STUDENT TO ALUM
LAUREN BERETICH
(GC, 2014) Medical Science Liaison, Genetic Counselor, Natera Dallas, TX
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hen the pandemic cancelled in-person learning, the M.S. in Genetic Counseling program had to quickly switch to online clinical training. The program immediately sent out an S.O.S. email to alumni asking for volunteers to be standardized patients. This involved the alumni completing a training and being a “patient” for two different genetic counseling students. “We tend to make time for what is important and UAB is important to me; it energizes me to give back,” said Lauren Beretich (GC, 2014). “I am grateful for the support I have received from UAB’s genetic counseling training program, as a student and alumna. In precedented
and unprecedented times, I feel a responsibility to support the program and genetic counseling students in any way I can.” Many alumni volunteered to be either a standardized patient or a supervisor for students in late Spring and over summer (see below). We cannot thank them all enough! ■ CLASS OF: ◗ 2013: Dana Goodloe, Allie Norse ◗ 2014: Lauren Beretich ◗ 2015: Whitley Kelley, Crescenda Williams Uhles ◗ 2018: Katie Gunther, Amanda Luedecke ◗ 2019: Brighton Goodhue, Dora Moore Seibold, Catherine Skefos, Jacynda Woodman-Ross
JONATHAN PILGRIM
(MSHA Class 53) Decision Support Analyst, North Mississippi Medical Center Tupelo, MS
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e had just finished earning his MSHA from UAB. It was late February of this year and he was excited to be promoted from administrative fellow to a decision support analyst position. But less than a month later, he was asked to join a team and produce a shortterm budget forecast as the hospital was seeing significant losses every month. “We performed an analysis and quickly realized this was going to be difficult – it was painful for everyone,” said Pilgrim. In addition, Pilgrim was asked to handle what they all called “the new normal.” A portion of that involved logistics and operation for ventilator capacity. Another aspect was helping set up North
Mississippi Medical Center’s COVID Command Center. This was his full-time job for the first monthand-a-half of the pandemic. Despite being fresh out of school, he was prepared for this because of all he learned in school. “We had an Ebola simulation training that truly prepared me for this type of crisis – I thought of it immediately when I was asked to be part of the command center,” said Pilgrim. “Because of that, I would like to give back to the MSHA program by coordinating a panel of alumni that have worked in COVID crisis mode from across the U.S. so students can hear about this first-hand and it can be a strong learning opportunity because this further proves a crisis can happen to anybody at any time.” ■
SH P ALUM N I E - MAGA ZIN E • FALL 2020
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