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.
I was a stranger in a foreign land.
I had just touched down in Yakima for the first time as a new osteopathic medical student at Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences, and it was already go time.
The first two days went by in a blur. Then the first two weeks. Everything was unfamiliar, and it was flying — until week three.
Read MoreShadowing a local the osteopathic physician, PNWU student Aaron Nott watched as the doctor stitched closed wounds on the face of a Native American sexual assault victim. As he listened, he realized that the doctor wasn’t simply treating a patient, but instead creating a meaningful connecting to a person. Today, Aaron is using that experience to fuel his pursuit of a a career as an osteopath.
Read MoreGrowing up in a rural Northwest town, PNWU’s Jade Taylor accepted the precarious state of the towns health care services as a normal part of life. Today, as a second-year medical student, Taylor is looking to shed light on the potentially-lethal circumstances facing so many people across rural America and explain why the current “normal” can no longer be accepted.
Read MoreThis blog is about a horrible disease and an amazing family. Unfortunately, it is far too short to do justice to either. One winter evening while I was attending college, I found myself vigorously knocking on the door of a kind, middle-aged lady. Everybody knew her as Mrs. C, and her son Liam was one of my housemates and closest friends. Liam had Marfan syndrome, which was the reason I desperately had to wake up Mrs. C that night.
Read MoreAn elderly woman with long, grey hair drawn back into a single braid sat in the padded chair adjacent to mine at a conference table. "We have a saying around here," she said. ”Don't get sick after June.”
Read MoreAs future physicians, we will be treating people from backgrounds different than our own; we’ll be tasked with caring for people whose experiences may not be imaginable to us. Interacting, communicating, building trust and relationships, showing respect and empathy are some of the most important things we do. To do this successfully, physicians must have a deeper understanding of other cultures and a respect for each individual’s unique experience. In my medical training, I’ve discovered that this approach is a beneficial one for all of us to take.
Read MoreAs a new professor at PNWU, I've often struggled with what to teach first- and second-year medical students.
They are bombarded with information during their first two years of medical education, so I was advised to stick to the basics. After all, they will get more depth in their clinical rotations and residency. So, what should I focus on most in those first two years of their medical educations?
“Stick to the horses!”
Read MoreAs a gay man, I’ve noticed that there are a lot of misunderstandings about how being gay relates to health, especially sexual health. Hopefully by reading this, you will gain some insight into this unfortunately taboo topic.
Read More“So, you’re basically a doctor, right?” facetiously asked my husband Jared, looking up from a lesson plan.
“Only 1/8 of a doctor,” I responded, preparing my lunch for the next day. He laughed.
“So, 1/8 of a doctor: what should I teach these 5th graders about their health? What should I make sure they know?”
Read MoreCambridge Dictionary describes Imposter Syndrome as “the feeling that your achievements are not real or that you do not deserve praise or success”.
Imposter syndrome, a term I was unfamiliar with before entering medical school. Prior to this I was confident and proud in my efforts and accomplishments. I was no stranger to not fitting in or being the odd man out.
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