Guest Director's Corner

Five Years of SPARCC: Transformative Growth in Teaching, Learning and Research 

By Kristina Kaljo, PhD



Student-centered Pipeline to Advance Research in Cancer Careers (SPARCC) is a program designed to prepare underrepresented minority students to pursue medicine and biomedical research, and ultimately, pursue careers in clinical cancer research.

Every five years, something unexpected yet pivotal occurs along my professional trajectory, sending me in a direction I could have never imagined. In June 2019, the Student-centered Pipeline to Advance Research in Cancer Careers (SPARCC) program came to fruition.

Perspective/Opinion

Reflections from SPARCC: Witnessing humanistic care in medicine

By Don Mai

“(Hospitals) are no place to live and die.” — BJ Miller, palliative care specialist from his TED2015 talk What Really Matters at the end of Life

As a recent college graduate, I was thrilled to be a part of the fifth cohort of the Student-centered Pipeline to Advance Research in Cancer Careers (SPARCC) program. The immersive, eight-week summer experience introduced me to a plethora of medical specialties and health care-related topics. Each of SPARCC’s three components have shaped my perspective on medicine. 

Perspective/Opinion

Navigating Transformation: Embracing Change, Growth and Unexpected

By Evelyn Doan

It’s not fair that I only get a few sentences to share an entire year of life altering moments and bittersweet endings.

Let’s just say when the email came through that I was taken off the waitlist and accepted into the 2022 SPARCC program, I panicked.

My entire summer was packed with an award from school to do research in a neuropsychology lab, a position with Medical College of Wisconsin as a standardized patient, a part-time job at a coffee shop near campus and an eight-week organic chemistry course. So, while I should have felt pure joy, instead I felt anxiety and despair. What should I do? My advisor recommended that I accept the SPARCC position because it was a truly once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and would look great on my applications for medical school. But, this would mean graduating a semester later than I had planned. I decided to take the leap.

Webinar #2:

The Post-Dobbs Impact on Medical Education – UME, GME, and Beyond



Monday, Aug. 21

2:45pm – 4:00pm ET

Registration for the second webinar in the series is now open. This webinar will focus on the impact the Dobbs decision has had on learners’ curricular experience, as well as medical education leaders and program directors, and discuss how institutions are addressing training requirements in the context of reproductive health restrictions. Speakers will discuss curricular solutions as well as provide a learner perspective of how these changes may potentially impact learner's career choices. Extra time will be allotted for audience questions. 

CALL TO ARTISTS

Humanities in Medicine event

Visual and Performing Artist Submissions:

Humanities in Medicine is presented by Froedtert Hospital’s Departments of Spiritual Services and Behavioral Health

Friday, September 8, 2023

5:30 pm – 8:00 pm

Froedtert Hospital Clinical Cancer Center

1st Floor - Helfaer Mezzanine

We are looking for Froedtert Health and MCW staff, physicians and patients to share their visual and performing art at our next Humanities in Medicine event. Some examples of the creative works we would like to include: drawing & painting, mixed media, fiber art, photography, poetry, spoken word, dancing, music, singing and acting.