“It was great to have the opportunity to take what I learned about disease on the cellular or molecular level in class and apply it to diseases and conditions on a more holistic level in a real life situation,” said Justine Gorman, ’09, who volunteered at the Virginia Home last semester and enjoyed it so much that she has continued working there even after Dattelbaum’s class ended. Most of the community sites connected to the class deal on some level with palliative care; Dattelbaum hopes that his students, thanks to their biochemical background, will be inspired to think about prevention.
for instance, almost all patients are screened for Type 2 diabetes. In class, Dattlebaum teaches students about the malfunctioning membrane protein that causes this disease by elevating glucose levels. Students who volunteer at the clinic can then observe firsthand how diabetes leads to blindness and loss of limbs without the proper treatment. Dattelbaum wants his students to make connections, whether it’s observing disease or finding the link between metabolic disorders and the ingredients in food items.
“It’s natural for a student to be sitting in a science class wondering, ‘Why I am learning these 20 standard amino acids?’” he said. “But when that student is out there interacting with those who are dealing with the disease, it becomes a motivational experience that encourages them to understand what’s happening on a metabolic level and put it together with the bigger picture.” Left: Chemistry professor Jonathan Dattelbaum kicks off a biochemistry lecture. Right: Carrie O’Rourke, ’11, spent her semester volunteering at the Virginia Home; Tran Doan, ’10, logged hours at VCU Medical Center; and Miles Johnson, ’09, worked at the International Hospital for Children. Opposite Page: Heather Hollis, ’09, chose the Fan Free Clinic as her service learning site.
A&S IN THE COMMUNITY
uses it has in the everyday world.” Along with the 15 required hours that students spend at their site of choice during the semester, they also post on the class blog (http://blog. richmond.edu/biochem326s09/) after each visit, and write a final paper, which links biochemistry with something they observed at their community site. Many students, Dattelbaum says, found the most important connections to be between the metabolic and biochemical basis of diseases and their manifestation and effects on the everyday lives of the people affected by them. At the Cross Over Ministry clinic,
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