When her husband three years ago fell seriously ill and underwent surgery, Shuying Lin went through her own life-changing experience.

Lin, who was born and educated in China and came to this country in 2000 to perform pediatric research at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, re-thought her years in the laboratory and her career calling.

“My husband had a smooth recovery, but it made me think a lot. It changed my way of thinking,” said Lin, who graduates this year with her doctor of physical therapy from the School of Health Related Professions. “I thought, 'I can't take what I have for granted. If I have a dream and want to pursue it, I need to do it right now.' That's how I made my decision.”

The mom of a young son entered the program at age 40, leaving her position in the Department of Pediatrics and the security and routine of a small laboratory setting. “If you stay in that environment for a while, you don't want to change,” Lin said.

In her laboratory, Lin said, “most of the time, I was dealing with rats that we use for experiments. I'd thought about changing careers to the clinical side. I'm more of a people person. It was a very hard decision for me. I really enjoyed my lab work, but I need to step out of my comfort zone and go back to school.”

Lin speaks English well, but the Madison resident said her cultural background played just as much of a role as her grasp of English in the challenge of mastering her PT classes.

“There were a lot of barriers and a generation gap. Most of my classmates are in their 20s,” she said. “And, physical therapy is a profession that requires very high communication skills. A physician might see a patient for five or 10 minutes, but in a PT treatment session, you will be with the patient for an hour or an hour and a half.

“For that period of time, you speak with your patient, so it's really important to have good communication to identify their problems and learning style.”

Her clinical rotations over the three-year PT program, Lin said, have been a game-changer. “In different PT settings, you have different styles of communication with different patients. I'm very comfortable now, but I still need to keep learning.”

She had to juggle being in class full-time with her family. Her son is now 13. On top of that was a part-time job with UMMC and another job as a tutor. “It was tough. The most important thing was trying to stay on top of things and to make the best use of my time.”

In the shadow of the Mississippi State Penitentiary's rear entrance sits Shelby, Mississippi, a city that boasted of 2,229 souls at the last census - about 700 fewer than the one before. If one looked at the statistics, an African American male in the shrinking town of Shelby would have a greater chance of being incarcerated than earning a bachelor's degree.

As a student at Broad Street High School, Kahari Scott was determined to not be a statistic.

“My school was on probation for underachievement in academics,” said Scott. “The board took over and brought in Teach for America teachers.”

One of those teachers was Sarah Walker, a language arts teacher from Texas who required her students to “read 25 pages and write one page a day.” Scott said he recently came across his old journal from high school.

“While I cherish where I come from, many of my journal entries reflected the goal to not become a product of my environment, 'I will not be a status quo. I will not fall into this statistic. I will not be the average black male from my society.'

“My teacher probably thought I was crazy, but it was the personality of a young man knowing that I wanted more for myself,” said Scott.

As a graduate in the School of Nursing class of 2016, Scott has taken the steps to ensure that he will never be a victim of his early environment.

“My dad would always tell me, 'Son, move like you have a purpose in life,'” said Scott. “He has a quote for everything, but he's right. If you don't have a purpose, you don't have an action. If you don't have an action, you can't expect an outcome.”

Scott's parents, Larry and Jacqueline Scott, both spent parts of their careers as penitentiary officers at Parchman. His dad also holds the titles of U.S. Army veteran and retired school principal.

“When the streetlights came on, I had to be in the house,” said Scott. “There was a lot of crime that went on. Not major crimes but things that young boys shouldn't be exposed to were out in the streets. My parents tried to shelter me from that, and I thank God that they did.”

Finding his niche as an academic rather than athlete, Scott said he knew that knowledge was his way out of the Delta. He was the only male honor student in his graduating class.

“I tried playing sports, to be popular and to be the jock. That wasn't my thing,” said Scott. “Being in the classroom - sitting at that desk doing my work - that was my thing.”

After high school, Scott attended Jackson State University as a social work major, but settling on a career path was a challenge. He considered going into psychology then therapeutic recreation before choosing nursing.

“It's actually a decision I made with my dad,” said Scott. “My dad has always been my voice of reason. It was a Sunday afternoon at Red Lobster, and I told him, 'I still don't know what I want to do. I just know I want to help people.'”

The force of a tackle throws a 16-year-old wide receiver backward, his head, encased in a helmet, striking the ground. The young player, wanting to stay in the game, tries to hide his dizziness. The actions and insight of his coaches, trainers and the sideline doctor on the scene could mean the difference between recovery and neurological injury or even death, said experts from UMMC speaking at the 2016 Mississippi Student-Athlete Health Forum.

Dr. Dennis Weaver, executive vice president and chief medical officer for the Advisory Board Company and Advisory Board Solutions, will present the first Distinguished Population Health Lectureship at UMMC on Thursday, May 26 at noon in CW308.

Weaver's lecture, “Population Health: Accountable for Progress,” is open to all faculty, staff and students. The Office of Population Health is sponsoring the event.

Weaver focuses on strategy, development and operations for accountable payment models, population health management and Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs). With Advisory Board Solutions, he provides customized and holistic solutions for health systems.

UMMC's electronic bulletin board, a longtime staple of the old This Week at UMMC newsletter, is returning - with some improvements - in this week's issue of eCV.

The board, a “craigslist”-style display of giveaways and items for sale, trade or wanted by Medical Center faculty, staff and students, is available by clicking the "Bulletin Board" text link at the bottom of eCV's front page.

The board now allows individuals to submit a photo with their listing along with all pertinent information about the item(s) to be sold, traded, given away or needed. The board also now includes every listing's UMMC-validated email address as well.

Only Medical Center employees and students may list items on the board. Garage sale notices and houses or property for sale by a realtor will not be listed. Only pets that are “free to a good home” will be included.

Individuals will be limited to one listing per 30-day period, and no more than five items may be included in a single listing. To view the bulletin board, click here.

A number of interesting events is scheduled for the upcoming week at the Medical Center.