Dan Johnson
Doctoral student Pete Kallio and Dean Margaret Faut Callahan connect by Skype with a medical team in northern Wisconsin to discuss best practices for diabetes management prior to surgery.
Stronger together Faculty-student collaboration strengthens research results By Chris Jenkins It would be easy for nursing doctoral
because of encouragement and support
Undergraduates are not left out of these
candidate Pete Kallio, Nurs ’84, to get
from faculty.
types of meaningful faculty-student
wrapped up in the day-to-day demands of his job and the research projects that come along with it. So when it comes to the nuts and bolts of publishing research, he sometimes needs a gentle shove in the right direction. That’s where Marquette’s
Kallio, who is pursuing his doctor of nursing practice degree, is the clinical director of the high-risk/pre-operation clinic at the Clement J. Zablocki VA Medical Center in Milwaukee. His doctoral research involves diabetes
College of Nursing faculty come in.
management and control prior to surgery,
“The fun part is doing it,” Kallio says of
as total joint replacements. There are no
his research. “The hard part is writing the papers and getting them submitted. That encouragement to get it submitted really has helped.”
particularly large elective procedures such existing industry standards for diabetes management prior to surgery, and Kallio’s research indicates that perhaps there should be.
Kallio’s research success underscores the
“Starting in 2009, we were sending
importance of faculty-student research
patients back and saying, ‘No, you need to
collaboration. In his case, that success
get it [your diabetes] under better control
includes a prestigious $5,000 grant awarded
prior to surgery,’” Kallio says. “We cut our
by the New York-based Jonas Center for
complication rate in half in 2009, and that
Nursing Excellence, a grant he sought
has remained steady.”
research opportunities. Dr. Robert Topp, professor and associate dean for research, says both faculty and students benefit from these collaborative projects. Students get hands-on experience and tangible results for their work, while faculty members get the satisfaction of helping to educate the next generation of scientists. Topp advises undergraduate students who are studying obesity among female African-American patients at Marquette’s nursing clinics, along with other students studying the topical analgesic Biofreeze. “It’s a tremendously symbiotic relationship,” Topp says. “I couldn’t do this work without them and they couldn’t do it without me.” ✣
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