ON THE HILL
To Anesthesiology and Beyond: Student's Journey into Aerospace Medical Research
FOR MATTHEW WILLIAM (BLA ’23/ M.D. ’24), the sky isn’t the limit. It’s more like other planets, stars and space stations. William, who is one of the School of Medicine’s most recent graduates, just began his residency in anesthesiology at the University of Michigan. Long-term, he hopes to become an astronaut, focusing on the effects of space flight on the human body.
“(Michigan) has medical faculty members who are either past NASA astronauts or are currently engaged in research with NASA, so I’m hoping to get mentorship from some of them during residency,” William said.
The connection between anesthesiology and space flight may not seem obvious, but the ties run deep through the aerospace medical field, according to William. He has already logged hundreds of hours participating in research with NASA, SpaceX and military members exploring how the human body reacts to space flight, how to best prepare humans for that journey and what guidelines will be necessary in the future.
As the associate dean for research at the School of Medicine, Paula Monaghan-Nichols, Ph.D., sees the significance in William’s research.
“His research will be critically important in creating guidelines that could not only impact regulations on space flight but may also guide therapeutic interventions that address the physiological challenges to space exploration,” said Monaghan-Nichols.
William is especially intrigued that surgery, one of the main areas anesthesiology comes into play, is largely unexplored outside Earth.
“I think, at some point, I’ll join the Air Force or Navy to get more aerospace training, and then eventually apply for astronaut candidate school.”
— Matthew William (BLA ’23/M.D. ’24)
“I was curious about, ‘what if someone has trauma in space or an emergent issue like appendicitis or cholecystitis, and they must come back to Earth immediately?’” William wondered. “‘How are the things that space does to your body going to affect your morbidity and mortality after surgery?’”
These questions led him to analyze NASA’s existing data and calculate that just two weeks in space already showed a minor increase in mortality.
“With longer duration spaceflight coming up in the future, I think that risk is going to be a lot higher,” William said. “Learning how to optimize cardiovascular parameters like your heart rate and blood pressure is going to be huge in figuring out how to make people have better surgical outcomes when they come back from space.”
William is part of an international team working under the Aerospace Medical Association, where he’s working with top-notch minds to develop guidelines that commercial companies and government agencies can use when space flight becomes available to the average person. While we aren’t quite there yet, we aren’t too far off.
“When you’re thinking about sending every day, regular people to space, there’s a concern about, ‘how do we make that optimal for coming back to Earth?’” William said.
William’s research sounds right out of a science fiction story, and for good reason. He has loved science fiction his whole life, and outer space is now an arena where he can work – and play – in real life.
“I think, at some point, I’ll join the Air Force or Navy to get more aerospace training,” he said, “and then eventually apply for astronaut candidate school.”
Matthew William has logged hundreds of research hours with with NASA, SpaceX and the military.
Medical student Caleb Feuerbacher completed a psychiatric rotation in Nome, Alaska. Photo courtesy of Caleb Feuerbacher.
There's No Place Like Nome
IT TOOK PERSISTENCE – and Google Maps – for Caleb Feuerbacher to find the ideal place for a monthlong psychiatry rotation.
Norton Sound Health Corporation in Nome, Alaska, isn’t easy to spot from the lower 48. But it was a magnet for Feuerbacher, the UMKC medical student who has long dreamed of seeing the more remote regions of the world. With three psychiatric rotations in easier-to-reach locations already on his resume, he decided in early 2023 it was time to go long.
“I just started clicking on hospitals that showed up on Google Maps in remote areas of Alaska,” he said. He found Norton Sound in Nome, picked up the phone and called.
On June 23, he stepped off the plane and into another world. For the first two weeks, the sun never set.
“The culture is rooted in subsistence hunting,” he said. “The people are all super nice and friendly. They were always inviting me into their homes.” He spent a lot of his free time exploring and sightseeing in the tundra and mountains.
He also encountered professional challenges.
“The suicide rate in Alaska is about 1.5 times that of Missouri,” Feuerbacher said. “I don’t think the issue is as simple as remoteness or weather. There’s been a lot of challenges for Native Americans and Alaska Natives with European colonists from the very beginning. Many of those challenges still exist today.”
His thinking is influenced by more than just a month in Alaska. He spent an earlier rotation in a place much closer to Kansas City, but almost as remote: White Cloud, Kansas, population 115, in the reservation of the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska, where he dealt with similar issues.
“I think it is really important for medical students, or really anyone, to learn more about native Americans and Alaska natives, to see things from their perspective.”
Feuerbacher just finished a master’s degree in public health at Harvard. This year, he returned to UMKC for his final year of medical school. His goal is to eventually practice psychiatry – but where he’ll practice remains to be seen.
“I really like the extremities of the world,” Feuerbacher said. “I like to explore things that few people in the world have seen, see how other people live. I want to experience other cultures, other lifestyles.”
