My Best Friend is Hairier Than Yours

What has your pet done for you lately?

Offered you a slobbery kiss? Carried your shoes around the house as if it’s a game of hide and seek? Sat by your side constantly, pawing at you for a good petting?

If you own a pet, you have probably experienced at least one of these scenarios before. But have you ever stopped to consider how much a pet really does for you? 

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Linsey Christensen
Losing Weight, Gaining Wellness: How I Lost 75 Pounds and Turned Healthy Choices into a Lifestyle

Growing up, I was always overweight. 

Each year at my physical, my pediatrician would show my Body Mass Index graph. I was always over the 95th percentile for my age and height. 

My physician would always encourage me to make healthier food choices and to try to be more physically active, and I was always eager to do just that. Trust me: I was dying to lose the extra weight. For some reason, I just didn’t have the self-motivation or determination to actually do it. 

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Larissa Hurd
How to Stay Healthy During the Holiday Season

As PNWU's only registered dietitian nutritionist, I have been tasked with demystifying how to stay healthy during this calorie-laden, often-stressful season. 

The holidays are already upon us, and November was National Diabetes Month. November and December can be incredibly challenging times of the year to maintain healthy lifestyle habits – for persons with or without diabetes. 

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Year of Yes

Once you get into medical school, it is really hard to get out. I mean, it consumes you.

Every hour of every day you are studying or thinking about studying, and while you are studying one thing you are thinking about the other things you still have to study.

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Jenna Cacchillo
No Matter How Far Away You Roam: Making the Most of the Holiday Season in My New Home

I’m writing this blog on my grandmothers ninetieth birthday. It’s the first time I haven’t been home to hand her a birthday card. In fact, this holiday season, I’m further from home than ever before. 

My family has always been a living, breathing vision from a far-fetched, stereotypical New England storybook. 

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Exploring American Primary Care: Southcentral Foundation

As a medical student and a public health professional, I see the current American healthcare landscape through a lens of concerned optimism. We, as a nation, have been taught that our perspectives on healthcare are vastly divided. Yet, I believe we have more in common regarding what we want from health care delivery than we currently understand. Through a series of interviews, I seek to study these common values and further highlight creative approaches to primary care that exist within the United States.

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Elia Cole
Embracing the View From Your Unmapped Path

I opened the door and heard the jingle of a holiday-themed bell announcing my arrival. I walked up the creaking staircase and found myself in front of a pleasant woman sitting at a desk. She greeted me and led me to an empty room, decorated as if it were someone’s living room, wood fire stove and all. I took a seat on the couch and tried to feel comfortable despite being clearly uncomfortable. What an unfamiliar feeling. 

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Jamie Welch
Missions Align: Recognizing Our Veterans and Honoring Their Service to Others

I have had the privilege of serving many years on active duty in the US Army alongside the women and men of the various branches of the armed services and public health who chose to serve our country. As a member of the US Army, one of the most rewarding aspects of my job was providing help and care to people from all walks of life. This approach falls directly in line with the mission of Pacific Northwest University.    

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Marc Cote, DO, FACOI, FACP