Michael Hower Email & Phone Number

California, United States

Las Vegas, Nv, Us

Satellite Beach, Florida, Us

Since overcoming my educational journey of taking myself from dropping out of high school and commuting across the bay area to 5 different community colleges daily to obtain an education, I've been compelled to give back to my peers and community. I did this by tutoring in subjects, including premed. sciences, LSAT preparation, Arabic calligraphy, German, Anatomy, physiology, and pharmacology. Throughout my time tutoring, I emphasized coping strategies and a positive outlook to personalize teaching plans based on their learning styles to find the best way for them to learn and achieve their goals. These experiences allowed me to take a similar approach with my patients by understanding their work and educational challenges to help them excel and provide quality care through connection.

New York, Ny, Us

Driven to take my experiences to inspire and teach current medical students, I gave guest lectures on personality disorders and anxiety spectrum disorders. I utilized my clinical experiences at Napa State Hospital working with nuanced personality disorders and insight from taking all three parts of boards to emphasize high yield tidbits for these students and insight crucial for rotations. This experience continued my medical education in interterm before residency, as I firmly believe that to truly understand a subject matter, I should teach it to others. As I recognized the busyness and numerous responsibilities of the faculty, who each work as clinicians, I offered review sessions on psychiatry material to address additional questions on other material taught. This support led students to score the highest in this exam section of any class in the past five years.

Napa State is the third-largest psychiatric hospital in the country, housing patients civilly committed and inmates struggling with treatment-resistant psychosis, mania, suicidal and homicidal ideation. After interviewing patients, security, and nursing personnel, I reported to the attending to develop targeted interventions and utilized my knowledge of psychopharmacology to provide medication management for severely agitated and psychotic patients. I interviewed patients to assess their capacity and risk and worked with an interdisciplinary team to craft comprehensive treatment and rehabilitation plans for patients. I devised treatment plans for patients dependent on methamphetamine, opiates, and alcohol by harnessing my training in substance usage to understand the root causes of their addictions. This experience motivated my growth and curiosity in pursuing Forensic and Addiction Psychiatry and granted me clinical acumen to pick apart the most in-depth nuances of psychiatric care.

I pursued an ICU 4th year rotation during a time of high burden in COVID-19 cases. Gained insight into the process of conversion of ICU into a COVID ward and worked closely with Emergency Medicine doctors to decide which patients would be admitted upstairs, given the limited number of beds. This experience helped me understand the vital importance of triage, and the systemic downstream effects of admitting patients due to the severe bed shortage. In addition, by counseling patients and families, I provided reassurance and comfort in these emotionally heart-wrenching experiences and frequently confusing circumstances of the ICU. Finally, these experiences led me to work closely with the behavioral health team and granted me insight into the role that mental health plays in the ICU setting, appropriate interventions, and the long-lasting, often poorly understood ramifications ICU care may have on mental health long-term, such as ICU syndrome.

Last year, Marshall University in WV developed a telepsychiatry program for children in rural underserved communities across Appalachia, including foster children, those facing abuse, and children who struggled with multifactorial learning disabilities. As their first medical student, I was initially a silent observer who took notes and discussed cases with the team to develop treatment plans. However, after realizing the nuance of taking a complete psych. history and the challenges of coordinating care, I took the initiative to interview patients, their caregivers, and teachers. As a result, I personalized each patient’s educational plans by working with family, school, and community to help them succeed in school and home and overcome trauma through positive coping mechanisms. In addition, I became a point of care for each party to relay their concerns to optimize targeted interventions. This experience enhanced my insight into the foster system and how early childhood trauma can impact mental health

Bakersfield, Ca, Us

As an intern at the only level 2 trauma center in Kern County, I was expected to provide expeditious interviews and assist residents and attendings due to the tremendous patient load, limited resources, and high case acuity. Therefore, I took on extra shifts and frequently worked additional hours to assist with patients on involuntary psychiatric emergency holds as the first contact. As a result, I learned to rapidly build trust with individuals acutely intoxicated on methamphetamine and other substances, and homeless patients. By quickly mastering suturing techniques and noting insufficiencies in patient turnover, I facilitated a more efficient workflow by allowing providers to focus on the most acutely ill. I also frequently checked in with patients and clarified staff instructions, so they may obtain needed results and be discharged quickly. This experience expanded my emergency psychiatric care knowledge by maximizing my clinical exposure and challenging myself to provide appropriate interventions.

