Category Archives: Health
Outside of the Classroom Learning Adds to Post-Baccalaureate Premedical Experience
Creating the strongest candidacy for medical or health profession school is what UVM’s Post-Baccalaureate Premedical program is all about. One way that UVM’s program supports students in their quest to build a strong application is through numerous outside-the-classroom learning opportunities. Students are invited and encouraged to take advantage of unique hands-on clinics, discussions lead by […]
Public Health Students Explore Complex Issues Facing Vermonters
UVM Master of Public Health students investigate some of Vermont’s most serious epidemics. For example, binge drinking among Vermont’s high school-aged youth doubles the odds of making a plan of suicide, according to a report prepared last spring by Rachel Danis and her team in the PH392 Culminating Project Experience course. Danis, who completed the […]
Preparing for Med School through UVM’s Post-Baccalaureate Premedical Program
There isn’t necessarily just one path to medical school. Sure, you may plan to focus your undergraduate studies in a bachelor’s of science and narrow in on the key science curriculum in order to gain admission to med school. But what if you pursued a bachelor’s degree in arts, didn’t have the science background and […]
Assistant Professor Thomas Delaney Sheds Light on Suicide Screening, Prevention
Promoting awareness that suicide is a public health problem is one of the most effective ways to prevent suicide. Suicide is the eighth leading cause of death in Vermont, and the state has a rate of suicide in young people that is substantially higher than the overall national rate. In the United States, about 14 […]
Meet UVM’s Public Health Advising Team: Vika Pleshakova
By Kate Whitney Vika Pleshakova, M.Ed., has been serving students at the University of Vermont for 16 years. Currently a Senior Enrollment and Retention Advisor, her first role at UVM was one of keeping track of intakes and student inquiries and she gradually moved toward her current role. “I’m a lifelong learner myself,” Pleshakova said. […]
UVM Is: Paula Tracy Mentors Students to Cultivate Their Strengths
Professor Paula Tracy believes in the power of mentoring students. Since arriving at UVM in January 1985, she has mentored more than 100 undergraduate, graduate, and medical students, as well as post-doctoral fellows. “When you mentor someone you have a relationship, and you learn their strengths and weaknesses,” says Tracy, who is based in UVM’s […]
A Clinician Strengthens Her Healthcare Management Skills
Christine Lombard is a leader by nature. As director of rehabilitation services and a physical therapist for Elderwood Burlington—a senior care facility—she is responsible for managing a team and helping patients get back on their feet. Lombard graduated from UVM in 2001 with a degree in physical therapy. As most of her background is in […]
Former Emergency Medicine Doctor Looks to a Future in Cannabis
Cannabis helped Valerie Hepburn recover from knee surgery. It also helped her reimagine her career. The former emergency medicine doctor, who became interested in integrative and functional medicine later on, turned to cannabis after suffering from arthritis and undergoing a bilateral knee replacement. She found cannabis more effective than the opioids she was prescribed after […]
End of Life Doula Training: Connecting with Patients and Embracing Grief
For Cheri Rigby, to grieve is to grow. When Rigby lost her father, brother, and mother over nine years, she felt consumed by grief. After her mother died, she enrolled in the UVM End-of-Life Doula Professional Certificate Program in 2018. “When I started the end-of-life doula program, it was very much for my personal need […]
An End of Life Doula Wants to Change the Conversation Around Death and Dying
Margaret Phenix knows first-hand that the way we handle death is all wrong. People don’t talk about death and dying, she says, and there’s often pressure for the bereaved to move on too quickly. “The whole way we look at death in this society doesn’t work, and we live in such a death-denying society,” says […]
