| Nancy Steiner

The Art of Nursing

The mixed media oil on canvas, entitled Zolofting, included a pill container, disassembled pill capsules and an MRI image. The accompanying description discussed how the anti-depressant Zoloft and therapy helped the artist overcome depression. A pencil drawing of a blue jay came with an explanation from the illustrator noting, “Being in this program has made me rethink how I define success and has presented me with various scenarios where I’ve had to find greater peace by letting go of the illusion of perfectionism.”

These were two of the pieces conceived and created by UCLA School of Nursing MSN students as part of their Mental Health, Mental Illness and Psychiatric Nursing course curriculum.

Amped Up

It’s a Friday morning, which means Marci Klein is catching the waves in Redondo Beach. There’s plenty of work waiting for her at the office, but Friday mornings are reserved for surfing, which feels as vital to her as, well, water.

Taming Life’s Currents

Swimming gave Melody Lomboy-Lowe solace when she underwent cancer treatment from ages 6 to 9. “It gave me a sense of normalcy,” says the now 44-year-old mother of three. “Even if I was sick and in the hospital for chemo one day, I might feel strong in the water the next day.”

The Art of Medicine

Sarina Brar Pai, DO, knows whether a woman comes for a screening mammogram, breast ultrasound or biopsy, she’s likely to feel some fear and trepidation. Dr. Pai has made it her mission to assure her patients that along with receiving excellent medical attention, they will be enveloped in caring arms.

Savoring Life Outside the Bubble

On a pre-COVID-19 afternoon, the three sisters giggle as they careen, side-by-side-by-side, down a wavy carnival slide. Seven-year-old fraternal twins Annabella and Evangelina sandwich their 5-year-old sister Gigi. The plastic mats the girls sit on as they descend, scuffed and dirt-stained, attest to their heavy usage by other delighted children.

Savoring the Journey

She started her days at 3:30 am, taking advantage of the quiet before the others arose by 5. She ate simple meals, mostly rice and vegetables. Living in a cement building in the Himalayan foothills, she shivered throughout the winter.

Tenzin Kiyosaki couldn’t have been happier.

Photo Synthesis

Quincy Jones, his eyes closed, exudes a sense of calm and serenity. Sheryl Crow brings her hands together as if in prayer. Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich clasps his hands behind his head, his open mouth forming a perfect O. These, and 38 other images of artists captured as they listened to their favorite music, are the work of UCLA physician and fine-art photographer Richard M. Ehrlich, MD.

Heart To Heart

The Big Kahuna informs Penny Lane that he has checked in with Wheels and Gumby. They’ve OK’d him to lead a handful of young campers and their counselors on an impromptu kayak ride during rest hour.

On the mainland, he may be known as Kevin Shannon, MD (RES ’90, FEL ’93), associate professor of pediatrics at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. But on Catalina Island, about 20 miles off the coast of Los Angeles, he answers to Big Kahuna…

Fighting for Freedom

When South Bay resident Peggy Callahan read the book Disposable People: New Slavery in the Global Economy, she was shocked. A television reporter who covered social justice issues such as poverty, racism and the death penalty for two decades, she was outraged to learn slavery still exists around the globe today. In fact, more than 40 million people are currently enslaved—the greatest number in human history.

Trying Her Luck

A petite blond with skin sun-kissed from living for three decades in Manhattan Beach, Jan Lesser sits with her husband Rick in the weathered beachfront home they share with a dog, three cats, and a small platoon of parakeets and turtles. Her carefree demeanor shows no trace of the ordeal she experienced nine years ago.

Nancy Sokoler Steiner writes: