Student Profiles: The Health Careers Program's Dignity Health Scholars
Dignity Health (formerly Catholic Healthcare West) believes in the excellence and importance of Spelman College and its mission to provide high-quality education to women of color. To demonstrate its support, Dignity Health is in its second year of financial support of Spelman’s Health Careers Program. The support will be used to fund a branded initiative that will: attract, engage and prepare Spelman students, (especially those from California, Arizona and Nevada) for careers in health, allied health and healthcare administration; enhance their exposure to the many career options in these fields; and expand current opportunities to engage with executives and leading professionals within the health care industry.
The funds are used for scholarships, internships, and international service trips. Additionally, some funds are to provide infrastructure support for the campus community to engage with Dignity Health representatives at Research Day. This summer, four Dignity Health Scholars from Spelman's class of 2013 are involved in internships in Phoenix, Ariz.and San Francisco, Calif.
Jazmine Grier has attended board meetings with the Dignity Health CEO and shadowed a cytopathologist who performed a bone marrow biopsy that she was allowed to witness. She says her internship has been rewarding because it clarified her direction in life and emulates "The Spelman Way" --- Standards of Excellence, which she will use to guide her as a mature professional business person.
Michelle Lewis is involved with a project sponsored by the Office of Continuing Medical Education that focuses on developing online education for physicians. The project involves filming live speaking events, creating online modules, and uploading these materials to various media outlets including the Dignity Health website, hospital television networks, and electronic bulletin boards at the hospital. She is also assisting with developing user manuals and other instructional materials related to introducing the new online Internal Review Board submission option to new users throughout the Dignity Health system.
Sa'Myra Bradford is currently working with Terrie Mendelson, MD, FACP, in the Teaching and LearningCenter. The project involves constructing and building modules for incoming orthopedics, internal medicine and podiatry residents. The following rooms will comprise the Teaching and Learning Center: central line, pelvic room (practice Pap Smears), spinal tab, joint aspiration and a cardiology. Each room will have teaching modules, videos, and quizzes to prepare medical residents on how to diagnose patients.
Nijah Burris is working with Dr. Chamindra Konersman to statistically analyze best practices needed for in-patient care. Burris says her internship experience has greatly affected her perspective on patient-care and evoked an acute awareness of the disparities in diabetes health care. Overall, she has enjoyed working with a team of administrators, physicians, and educators who truly have a passion for their patients and are empathetic to the needs of members of the surrounding communities.