It was the ninth year students from the School of Medicine have participated in the UofL chapter of Medals4Mettle, running the Derby Festival races in honor of patients in the UofL Division of Pediatric Hematology, Oncology and Stem Cell Transplantation. This year, students from graduate programs and the School of Dentistry also participated.

Julie Klensch, a fourth-year medical student, presented her miniMarathon medal to Audrey Nethery in a special ceremony following the races. Klensch has run all four years for Nethery, an 8-year-old with Diamond Blackfan Anemia, a rare genetic syndrome that causes her bone marrow to produce too few red blood cells.

Running has become an important stress reliever for Klensch during her years in medical school, but she says she is even more grateful for the relationship she has built with Nethery and her family.

“When it’s raining or I don’t want to run some days, I remember that I could be in treatment for years for a condition that’s out of my control,” Klensch says. “It helps me remember the bigger picture of the people we are treating. It has shaped how I will do things and treat patients as a physician.”

(M4M) is an international organization that allows endurance athletes to donate their awards to critically ill individuals in honor of their courage in the face of life-threatening illnesses. The UofL program helps health professional students see the struggles of the children and their families who are dealing with cancer and life-threatening diseases, giving them a deeper understanding of the patients they will treat as practicing physicians.

This year’s UofL Medals4Mettle program was supported by Stock Yards Bank and Trust, Pacers and Racers, Pure Barre, Home Fit, 413 fitness and UofL Pediatrics.��

It is the 9^th year the UofL School of Medicine has participated in the event, which features an official Medals4Mettle Award Ceremony after the race – 3 p.m. at Kosair Charities Clinical & Translational Research Building lobby, 505 S. Hancock St.

The program was recently featured in , which includes a profile of one of the “buddy” pairs – UofL student Natalie Spiller and Moriah Bonner, a toddler battling sickle cell anemica. Another patient’s father chased Spiller along last year’s route to express his appreciation for her effort.

The Medals4Mettle program was started by Steven Isenberg, an Indianapolis surgeon, who presented his 2003 Chicago Marathon medal to a friend battling prostate cancer.

Then-student Riley Jones brought the program to UofL’s School of Medicine in 2009 with support from former Chief of Pediatric Oncology and Hematology, Salvatore J. Bertolone Jr.

The first year included 11 med school participants. Last year’s event featured 87 students, including Spiller.

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