In the summer before my third year, I was determined to better my insight into women's health and advocacy to enhance class-wide understanding and provide patients in OBGYN patient care and examination with the utmost respect and dignity. Therefore I immersed myself in a summer internship before my first OBGYN rotation at Vallejo County Health Clinic under the mentorship of Dr. Tina Mason. I learned to use advocacy to guide these patients, including those who faced poverty, rape, domestic abuse, and unrecognized mental health challenges. I also fine-tuned my approach, and by building confidence in this subject matter, I inspired confidence in my patients. This rotation helped me excel in my OBGYN third-year rotation in patient care as I learned interview strategies and ways to bring my compassion to understanding the limitations of the healthcare system and utilizing advocacy to better address patients' needs in a medically underserved community.

At the end of my second year, I may have known the basics of interviewing patients and the physical exam, but I sought to hone my understanding of building rapid rapport to positively impact patients. I found the acquisition of this insight to be particularly applicable to my interest in psychiatry, as I looked for ways to better facilitate medication compliance and truly understand patient circumstances. Under the mentorship of Dr. Feinberg and Dr. Wagner, I enhanced my active listening skills to inspire confidence so patients may more easily share their issues. By serving as a patient advocate at an understaffed county clinic, I helped patients feel better through prescription and connection and finding resources for those facing undiagnosed mental health conditions who slipped through the cracks of the system without receiving needed care. Worked with rheumatologists to understand frequently misunderstood psychiatric manifestations in rheumatological conditions.

Assisted in teaching community education courses on Islamic Art, spirituality, Middle Eastern Cultures, Sufi mysticism, and the intersection of Islam, Christianity, and Judaism, and how these ideologies and forms of expression have shaped contemporary conflicts in the Middle East. Teaching coursework on calligraphy and engaging my students in this artform, alongside engaging the elderly in art therapy, was a natural next step for me due to my curiosity regarding how art and culture intertwine, how art may reflect inward consciousness, and its therapeutic role in mental health. In medical school, I continued my exploration of art therapy to the benefit of my patients in all settings. I applied my inquiry in these subjects to more easily connect with my patients through ethnographic empathy and careful consideration of the meaning of each psychiatric diagnosis and difference in presentation for patients from different backgrounds and cultures.

My self-starting initiative and curiosity regarding global health led me to work at Global Healthshare and develop a website that acted as a hub to connect individuals motivated to target health interventions globally. From this experience, I advanced my insight into the tremendous need to coordinate interventions globally in medicine and rapidly master quickly changing technology, which is critical due to the accelerated technological growth within the medical field. I also recruited interdisciplinary team members, peers, and community members to help bring solar panels to rural hospitals globally and develop salt-tolerant rice to assist in recovery from Cyclone Ailia in Bangladesh. My work recruiting these team members facilitated my development of versatile communication skills in the global environment of psychiatry. By learning about their diverse backgrounds and ideas and thoughtfully engaging them in dialogue, I also learned to connect more fully with my patients to improve their quality of life.

During college, I worked to support my family and pay for my college education. One of my jobs was working as a bartender at Winterhawke Winery. When I started, I knew very little about wine as I didn’t drink, but I learned by carefully noting popular wines and personalizing wine sales for customers. In addition, I ensured individuals drank responsibly and managed a safe ride for those who couldn’t drive home. I also coordinated Saturday and Sunday events, weddings, and band-scheduling with payout, which required immediate problem solving and gauging situations, such as utilizing a new tasting room as a wedding reception area. As I was driven to handle the most challenging aspects of the job, I learned to mediate disputes, such as when two bands were scheduled for the exact day and time. This experience was valuable to my future in medicine and interpersonal growth, as I learned to rapidly adapt to new environments while engaging individuals to problem solve and responsibly manage conflict quickly.

Masters Of Public Health, Health Equity And Criminal Justice

Doctorate Of Osteopathic Medicine (D.O.)

Bachelor Of Science - Bs, Biological Sciences: Evolution, Ecology And Biodiversity