PCOM news Dr. Woodruff Delivers As Assistant Dean of Student Affairs, it’s Tina Woodruff’s job to help students. But no job description ever included the responsibilities she assumed on April 27. Dr. Woodruff was in her office that Monday morning when a student rushed in to announce that a pregnant student’s water had broken. Dr. Woodruff walked to the exam room where first-year medical student Amanda Ellis had just finished her cardiovascular 2 exam. Dr. Woodruff accompanied her back to Student Affairs and asked who she could call to take her to the hospital. Ms. Ellis replied that her husband was on a plane to Puerto Rico for his grandmother’s funeral. Her parents live seven hours away, and she and her husband are newcomers to the area so there were no friends or neighbors to call. Without a second thought, Dr. Woodruff guided Ms. Ellis to her own car, and off they went. Once at the hospital, “Amanda asked me to stay, and I told her that of course I would,” recalls Dr. Woodruff. With Ms. Ellis due for a C-section, Dr. Woodruff donned a pair of scrubs and prepared to be her coach. Thinking back to when her own daughter had given birth two weeks before, Dr. Woodruff knew how important photographs of the birth would be and gave a nurse ten dollars to run to the gift shop to buy a disposable camera. “I couldn’t bear the thought of them not having photos of that magical moment,” explains Dr. Woodruff, and that’s what outweighed her apprehension of seeing the surgery. “Amanda’s husband should have been there, and I wanted to make sure he could at least have photos.” Amanda Ellis and Dr. Woodruff proudly display a photo of baby Gus.
“She kept me calm,” recalls Ms. Ellis. “She kept talking to me and telling me everything was going to be alright. I don’t know what I would have done without her.”
Dr. Woodruff remembers the day with awe. “It was an honor for me to be there for Amanda. You can’t control what happens in life, you can only control how you handle it, and she handled it beautifully. I just hope Amanda remembers this day not as the day the Director of Student Affairs took her to the hospital, but as the day she delivered a beautiful baby boy.”
go green One easy way to go green is to do nothing. Well, almost nothing. Every time we make a purchase, the cost is greater than what we see on the price tag. Consider the energy and materials used to make and ship the product and the waste created by the packaging. Here are some easy ideas to save money and the environment:
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Share power tools and other equipment you use infrequently. You’ll get to know your neighbors and cut down on the clutter in your garage or basement.
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Visit the library and borrow books, DVDs and CDs. Not only will you save money, but you’ll reduce the use of ink and paper used to print new books and the plastics used in CDs and DVDs. And there’s no packaging to throw away.
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Buy in bulk to save money and packaging. Keep your cell phones, computers and other electronics as long as possible. When the time comes to replace these items, donate or recycle them responsibly. Electronic waste contains mercury and other toxic materials that pose a threat to the environment. Do an Internet search for a hazardous waste recycling program in or near your community.