Hi! My name is Malini Harinath and I am so happy to have been awarded the Chancellor’s Undergraduate Research Fellowship for Spring 2024. I cannot wait to share the research I will accomplish through this fellowship this semester. I am a third-year Bioengineering major with a minor in Chemistry and a Conceptual Foundations of Medicine certificate. A fun fact about me is that I have lived in Birmingham, AL, Portland, OR, Houston, TX, and now I live in Pittsburgh, PA. I will be investigating patient-provider communication regarding gestational weight gain and diet at initial prenatal care visits as a part of Dr. Judy Chang’s research group at Magee Women’s Research Institute.

I initially came across Dr. Chang’s research group during the summer of 2022 as I was looking for opportunities centered around maternal and child health. I read one of Dr. Chang’s studies regarding patient-provider communication with respect to illicit drug use during pregnancy, and was immediately drawn into her research.  I reached out to Dr. Chang, and I joined her research team that summer. Dr. Chang’s group investigates the communication between obstetric and gynecologic healthcare providers and their patients to ultimately improve patient outcomes. 

Healthcare providers play an extremely important role in any person’s life in terms of health outcomes. Patients are more likely to follow their healthcare provider’s advice if they trust their provider and are certain that their provider is supportive and open-minded to their viewpoint. The language that a healthcare provider uses during a care visit can greatly influence the patient’s trust in and perception of the provider, which in turn impacts patient health outcomes. This is more important than ever in the field of obstetrics, as a patient’s trust in their provider can greatly affect the pregnant patient’s health as well as the health of the unborn fetus. Weight and gestational weight gain are sensitive topics to discuss, but in order to improve health outcomes for the patient and their child, these discussions are necessary during prenatal care visits. My research aims to describe the language and techniques that obstetric care providers use to speak with their patients about diet and weight gain during pregnancy. 

Conducting qualitative research focused on patient-provider communication in obstetrics and gynecology through CURF will be extremely beneficial and enriching to me as I progress towards my career. As someone who is greatly interested in a career in medicine, specifically in women’s health, researching patient-provider communication will aid me in understanding the different strategies and language that healthcare providers use to speak with their patients. This will allow me to refine my own communication style and ensure that I am being effective and clear while still being understanding while speaking to patients. Doing qualitative research in patient-provider communication has expanded my view of the field of medicine thus far, and will continue to show me different aspects of patient care that are essential to my future career.