WYOMING –A Pinedale graduate was one of many University of Wyoming students in the Wyoming-WWAMI medical Education Program who presented their research projects during the university’s College of Health Sciences’ third annual research symposium.

The WWAMI program consists of medical students from Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho. Students are required to complete their research during their time in the program – most complete them in their first two years and show their summer projects in the form of poster presentations.

Luiza Bosch presented her project, “Vaccination Hesitancy: A Common Trend in Powell, Wyoming,” at the symposium earlier this month. Bosch grew up in Brazil and moved to Pinedale when she was 16. She worked for the Wyoming Public Health Department as a forensic chemist following graduation from the University of Wyoming’s physiology and neuroscience programs. She was recently selected as a TRUST scholar through the University of Washington School of Medicine.

Bosch was one of 11 students who took part in the Rural/Underserved Opportunities Program over the past summer. During a four-week rotation, each student worked alongside a primary care physician in a rural or urban underserved community. While at their sites, students were expected to complete an abbreviated community health assessment to identify community assets and public health issues.

The majority of the 11 projects on display during the symposium related to COVID-19’s impact, vaccine hesitancy and/or the ongoing toll the pandemic has taken on health-care workers in rural or underserved communities.