From the Fall 2020 Penn College Magazine: When spring sports were canceled and classes were moved online, two athletes traded their jerseys for scrubs. Read their stories in “Trading Uniforms.”
Graveside services will be at the convenience of the family for Donna Rae Miller, a 23-year member of the physical fitness faculty at Williamsport Area Community College and Pennsylvania College of Technology, who died Thursday, Sept. 17, at the age of 84. Miller, who also served as cheerleading adviser during her campus tenure, was accorded emeritus status upon her 1997 retirement as an associate professor of fitness and lifetime sports. A full obituary was published in weekend editions of the Williamsport Sun-Gazette.
A Pennsylvania College of Technology alumnus, now senior clinical engineering director for UPMC in the Susquehanna region, collaborated with a DuBois-based provider of pre-owned medical equipment to place highly valued technology into the hands of health science students.
James R. Fedele facilitated the donation of a GE Medical Systems C-Arm and workstation through a partnership with KMA Remarketing Corp. The technology will afford students the opportunity to learn through hands-on, simulated experiences in the instructional setting, which will increase their efficiency in clinical operating rooms.
Newswatch 16’s Chris Keating visited Penn College’s Dental Hygiene Clinic on Tuesday for a story about the services the clinic provides to more than 2,000 members of the community each year while giving future registered dental hygienists critical hands-on education. He interviewed Shawn A. Kiser, director of dental hygiene, along with students Erin K. Gohn, of Spring Grove, and Lauren Groody, of Lititz. The segment premiered at 5 p.m. and aired during several of the ABC affiliate’s subsequent news broadcasts.
Pennsylvania College of Technology’s state-of-the-art Dental Hygiene Clinic is scheduling appointments for the fall semester.
The clinic provides low-cost preventive dental hygiene services to the community, including cleanings, exams, X-rays and sealants. The clinic collaborates with area dental offices and can share records to prevent duplication of services.
Jodi F. Stiner, a part-time faculty member for Pennsylvania College of Technology’s physical therapist assistant program, recently received the Certified Stroke Rehabilitation Specialist credential.
Stiner completed a 32-hour course conducted by Neurorecovery Unlimited, in collaboration with the American Stroke Association, followed by an online competency examination. The course, taught by physical therapy educators and researchers, was designed to equip treating clinicians with current, evidence-based instruction and hands-on training in the treatment of strokes.
Pennsylvania College of Technology is set to begin accepting students into its newest master’s degree offering – a Master of Science in Nursing, nursing education. The application for admission will open in January, with classes set to begin in Fall 2021.
Created for the working nurse, the curriculum for the MSN in nursing education is designed to be completed on a part-time basis within two years. All classes are conducted in an asynchronous, online environment.
The Student Government Association’s 2020-21 Executive Board and the organization’s senators were sworn in during this past week’s first meeting of the Fall 2020 semester.
Three faculty members at Pennsylvania College of Technology were presented with Excellence in Teaching Awards at the start of the 2020-21 academic year.
As part of the Distinguished Teaching Awards program at Penn College, President Davie Jane Gilmour presented Excellence in Teaching Awards to Carl J. Bower Jr., assistant professor of horticulture; Barbara F. Di Marco, assistant professor of mathematics; and Heather S. Dorman, instructor of physician assistant.
Distinguished Teaching Awards are presented to full-time faculty at Penn College who have been nominated by their students and colleagues for excellence in instructional performance. There have been 115 recipients since the program began in 1982: 33 Master Teacher Awards and 82 Excellence in Teaching Awards.
“From day one, teaching has been at the core of who we are,” Gilmour said. “As is obvious through comments from their students and colleagues alike, Carl, Barb and Heather are among the very best at putting that mission into practice.”
Sisters Kierstin N. Bathurst, of Jersey Shore, and Marissa L. Bathurst, of Linden, shared yet another experience when they marched across the stage at a Pennsylvania College of Technology commencement ceremony on Aug. 7.
The Bathursts, both petitioning to receive associate degrees in radiography, have spent a great deal of time together over the past two years, motivating each other through their natural affinity for competition, helping each other via last-minute cram sessions before exams and supporting each other with pep talks before hands-on evaluations.
Pennsylvania College of Technology’s physical therapist assistant Class of 2021 recently helped to plant 140 trees as part of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s Keystone 10 Million Trees Partnership.
Twenty-one students gathered at Trailing Pines Tree Farm in Muncy to plant trees in late June.
The certified tree farm is owned by Paul Huffman, a 1987 graduate of Williamsport Area Community College, a forerunner of Penn College, and is dedicated to wildlife management and conservation.
From the Spring 2020 Penn College Magazine: Lisa M. Zimmer’s resolute spirit has borne her through a 12-year journey to a bachelor’s degree in dental hygiene that included overcoming opioid addiction and developing a senior project, now a nonprofit organization, to provide oral health care to those in recovery. Read “Restoring smiles and lives.”
A “typical week” is anything but for alumna Alexis I. Ashby, a certified surgical technologist for UPMC Williamsport, whose Penn College education has prepared her well for the unpredictable ebb and flow of cases through the hospital’s operating rooms. In a newly published blog post, Ashby – who holds an associate degree in surgical technology (2018) and a bachelor’s in applied health studies: surgical technology concentration (2020) – sensitively expresses appreciation for her life and gratitude for the opportunity to improve others’ lives. “I have done tracheotomies in the ICU, emergency bowel resections at 3 in the morning and leg amputations on those too young to be without,” she writes. “As a surgical technologist, you are a part of an amazing system of saving lives and impacting those who are not always aware of your impact on their health and well-being.”
Pennsylvania College of Technology has established a new scholarship to support students completing Workforce Development programs in practical nursing and emergency medical technician who wish to further their education.
The scholarship provides assistance for practical nursing graduates interested in the Nursing, LPN to RN program at Penn College and graduates of the EMT course interested in pursuing one of the college’s paramedic majors.
Mary T. Stout, assistant professor of physical therapist assistant at Pennsylvania College of Technology, recently completed course requirements to become a certified Champion Performance Specialist.
To earn the certification, Stout completed a 34-hour course through Champion Performance Therapy and Training System and the Advanced Continuing Education Institute in Belmont, Massachusetts.