Lookin’ at U — Sara Pirtle

Each Thursday, we randomly feature a medical center employee.

This week, we learn more about Sara Pirtle, outreach program specialist in International Health and Medical Education.

Sara Pirtle

• Name: Sara Pirtle
  
• Hometown: Oakland, Neb.
  
• Number of years at UNMC: 14

What is your best memory from your time at UNMC?

I am privileged to have the opportunity of fostering global health education and outreach in many forms, including:

• A vibrant Student Alliance for Global Health;
  
• A thriving Medical Spanish/Global Health program in Central America since 2000; and
  
• A Midwestern Global Health Conference that attracts national attention.

Our four brand values are leadership, commitment to excellence, working together and being a trusted resource. Pick one and tell us a time you witnessed it embodied at UNMC.

UNMC’s Student Alliance for Global Health (SAGH) continually embodies all four values. Every year, as adviser for this group, I witness a fresh crop of students rise to the occasion and organize three international medical service trips that serve more than 2,000 individuals every year. … Because these trips continually return to the same geographical areas every year, we build quality relationships that embody trust and mutual respect with the communities that we serve.

List three things people may not know about you.

• I have been an avid ball room dancer since 2005. I occasionally dance competitively, but more often dance in showcases and public performances. I will be performing a foxtrot at a showcase in Lincoln later this month.
  
• During the past two years, I have hiked 19.1 miles in the Rocky Mountains during a two-day camping trip, hiked the Grand Canyon from the North Rim to the South Rim over two days and completed a one-day hike up to the top and back of Pacaya Volcano, an active volcano in Guatemala.
  
• I was the managing editor of “The Afghanistan Studies Journal” from 1990-97, while I worked at the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s Center for Afghanistan Studies.