Kayla Combs stood at the head of the anatomy lab table surrounded by medical students examining their patient’s musculoskeletal system. “If you pull on this tendon here, it will cause the fingers to move,” Combs demonstrated. But, the teacher wasn’t a med school faculty member. She was a doctoral candidate in UCF’s physical therapy program participating in an … [Read more...]
Military Residency Match Combines Medical Training, Service to Veterans
One Memorial Day, Arron Smith and his wife Melissa – both UCF medical students – stood before a monument at the Orlando VA Medical Center that bears the name of fallen soldiers. “Our job will be keeping names off of this wall,” Arron said. Now, he is closer to his goal of healing those who serve. He and four other UCF College of Medicine students recently matched … [Read more...]
Magic Happens When Healthcare Students Learn Together
Sophomore UCF nursing student Desiree dos Anjos was cautious but sure-handed as she inserted a tracheal tube into her patient’s throat. She had read about the procedure in textbooks and watched it done numerous times on video, but this was her first hands-on experience. “Look how small the esophagus is,” she said, examining her patient’s neck. “Now I’m definitely going to … [Read more...]
UCF-HCA Hospital on Its Way
We broke ground recently for our new UCF Lake Nona Medical Center – a hospital that will provide academic healthcare to Lake Nona while training tomorrow’s healthcare leaders. The UCF-HCA joint venture hospital will open in late 2020 on 25 acres next to our College of Medicine. About 500 guests attended the Oct. 25 groundbreaking, which began with an early morning rainbow. … [Read more...]
Natural Killer Cells May Open Lifesaving Cancer Treatments to More Patients
Immunotherapy is making headlines for saving the lives of hundreds of cancer patients, including former President Jimmy Carter. However, many of these therapies only work for a small portion of people who have a specific molecule called PDL1 in their cancer makeup. UCF College of Medicine cancer researcher Dr. Alicja Copik has just discovered a way to make that therapy viable … [Read more...]