WesternU College of Podiatric Medicine highlights student research at Extremitas Symposium
Western University of Health Sciences’ College of Podiatric Medicine provided a new showcase for student research at the first Extremitas Research Symposium on March 17, 2025 on WesternU’s Pomona, California campus.
The 12th edition of Extremitas: Journal of Lower Limb Medicine, CPM’s annual student research journal, will publish soon with 25 student-authored articles. All the authors were invited to present at the symposium, which featured about a dozen research posters.
“Forums like this research symposium give students the opportunity to not only share their newfound knowledge with their colleagues and faculty, but more importantly, it gives them practice presenting to hone their skills communicating with colleagues, which is a critical skill they will use throughout their careers,” said CPM Dean Jonathan Labovitz, DPM, FACFAS, CHCQM. “I am grateful to the students who participated in the symposium and to all of those who conducted research. Participating in research projects helps students learn to better understand how to critically read the published research and it ensures CPM faculty have the opportunity to train the next generation of researchers who contribute to the fund of knowledge to improve patient outcomes.”
CPM students Jeslyn Jamille Dela Vega and Mandi Nishimori majored in public health in college, so they chose a research topic that tied together their undergraduate work with podiatric medicine. They presented the poster “Podiatric Skin and Nail Pathologies Among Persons Experiencing Homelessness: A Literature Review of Prevalence and Risk Factors.” According to their poster, the most prevalent skin and nail conditions affecting persons experiencing homelessness were fungal infections, calluses and corns.
“These conditions are generally simple to take care of, but if they progress to complications they can increase the burden on health care if they’re not addressed earlier,” Nishimori said.
They found an overall lack of research in regard to the health of persons experiencing homelessness, so they wanted to add to that knowledge, Dela Vega said.
“If you conduct research you can contribute to interventions and resolutions to medical problems and systemic changes,” Dela Vega said. “That is why research is important.”
CPM student Meher Vartanian and College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific student Tenny Vasghanian co-authored the study, “Superior Gluteal Nerve Lesions: A Review of Current Literature on Pathophysiology and Clinical Care.”
The first year of podiatric medical school is demanding and there is a big learning curve, Vartanian said. Conducting research adds to those demands, but if you dedicate yourself to a consistent routine, you can stretch beyond the baseline curriculum.
“We put in a lot of time and effort into research, and the college does as well. They have a lot of programs that encourage research,” Vartanian said. “Students try hard to put their research together. This is a good, organic way to appreciate everybody’s hard work.”
CPM provides a safe environment to learn, said CPM student and Extremitas Senior Editor Ruthanna Belden. So many people want to help students before they go off into residency and our own practice.
“We thought it was a good idea to have our research and other authors’ research recognized at this school and to have the University see everybody’s time and effort that was put in,” Belden said. “We would like future classes to continue the symposium so the school can see research and learn more about lower extremity.”
Research is the future of medicine – how we can improve patient care, said CPM student and Extremitas board member Henna Bhakti.
“This was a way for everyone who published in the journal to showcase their work and to gain the experience of presenting to people,” Bhakti said. “We can take some of these tactics we learned to larger scale conferences and share our work with other members in the podiatry community as well.”
