The 19th annual student-organized DOC Dash 5K charity run will see some changes this time around. The event, taking place Friday, Sept. 19, reflects the organizers’ sensitivity to the effects of this summer’s flooding on the community. All proceeds from the $20 entry fee will go to help the American Red Cross’s flood relief efforts in Iowa City.

“We were all affected by the flood,” said M4 Elizabeth Coon, one of the event’s organizers. “The American Red Cross was here helping the entire time, and that was important in our decision to benefit them. They’ve been having fundraising problems on a national scale so it is vital to help.” (more…)

The Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction course for UI medical and PA students is back this year with a new schedule and format. The course will begin weekly two-hour sessions Wednesday, Oct. 1, at 5:30 p.m. and last eight weeks.

Begun in 2006, the course previously had been offered in one-hour weekly sessions over the lunch hour. Experience suggested that one hour was not enough time to integrate both the didactic and experiential components of the course, said Beverly Klug, a marriage and family therapist and director of mindfulness-based programs with the Department of Psychiatry/UI Behavioral Health. (more…)

Student Research Day takes place Friday, Sept. 5, showcasing the work of 101 UI medical students who participated in summer research fellowships and their 85 faculty mentors, as well as that of students in the UI’s Medical Scientist Training Program. The Summer Research Fellowship Program gives medical students the opportunity to work with faculty mentors on research aligned with their own clinical or scientific interests.

The Student Research Day program calls for students to present their projects orally and in poster form. Faculty judges will evaluate the presentations, with awards to be given at an evening banquet for participants. Jeffrey Murray, MD, professor of pediatrics, will deliver a plenary address at 10:30 a.m. in room 1110A of the Medical Education and Research Facility. (more…)

Members of the UI medical education community gathered at Iowa City’s Oakland Cemetery Aug. 29 to honor and thank a special group of teachers: Individuals whose donated bodies served the cause of education and research at the UI. The ceremony, organized by the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology’s Deeded Body Program, brought UI medical and other health professional students, faculty and families of the donors together for a moment of remembrance.

Following a brief introduction by Alexander Sandra, PhD, professor and vice chair of anatomy and cell biology, several health professional students offered testimonials of the meaning of the donors’ gift to them. M2 Samantha Fawcett noted the life-changing character of her work with a donated body. “I don’t think I will ever forget the first time I saw what cancer looks like in the body,” she said. “My experience in the lab has evoked many emotions, but supreme among them is awe.” (more…)