The College of Medicine – Tucson said farewell to the 50th graduating class on May 12, 2021, at the Cole and Jeannie Davis Sports Center. About 100 graduates took a big step in their medical career.

At the start of the pandemic, College of Nursing student Susi Vidal found herself stuck at home with her family. She began watching videos on the popular social media platform TikTok, and soon began making her own content. She has now reached 1 million followers. Vidal’s future plan is to balance both sides of her life: her professional career as a nurse and her social media career as a comedic cooking influencer.

Neuroscientists explain how diseases, including Alzheimer's, are linked to hormones and stress. Roberta Diaz Brinton, PhD, the director of the Center for Innovation in Brain Science, says a paradigm shift is happening in terms of how neuroscientists and doctors are thinking about women’s brain health. Rather than treating symptoms when women are older and cognitively too far gone, they need to take brain-health boosting steps now.

Nearly 120 medical students will add MD behind their names after an in-person graduation ceremony with family and friends at the Davis Sports Center.

Lynn B. Gerald, a professor of health promotion sciences with the College of Public Health, is among 10 local physicians and health-care workers who will perform at the "Living Life to the Fullest: A Dance & Show to Benefit the American Cancer Society” May 15. The performers will dance to everything from waltzes and the foxtrot to tango, swing, jive and Latin styles such Bachata and the Cha Cha.

The FDA has given emergency use authorization to allow the use of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in teens as young as 12. Dr. Shad Marvasti, with the College of Medicine – Phoenix, believes the vaccine is safe for teens. "Everything that we know about the virus so far, particularly for teenagers which is why this age group was the next in line to be able to get data, they really do look a lot more like adults in terms of how they react to the virus. So, the same holds true for the vaccine," says Dr. Shad.

The Arizona Poison and Drug Information Center, housed at the UArizona College of Pharmacy, now serves as a go-to source for clinical and academic support for anything venom-related. “Pretty much all the hospitals in the state know to call us after a snakebite,” said Laura Morehouse, MPH, poison/drug education specialist at the college.

Thomasina Blackwater has earned her bachelor's, master's and medical degree from the College of Medicine – Tucson. She discusses her passion to help improve the pipeline for Native American medical students.

A new Arizona law could permanently expand statewide use of virtual and telephonic doctors' visits, which became more commonplace during the COVID-19 pandemic. "It catapults Arizona to the front of the line in terms of telehealth law nationally," said Dr. Ronald Weinstein, founding director of the Arizona Telemedicine Program at the University of Arizona and a president emeritus of the American Telemedicine Association. "It's huge."