Franklin Square Resident Participates in Bridging the Gap Summer Internship Program

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CENTER VALLEY, PA (08/26/2010)(readMedia)-- This summer, four DeSales University physician assistant (PA) majors, Megan Callahan of Franklin Square, N.Y., Justine Ciarleglio of Madison, Conn., Tracy Gould of Skowhegan, Maine, and Chase Schaeffer of West Lawn, Pa., participated in the community-based summer internship program, Bridging the Gap (BTG). Mary Ellen Miller, Ph.D., R.N., assistant professor of nursing at DeSales University, served as academic preceptor for the students.

Now in its twentieth year, BTG links the training of health and social service professionals with the provision of health-related services for underserved and economically disadvantaged populations. The internship offers students in the health and social services fields an opportunity to gain a broader understanding of interdisciplinary collaboration.

Student teams partner with community site personnel, community members, other college interns, and faculty from both Pennsylvania and New Jersey to design projects based on community-defined needs and on the students' professional disciplines and interests.

The projects on which the students worked varied. Callahan, Ciarleglio, Shaeffer, and Gold worked at Alliance Hall in Allentown, Pa., providing health education to youth ages 6 to 10, including instruction on dental hygiene, healthy food habits, and exercise. In addition, Callahan and Ciarleglio worked at The Caring Place, in Allentown, Pa., doing client interviews for a project entitled "Super-Users." Super-users are uninsured or under-insured people who use the healthcare system excessively, sometimes for emergency reasons, sometimes for primary care. The intent of this project was to determine why some people use health services more than others.

Graduates of the DeSales University program consistently rank first in the nation in the national standardized in-training examination known as the PACKRAT (Physician Assistant Clinical Knowledge Rating Assessment Test).

DeSales University in Center Valley, Pa., is a private, coeducational, four-year liberal arts university affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church. Founded by the Oblates of Saint Francis de Sales in 1965, the 450-acre suburban campus is located 50 miles north of Philadelphia and about 90 miles south of New York City. A total enrollment of nearly 3,000 includes undergraduate day and evening students and graduate students. DeSales has approximately full-time faculty members and offers 37 bachelor's degrees and six graduate programs in a wide range of disciplines. The university also offers the ACCESS Program, the region's leading accelerated degree program for adults.

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Attached Photo: First row, pictured left to right: DeSales University student Chase Schaffer; Mary Ellen Miller, Ph.D., R.N., assistant professor of nursing at DeSales University and academic preceptor, DeSales student Justine Ciarleglio, Maggie Farrell, a Marywood University student, DeSales student Tracy Gould, Pragati Jain, a student from East Stroudsburg University, and (centered, in front) DeSales student Megan Callahan.