Celebrating their inner superheroes, students in Pennsylvania College of Technology’s surgical technology major are joining hospitals and colleges throughout the country in observing National Surgical Technologists Week, Sept. 15-21.
National Surgical Technologists Week is a promotional event of the Association of Surgical Technologists to celebrate those who work in the field.
Christine L. Eckenrod has been appointed to lead the radiography program at Pennsylvania College of Technology.
Eckenrod began her work as director of radiography at Penn College on Sept. 3.
She brings to the position more than 30 years of experience in the medical imaging field. Before joining Penn College, she was the radiography program director at JFK Muhlenberg Snyder School of Radiography in New Jersey, where she also served as a radiography instructor.
State Rep. Bryan Cutler (R-Lancaster), the second-highest ranking member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, visited Penn College on Thursday. Cutler, serving his first term as majority leader, was accompanied on the tour – which took in a number of instructional areas of main campus – by Jacob G. Smeltz, his chief of staff, as well as two members of the college’s board of directors: Sen. Gene Yaw, chair, and Rep. Garth Everett. President Davie Jane Gilmour and other members of the college administration (including Michael J. Reed, vice president for academic affairs and provost, and Patrick Marty, chief of staff) welcomed the guests, and various deans and faculty members led Cutler through The Victorian House, welding and metal fabrication, advanced manufacturing, automotive restoration, culinary arts and hospitality, plastics and polymer engineering, and several majors in the School of Nursing & Health Sciences. Cutler started his career in radiography, earning a certificate from Lancaster General School of Radiology. He worked as an X-ray technologist before earning a health care management degree from Lebanon Valley College and working as an administrator in his local hospital’s radiology department. He later earned a law degree, focused on health care law, from Widener Law School and has served in the Legislature since 2007. The day’s itinerary also included lunch at Le Jeune Chef Restaurant and a chance to see the Gold Rush Excavator on a nearby parking lot.
Every August 2019 graduate of Pennsylvania College of Technology’s surgical technology major has conquered yet another educational milestone: passing the Certified Surgical Technologist examination on the first attempt.
Surgical technologists are an integral part of the operating room team. They prepare operating rooms and equipment, ensure a sterile environment and patient safety, and assist doctors during surgeries. The work demands attention to detail and knowledge of surgical procedures.
Among the latest additions to the Pennsylvania College of Technology community are new full-time faculty members for the Fall 2019 semester, as provided by the Human Resources Office (all effective Aug. 15).
An Excellence in Teaching Award was presented to a nursing faculty member during Pennsylvania College of Technology’s Summer 2019 Commencement ceremony.
Terri A. Stone, assistant professor of nursing programs in the college’s School of Nursing & Health Sciences, received the honor at the Community Arts Center on Aug. 10.
Pennsylvania College of Technology presented a Mentorship Award to alumna Andrea (Niklaus) Reed, director of nursing/patient safety, privacy and compliance officer at UPMC Susquehanna Muncy.
The award was bestowed upon Reed by Penn College President Davie Jane Gilmour during the Summer 2019 commencement ceremony, held Aug. 10 at the Community Arts Center.
Reed earned an Associate of Applied Science degree in nursing from Penn College in 2007 and went on to receive a Bachelor of Science in nursing from University of Phoenix in 2014 and a Master of Science in Nursing with a focus in leadership and health care administration from Grand Canyon University in 2018.
Students in paramedic majors were led through a variety of hands-on rescue operations and tactical paramedic activities to wrap up the summer. The two-week training, led by the Central Area Fire Chiefs Association, included vehicle rescue and ropes rescue operations at the CAFCA training facility, confined-space rescue at Frito-Lay, and water rescue on Lycoming Creek and the Susquehanna River. “The goal of these sessions is to make these future paramedics more aware of the challenges and intricacies associated with the many aspects of vehicle rescue in an effort to make them better prepared to treat both the patient being rescued and the rescuers who may be injured during these often-dangerous activities,” said Christopher T. Boyer, director of Penn College’s paramedic technology programs.
