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.
Dr. Amanda Smith’s paleoanthropology background sparked an insatiable evolutionary curiosity. Today, she is chasing down the answers to her questions and, in turn, uncovering new innovations capable of impacting our understanding of the human body, and our ability to care for it.
“What do extinct human ancestors and modern human patients have in common?” asks Dr. Smith, in her first PNWU Health Blog appearance. “We can’t do experiments on them… or can we?”
Read MoreFace-to-face with the COVID-19 vaccination fears of her patients and the resulting impact of those fears, fourth-year PWNU Student Doctor Arashpreet (Arshi) Gill offers insight into the struggles facing healthcare providers amidst a troubling COVID-19 resurgence.
“As we continue to fight between the desire to provide autonomy and do no harm, keep strong in knowing that we stand in solidarity,” Gill urges. “With every patient and every loved one you help educate, a force of medical professionals smile with you.”
Read MoreAs PNWU Student Doctor Remy Arnot struggled to adjust to the rigors of her new medical school schedule, she watched her beloved workout regiment fade into the past.
In her latest appearance on the PNWU Health Blog, Arnot explains how a little boost from friends — including one four-legged companion — helped her to discover “the secret weapon” for medical school success.
Read MoreAfter three years at PNWU, plenty of hard lessons have shaped the contents of the backpack Student Doctor Remy Arnot carries each day.
As a new group of health sciences students prepare to begin their mission-driven journeys alongside her at PNWU, Arnot offers a glimpse into her backpack, and explains the value of each item she has learned to carry along the way.
Read MoreThroughout the past year, PNWU Student Doctor Oak Sonfist has served as an Academic Medicine Writing Fellow for Building the Next Generation of Academic Physicians (BNGAP), an organization which aims to help diverse medical students and residents embark upon an academic medicine career.
As a member of the fellowship’s inaugural class, Student Dr. Sonfist spent the year working with mentors and fellows across the country to develop the reference base and content for novel educational modules focusing on topics that are often left out of medical school curricula.
PNWU’s Office of Scholarly Activity (OSA) recently connected with Student Dr. Sonfist to discuss the experience.
Read MoreFollowing a near death experience, PNWU graduate Heather Bird, DO (Class of 2021), developed a profound interest in psychedelic studies. As a medical student at PNWU, Bird channeled that fascination directly into her studies.
In a Q&A with our office of scholarly activity, Dr. Bird shares how persistence and grunt work can lead to amazing opportunities.
Read MoreAs she transitions into her fourth year of medical school, PNWU Student Doctor Vickie Sizemore uses poetry to express her gratitude to those guiding her journey and looks toward her next chapter.
Read MorePNWU graduate Anne Keeling, DO, did everything in her power to turn her dream of being a physician into a reality. Unfortunately, like thousands of other medical students throughout the country, she now finds herself standing at a petrifying crossroad — despite her efforts, Dr. Keeling did not match to a residency.
“If it seems like I'm laying it on thick and have outlined my case in painfully clear way, it is because I have,” writes Dr. Keeling. “I didn't match. This is my Hail Mary. Please, take a chance on me.”
Read MoreEveryday, PNWU Student Doctor Amineta Sy carries the fear that she or a loved one will be the next one killed because of their Black skin. Reflecting on this continuing trauma, Sy examines her place in America and her role as a future healthcare leader.
“In the face of racism, my education, my white coat, my commitment to serving others? None of it matters,” writes Sy. “My skin color determines if I am seen as a human who deserves protection, or at least the benefit of the doubt. Because of my skin, I am only Black -- nothing more. Because of my skin, I am a threat.”
Read MorePNWU Student Doctor Ivy Stejskal’s entire education leading up to PNWU took place in private, religious schools. In her first appearance on the PNWU Health Blog, and in anticipation of What Matters in the End Week, Stejskal details the challenges that accompanied her transition to medical school, and illustrates how those challenges have inspired her ongoing patient advocacy.
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