Fall 2006 - North Dakota Medicine

An InconvenienceIn July 2004 Bettings positiveoutlook was put to the test. She wasfinishing up her Doctorate of PhysicalTherapy degree and in themiddle of developing the newStudent Wellness Center whenshe found a lump in one of herbreasts. Initially dismissed by herphysician, she was persistent andwas eventually diagnosed withbreast cancer, had a mastectomy,chemotherapy and radiationtreatments. Still, she continuedto work.I tend to see the good inthings, to look through a differentlens, she said. Really, I sawhaving cancer as aninconvenience.I would go in for radiationtreatment at 7 a.m., right beforework, she explained. I saw thetreatments as just something toget done before I could go towork. There were others who,for them, the trip to get radiationwas the only thing they had thatday. It was apparent that theywere not nearly as well off as Iwas. I had a building to finish!Physical Therapy outside the ClinicBetting decided to earn herDPT degree from UND becauseI was drawn to it by those whowere doing it, she said.The program has highstandards for their students, sheexplained. They always call formore, but not the impossible. It mademe recognize that I had more in methan I had thought.PTs are people doing the rightthings for the right reasons, she said.I am not seeing patients in a clinic, buthopefully I am still touching lives.Not Your Parents GymnasiumFor the students and by thestudents, the 107,000-square-foot UNDStudent Wellness Center is much morethan a gym.Even before its completion, it hasbeen called The Engelstad of WellnessCenters, and The Best in the Nation,with which it is easy to agree whenBetting starts to explain the facility and thepainstaking care she put into every detail.Her face lights up. She sits at the edge ofher chair. She explains all the aspects ofthe building as if she is reading a childa story about a wonderful fantasyland.She gazes off as she describes facilities,architecture and resources.I learned it was not a good idea totake pictures in the womens room ofan airport when I found some greatfaucets, she remembered, laughing.She designed the facility, and herwellness programming, to be more thanjust a way to get fit.We are co-curricular, sheexplains. We are part of the learningthat takes place at the university.The new Student Wellness Centeranticipates 300 student employeepositions and internships will beavailable upon opening the newbuilding. More than just part-time jobs,Betting provides these students with achance to develop professionally beforethey even leave college, offering regularperformance evaluations, a network ofprevious wellness center employeesand supervising positions.She isnt having any trouble findingstudents to fill these position orvolunteers from the campus community.Wellness is a magnet, sheexplained. People are volunteeringleft and right, from physicians at themedical school to steam plant workers.Jon Allen, M.D. 84 (B.S. Med.82), assistant dean of the medicalschools Northeast Campus, GrandForks and Jonathan Geiger, Ph.D. (MS74, Ph.D.82), professor and chair ofthe Department of Pharmacology,Physiology and Therapeutics, are two ofmany members of the campus communitywho are lending their services to thenew center. They both will be leadingspin, or stationary bike, classes.We call them the spin doctors,quipped Betting.They will be biking in style, too.The spinning room boasts 21 stationerybikes where bikers can virtually tournational parks and other naturalLaurie Betting (BSPT ‘98,MPT ‘99, DPT ‘04) serves asAssistant Vice President ofWellness at UND.NORTH DAKOTA MEDICINE Fall 2006 23