School of Health Sciences students are serious about their studies. But they're also active in student groups and take part in a range of volunteer work in the local community and abroad. They raise money for good causes, participate in summer research projects and present at professional meetings and conferences. Here are just a few things they're doing:

Volunteer Work & Service Learning
Our students understand the importance of giving back. From working with a disabled child in the local community to providing medical care at a health clinic in Nicaragua, School of Health Sciences students use their specialized knowledge to make an impact on the lives of others.

Eighteen physician assistant students spent part of their winter break on a medical mission trip to the Dominican Republic in January 2009. The students distributed basic medical supplies and assisted doctors in treating patients, many of whom had little to no access to routine medical care. Read more...

In summer 2008, a group of nursing students traveled to Nicaragua to volunteer in local health clinics in a poor community.

 

A group of occupational therapy students jumped into icy water in January 2009 to raise money for Special Olympics, as part of the annual "Penguin Plunge" fundraiser.

A group of students in the occupational therapy program devote time each week to helping a local family with a severely disabled child. The students assist the family in implementing the intensive therapy program that is helping their son improve. Read more...

 

Many physician assistant students take part in a volunteer reading program, which involves weekly visits to Saint Raphael's pediatric primary care clinic to read to children in the waiting room.

 

PA students also collect new toys for children during the holidays. A group of students dress up in elf and Santa costumes and invite children to chose a gift and take a photo with Santa. Students in the program have also served a holiday dinner at a men's homeless shelter in New Haven.

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Professional Meetings and Publications

Many of our students have had the opportunity to present papers at conferences and attend the annual meetings of professional health organizations.

Jennifer Fontaine, a graduate student in the physician assistant program, was selected to make a poster presentation at the American Academy of Physician Assistants annual conference in San Diego, Calif., in May 2009. The poster presentation, "Pyoderma Gangrenosum as Primary Manifestation of Ulcerative Colitis," is a case study of an atypical presentation of a common gastrointestinal disease.

Jason Obey, a graduate student in the physician assistant program, presented a scientific poster at the American Academy of Physician Assistants annual meeting in May 2008. Obey worked with his pre-clinical instructor to develop his presentation on pituitary tumors and male infertility.

Cheryl Danton, a graduate student in the biomedical sciences program, co-authored a paper published in the Oct. 15, 2007, issue of The Journal of Immunology. Read more...

 

 

--Five occupational therapy students presented at the American Occupational Therapy Association's Annual Conference and Expo in Houston, Texas, in April 2009.

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Student organizations
School of Health Sciences students are active in a variety of student organizations.

In 2008, the Physician Assistant Student Society received the Outstanding Student Society Award from the Student Academy of the American Academy of Physician Assistants. Read more...

One of the Physician Assistant Student Society's activities is a 5K road race to raise money for the American Academy of Physician Assistant's annual charitable cause. The annual event also includes family activities and cow chip bingo. Read more...

--Other student organizations include the Athletic Training Club, the Diagnostic Imaging Society, the Physical Therapy Club, the Physician Assistant Club, the Student Nursing Association, the Student Occupational Therapy Association, the Undergraduate Physician Assistant Club and the Pre-Health Professional Society. Learn more...

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Awards and Scholarships
The accomplishments of School of Health Sciences students have not gone unnoticed.

Two athletic training students, John Angus and Megan Finn, won awards for their clinical case studies.

Angus received the Outstanding Undergraduate Abstract Award at the Eastern Athletic Trainers' Association conference in January 2008. His case study was "Ankle Injury in a Division One Men's Ice Hockey Athlete." Angus was the only undergraduate selected to deliver an oral presentation of his case to the general membership in attendance at the conference.

Finn placed first among college students for her oral presentation at the Athletic Trainers' Association symposium in February 2008. Here clinical case study was titled, "Elbow Trauma to a High School Football Player."

In 2009, Carly Funk, a graduate student in the physical therapy program, received the Connecticut Physical Therapy Association's $1,000 John O'Donnell Scholarship for excellence in scholastic achievement, professional involvement and community activities.

--Heather Gaburo, a student in the pathologists' assistant program, was awarded a $2,500 at the annual American Association of Pathologists' Assistant conference in September 2008. She was chosen for the essay topic that she submitted on the topic, "What do you think the field of pathology will be like in the next 10 years in the private laboratory as well as or opposed to university health care systems?"

--In 2008, athletic training student Erin Hagedorn was recognized with a $2,000 scholarship for graduate studies from the National Athletic Trainers' Association Research and Education Foundation. She is currently pursuing her graduate degree in athletic training at the University of Kentucky. Read more...