Physician assistant students recently visited the surgical technology lab for the last of three simulated patient cases that allowed them to participate as care providers in the emergency room, as operating room assistants and as hospitalists. Students in the ER role encountered the patients, portrayed by nursing students. They diagnosed their patient’s malady and recommended treatment. In the surgical technology lab, Scott A. Geist, director of surgical technology, led OR students through a hands-on simulation of the recommended surgery. Students acting as hospitalists then provided follow-up care.
A total of 275 students have petitioned to graduate following Pennsylvania College of Technology’s summer sessions. A commencement ceremony is set for Saturday, Aug. 10, at the Community Arts Center.
The student speaker for the 11 a.m. event will be Dylan Gary Otis, of Wyalusing, who will be presented with Associate of Applied Science degrees in heavy construction equipment technology: technician emphasis and heavy construction equipment technology: operator emphasis.
Eyewitness News reporter Morgan Parrish talked Wednesday with students in Penn College’s physician assistant and emergency medical services/paramedic programs about their imminent assignments during the Little League Baseball World Series. Parrish interviewed Reshma Sherpa, of Morrisville, North Carolina, at Madigan Library, where PA students had finished an exam; as well as Nick S. Dwyer, of Moon Township, and Carly Rae Stahl, of Lewisburg, at Susquehanna State Park, where EMS/paramedic students were training for water rescues. Parrish’s piece aired during WBRE/WYOU’s Wednesday evening newscasts.
The physician assistant Class of 2020 celebrated its transition from classroom study to clinical rotations during the program’s annual White Coat Ceremony on Saturday. After being accepted into the professional phase of the program, students spent a full year – the Fall 2018, Spring 2019 and Summer 2019 semesters – in classroom study. Following final exams and service at the Little League Baseball World Series, the students will spend the next year working directly with patients in a variety of fieldwork settings, under the supervision of clinical preceptors. Heather S. Dorman, instructor of physician assistant, was selected as faculty speaker. Brian M. McKeon Sr., assistant professor of biology, served as master of ceremonies. Students Timothy A. Bradley, of Williamsport, and Nicholas A. Kilpatrick, of Muncy, served as student speakers. Allyson M. Rothrock, of Williamsport, led the class in reciting the Physician Assistant Oath.
Seven students in Pennsylvania College of Technology’s emergency medical services/paramedic program, and 25 students in its physician assistant program, are set to be part of the health care team at the 2019 Little League Baseball World Series, just 3 miles from the college campus.
The nationally televised series runs Aug. 15-25 and draws tens of thousands of spectators each day to the Little League World Series complex in South Williamsport.
This summer, members of the Student Occupational Therapy Assistant Club at Pennsylvania College of Technology contributed their expertise to outfit a new play structure at the Lycoming County Sensory Garden.
A wooden “teepee” was added to the garden in 2018 by Montoursville Area High School junior Colton Ulmer as part of his Eagle Scout requirements. It is framed by debarked white pine poles, and walls are made of hemlock slabs. Working with input from garden volunteers, Ulmer planned the structure for easy accessibility by wheelchairs and with large windows that allow parents to see what’s happening inside. Ulmer’s work, completed with the help of 12 volunteers, took 283 man hours.
Students in the emergency medical services and paramedic technician majors received a hands-on lesson in air ambulance operations when a Geisinger Life Flight crew landed one of the medical system’s nine helicopters on the Madigan Library lawn Tuesday. The crew taught the Penn College students about Life Flight services and safety protocols when on the scene of a medical helicopter landing. The experience was part of the course Operations and Rescue Practices for the Paramedic. During the summer course, students learn about crime scene awareness, medical incident command and emergency vehicle operations. With the help of area emergency professionals, they experience water rescue, vehicle rescue, rope rescue, confined-space rescue and more.