Olson Center brown bag lectures feed minds

Tammy Chaudoin, front, and Kristine Moser, both of UNMC’s Genetics, Cell Biology and Anatomy Department, attend the recent brown bag lecture.

Once a month, over yogurt, turkey sandwiches and salads, the predominately female audience meets to learn about an array of health issues from aging to nutrition to pregnancy.

On Tuesday, they packed the Eppley Science Hall Amphitheater to help the Olson Center for Women’s Health kick off its 2004-2005 brown bag lecture series. The lecture on strength training was apropos for a program that has been growing in popularity.

“The brown bags seem to fill a need in our participants, whether it’s educational or social,” said Lana Molczyk, project coordinator for the Women’s Health Resource Center of the Olson Center for Women’s Health. “We have a strong following and reached our seating capacity for this program two weeks early.”

Coming up The Olson Center has planned the following brown bag lectures through May 2005: Oct. 12 — Creative Aging – Karen Shaffer – UNO Program for Women and Successful Aging Nov. 9 — Lung Cancer – Rudy Lackner, M.D, UNMC Dec. 14 — Women & AIDS – Edna Toubes Klingler, M.D., UNMC Jan. 11 — Laparoscopic Hysterectomy – Neena Agarwala, M.D., UNMC Feb. 8, 2005 — Prostate Cancer -Drs. K.C. Balaji, Charles Enke, Ralph Hauke and Robert Olesh, UNMC March 8, 2005 — Pregnancy – Paul Tomich, M.D., UNMC April 12, 2005 — Vaginal, bladder and rectal prolapse – Neena Agarwala, M.D., UNMC May 10, 2005 — “Stand: Faces of Rape & Sexual Abuse Survivors Project” – Nobuko Oyabu.

Located in the department of obstetrics & gynecology, the Olson Center for Women’s Health works to improve women’s health through research, education and service. For more than eight years it has fulfilled the educational component by offering monthly brown bag lectures through the Women’s Health Resource Center, which opened in December 1994. The lectures initially focused on “breast health,” but have since expanded to other women’s health issues, Molczyk said.

Debbi Griffith of the Eppley Institute has missed few lectures since joining UNMC 3 1/2 years ago. “It’s great information with wonderful, informative speakers,” she said. “I’ve never been disappointed.”

Tina Curry of biochemistry and molecular biology, agreed. “It’s very informative,” she said. “I really learn a lot. It’s also a chance to network and meet people I wouldn’t ordinarily meet.”

Olson Center employees, from left, Jennifer Harmon, Leni Rauschenberg and Lana Molczyk.

The noon lectures run from September through May on the second Tuesdays of the month. In the beginning, the lectures drew about 15 people. Later, they were moved to a larger classroom in Bennett Hall, then to the Eppley Science Hall Amphitheater, which seats 130.

Since January 2002, the monthly brown bag lectures have been videotaped and placed in the video library on the Olson Center for Women’s Health Web site (www.unmc.edu/olson), where they are available for two years. Since February 2002, the Olson Center has collaborated with the UNMC College of Nursing to offer 1.0 nursing contact hour for each brown bag lecture for the cost of $5. Nursing credit off the Web site also is available for any nurse in the country.

“It’s such a nice break to the day,” said registered nurse Cheril Comisar, who also finds it a “fast and easy way to get continuing education credits.”

Interest in the topic brought Lynne Niemeyer of biochemistry and molecular biology to her first Olson Center lecture. Meanwhile, Sue Raymond of internal medicine is a regular in the audience. “They’re always about things that help you improve yourself,” she said.

“The lectures are always interesting and varied,” said Karen Dulaney of Eppley Institute. “Plus, it’s good to get out of the lab and do something different.”