Medical student Emmanuella Alawode
UMKC Jackie Robinson Scholar Hits Home Runs in the Medical World
EMMANUELLA ALAWODE, a Dallas native and student in the B.A./M.D. program, is a Jackie Robinson Scholar. The program allows Alawode to participate in career-readiness opportunities and receive financial support from the Kansas City Royals Foundation. As an added perk, she also got to throw out the first pitch at UMKC Night at The K in April 2024.
Why did you choose UMKC? I knew I wanted to become a doctor, so I talked to my mentors and people who also went through the accelerated B.A./M.D. program, which reassured me that UMKC was an excellent choice. I really liked knowing I can get a jumpstart with my career. And it’s not too far from home.
Why did you choose your field of study? My experience at a UT Southwestern high school camp was pivotal and exposed me to clinical research. I shadowed a breast surgeon and became interested in women’s health. Something else that has shaped my interest in health disparities has been volunteering with my church and helping in their health clinic.
What are the challenges and benefits of the program? There are a lot of learning curves along the way. You are going straight into med school after high school and are also juggling your undergraduate degree. A key challenge was learning how I like to study and finding the best way to retain the volume of information.
The benefits are that we get early clinical exposure. You get to learn how to interview patients and medical terminology in your first year. After your second year, you get assigned a docent for your remaining four years. You also get a senior partner, there to guide you along the way. They can help answer questions and help you hone your clinical skills.
What does being a first-generation college student mean to you? It means I can hopefully inspire younger people who may not have had medical exposure or don't know about the journey and rigor of medical school. It means I can be a mentor for others and someone that others can look up to, and I love that.
Who do you admire most at UMKC? My docent, Dr. Gary Salzman, is my favorite person at UMKC. I like the way he interacts with patients. Every time we come into the room, the patients are like, “there’s my favorite doctor!” He is always looking out for the best interests of the patients.
Do you have any standout moments of the Jackie Robinson Scholarship experience? When I was applying, I knew they’d offer mentorship and support, but I did not expect the level of support I have received. One alumni (of the Jackie Robinson scholarship program) purchased MacBooks for most of us, which is nice. Another memorable experience is the first pitch that I threw!
What do you hope to take from your experiences at UMKC into your professional career? I’ve been stretched in many ways that I never thought I could be stretched. The key is learning you must always think outside of the box. Especially, as a future surgeon, I may not be able to approach a particular procedure the same way I do for another person. Also being flexible. Learning how to manage time wisely. The spirit of perseverance.
SPOTLIGHT ON: Anesthesiologist Assistant Program
HIGHLIGHTS:
- 100% of 2024 graduates accepted employment as an AA post-graduation
- 72% of 2024 graduates accepted a post-grad position in Missouri
- 88% of 2024 graduates accepted a post-grad position with a UMKC affiliated program
UPDATES:
- Adam Petersen (B.A. ’08, M.S. ’12), the program’s director of simulation, is preparing to integrate a new curriculum for students. It will include the use of an innovative smart needle trainer, which will allow students to simulate ultrasound-guided peripheral nerve blocks on each other.
- Lance Carter, M.D., the Anesthesiologist Assistant Program director, continues to build his worldwide following on YouTube. Carter has an extensive library of anesthesia procedural videos under the channel name, “PainH8er.” One of his more recent videos on how to improve IV skills has more than 230,000 views.
Anesthesiologist assistant training
School of Medicine docent William Ritter, M.D. (M.A. ’18) used his passion for art history as a guide and docent at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.
Award-Winning Docent has Passion for Art History
WILLIAM RITTER, M.D. (M.A. ’18) looks at a painting or a sculpture of the human body by Michelangelo or Leonardo Da Vinci and sees more than a famous work of art. He sees a history of medicine. Every year, he shares his insights with students at the School of Medicine, describing the intersection of art and medicine and how one has spurred the other throughout centuries.
“There’s a lot of commonalities between art and medicine,” Ritter said. “Just go to Michelangelo and Leonardo – they were the first anatomists. They were the first ones to dissect the human body, so the Renaissance is really the birth of anatomy, the birth of everything: art, the liberal arts. Art history is really the crux of early medical studies, medical thinking, dissections, and it keeps going on and on.”
This fall, Ritter, who also holds a master’s degree in art history from UMKC, started his sixth year in the School of Medicine’s Sirridge Office of Medical Humanities and Bioethics as course director of an elective in medicine and the visual arts. He also teaches the class in the spring and serves as a docent for first- and second-year medical students.
“We try to make it interesting,” Ritter said. “We give them a little medicine and how it ties to art history. I give them a lot of art history, actually, because I like doing it, and it’s a nice variation. It’s a way to do both art and medicine and get away from just medicine.”
Ritter realized his interest in art and art history while he was in school. But studying to become a doctor took precedence, and college electives in art history gave way to courses leading to a degree in chemistry, followed by medical school. Ritter graduated from Philadelphia’s Sidney Kimmel Medical College, Thomas Jefferson University in 1971. He trained in internal medicine at Emory University, followed by a cardiology fellowship at the University of Texas Southwestern.
