As a future family medicine physician, Dania Jumpa, M.D., knows she’ll peer into plenty of eyes and ears. Now she’s seen a new way of doing it, or at least some new technology that may enhance the care she can provide.

Jumpa, a first-year resident in the KU Wichita Family Medicine Residency at Wesley Medical Center, recently trained on otoscopes and ophthalmoscopes capable of capturing digital photographs of what a physician sees while conducting eye and ear exams.

The training was made possible by the KU School of Medicine-Wichita’s Standardized Patient Program using funds from the Earl L. Mills Educational Trust.

“I think the biggest point that we all as residents love about it is you can share (the photographs) with patients and with the attending physician,” Jumpa said.

Jumpa is one of about 30 residents who’ve taken the training, which is now mandatory for family medicine residents.

Gretchen Irwin, M.D., who is the SP program’s medical director, said her predecessor in that role, Stephanie Murray, M.D., applied for the grant to buy three of each kind of scope. The otoscope, for ears, is equipped with its own camera and viewing screen, while the ophthalmoscope, for eyes, can be connected to a smartphone for taking and viewing photos.

Irwin said the scopes offer several advantages. For one, they allow photographs to be easily added to a patient’s medical record, so a physician can see change over time in the patient’s eyes or ears. She called it “a really nice patient education tool, (because) you can actually show patients what we’re seeing and why we’re making the decisions we are.”

It’s also a valuable medical education tool, since residents and students can show attending physicians what they’re seeing rather than just trying to describe it.

“It helps me be a better teacher, so I can explain where they are correct or wrong,” Irwin said.

In the case of young children, Irwin added, it’s sometimes difficult for physicians to get more than “one good look” at a sensitive ear.

Physicians examine ears for signs of infection and injuries and eyes for a variety of reasons, from diabetes and high blood pressure to vision changes and general wellness.

Jumpa, a KU Wichita graduate, saw a half dozen standardized patients during the training. Noting how many children family physicians see, Jumpa said such scopes would come in handy in a clinic setting.

“I can show the patient exactly what I’m seeing or, if I’m working with kids, I can show their parents.”

Irwin said the scopes aren’t in use in the Wesley Family Medicine clinic on North Hillside but could be in the future as the cost of the devices comes down. She has heard that some Wichita physicians are using them. The scopes won’t replace the need for examinations by ophthalmologists and ENTs but could help guide family physicians, she said.

“If we have an acute issue, at least we can say this is something that can wait until tomorrow or ‘Oh, my gosh, you need to go right now.’”

At left: A resident physician interacts with a standardized patient.

Above, left: Gretchen Irwin, M.D., holds a scope while talking to resident physicians.