As Miss Mesa, Dang will lead her community service initiative, “Advocacy and Action for the Houseless,” uniting her osteopathic medical student training and passion for service to address healthcare disparities among unhoused populations.
“Pageantry has given me the courage to bring my story of medicine and service to the stage – to show that the white coat and the crown can coexist as symbols of compassion, purpose, and advocacy,” she said.
For Dang, the opportunity to participate in the Miss America pageant represents her desire for growth, not just as a titleholder, but as a future physician and community advocate.
“As a first-generation, low-income medical student, I’ve learned that growth comes from stepping outside of your comfort zone and bringing your story to spaces where it can make a difference,” she said.
Dang’s initiative will focus on bridging healthcare gaps for unhoused individuals through harm reduction, outreach, and education. At ATSU, she serves as co-president of the Harm Reduction Club and co-director of HRREACH (Harm Reduction, Education, Advocacy in Community Health), and also serves as a street medicine volunteer with Circle the City, bringing medical care directly to those living on the streets.
In preparation for the Miss Arizona pageant, Dang said she is developing her vocals for the talent competition, training through #MissAmericaFit workouts, and refining her public speaking skills for interviews and on-stage questions.
“For me, preparing for Miss Arizona isn’t just about competition, it’s about embodying the values I stand for as a future physician, a compassionate advocate, and a servant leader dedicated to building healthier, more equitable communities across Arizona,” she said.
The library extends our warmest congratulations to six A.T. Still University-Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine (ATSU-KCOM) students who recently represented ATSU with distinction at the American Association for Anatomy (AAA) Regional Conference in Columbia, Missouri. Jacob Meier, OMS II, Meghan Ott, OMS II, Vedant Soni, OMS II, Nitish Bhargava, OMS II, Brianna Scivinsky, OMS II, and Nicholas Weinman, OMS II, each delivered exceptional oral presentations, demonstrating a mastery of their material that impressed conference attendees.
The success of these presentations was significantly amplified by the use of innovative tools available through our institution. The A.T. Still Memorial Library was a proud contributor, offering essential support that helped translate complex research into engaging visual presentations.
A special thank you goes to Debra Loguda-Summers, public service and 3D print service manager, A.T. Still Memorial Library, Jamie Carroll, senior graphic designer, Academic Technology, and Corey Sanford, lead multimedia specialist, Academic Technology, for their critical work in providing 3D printing support. The ability to create tangible, three-dimensional models was instrumental in the clarity and impact of the students’ data, illustrating how the library’s technology services directly enhance high-level academic communication and research dissemination.
We also acknowledge the dedication of their mentor, Sumitra Miriyala, PHD, MBA, MPH, FAHA, associate professor, Anatomy, whose grant funding was vital to these projects, and Nicholas Weinman, OMS II, who received an internal grant. Additionally, we appreciate Mike Cramberg, BS, lab manager, Anatomy, for organizing video and histopathology components for the projects presented by students Ott and Soni.
The achievements of these ATSU-KCOM students underscore the crucial role that institutional resources play in fostering nationally recognized student research, with the library continuing to serve as a vital hub for research, technology, and academic innovation.
Lessons in a Lunch Box is a national oral health literacy program developed by the Children’s Oral Health Institute (COHI) to help educate children and their families about the importance of good oral health and meaningful dietary behaviors.
Alongside COHI CEO Winifred Booker, DDS, and Leslie Grant, DDS, MSPA, director of advocacy and outreach, nine ATSU-ASDOH students taught the children how to brush and floss and discussed careers in dentistry. Each student also received a lunchbox containing a toothbrush, toothpaste, and rinsing cup.
After heavy rains damaged the small central Arizona town in late September, Will Thompson, OMS II, organized a group of student volunteers to make the 90-minute drive from campus on Friday, Oct. 3. The group spent the day filling potholes, relocating sandbags, and moving heavy furniture for affected residents.
“The people we met were incredibly kind and grateful. One woman told us that what we did in a short time would have taken her days to accomplish on her own,” said student volunteer Jhelz Garcia, OMS II.
“It was such a humbling and fulfilling experience, knowing that we were able to help in a tangible way during such a difficult time,” Garcia added. “It really made us reflect on the importance of service and community, something I’m grateful our school emphasizes.”
October’s staff profile highlight is Julia Peters, MLIS, the ATSU-KCOM Liaison on the Kirksville campus.
Position title: ATSU-KCOM Liaison Librarian
How long have you worked for the library: Just over two years now.
What made you want to work in libraries? While I was getting my bachelor’s degree I worked as a student assistant in the special collections department of the library. I really enjoyed my time there, from the work I was given and all that I learned, so after graduation I sought jobs in different types of libraries.
What do you like most about your job and about working for ATSU? The collaborative environment, friendly coworkers, and interesting work. I am excited to advance in this role and am grateful for the opportunity to learn more here.
What is a fun job you had before ATSU? I was lucky enough to work at University of the South Pacific’s library in Fiji for four years. Getting to live and work abroad in such a completely different place was an eye-opening experience and one that I encourage others to take if they also receive a similar chance.
