely a range of cases that we’ll see,” Dr. Hampole said. “A lot of the patients are post-operative patients, but some of the patients are not.  Often the pathology that we’ll see will respond to nonsurgical intervention.”

In the process, Good Samaritan’s radiologists have been learning more about chiropractic physicians and the possible benefits that chiropractic care may have for their patients. Dr. Hampole said he’ll often ask NUHS residents about preventative measures that can be taken with patients with degenerative issues in their spines. When surgery isn’t required, Dr. Hampole said patients could often be referred to chiropractic physicians.

“Sometimes what we’ll see is asymmetry in muscles and less severe things that could be treated by a chiropractor,” he said.

With the addition of the new Spine Care Center at Good Samaritan, National University has been strengthening its ties with the hospital. For the benefit of spine and other patients, the hospital plans to work with DCs more integratively and on a referral basis.