Health Sciences Newsletter Summer 2019
Photo by Adrienne Thurston
Student Interns at Boston Children’s Hospital by Erin McCoskey During the summer of 2018, I interned at Boston Children’s Hospital in the orthopedic department. The hospital is known for being No. 1 in the nation for pediatrics and is also where Dr. Lyle Micheli founded dance medicine. I shadowed, assisted and learned from some of America’s finest orthopedic doctors at both the main Boston Children’s campus and the dancemedicine-specific Micheli Center. Many of the injuries I saw in the orthopedic department were due to tendinopathy and tendinitis, which were caused by overuse. Even the dancers and gymnasts tended to be excruciatingly tight in their hamstrings and Achilles tendons, so their bodies reacted by using incorrect muscles, resulting in injury. Among the most severe of injuries I saw were a tibial stress fracture in a five-year-old, many L5 stress fractures (spondylolysis), concussions and infrapatellar tendon tears. Along with clinical experience, I observed steroid injections at the Micheli Center. Despite the initial pain and discomfort the patients felt, I was amazed at how quickly they were relieved of their pain after the injections. A psoas injection even saved a dancer from needing a hip replacement. During my internship, I served as a research assistant by collecting data and taking measurements for a study on the Bridge-Enhanced ACL Repair (BEAR) method
of ACL reconstruction. I observed the new way of repairing the ACL in the operating room, assisted the doctors with the write-ups for the research study and took patient data for the study. Being a sports medicine physician entails a great deal more than simply diagnosis and rehabilitation. Sports medicine physicians have to be the bearer of bad news to young people who love their sports and sometimes are hoping for a career in that particular craft. As an ex-dance athlete who sustained her own career-ending injury, I truly felt the pain that these patients were going through. The idea that I could do something to help young people continue their athletic careers even after an injury inspires me to earn an M.D. in Sports Medicine.
Students Serve Abroad in Ghana in 2018 by Mark Persinger
During the summer of 2018, Friends University health science students Laramie Edens, Abbey Fischer, Pearce Harris, Makayla Hollis, Jocelyn Logan, Autumn Lubbers, Elizabeth McKee, Mark Persinger, Amanda Smith and Jacob Stewart traveled abroad to Ghana. They spent two weeks volunteering at a hospital operated by Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and participating in research of neglected tropical diseases. The students were accompanied by health science professors Dr. Prince Agbedanu
and Dr. John Simmons. This trip was Friends University health science program’s first opportunity to serve abroad in Ghana. This was a unique experience because Dr. Agbedanu is from Ghana, and the university at which the students served is the same school in which Dr. Agbedanu completed his undergraduate education. Before traveling abroad, the students completed a semester-long course about public health, language skills and cultural issues. Upon successful completion of this course, the students could participate in the experience abroad.
claims, maternity ward, public health, ER, infectious disease unit, inpatient wards, dental clinic and OR. During these rotations (which took place in the mornings), the students performed daily tasks and learned alongside current medical students and practicing physicians. In the afternoons, they traveled to the Kumasi Center for Collaborative Research (KCCR) where they researched neglected tropical diseases, including malaria, tuberculosis, typhoid fever and others. They kept daily journal logs about their experiences.
While serving at the hospital, students completed a daily rotation of the different departments. These departments included pharmacy, records, X-ray, health insurance
Student Gains Medical Insights by Daniel Yeremin
Oftentimes, society does not recognize the lasting impact — positive or negative — that medical care can have on a culture. If we take health care for granted, we inhibit its improvement and development. For a long time, I did not value medicine for what it is worth. My experience in a third world country during August of 2017 taught me to appreciate the resources we have in America; I also saw the needs that we have within our own health care system.
I was hesitant to attend a mission trip that would overlap with my first week of college since I did not want to feel behind in school. Nevertheless, I took the medical training class just in case I decided to participate in the trip. A few months later, I found myself on a plane headed toward Panama. The clinic was located in Puerto Armuelles at an open-air school with a few classrooms. My job involved calculating prescriptions for eyeglasses, nonstop walking, and less than five minutes for lunch. I, however, enjoyed my job, getting to see the priceless reactions the locals had when they could finally see clearly. One woman started to cry as she gently spoke, “Azul!” only now able to see that the scrubs we were wearing had color. I saw living proof
of what you can do when you invest in others. The biggest pitfall of American medicine, perhaps, is the shortage of caregivers who care. We need medical providers who go out of their way to treat and inform patients, not clinicians trying to maximize patient output and profits. Many doctors get to spend only a few minutes with each patient. That is where students can help. While students do not yet have degrees, their impact can be profound. Going on mission trips or volunteering at nursing homes, doctor’s offices or hospitals can change both the students and those around them as they share a message of hope.
Q: Considering the level of mathematical simulations involved in your publications, how do you involve undergraduate students in a typical research project with you? A: It is definitely not impossible for students to do research, either with me or on their own, at their level. Since I am a teacher, my job is to encourage students to have and develop their ideas and to realize that even what one has just learned can be applied immediately. My favorite story about the power of ideas is from an old Kansas Reader, explaining how ice-cream cones were invented. The story is titled “It’s Ideas that Count.” That is really true! Research is simply critical thinking and healthy curiosity melted together and enriched by education into a beautiful combination, like a new S’mores Frappuccino at Starbucks.