What is a fun/unique/exciting tidbit to know about you, or how do you spend your free time? Something unusual is that I am the youngest triplet (by a minute). During the fall break I traveled with my mother to the Faroe Islands, but when I am not exploring new places I can usually be found reading (obviously) or visiting with family.
The episode, “Social Determinants of Health and Pediatric Feeding Disorder,” was hosted by Michelle Dawson, MS, CCC-SLP, CLC, BCS-S. Dr. Maldonado de La Rosa discussed the impact of social determinants of health on access to care for children with pediatric feeding disorders, explored barriers families face, and highlighted the importance of advocacy, culture, and bilingualism in improving patient outcomes.
For this quarterly newsletter, we wanted to highlight a database the library offers: Covidence, a powerful online platform designed to accelerate the systematic and scoping review processes, offering tools to save you significant time and facilitate seamless teamwork.
Key Benefits: Save Time and Collaborate Effortlessly
Systematic and scoping reviews are crucial in research, but they are often time-consuming. Covidence is engineered to minimize manual effort and maximize efficiency:
Faster Reviews: Users report an average 35% reduction in time spent per review, translating to an average saving of 71 hours! This efficiency is achieved through a fast interface and integrated tools.
Seamless Collaboration: The platform enables your entire review team to work together efficiently from anywhere, making it easy to track progress and resolve disagreements.
The platform is trusted by a massive community, supporting over 600,000 researchers and students globally, and has been used to start over 265,000 reviews.
What Can You Do in Covidence? A Step-by-Step Guide
Covidence supports every critical stage of your systematic review, integrating key tools right into the workflow:
1. Manage Citations and Screening
Import Citations: Covidence works seamlessly with popular reference managers (like EndNote, Zotero, Refworks, Mendeley) or any tool supporting RIS or PubMed formats.
Screen Titles & Abstracts: Breeze through screening with a quick interface that features keyword highlighting. It maintains full records of who voted and supports both single and dual screeners.
Upload References: Transfer the full PDFs stored in your reference manager to Covidence with just a few clicks.
2. Full-Text Review and Exclusion
Screen Full Text: Quickly make decisions on studies by highlighting key words or phrases directly in the document. You can easily capture reasons for exclusion and notes to resolve disagreements instantly.
Automatic Open Access Upload: Covidence automatically uploads open access studies to assist with your full-text review.
3. Data Extraction and Risk of Bias
Data Extraction: You have the flexibility to create custom templates to suit your specific data needs, ensuring everyone on the team is aligned during the process.
Risk of Bias: You can automatically populate your risk of bias tables by highlighting and commenting on text directly in the PDF, eliminating the need for tedious cut-and-paste.
4. Final Export
Export: Generate a single, machine-readable file that easily integrates into all common statistics packages, allowing you to seamlessly continue your analysis in your preferred software.
Jeannette Vaughn-Dotterer, DMSc, ’22, PA-C, ’03, vice president of medical operations, NextCare Urgent Care, delivered the commencement address.
“Today represents the peak of your grit and the closure of one chapter,” Dr. Vaughn-Dotterer said. “Formal education and life experiences that have culminated into critical thinking, knowledge, and actions that will carry you forward as you define and refine yourself.
“You possess the tools which drove you to this profession: courage, resilience, passion, and perseverance,” she added.
The ceremony included remarks from ATSU-ASHS Dean Ann Lee Burch, PT, EdD, MS, MPH, and O.T. Wendel, PhD, president, ATSU Arizona & California campuses, as well as ATSU Chancellor Craig Phelps, DO, ’84, who delivered the closing remarks.
On Aug. 27, two staff and seven faculty members packed 53 boxes, contributing to the community total of 168 boxes and 36,288 meals, which is enough to feed 99 children a daily meal for a year.
The group donned hairnets and gloves while they hand-packed each meal, which consists of a mix of rice, soy, dried vegetables, and vitamins. The nutritious meals, called MannaPack™ meals, are specifically formulated to supplement nutritional needs and reduce problems with malnutrition.
Thank you to everyone who joined us for the recent AI in Library Resources sessions hosted by ITS and the library. Part of our broader AI Show & Share series, last week offered a great opportunity to explore how artificial intelligence is being integrated into key library tools.
Each session provided a deep dive into specific AI features designed to streamline your work:
Monday, September 8: We kicked off the week with a look at the Scopus AI Research Assistant, exploring how its features can help accelerate your evidence synthesis process.
Tuesday, September 9: The focus from research to practice as we explored the new AI features within UpToDate, showcasing how they enhance clinical decision support. *Please note that if you would like access to UptoDate AI Alpha, please contact hbright@atsu.edu.
Wednesday, September 10: The spotlight was on the SciteAI Research Assistant, highlighting its ability to show how research papers have been cited and evaluated.
Thursday, September 11: The AI features in Still OneSearch were demonstrated, revealing how the campus’s main discovery tool is using AI to improve search results.
Friday, September 12: The week concluded with a session on Covidence, where we learned about the AI features that simplify systematic and scoping reviews.
We hope these sessions provided valuable insights into how you can use AI to support your research and academic goals. Whether you were in attendance, or viewed these recordings, we appreciate your participation as we continue to build a culture of AI experimentation across the university.
