FACULTY
SOUND
BITES
8 | DOCTOR GATOR
Guiding students toward their ‘true north’ continued from page 1
Rarey, who has completed triathlons in which he
swam, biked and jogged 140.2 miles each time, applies
inspirational metaphors from his own experiences to
illustrate to his students the effort required to make it to
the finish line and receive their degrees.
“I tell my students ‘Stroke, stroke, kick, kick around
each buoy of life,’” he says. “When you’re swimming 2.4
miles, you can’t see a finish line. You just see buoys. And
they don’t have handles; you can’t stop and hold on for
a break. I bring in actual buoys to the classroom to show
them that this job takes real effort.”
Recent graduate Stephanie Socias, MD ’19, who
was taught by Rarey from 2015 to 2017, sums up his
teaching style in one word: “inspired.”
“Dr. Rarey teaches science by emphasizing passion
and perseverance, which together make grit. He is
the coach that motivates his team to show up every
day and compete, regardless of outcome,” she says.
“Because he knows that medicine is a lifelong endeavor,
he is educating his students to be the type of physicians
who never stop learning, adapting and fighting for their
patients when things get tough.”
Joseph A. Tyndall, MD, MPH, interim dean of the UF
College of Medicine, says, “Throughout his tenure, Dr.
Rarey has not only instructed but has also invested
in his students through mentorship and innovative
teaching methods, instilled grit and character, inspired
students to achieve excellence and positively impacted
generations of physicians.”
UF College of Medicine senior associate dean for
educational affairs Joseph C. Fantone, MD, calls Rarey
“an exemplary role model and mentor to students.”
“He individualizes his teaching to each student,
promoting active, self-directed learning,” he says.
“His scholarly pursuits include researching problembased
learning, computer-assisted instruction and
student competence assessment, while continually
implementing innovative methods of instruction.”
“When moms are in the ICU, they
often need help breathing, they
need a ventilator to breathe for
them, and it may be that there is
some period of time where they
aren't breathing well enough to
get adequate oxygen to the baby.
“Research shows that
humor appreciation
does not decrease
with age — in fact,
it increases.
— Uma Suryadevara, MD, a UF Health physician
who specializes in adult and geriatric psychiatry,
discussing how the brain processes humor as
people age with AARP The Magazine, Oct. 23.
They have to do this day in and
day out … The whole point is to
teach them and empower them
to take care of themselves.
Rarey΄s anatomy instruction has inspired the UF College of Medicine class of 2020 to create the Kyle E. Rarey, PhD,
Award for Excellence in the Anatomical Sciences in his honor.
Bridging the gap between research and treatment
Michelle Gumz, PhD ’04, an assistant professor in the UF College of Medicine division of
nephrology, hypertension and renal transplantation, shares her family’s experiences with cancer
and how she has applied her scientific background to advocate for treatment options grounded in
the latest findings from basic and clinical research. Below is an excerpt from an essay Gumz wrote
about her experience for the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.
My mom’s initial
diagnosis in 2008 came
just six months after I had a
radical hysterectomy for a
rare form of cancer. Having
completed postdoctoral
training in cancer biology
in 2006, my anxiety levels
were through the roof. I
remembered quite well the
molecular biology horror
show that is a cancer cell.
Although my lymph nodes
had come back clear and
I didn’t require additional
therapy beyond surgery, I
worried about the clonal
theory — that just one cell
might be hiding somewhere
and would later result in a recurrence. My cancer was
stage IB, and all of my doctors assured me the chance of
a recurrence was extremely remote.
Following her breast cancer diagnosis, I assured my
mom she would be fine. There are targeted therapies for
breast cancer, I told her. If you have to have cancer, this
is the kind you want, I tried to comfort her. The TNBC
diagnosis came a month later. I had never heard of it.
There was no targeted therapy.
Her oncologist was surprised at the brain metastasis
articles I found in PubMed, because the prevailing
understanding at the time was that Her2neu-positive
tumors were the “worst” type of breast cancer.
My mom received the neoadjuvant standard-of-care
treatment at the time: doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide
and paclitaxel.
By the time she had a brain
MRI, it was too late. My mom
went on hospice toward the end
of August 2008 and died a short
time later.
Cancer hit close to home once
again in summer 2017 with my
sister’s diagnosis of a rare form
of uterine cancer. I went to the
literature to check the treatments
she was being offered, and
I reached out to my former
colleagues in cancer research
and my wider network from my
own training period.
As scientists, this is something
we can help our friends and
family with. For the lay public,
the difference between a Google search and a PubMed
search may mean the difference between spiraling
into a morass of misinformation on nonmedical and
nonscientific websites versus accessing the most recent
state-of-the-art findings at the forefront of medical
research.
As a principal investigator of a biomedical research
lab, I emphasize the importance of networking for the
career development of my students and postdoctoral
trainees. This was an important part of my own training,
and although I never doubted the importance of my
network for the advancement of my career, I never
imagined how important that network would become
in terms of its lifesaving potential.
Read the entire essay at news.drgator.ufl.edu.
By TYLER FRANCISCHINE
— Sonja Rasmussen, MD ’90, a professor in the
departments of pediatrics and epidemiology,
discussing the results of a recent study on flu
risk for pregnant women with NPR, Jan. 10.
“It’s like a
marathon.
— Angelina Bernier, MD ’02, a pediatric
endocrinologist and assistant professor in the
department of pediatrics, discussing her comic book
and video series designed to help educate children
with Type 1 diabetes with The Gainesville Sun, July 18.
In her UF lab, Michelle Gumz, PhD ’04, right, and
her team study the role of the circadian clock in
the kidney. By sharing her family,s experience with
cancer, she aims to emphasize the importance of
the intersection between science and medicine.
PHOTO BY W. CHARLES POULTON
PHOTO BY JESSE S. JONES
/news.drgator.ufl.edu