Culinary Medicine Program Turns Future Physicians into Confident Nutrition Guides On a late-September Saturday morning in Yakima, a group of PNWU Student Doctors traded classrooms and pencils for kitchen utensils, translating nutrition science into real-world patient care skills. The hands-on Meal Prepping on a Budget session was part of the Northwest Interprofessional Health Collaborative’s (NIHC)…Continue Reading Food as Medicine
When many people hear the term “whiplash,” they think of a sore neck — a temporary inconvenience after a car crash or sudden impact. But for millions, that initial “inconvenience” lingers long past what scans and checkups suggest. Months — even a year later — they’re still battling dizziness, brain fog, emotional swings; a strange…Continue Reading PNWU Researchers Uncover Hidden Clues in Chronic Whiplash
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AWARENESS EVENT AT PNWU On October 20 at noon, Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences will host a special event aimed at increasing awareness of domestic violence and equipping future healthcare professionals with the tools to recognize its signs in clinical settings. The event, made possible through a grant from Bright Sky, will…Continue Reading Empowering Future Providers to Recognize and Respond to Domestic Violence
How Dr. Mike Moore is reframing exam preparation as physician formation at PNWU When Dr. Mike Moore asks second-year osteopathic medical students to describe their feelings about board exams in a single word, the answers rarely sound like confidence. More often, he hears overwhelmed, unsure, or scattered. For many students, board prep feels less like…Continue Reading Board Prep as Professionalism
PNWU Alumna Dr. Carlee Gibbons is Transforming Care in Her Hometown Growing up in a family of community pharmacists, Dr. Carlee Gibbons, DO, learned early the value of education, service, and empowering others to take charge of their health. Her mother ran a volunteer performing arts program at a public school on the Yakama Nation, instilling in Carlee a…Continue Reading Optimizing Lives, One Patient at a Time
Three members of the Pacific Northwest University College of Osteopathic Medicine (PNWU-COM) Class of 2028 spent their summer immersed in groundbreaking diabetes research at the University of Washington Diabetes Institute, gaining hands-on experience that will shape both their futures as physicians and the communities they one day serve. Student Doctors Michelle Graham, Sejal Dhaliwal, and…Continue Reading PNWU Students Take Part in Prestigious UW Diabetes Research Program
Student Doctor Ammar Jankel brings PNWU’s mission to life as a member of our first dental class. PNWU’s School of Dental Medicine (SDM) recently welcomed its inaugural class, realizing a vision of compassionate, community-focused healthcare. From personal experience to professional purpose, Student Doctor Ammar Jankel’s path reflects that very vision. As a member of the…Continue Reading Answering the Call
Nearly every day, Terrace Heights resident Mel Leskinen drives past PNWU’s Yakima campus. His eyes often wander to a sunlit corner of Butler-Haney Hall, specifically, the anatomy lab where, through shining glass, his beloved wife Sheila rests. “Sheila’s there,” he says softly, a small smile crossing his face. “She’s still helping people. Just like she always wanted to do.” That simple…Continue Reading Still Helping: The Enduring Legacy of Mel and Sheila Leskinen
NAMI Partnership Brings Real Mental Health Stories Into Future Healthcare Training Instead of studying mental health from a distance, PNWU occupational therapy students are learning directly from individuals who have navigated mental health challenges firsthand. Through a collaboration between the university’s School of Occupational Therapy and the Yakima chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI),…Continue Reading When Clinical Knowledge Meets Community Reality
From September 25–28, members of the Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences (PNWU) community joined osteopathic physicians, educators, and students from across the nation in Nashville, Tennessee, for the Osteopathic Medical Education Conference (OMED)—the largest annual gathering of its kind. Among the many PNWU representatives in attendance were student leaders Kirsten Huhl (SGA Executive COM President), Sabrina Vuong (SGA Executive COM…Continue Reading PNWU Students and Faculty Represent at OMED 2025