‘Such a privilege’

An OUWB student had her research paper accepted for presentation at the National Orthopaedic Research Society Conferences earlier this year.

Noopur Ranganathan, M1, presented her research, titled “Patterns and Predictors of Anterior-inferior Tibiofibular Ligament (AITFL) Avulsions in Ankle Fractures” during the conference held Feb. 4-8 in Tampa, Florida.

Per the organization’s website, the Orthopedic Research Society has been the leading international research society dedicated to accelerating musculoskeletal discovery to improve health for over 65 years. The ORS community is multi-disciplinary and is composed of members from academia, industry/private sector, government, and private practice at all career levels from around the world.

“It's such a privilege to not only be able to have the opportunity to do research in the first place, but to represent my medical school and I'm absolutely so proud of the curriculum that we have at OUWB and at Beaumont, where I've been further inspired in orthopaedic surgery by interacting with a lot of the residents and surgeons at the hospital,” she says.

“And I'm incredibly excited to be able to present my work at the conference and just be able to learn more from the other physicians, clinicians and surgeons who will also be attending the conference.”

‘Hits close to home’

When ankle fractures occur, there is a tear in the AITFL, as Ranganathan explained.

“[The AITFL] is basically a ligament that attaches the tibia and the fibula, which are two of the bones and the lower extremity of the leg,” Ranganathan says. “And oftentimes this fracture of the ligament is not even seen on CT scans when physicians are actually looking at it.”

Ranganathan says if this kind of fracture isn’t identified, it can lead to “ankle instability.”

“This ultimately results in less than satisfactory functional outcomes for the patient and can severely impact your functionality after a surgery,” she says. “So, I think it is especially important to be able to identify [a fracture] like this.”

Ranganathan says the inspiration for getting into this kind of research stemmed from the fact that there is currently no consensus in the field as to how to go about identifying this kind of ankle fracture.

“The clinical significance of this study is that we'd finally be able to have a defined method of going about on how to identify such a fracture in a patient, which could definitely change the surgery outcomes for the patient and the entire treatment process,” she says.

Ranganathan says another reason she wanted to get into this kind of research was based on a personal experience.

“In high school I broke my ankle, which terminated my athletic career because I was doing track and field,” she says. “So it hits close to home.”

‘Important to really get involved’

Ranganathan presented the same research in December, at the inaugural Orthopaedic Surgery Research Symposium for Medical Students in Michigan.

She says she was thankful for the opportunity to – just two months later – represent OUWB at the National Orthopaedic Research Society Conferences in Florida.

Among other things, she says that networking opportunities she gained from the experience will help her immensely as a future physician.

“[Networking] is something that I'm really keen on doing because I think as a first-year student, it is so important to really get involved in the field and have the opportunities to interact with practicing attendings who are already (established) in the field,” she said.

Ranganathan says she not only wants to be an orthopaedic surgeon, but hopes to provide educational opportunities for high school and college students who are interested in the medical field by partnering with local schools or community organizations.

“I've always been a proponent of giving back to the community,” Ranganathan says. “And this includes high school students or college students to really get them involved in the field and started on potential specialties that they might be interested in.”