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Summer 2024

Stories on burnout among physicians, Black women breast cancer survivors, and a Chinese woman researcher who made a brilliant discovery during the Chinese Cultural Revolution.

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Summer 2024 Articles

 Colorful illustration of a head in profile. The head is made out of various geometric shapes that appear to be tied together with string. A large bandaid appears on top. Tiny physicians are positioned around it, trying to hold it up and together.
Medicine at Michigan

Is it fixable?

Burnout, which was once considered a personal problem, is now coming to be seen as a common occupational hazard for physicians. That shift has had a major effect on workplace well-being initiatives, medical education, and how the next generation of physicians understands the profession.
 Group photo of six Black women who are breast cancer survivors. They are all looking up at the camera and smiling.
Medicine at Michigan

Redefining the Crown

Crown is a word that holds great meaning, particularly in Black culture, where many have adopted the word to pay homage to their hair. Meet six Black breast cancer survivors who experienced hair loss from cancer treatment and are redefining their crown.
 Old fashioned headshot of José Celso Barbosa.
Medicine at Michigan

From Puerto Rico to the U-M Medical School

José Celso Barbosa is known as the father of Puerto Rican statehood. Long before his political career began, though, he graduated at the top of his med school class at Michigan - after being rejected by another medical school for his race.
Medicine at Michigan

AMA President-elect … and lots more

Medical School alum Bobby Mukkamala (M.D. 1995) was recently voted president-elect of the American Medical Association.
Medicine at Michigan

Class Notes for summer 2024

Updates from graduates of the U-M Medical School.
 Illustration of a doctor weighed down by many things on his back. He's lifting giant books, pills, and a hospital building. The illustration is brightly colored and pared down to essential shapes. The doctors face has no discerning features. He's wearing a white coat and stethoscope.
Medicine at Michigan

Is medicine an occupation or a calling?

Physicians and learners discuss a generational shift in attitudes towards medicine. Some are now viewing the profession less as a calling and more as a job.
 Screenshot of magazine page with the words "Hey Alums! Who influenced you the most in med school?"
Medicine at Michigan

Your answers to the back cover question

Alums answer the question "Who influenced you the most in med school?"
Medicine at Michigan

Obituary — Maria Spatz, M.D.

Remembering Maria Spatz, M.D.
 Headshot of Daniel Goldstein. He's wearing a dark suit, red tie, and white button up shirt.
Medicine at Michigan

Obituary — Daniel Goldstein, M.D.

Remembering Daniel Goldstein, M.D.
Medicine at Michigan

Obituary — Marguerite Shearer, M.D.

Remembering Marguerite Shearer, M.D.
 Members of Eco2librium, a company specializing in sustainable energy and forestry, distributed tree seedlings to a community in Busia County, Kenya, during a site visit.
Medicine at Michigan

Global health initiative gets $10 million boost from Yamada family

A new gift from Leslie Yamada and her family will support the Michigan Medicine Center for Global Health Equity. A 2020 gift from the Yamada family created the center, which is focused on improving the health and well-being of communities in low- and middle-income countries.
 A little girl wearing a peach-colored dress is holding a pair of glasses used in a vision exam.
Medicine at Michigan

Gift aims to save children’s sight

The new Wadhams Family Center for Children’s Vision will help save and restore sight for children through leading-edge, multidisciplinary care.
 Colorful illustration of a scientist in a lab. We see the lab through a window. Outside the window, jungle vines and flowers surround the lab building.
Medicine at Michigan

Work, First

A physician turns to fiction to tell the story of a medical researcher working during the Chinese Cultural Revolution.
 U-M Block M
Medicine at Michigan

In Memoriam

Remembering our alums and faculty
 A family photo taken from above. Reese Paltrow is in the middle. She's surrounded by her sister and great aunt and great uncle.
Medicine at Michigan

$7.5 million gift celebrates young patient’s resilience

A $7.5 million gift from the Wayne and Joan Webber Foundation was made to University of Michigan Health C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital in honor of Reese Partlow, grandniece of Wayne and Joan Webber.
 Shay Dean is wearing a gray suit. He's standing outside, surrounded by greenery. He's smiling at the camera and holding up his right hand in a peace sign.
Medicine at Michigan

What happens if you don’t match?

How one alum got past the hurdle of not matching to find success.
 Headshot of Carrie Cunningham. She's wearing a gray suit jacket with a white shirt. She has shoulder-length blond hair and is leaning against a wall with her arms crossed.
Medicine at Michigan

Stopping the stigma

A surgeon is using her recovery from substance use disorder as a chance to speak out about mental health stigma among physicians.
 A family photo of Jake Ruduck with his wife, daughter, and dog. They are all sitting inside a white playhouse tent.
Medicine at Michigan

Football, fatherhood, and a future in medicine

Former Wolverine and pro football player trades his football gear for a doctor's white coat.
 A doctor examines a patient's back. His hand's are on the patient's lower back and the patient is reaching around pointing to a spot on his back.
Medicine at Michigan

Helping patients with chronic pain, fibromyalgia, and long COVID

The director of U-M's Chronic Pain and Fatigue Research Center discusses misconceptions and treatments of fibromyalgia and chronic pain and how physicians can best help patients living with these conditions.
 Close up photo of a doctor wearing a white coat clasping her hands over the hands of a patient.
Medicine at Michigan

Patient-centered care goes beyond death

The Office of Decedent Affairs supports people who experience death at the hospital. They want to make sure the burdens of death, from the bureaucratic to the heartbreaking, are not shouldered alone.
 Dr. Robert Bartlett is wearing a doctor's white coat and leaning on a steel table in a lab with his hands clasped. He's standing next to a large circular surgical light.
Medicine at Michigan

The things you didn’t know about the “father” of ECMO

Robert Bartlett (M.D. 1963) once wanted to play professional hockey, but instead he developed the heart-lung support system that has saved hundreds of thousands of lives. Even though he’s technically retired, Bartlett is still active in his lab developing new life-saving devices.
 Illustration of a giant yellow measuring tape that's shaped like a maize. A tiny doctor is walking in the white space near a ladder that seems to go over the measuring tape.
Medicine at Michigan

How to help higher-weight patients get the best care

An associate professor of nutritional science at the U-M School of Public Health talks about how physicians can reduce weight stigma.
 Split screen image. The picture on the left is of Dr. Chung holding a portrait of himself and he's standing next to Susie, the patient whose hand he repaired. The image on the right is a close up of the portrait of Dr. Chung.
Medicine at Michigan

Susie’s solution

After artist Susie McColgan shattered her hand in a fall, a Michigan Medicine doctor created "Susie's solution" to restore her painting abilities.
 Erica Ginepro stands in front of a wall display of different types of guitars. She's holding an acoustic guitar, is facing sideways, and is looking to the side.
Medicine at Michigan

Harmonizing health care

The Perinatal Wellbeing Program at Von Voigtlander Women’s Hospital is the first of its kind in the nation to offer evidence-based music therapy in addition to other services tailored to the needs of pregnant people.
 This is a dark photo of two graduates wearing graduation gowns, and caps with tassels. They are silhouetted in front of a window.
Medicine at Michigan

Light at the end of medical school

The University of Michigan Medical School Class of 2024 started in the fall of 2020 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.