NEWS

Mentoring relationship starts as a study break

Student says CMU full of opportunities to make connections

A smiling young man in a green fleece pullover and white T-shirt looks at a computer screen while a man in glasses and parted gray hair points at it. — Caleb Zimmerman was studying for his MCAT in the fourth floor of the Biosciences building when he met Peter Dijkstra, who mentored him on how to analyze data for a project he was working on.

Caleb Zimmerman’s most important mentoring relationship as a Central Michigan University undergraduate student didn’t start in a classroom or a lab. It began in a study area.

Zimmerman, a Big Rapids native, studied for the MCAT in the Bioscience building’s fourth-floor study area and noticed that one of the professors spent a lot of time walking around.

That professor was Peter Dijkstra, a biology faculty member who specializes in social stress in fish. Dijkstra said he was working on a grant proposal, which requires long hours of work.

A young man in a green fleece pullover and white T-shirt looks up while holding several pieces of paper. — Zimmerman worked with Dijkstra on how to better understand how to apply data visualization to a project looking at physician attitudes towards prescribing opioid medications.

He said he saw Zimmerman while he was walking around on breaks, and the two started exchanging greetings.

“Every professor here – especially Dijkstra – is very approachable,” Zimmerman said.

By the time he took Dijkstra’s mammalian physiology course, they recognized each other. It turns out they shared a mutual interest in a particular data visualization software, and their relationship took off.

Zimmerman was already working on a research project with CMU medical school students about physician attitudes in prescribing opioid medication, he said. He was paired with one such student his first year through a College of Medicine mentoring program.

It also introduced Zimmerman to one of CMU’s strengths: the ability to make connections across campus that help build strong career foundations.

“Just talk to people,” he said. “You build a lot of strong relationships with people.”

Dijkstra’s expertise in data visualization and statistics proved invaluable, Zimmerman said. Zimmerman took the data gathered through the study and, with his assistance, arrived at data-driven conclusions.

The team conducting the research is preparing to submit the research for publication. Dijkstra also provided guidance on how to write and structure the submission, Zimmerman said.

Zimmerman said taking part in the research strengthened his application for medical school.

Of course, making connections with fellow students was also important. Zimmerman said that’s easy at CMU.

“You can just reach out and build connections,” he said.

Dijkstra wasn’t involved in the opioid research beyond helping Zimmerman solve the puzzle of analyzing the data. It was a rewarding experience, anyway.

“For me as a professor, mentoring is something I get enthusiastic about,” he said. “I see mentoring like this as making an impact.”