As exams bore down on Alpert medical students in December, some therapy was in order—dog therapy, that is. In recognition of the emotional benefits that animal companions provide, two medical student groups, Students for One Health and the Health and Wellness Initiative, cosponsored a visit at Alpert Medical School by four trained therapy dogs: Liberty and Independence, golden retrievers who visited with their handlers Tom and Helen Davis of Rehoboth, MA; Fletcher, a soft-coated wheaten terrier, with his handler, Fran O’Donnell of Providence; and Baxter, a Lhasa apso, whose owner, Lena Bohman ’18, helps run Brown Animal Assisted Therapy, which offers scheduled sessions with trained therapy animals for Brown students. No word on whether the friendly canines helped the med students do better on their tests, but there were surely a lot more smiles and laughter than on a usual pre-exam Friday.
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Baxter, a Lhasa apso, makes friends with Alpert medical students. Photo by David DelPoio
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From right, Peter Herrera ’16 and Alice Tin, MPH MD’16, both members of Students for One Health, with Liberty, a golden retriever. Photo by David DelPoio
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Liberty, a 13-year-old golden retriever, is a trained therapy dog. Photo by David DelPoio.
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Sanchita Singal ’13 MD’17, left, and Anshul Parulkar ’10 MD’18 get to know Independence, a golden retriever. Photo by David DelPoio
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From left, Hans Gao ’14 MD’18; Fletcher, a soft-coated wheaten terrier; Aviya Lanis MD’18, one of the leaders of the Health and Wellness Initiative; and Alice Tin, MPH MD’16, of One Health. Photo by David DelPoio
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Students for One Health and the Health and Wellness Initiative cosponsored a visit at Alpert Medical School by four therapy dogs to help students alleviate pre-exam stress in December. Photo by David DelPoio
Alpert Medical School Goes to the Dogs
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By
Phoebe Hall
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