HEART Student Leadership Team and Faculty Advisors

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STUDENT LEADERSHIP

Kim Ho is a 5th year Pre-doctoral Teaching Fellow at the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific in California where she assists with the teaching of osteopathic principles and practices to first and second year medical students. Before medical school, she explored holistic therapies such as meditation, biofeedback, acupuncture, and other healing modalities through the San Francisco State Holistic Health program in addition to studying acupuncture for one year and working in the UCLA Psychophysiology lab. Currently, she is exploring the various techniques within osteopathy such as cranial osteopathy, muscle energy, and counterstrain. She hopes in the future to be able to integrate her experiences in mind-body medicine with acupuncture and osteopathy to help her patients. Kim was inspired to help plan HEART 2009 by the profoundly wonderful experiences she had at various Healer's Retreats and the CAM Leadership Training Program.

David Lessens was born and raised in the rural village of Shelby, Michigan along the Lake Michigan shoreline. His parents, who have spent their careers serving this underserved community, inspired this early interest in the interconnections among medicine, social justice, and environmental health. He is currently a fourth-year student at the University of Michigan Medical School, where he is preparing to pursue a career in family/integrative medicine. Between his third and fourth years of medical school, he attended the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health to study the connections between environmental sustainability and health with the hopes of better integrating the clinical and pubic health aspects of holistic healing. Dave attended the CAM Leadership Training Program in 2008 and has attended a number of regional and national Circle of Healer’s Retreats. Outside of writing papers and studying for tests, Dave loves to practice yoga, read, be outside, cook pancakes, and spend time with his friends, family, and fiancé.

Kathleen May is a fourth-year Osteopathic medical student at Des Moines University in Des Moines, Iowa. Her passion for holistic medicine began during her undergraduate studies in Anthropology at the University of Wyoming where she did fieldwork with an Ayurvedic physician studying the patient-practitioner relationship. Her initial interest focused on nutrition, yoga and complementary and alternative medicine. After working as a Hospice CNA her focus has shifted toward an interest in integrating spirituality and medicine and the importance of the physician as being a healing presence. She plans to incorporate these principles along with Osteopathic manipulative therapy into a practice of Family medicine. Her interests outside of medicine include art, cooking, downhill skiing, hiking, spending time with friends, family and her dog, Sophie. She is thrilled to be a part of the HEART planning team this year and is looking forward to meeting the next generation of holistic healers.

Kavita Rajasekhar was born in Pittsburgh, PA, and grew up in Gainesville, FL. She is a 4th year medical student at the University of Florida College of Medicine. Prior to medical school, she worked at the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) as a research department intern, and at this time, gained more passion for vegan nutrition and animal advocacy. She is hoping to pursue a career in Ecological Medicine (recognizing the interdependence of human, animal, and environmental health), working in health justice movements. Her roots are from India, and she likes nothing more than eating a juicy mango on a hot summer day in a cool Indian village. She hopes to complete a year with Indicorps after graduating from medical school. She also enjoys cooking, being near Rusty (doggy), and spending time with her family.

Dr. Marie-Sabine Thomas graduated from Mount Holyoke College with a Bachelor of Art degree in Sociomedical Sciences and a minor in Romance Languages. She was raised in the Democratic Republic of Congo and is the daughter of Haitian nationals. An alumna of Bastyr University’s School of Naturopathic Medicine and a current Teaching Fellow, Dr. Thomas teaches several aspect of Naturopathic Community Medicine ranging from clinical theory, cross-cultural communication in health care to health disparities, cultural competency and medicine in global context. Dr. Thomas is a Clinical Adjunct Faculty member for the Bastyr Center for Natural Health serving the Latino community at “Consejo” Counseling and Referral Services in South Seattle. Her modalities of choice are Medical Aromatherapy, Homeopathy, Craniosacral therapy and Nutritional therapy. Furthermore, she is involved in the Department of Health and Human Services National HIV Testing Campaign. She enjoys furthering her knowledge of Pan-African Traditional Medicine, Spanish, Swahili and Ballroom dancing.

FACULTY ADVISORS

Wendy Kohatsu, MD, a graduate of the inaugural class of Fellows from the Program in Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona, is a family medicine faculty member at Oregon Health Science University. Dr. Kohatsu is certified in shiatsu massage, a clinical researcher and lecturer locally and nationally, with the goal of promoting integrative medicine in the academic environment. She has worked to increase utilization of integrative medicine in underserved populations, and is the editor of Complementary and Alternative Medicine Secrets, (June 2002) and co-author of chapters on the History of CAM in the US, Nutrition, Supplements, Low Back Pain, and Integrative Medicine. Dr. Kohatsu will assist in HEART faculty selection and serve as lecturer.

Bill Manahan, MD, is assistant professor of the Center for Spirituality and Healing and of Family Practice and Community Health at the University of Minnesota Academic Health Center in Minneapolis. He serves on the Board of Directors of the American Board of Holistic Medicine as well as the board of directors for the Northwestern School of Homeopathy. He is on the editorial board for Alternative Therapies in Health Journal, Integrative Medicine Access, and Integrative Medicine Consult Newsletter. He has published numerous articles on the scientific evidence regarding the use of complementary and alternative modalities as well as community based health care in light of managed health care. He has served as the program director of the MN Rural Family practice Residency program and has served on numerous boards, councils, and coalitions for community based programs addressing drug use, education, and reaching the underserved. He currently is a member of the American Holistic Medical Association's Board of Trustees. Dr. Manahan will be a faculty advisor and a guest lecturer on integrative medicine in practice.

Nina Stoyan-Rosenzweig is the Director of the Medical Humanities program at the University of Florida College of Medicine where she teaches a variety of electives and courses in narrative medicine, media and medicine, environmental health, history of medicine and international health issues, and creative expression. She runs the Thomas Maren Medical Student Reading Room and facilitates the development of projects and programs that reflect medical student interests and passions. She also is creating a Medical History Center at the University of Florida. She will serve as advisor and lecturer for the HEART elective.

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