Pediatric nephrologist Lyndsay Harshman’s goal: Optimizing cognitive and psychosocial outcomes for kidney transplant patients.

Two University of Iowa medicine alumni met by chance while serving patients at McMurdo Station, Antarctica. The pair share how the unique experience has changed their outlook on medicine.

The Distinguished Alumni Award is the highest honor the University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine bestows upon its outstanding graduates. In 2024, the awards were presented to: Paul McCray Jr., MD; Barbara McAneny, MD, MACP, FASCO; and Amber K. Brooks, MD.

What defines a legend? While the term is often applied to individuals who achieve even a modest level of success, a true legend transcends their accomplishments and awards. They challenge the status quo, upend preconceived notions and stereotypes, and change lives through their ideas and their actions. Arnold Menezes, MBBS, is a legend.

Many physicians feel the calling to practice medicine from early childhood. For those with no physicians in their families, the decision is often less obvious. Iowa alum Allie Kim shares the story of hard work and self-discovery that led to her dream job.

When Allie Kim (18MD, 21R), née Rapp, and Sung Kim (15MD, 20F) met for their first date at Sanctuary Pub in Iowa City, they were both in a busy season of life. Sung was a fourth-year medical student at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine; Allie was a first-year. “We were there for six hours, just talking,” Allie remembers. "Then he said, ‘Allie, don’t you have your anatomy final?’”

From a young age, Nicole Fleege, MD’s family told her she could be anything she wanted to be. She oscillated between dreams of being a doctor, a lawyer, or a veterinarian. However, when it came to deciding whether she wanted a career in medicine, she was hesitant. “I took a detour from medicine because my dad got cancer when I was a junior in high school and then passed away from lung cancer when I was a senior,” she explains. “So my first few years in college, I just wasn’t sure I wanted to do medicine.”

Melissa Palma (15MD) is many things these days—a physician, an educator, an advocate. But when it all began, she was an Iowan. “I like to tell people I spent K through 20th grade in Iowa,” she says.