LOUISVILLE, Ky. –More than three dozen University of Louisville School of Medicine students will run in the Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon and give their medals to patients being treated for cancer by UofL Pediatrics faculty. The medical students are participating in Medals4Mettle, an Indianapolis-based nonprofit organization that links athletes and critically ill individuals.
“We are honored to give them our medals. These children and their families show amazing courage in their fight against cancer,” said second-year medical student Riley Jones, who organized the students’ participation in Medals4Mettle.
The patients receiving the medals range in age from 2 to 25 years old. They were chosen to receive the medals in consultation with the physicians and staff of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Specialists, a practice operated by faculty members of UofL Pediatrics.
“This was such a positive experience for the children who received medals last year so I’m pleased that even more med students have signed up again this year,” said Salvatore Bertolone, M.D., chief of the UofL Division of Hematology, Oncology, Blood and Marrow Transplant. “Medals4Mettle will also make our students better doctors. It’s one thing to read about a disease and another to see the impact that disease has on patients and their families. This makes it real.”
The UofL medical students will present their medals to their patient partners on Sunday, April 25, 1:00 p.m., at Kosair Children’s Hospital in the lobby.
See www.medals4mettle.org for information about the program.