by Allyson Backstrom | Dec 16, 2025 | Staff
During fall 2025, the Dr. George E. Schreiner ’43 Pre-Medical Center offered our second mercy doula (end-of-life doula) service-learning course.
Pre-Med and Pre-Health (pre-PA, pre-Nursing, pre-Vet) students, alongside Canisius Physician Assistant students, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences medical students, and a Canisius professor, trained as mercy doulas.
Trainers included fellow Griff and palliative care physician, Dr. Katie Grimm, a palliative care nurse, and a social worker.
Our undergraduate students then volunteered at the Sloan Comfort Care Home, a local non-profit that provides a homelike environment for those who do not have the financial or family support to die at home. Griffs served as mercy doulas, accompanying guests during the last journey of their lives. Several of the medical students in the training are assigned to Sloan Home as part of the medical school’s new community-based curriculum.
After hearing our pre-health students’ final course reflections on their experiences volunteering with the guests at Sloan Home, one of the founders of Sloan shared, “If anyone worries about the future of healthcare, they should meet these eloquent and thoughtful pre-health students. Their reflections were poignant—as well as very helpful for planning future training.”
We are grateful to our mercy doula trainers and the staff and volunteers at Sloan for being such great teachers and mentors for our students.
by Allyson Backstrom | Sep 26, 2025 | Staff
Instead of cheering on the Bills versus the Jets, a team of 31 Griffs — students and young alumni — rolled up their sleeves and donned their gowns in Olean, NY, the weekend of Sept. 12-14, volunteering a combined 750 hours to support a Remote Area Medical free clinic.
This clinic registered over 400 patients and provided over $235,000 in free medical, dental, and vision care. This is the 15th RAM clinic that Griffs have supported, and as always, the community host team in Olean and the RAM staff cannot say enough about our students.
We appreciate two alumni volunteers who were part of our very first RAM trip in 2018, and are now practicing dentists: Laura Cavallari ’18, DDS, MS, recently completed her periodontics residency and joined Cornerstone Periodontics, and Jenna Sauter ’18, DMD, who practices at Neighborhood Health Center.
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| 2018 Then – student volunteer, Jenna Sauter, serving on the “bucket brigade” to sanitize dental stations between patients |
2025 Now – Dr. Sauter, with current Griffs: Shafay Shahzad (pre-med) and David Iskander (pre-dental) |
This service trip was sponsored by The Society of PreHealth Professionals student organization and the Dr. George E. Schreiner ’43 Pre-Medical Center.
Submitted by Allyson Backstrom, Director, PreMedical Center
by Allyson Backstrom | Sep 24, 2024 | Staff
PreMed and PreHealth students attended Igniting Hope 2024: Building an Environmentally Just Community at the Jacobs School of Medicine on September 21.
The annual conference focuses on addressing health equity and the social determinants of health. It is co-sponsored by the Buffalo Center for Health Equity, The Erie County Department of Health, the UB Clinical and Translational Science Institute, and the UB Community Health Equity Research Institute.
Break-out sessions focused on health equity workforce development, housing/green construction, food systems, advocacy and policy, and maternal health and environment. The CEO for the Center of Environmental Justice gave a keynote address, “Women’s Health Equity, Toxics in Our Environment & How We Can Take Action,” which highlighted the role consumer goods play in exposure to toxic chemicals.
Our students volunteered to help run the conference and also helped the Buffalo Center for Health Equity run a Community Day Celebration the night before the conference. A team of Canisius PreMed students were invited by the Buffalo Center for Health Equity to host a nutrition/sugar education table at the celebration to help attendees understand the quantity of sugar contained in commonly consumed food/drink and the impact of excessive sugar consumption on health.
Submitted by: Allyson Backstrom, director, PreMedical Center
by Allyson Backstrom | Sep 20, 2024 | Staff
More than 35 Griffs, including pre-med, pre-dental, pre-optometry, pre-pharmacy, and PA students, young alumni, and Griff clinicians (James Roland ’04, DDS, Thomas Dobmeier ’06, DDS, Andrew Dobmeier ’16, DDS, Hayden Senn ’16, OD, Nathan Riexinger ’18, DDS and Laura Cavallari Riexinger ’18, DDS) volunteered with Remote Area Medical in Jamestown, NY, September 13 – 15, to host a pop-up clinic providing medical, dental and vision care. Two future Griffs and their fathers also joined our group.
Approximately 240 patients were served, receiving over $185,000 in care.
Three of our current students are training to be Core Volunteers with RAM and will lead their areas at future clinics.
This is the 12th Remote Area Medicine mission supported by Griffs through the Society of PreHealth Professionals student organization and the Dr. George E. Schreiner ’43 Pre-Medical Center.
Fun Fact: Nathan Riexinger ‘18, DDS and Laura Cavallari Riexinger ’18, DDS were on our very first RAM mission in 2018 while they were undergraduates at Canisius and were recently married on September 7 in the Christ the King Chapel.
Submitted by: Allyson Backstrom, Director, PreMedical Center
by Allyson Backstrom | Jun 26, 2024 | Staff
During spring 2024, the Dr. George E. Schreiner ’43 Pre-Medical Center offered a Mercy Doula service-learning course. PreMed and PreHealth students, alongside Canisius PA students and local medical students, trained and then volunteered as mercy doulas (end-of-life doulas) at the Sloan Comfort Care Home where they accompany guests during this last journey of their lives.
The medical students were recruited by young Griff, Rachel Kueker ’22, who was in her second year of medical school and co-chair of the palliative care interest group at UB’s Jacobs School of Medicine. Our students are truly “people with and for others” and several continue volunteering at Sloan this summer.
Students were trained by ECMC palliative care physician (Kathryn Grimm ’77, MD) who established the Sloan Home, an ECMC palliative care nurse, a social worker, a retired chaplain, and an alumna who trained as a mercy doula (Colleen O’Hara ’13). Included in the course was a session on pediatric palliative care given by Griff and pediatric palliative care physician, Emilee Flynn ‘08, MD. Students from the course later hosted a movie night to see the new movie, Tuesday, then discussed its connection to what they learned in their mercy doula training.
Submitted by: Allyson Backstrom, Director, Dr. George E. Schreiner ’43 Pre-Medical Center
