We continue to celebrate May as National Salad Month with our new pals at Noodles & Company, a franchise that feels like anything but. And we really celebrated yesterday at our local Noodles at Valley West Mall when Pete, the general manager and market training manager, and Christina, assistant manager, provided a tasting to some lucky colleagues and me.

“A tasting is a culinary global tour, so get your passports ready,” Pete told us.

Noodles salads - gorgeous enough to gorge upon.

Posted in Healthy Cooking, Life in Des Moines | Leave a Comment

Posted in DMU Campus, Life in Des Moines | Leave a Comment

I like May for all sorts of reasons, including for its various “holiday” statuses. Did you know, for example, that May is National Foot Health Month, Mental Health Month, Correct Posture Month and Share a Story Month? For all you foodies out there, May is National Strawberry Month, Chocolate Custard Month, Egg Month, Artisan Gelato Month, Asparagus Month and – my personal favorite – National Salsa Month. May is a veritable smorgasbord of benefits!

It's May - time for salads!

Posted in Community Service, Des Moines Events, Healthy Cooking, Life in Des Moines | 1 Comment

A few quick facts about physician assistants:

• They are licensed to practice medicine with physician supervision in physicians’ offices, hospitals and other health care settings.
• They are formally trained to examine patients, diagnose injuries and illnesses, provide treatment and prescribe medications.
• According to the U.S. Department of Labor, job opportunities for physician assistants (PAs) are growing at a rate of 30 percent – “much faster” than the average among various professions.

Posted in Community Service, Current Students, Life in Des Moines, Physician Assistant, Student Life | Leave a Comment

We are extremely lucky here at Des Moines University to be located in such a great neighborhood. Of course we all have our favorite local spots, but one of my all-time faves is the Des Moines Art Center located just up the street from us.

This free art museum contains an impressive permanent collection as well as ever-changing traveling exhibitions. Currently, it has Jackson Pollock’s Mural on loan from the University of Iowa Museum of Art. This is definitely something you won’t want to miss!

Mural, Jackson Pollock (April 5 - July 15)

Posted in Current Students, Des Moines Events, Life in Des Moines | Leave a Comment

Spring officially started last week even though we’ve been feeling it for a while now with this unseasonable weather! With it has come another slew of walks and runs to take part in this season. Here are just a few for the month of April…

• April 14, DMU is the host site of the annual AIDS Project’s 5k walk/run.
• April 21 is a 5k for 5 charities that help victims of violence.
• April 22 is Earth Day in the Junction 5k run/walk. Register and get organic cotton t-shirt and reusable water bottle at the finish line.

Posted in Current Students, Des Moines Events, Life in Des Moines | Leave a Comment