FIU presence

Time to toot FIU’s horn
FIU should be proud of its contributions to the Pacific Partnership 2010. First, Dawn and Vanessa, our NP students, have basically worked as independent providers for most of the mission and have been integral members of the primary care medical team. The Navy’s view is that they are senior NP students in their last clinical and thus should be able to work independently and so they have put them on the schedule as such. Dawn and Vanessa have risen to the occasion and have done FIU proud. That isn’t to say that the other providers weren’t there to help when Dawn and Vanessa had questions or wanted a consultation. Most of the experienced providers were more than willing to help all of us on the FIU team when we had questions or needed consultations. Speaking of the team, turns out FIU has more connections here than just us three. When Vanessa and I were out on the 7 day overnight mission, our 2nd in command, and our fellow medical provider, was Liz Prieto. Liz is a Peds NP (an excellent one at that). I was watching her see children and said to her “I think when I get back I want to ask Dr. Lobar about doing peds” because it looks like such a great experience. Liz said “Sandy Loabar? I had her as a professor.” Yep, turns out Liz is a Cuban-born, Miami-raised, FIU-graduated Peds NP. That meant the majority of providers at this site were from FIU! Later, back on the ship, a woman came up and asked if I was the FIU professor. Her name is Valerie Diaz, a nurse anesthetist who graduated from the first class at FIU for that program. Way to go FIU!