“It turned out, I think maybe it was my calling. Maybe I should have been doing this sooner.”
— William Ritter, M.D. (M.A. ’18)
“There wasn’t much art when I was in medical school for sure,” Ritter said.
But his passion for art never waned, even after he became entrenched in a career as a cardiologist. One night before dinner with friends, a member of the group, who also happened to be a guide at Kansas City’s Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, took everyone on a tour of the museum. Ritter was immediately intrigued.
“My eyes really lit up,” he said. “I said, ‘I’d like to show off Monet, stand there with a Monet and tell everybody about it and what I know about it.’ I thought that was really cool. So I ended up joining the Nelson as a museum guide (in 2008).”
For nearly 10 years, Ritter walked the hallways of the Nelson-Atkins and the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art on weekends and evenings as a guide and docent, sharing his love and knowledge of the fine arts with the museums’ visitors.
Several years ago, Ritter and his practice partner sold their cardiology practice after 30 years. With some free time, he decided to dive deeper into his art interest. Ritter went to the UMKC Fine Arts building, where he met art history professor Burton Dunbar, who would become a close friend and mentor. Over the next 2.5 years, Ritter studied art history, earning his master’s degree in 2018.
He began at the School of Medicine five years ago, developing the arts and medicine course and serving as a docent, a role that allows him to introduce medical students to patient encounters.
“I’d never done much teaching before — a little bit clinically — but nothing formal,” Ritter said. “It turned out, I think maybe it was my calling. Maybe I should have been doing this sooner.”
His passion for teaching – just like his love for art history – blossomed, and two years ago, medical students honored Ritter with the Outstanding Years 1 and 2 Docent Award, given annually by students to one instructor for their pursuit of teaching excellence in medicine.
“I think I have a natural interest in teaching students,” Ritter said. “That’s what helps in getting along with students and being successful. You’ve got to be one of them.”
Successful First Year for Founding Dean's Fund
THE FOUNDING DEAN’S FUND, created in honor of the UMKC School of Medicine’s first dean, Richardson K. Noback, M.D., raised more than $48,000 for student needs in its first year, and school leaders hope that number continues to increase.
"We are humbled by the exciting response and generous gifts for the inaugural year of the fund," said School of Medicine Dean Alexander Norbash (B.A. ’85/M.D. ’86). "This is a crucial fund for the school as all donations will be directly supporting our students."
Each year, the School of Medicine dean collaborates with student leadership to identify current student needs. The School of Medicine Alumni Board then selects at least one need to support. Needs can include things like student research, travel funding, test preparation materials and more.
Donors who give $2,500 or more in a fiscal year to the Founding Dean’s Fund automatically become members of The Noback Society. The School of Medicine would like to offer its sincerest thanks and warmest welcome to the society’s founding members, listed below.
Jean Ayres (M.D. ’78) Deepa H. Chand (B.A./M.D. ’96) and Bipan Chand (B.A. ’94/M.D. ’96) Thomas P. Hubbell (M.D. ’75) and Patricia Hubbell (M.D. ’75) Mary Anne Jackson (B.A. ’77/M.D. ’78) and Jay A. Jackson (B.A. ’77/M.D. ’78) Michele Kilo (B.A./M.D. ’84) and Blake Matthews Alexander J. Kim (B.A./M.D. ’96) Derik K. King (B.A. ’92/M.D. ’93) and Jacqueline Heflin King Daphne Rae Ondr (B.A. ’96/M.D. ’97) and Jeff Ondr (B.A. ’95/M.D. ’96) Amit J. Patel (BLA ’04/M.D. ’05) and Neha Patel (BLA/M.D. ’02) Mamta Reddy (B.A. ’96/M.D. ’98) Stanley G. Shaffer (B.A. ’77/M.D. ’79) and Kathleen B. Shaffer (B.A. ’76/M.D. ’79) Mark T. Steele (B.A./M.D. ’80) and Ginni Steele Mary Pat Strickland-Lange (B.A./M.D. ’85) and Michael Lange, M.D. Michael L. Weaver (B.A./M.D. ’77) and Jamila Weaver Jeffrey A. Wright (B.A. ’77/M.D. ’78) and Sara L. Wright Andy Zimmerman (B.A. ’85/M.D. ’87) and Sussanne Slater
New Grad Shares Special Moment With Newborn Son
Caroline Ramsey (B.A. ’23/M.D. ’24) holds her one-month-old son, Peter, in her arms as she walks across the stage to receive her diploma. Ramsey is completing her residency in internal medicine at UMKC. She’s not the only one in her family who calls Kansas City – and UMKC – home. Her aunt, Kim Kalaiwaa, works in the Student Affairs Office at the UMKC School of Medicine, her father, Casey, works at the UMKC School of Pharmacy and her mother, Gina Lawson, completed her residency at UMKC and is an administrator and physician at Saint Luke’s Health System.