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This version of NSU News has been archived as of February 28, 2019. To search through archived articles, visit nova.edu/search. To access the new version of NSU News, visit news.nova.edu.
This version of SharkBytes has been archived as of February 28, 2019. To search through archived articles, visit nova.edu/search. To access the new version of SharkBytes, visit sharkbytes.nova.edu.
The Dr. Pallavi Patel College of Health Care Sciences – Celebrating 25 Years of Alumni: Past, Present, and Future – Week 2
Alumni and Students: Partnership Opportunities
What was your most memorable learning experience at NSU? For many of our current students, it is participating in medical outreach trips. Recent trips have brought our students to the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and many other countries.
“Every summer, our program travels with 40 students into the mountains to dispense free health care, medication, and services to the Poqomchi’ people of rural Guatemala,” said Kelly Graham, a class of 2019 physician assistant student from the Orlando Campus. “While there, we also set up in-house stoves and water-filtration systems to prevent many environmental toxins that cause endemic illnesses in the region. This global service is a passion we love and look forward to every year.”
Jacksonville physician assistant student Cayla Taylor shared that she expects her class to continue the tradition of traveling to the Dominican Republic to volunteer at a local hospital, an orphanage, and at community clinics to see patients and provide health education. Audiology student Lindsey Spears said her classmates will continue the tradition of visiting Nicaragua to provide complimentary hearing evaluations to children and fit them with hearing aids.
These students, and many others across our spectrum of academic programs, exemplify the university’s core value of community—the guiding standard of humanitarianism and civic engagement. If you would like to enrich future fellow health professionals while providing medical care to some of the poorest people in the world, we invite you to consider making a donation.
To read more, click on photos.
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- Audiology student Kasia Baginski with one of the children who received a hearing assessment in Nicaragua.
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- Audiology students in Nicaragua
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- Joanie Gavin sees children in the clinic while a local Guatemalan volunteer looks on curiously.
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- Mariah Isaacs listens to a patient’s lungs in Guatemala.
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- Ashley Sweat and Leann Whitt check children for head lice in Guatemala.
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- Aliya Chaudhry and Chaz Kisgeropolous entertain children in Guatemala by drawing on their arms during a break.
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- Physician assistant students in front of the clinic they visited in the Dominican Republic.
Medical missions are not the only avenue of alumni/student partnerships. The college’s professional scholarships are key to both recognizing exemplary students and supporting their success. When speech-language pathology student Lauren Lagunovich received the inaugural Robin Shari Parker Memorial Scholarship, she said, “My passion for this field has been solidified by the caring and knowledgeable professors I have connected with since beginning my journey at Nova Southeastern University. This has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.”
Giving our students the opportunity—another NSU Core Value—to help them achieve their dreams is also an opportunity for all alumni, faculty and staff members, and community partners to help students achieve their dreams. We invite you to consider making a donation to support student scholarships by visiting realizingpotential.nova.edu/give/index.html or texting NSUPCHCS to 41444. Under the “Select Your Designation” dropdown menu, choose “Dean’s Excellence Fund” and type your preference of program or “medical missions” in the comments section.
If you are interested in seeing the students who have earned scholarships in the past, as well as available scholarships, go to healthsciences.nova.edu/studentaffairs/scholarships/scholarships.html. For those interested in scholarship naming opportunities, please contact Terry Morrow Nelson, Ph.D., associate dean, at studentaffairschcs@nova.edu.
