Diversity

You will often find first-generation KCU Student Doctor Cierra Hall wearing a sweatshirt that reads “Be the Light.” However, she is not the only one sporting the phrase across the Joplin Campus – many KCU students and faculty wear the unique design as well.

Students who want to pursue a career as both a physician and as a scientist will find a warm welcome at KCU. Just ask Mahan Hadjian. The third-year med student started working in the lab of Abdulbaki Agbas, PhD, MSc, professor of biosciences, as soon as he arrived at KCU’s College of Osteopathic Medicine.

Despite many advances in medicine, septic shock remains a serious illness with a mortality rate exceeding 30 percent among patients who receive treatment and resulting in more than 200,000 deaths each year in the United States alone. However, an ongoing study conducted by KCU third-year medical student Takara Newsome-Cuby in collaboration with a research team from University of Missouri-Kansas City, shows much promise.

Tafadzwa Amani, fourth-year KCU osteopathic medical student, won best overall during the American Osteopathic Association Bureau of International Osteopathic Medicine’s 25^th Annual Global Health Competition for her research entitled Epidemiology of Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy and Associated Factors in Rural Guatemala. 

Breast surgeon and breast cancer survivor, Deepa Halaharvi, DO (COM '08), speaks on the importance of early detection as October marks Breast Cancer Awareness Month. 

A team led by UNMC College of Public Health researchers has published an article that describes the risks of vaping cannabidiol (CBD) among adolescents. Avina Mahorke, KCU-Joplin College of Osteopathic Medicine student who served as a co-author of the study, said that “nearly 6% of the whole cohort did not know if they had vaped CBD or not.”

You might think a medical student, miles from her home in Maui would feel helpless as she watched videos of her home island on fire. But “helpless” is not a word that would describe Kenya Sherman. Not by a long shot.

Two Kansas City University (KCU) fourth-year student doctors have been appointed to the Student National Medical Association (SNMA) Board of Directors.

“Many marginalized and disenfranchised groups are overlooked within medicine, hence the importance of a scholarship recognizing and embracing the sexual and gender diversity within our student body. Acknowledging a deserving student for their LGBTQ+ advocacy nourishes my soul,” Ron Holt II, DO (COM ’93) explained.

Deepa Halaharvi, DO (COM '08), knows how her breast cancer patients feel...because she’s been there.

Spring cleaning is an opportunity to eliminate clutter in our homes and deep clean places that need yearly attention. We should do the same for a critical area of our homes that often lacks this focus: our medicine cabinet and all places where safety items are stored in the house and car. 

For many individuals, pursuing a career in medicine is a life-long dream that begins in childhood. To fulfill it requires the building blocks of tenacity, dedication, time and knowledge – a combination that is most often regarded as challenging but achievable. Yet, despite having these blocks in abundance, many would-be doctors are still not able to realize their dreams because they don’t have access to a component largely overlooked – a foundation of opportunity.