Faculty in the Spotlight with Dr. Joseph Myers by Amanda Smith Q: How long have you been working at Friends University? A: I have worked at Friends University since August 2009. Before working here, my family moved into the house that previously existed at 515 S. Glenn, the same location as the new residence hall Falcon Glenn. When I was 10, my family and I moved out of the house and to the country. I was around Friends for seven years of my childhood. In 2007, my father taught three classes at Friends. Q: What do you do at Friends? A: I tutor math, which is my favorite thing to do. I teach classes as well. Initially, I was hired to be an area coordinator for the math, science, business and technology departments for freshman- and sophomore-level adult students. After four years of working at Friends, I stopped doing this and became director of ADA services (disability services). Following this, I joined faculty senate. In recent years, I have been a co-chair for faculty senate. Starting in 2014, I developed the business analytics concentration in the Graduate School, taught its four courses, created the cyber security master’s program and initially designed nine of its courses.
My life in research began during my teenage years when a professor encouraged everyone in my class to think critically about a field which I later learned was called orthogonal regression. While attempting to solve a flaw lurking under the surface of least squares designs, a simple Calculus I equation suddenly crystallized in my mind, and this became my first successfully-solved mathematical research problem. All students are welcome to work with me on research problems of their own interests in the endless fruitful fields of applied mathematical sciences. I recently advised students in two research projects — big-data modeling of current expected credit loss (CECL) for banking and predictive analytics of events for criminal justice. Q: What skills do you believe future researchers need to understand? A: First, it is critical to understand that everything offered by a liberal arts education is vital — English, art, all of it. Research is the product of all these factors, and as a mathematician knows, if one factor is zero, the product is also zero. Then, competency in computer programming and mastery of math in real-world applications are two skills that empower today’s critical thinkers and problem solvers. One of my passions is helping students realize how easy it is to both discover and publish worthwhile scholarly materials in this amazing age of the internet, and it is my dream for my students to become so successful that one day they will be teaching me.
Friends Student Attends Medical School Open House by Amanda Smith
In the fall of 2018, I visited the University of Kansas School of Medicine in Wichita and Kansas City. During one of my visits, I learned that since I am a Kansas resident, I would automatically receive an interview with a GPA above a 3.20 and an MCAT score greater than 500. Kansas residents that receive interviews have a 50 percent chance of matriculation. This news will help me remain calm during the application and interview process next year. The admissions representative also discussed the possible ways to combat expensive tuition, including through the military, the rural health program and the specific program (for prospective students in family medicine, internal medicine, emergency medicine and others). Visiting these two schools has made me excited to graduate college and begin my new chapter in medicine.
Friends Student Participates in Scholars in Rural Health Program Friends University’s very own Mark Persinger, a junior majoring in health science, was accepted into the Scholars in Rural Health program through the University of Kansas School of Medicine. The Scholars in Rural Health program is designed to identify and encourage undergraduate students from rural Kansas who are interested in building successful careers as physicians in rural areas. The program exposes students to the variety of health care services in rural Kansas. Students apply after their sophomore undergraduate year. During their junior and senior undergraduate years, scholars learn at the side of an assigned mentor in the region of his or her home community, for a total of 200 shadowing hours accumulated during the four semesters and one summer. Mark is paired with Dr. Boller, a family physician in Liberal, Kan. Scholars also complete three patient care reports, attend an initial orientation in Salina and participate in a meeting at the end of each spring semester in Wichita. The program provides Scholars assured admission to the University of Kansas School of Medicine upon successful completion of program requirements and graduation from their undergraduate institutions.
Welcome from the Chair
by Nora Strasser Ed.D. Chair of Natural Science and Mathematics As the Division Chair of Natural Science and Mathematics, I would like to welcome you to our annual Health Sciences Newsletter. I want to emphasize the new and exciting happenings in our Division. Students are getting more and more involved in research projects with faculty. Health Science students are experiencing quality shadowing experiences with local health care providers. Finally, many Health Science students got the opportunity to travel internationally and learn about the health care in a foreign country. During Summer 2018, the students traveled to Ghana and during Summer 2019, the students traveled to England and Ireland. Our Health Science Club is active and sponsors a variety of activities ranging from social functions to sponsoring medical professional speakers. We offer courses that allow you to experience service learning and shadowing. You have many opportunities to participate in these activities. We strive to provide you with learning experiences both inside and outside the classroom. Helping you travel the path to your profession is our ultimate goal. Our faculty are always available to answer your questions, help you decide on a career, and guide you through your undergraduate experience. Please feel free to contact me if you have questions. My office is SCI 132 and my email address is strasser@friends.edu. For information about Friends University’s Health Sciences degree: friends.edu/health-sciences | admissions@friends.edu 316-295-5100 | 800-577-2233 Friends University does not discriminate against academically qualified students on the basis of race, color, national or ethnic origin, sex, disability or age in its programs and activities. Accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and a member of the North Central Association, 230 S. LaSalle Street, Suite 7-500, Chicago, IL 60604; www.ncahlc.org; 1-800-621-7440.
Additional newsletter content is available online at friends.edu/hsnewsletter.