The PNWU Health Blog offers insight and first-hand accounts of life here at Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences.
It includes contributions from current and former PNWU medical students, physicians and various members of an ever-expanding community aimed at highlighting care for the rural and underserved. If you have any questions, comments, concerns or ideas, or if you’d like to pitch a blog idea of your own, please contact us at publicity@pnwu.edu.
When Katie Ackerman’s undergraduate study habits landed her on the brink of burnout, she decided to break from the books and reconnect with her passions. Now a first-year medical student, Ackerman shares four simple tips for finding balance, and explains how a combination of passion and discovery have helped her maintain a healthy, happy life.
Read MoreIn his first appearance on the PNWU Health Blog, first-year medical student Jordi Pellicer takes readers along on a heartwarming dinner date with his grandmother and explains how the time he has spent with her since her Alzheimer’s diagnosis will go on to shape the type of physician he’ll become.
Read MoreCoarse sand, muddy trails and tempestuous Maui waves: as PNWU OMS II Stephanie L. Arnold dug her toes into the Hawaiian sand below, she closed her eyes and awaited to blare of the starting horn.
While the 4 hours and 39 minutes that awaited her were undeniably daunting — for Stephanie — every step, peddle and kick served as a reminder of the type of physician she is working so hard to become.
Read MoreWhen second-year student Logan Noone began considering locations for his study abroad experience, he skipped tallying up many of the typical determining factors — things such as culture and language — and instead let one of his greatest passions serve as the deciding vote: golf. After arriving in Scotland, the birthplace of his favorite pastime, it quickly became clear that the rolling greens of St. Andrews were not only an opportunity for some fun, but a vital tool to improving his mental health.
In his first appearance on the PNWU Health Blog, the “Talk Mental Health with Logan Noone” podcast host shares how he uses the lessons he’s learned playing golf to overcome the often overwhelming yips and bunkers of life.
Read MoreIn her first appearance on the PNWU Health Blog, second-year osteopathic medical student Magdelene May offers readers a glimpse into one of the most complex challenges facing healthcare workers: dealing with death.
“While we learn a lot in medical school, we do not learn that logic will not armor us against emotion.”
Read MoreOften overwhlemed by the many demands of life as a medical student, PNWU OMS II Rebecca Bolla found herself on the receiving end of one repeating piece of advice: just relax! Unfortunately for her, “relaxing” isn’t exactly her favorite pastime.
In a quest to discover some attainable stress-relieving strategies, Bolla describes how one off-beat conversation helped to uncover relief in routine.
Read MoreEntering into her in-patient rotations at a VA hospital in rural Oregon, PNWU OMS IV Kiana Vakil-Gilani was especially nervous. Despite it being her chosen specialty, fears of being typecast as an unreliable middle-eastern female medical student lingered in her mind.
On her first day, all of her fears came to life in one patient interaction.
Read MoreIn honor of the Gold Humanism Honor Society’s Solidarity Week For Compassionate Patient Care, which aims to promote the importance of a strong bond between people who are patients and people who care for them, PNWU OMS IV Victoria Kent shares the story of a harrowing medical experience that reinforced her the importance of humanistic care, and taught her that sometimes it’s okay to not be okay.
Read MoreWalking out of his standardized patient encounter — which aimed to help him to practice and improve his clinical and conversational skills for an actual patient encounter — PNWU OMS II Jared Darlian felt great. Upon re-entering the room to receive what he was sure to be a great report, however, his mental celebration was abruptly cut short.
Now, as he continues on the path toward developing his care-giving skills , Darlian offers insight into what he’s learned since that early encounter, offering a rare glimpse into a medical students’ constant journey toward self-improvement and growth.
Read MoreFor much of her life, the R-word was just another careless expression. Then she met Caleb, a young man with special needs, and saw the devastating impact the three-syllable utterance could have.
In her first appearance on the PNWU Health Blog, PNWU Developmental Club President Sarah Tucker challenges readers to consider the power behind their vernacular, and offers a simple solution to help curb the perpetuation of the stigma behind developmental disabilities: just stop saying it.
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