Art of giving….

 by Shampa Bhattacharyya

 June 17, 2008

You are visiting a farm for the first time to help the owner, and have no idea where to begin. This is the challenge that members of the class of 2010 and 2011 undertook when they decided to help Dr. William J. Pintal install a fence on his 11-acre farm. “I had no idea what was needed to put up a fence. Between the two classes, people were raised in a wide variety of urban and suburban areas, and some have never set foot on a farm before,” said Rachel Rosenbaum, a third-year student volunteer, and co-coordinator of the spring project at Dr. Pintal’s house.

Much of Dr. Pintal’s time is donated to MSUCOM’s students, both as an OMM instructor and with the Spirituality in Medicine course. As a result, he spends a great deal of time mentoring and teaching. 

The project was started by Carlos Rico, the president of the class of 2010.  Working hand in hand with Rachel and Lindsay Rubin, the president of the class of 2011, Carlos helped to recruit volunteers and assisted with work prior to the day’s event.  “Carlos mentioned that last year while he was at Dr. Pintal’s farm, some of the horses got out of their enclosure.  As such, a new fence was needed around the pasture. We decided to make this a part of our spring 2008 project,” said Rachel.

With Dr. Pintal’s guidance, the goal for this project became putting up a new cattle fence to provide a bigger space for all the cattle and horses.  The 30 student volunteers worked in two shifts, one in the morning and the other in the afternoon.  The fence, which is something like chicken wire one would put around a garden only larger, was difficult for the students to handle due to its size and weight.  “We did two rolls of fencing, at 110 yards per roll.  It was so heavy that one person couldn’t push it. We worked with at least two to three people to unload the fence from the truck and 10 people to lift it all at once,” stated Rachel.

The team also enjoyed lovely home-cooked meals, as prepared by Brenda, Dr. Pintal’s wife. Brenda prepared lunch and dinner for the volunteers, who ate together before the afternoon shift began working. Students were able to pet the cows and horses, and a few even sat on the bull, affectionately named Lightening.  The team had a wonderful time working, learning, and catching up with each other in the countryside.

“We start medical school not knowing anything, and Dr. Pintal gave us so much and this was a great opportunity to know him more at the personal level. We also were introduced to his wife. She cooked a great barbecue for us. We all stayed till 1:00 p.m. and had a great time socializing, getting to know other fellow students more closely,” said Patrick Brian Gibbons.

"I guess the best way to get something done is to let a bunch of perfectionist, obsessive-compulsive medical students loose on a farm!"  -Katie Perz

"It is a rare and wonderful occasion when you get a chance to give back to a mentor who has done so much for you." -Juan G. Velazquez

"It was an honor to share my time with a professor who had already shared so

much with me: spiritually, educationally." -Ben Visger

"Many times thoroughout the day I wondered if we were in need of the punchline to a joke that asked, 'how many med students does it take to build a fence?'. In the end, though, I realized that as long as we had Hunter's guidance (Dr. P's ten year old neighbor) and Dr. Pintal's patience on our side, laughter, determination and good intention were all we really needed." - Stephanie Betts

“My favorite part was driving the tractor.  I haven't done that since my last high school job, but it felt surprisingly natural.  It was fun working up a sweat with my body instead of just my brain.” -Steve Proper

“Dr. Pintal is such a kind and generous man who has given so much to the
students here at MSUCOM; it was nice to have the opportunity to give
something back to him.  It was especially nice to be able to do so in the
outdoor environment that he loves so much.”   -Mark Conliffe

“The best part was riding the bull! Not as wild as you would imagine though.” - Rebecca Runge

"It was nice to see an idea take shape and become a reality for Dr. William Pintal." – Carlos Rico