A front-page feature in the Boston Globe on Friday, Dec. 14, highlights the innovative UMass Medical School program “Sidekicks,” which pairs medical students with chronically ill pediatric patients for friendship and emotional support. The story and accompanying video includes interviews with second-year School of Medicine student Meg Preissler; Ann Salerno, MD, assistant professor of pediatrics; and Naheed Usmani, MD, clinical associate professor of pediatrics, who created the program.
“Officially, Preissler is the 8-year-old’s buddy through an initiative called Sidekicks that pairs ill children with novice medical students at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, where Preissler is a second-year student,” the story begins. “Unofficially, she is his friend.”
