Gippsland student co-authors article on world first medical case
Jackie Fankhauser
The opportunity to be involved in a world first neurolinguistic case – while still a medical student at the Gippsland Regional Clinical School – has culminated in Jackie Fankhauser being cited as co-author of an article in the prestigious ‘Journal of Neurolinguistics.’
The case relates to a West Gippsland woman who was diagnosed with Foreign Accent Syndrome (FAS), a baffling disorder where a person afflicted starts to speak with what sounds like a foreign accent.
Now undertaking Year 5D, Jackie first became involved in 2011 when a Year 3B student at the Gippsland Regional Clinical School’s Warragul Campus. With her background as a Speech Pathologist before entering the Gippsland Medical School, local doctor Brett Forge realised Jackie would be interested in the case.
“It started after the Easter break in 2011 during my year 3B studies at the West Gippsland Hospital when Dr Forge played me an audio recording of a former inpatient,” Jackie said.
“She had been admitted in April with a possible stroke and received thrombolysis. On day nine of her admission she developed what could be perceived as a French Accent. Dr Forge thought I would be interested in her case given my background as a Speech Pathologist, and naturally I was.
“Although the patient had already been discharged from the hospital, Dr Forge and Dr Bruce Maydom encouraged me to attend her outpatient appointment with Neurologist Professor Graeme Jackson, four weeks post discharge. Professor Jackson thought her case satisfied the requirements for Foreign Accent Syndrome, and invited me to be involved in researching her case further, publishing the findings as a case study.
“Given how rare FAS is (there are only around 60 published case studies), I soon realised how fortunate I was to be involved in such a project. I attended the Brain Research Institute whilst the patient had functional MRI scans, and liaised with main author and Neuropsychologist Dr Chris Tailby, mainly with regards to her time as an inpatient and speech pathology assessments.
“The experience as a whole has been incredibly rewarding, encompassing both my undergraduate and postgraduate training,” Jackie added.
The woman was first admitted to emergency for slurred speech, left-sided weakness, headache, and photosensitivity. On clinical grounds, her presentation was of sufficient concern to administer thrombolytic therapy.
After speaking in a French accent on day nine of her admission, the patient’s speech alternated between at least five different accents, accompanied by associated behavioural changes over several months.
Thanks to her involvement and research, Jackie was cited as one of the co-authors of the article, having just finished year 4C. The article, which appeared in the December 2012 edition of the Journal of Neurolinguistics, says it is believed to be the first description of FAS encompassing multiple distinct accents within a single individual.
Jackie being cited as an author of this article is a great achievement. It also shows how during their clinical year students can get fully involved in cases that interest them and pursue specific clinical health interests.