Rutgers Physician Assistant -PA- Program

PA student Sarah Elsakary’s trip with FIMRC is wrapping up after some days in their main clinic. The clinic is run by Dayan Alvarado, the field operations director and pharmacist at FIMRC Alajuelita. Working with a Costa Rican native, Sarah has had the opportunity to learn some of the common traditional medicine practices used for symptom relief along with commonly seen illnesses.
This week, Sarah also had the chance to be fully immersed in the culture with her homestay mom Rita Zúñiga and her family. Rita is also the homestay coordinator for the Program. [Sarah is the 2024 RUPA Endowed Service Learning Scholarship/Grant recipient]. Safe travels home, Sarah!

On her trip with FIMRC, Sarah was stationed at the mobile clinic yesterday. The team serves Alajuelita, a town 5km outside of San Jose, Costa Rica, and the travel clinic is more remote. Sarah was stationed at the ‘pharmacy’ for part of her time. [Sarah is the 2024 RUPA Endowed Service Learning Scholarship/Grant recipient]. See more updates with

The RUPA Endowed Service Learning Scholarship/Grant recipient, Sarah Elsakary, has begun her trip. Sarah will be volunteering with the Foundation for International Medical Relief of Children (FIMRC) in Costa Rica. This clinic has been serving the area since 2005 and is focused on serving marginalized communities that do not qualify for national medical insurance. The clinic offers primary care, pediatrics, women's health, psychological services and a pharmacy. As a volunteer, Sarah will spend one week rotating through different areas of the clinic greeting patients, assisting with intake documentation, performing vital signs, and shadowing healthcare providers.

Stay tuned for more from Sarah this week!

It’s almost the end of May, the class of ‘24 is away! 🎓🎓🎓 CONVOCATION! 🎓🎓🎓 We are so proud of these amazing new colleagues (many are pictured here). It was a wonderful ceremony at NJPAC by . Congratulations new graduates!

Manisha Hyndavi was our valued Student Assistant for TWO years in the Department of PA Studies and Practice! She leaves us now as she is graduating from with an MS in Health Informatics. Congratulations 🎉 🎈 🎓 Manisha and we wish you all the best!! -from your PA Program Family. [linkedin.com/in/manishahyndavi]

Almost done class of 2024! We celebrated with recognition and awards for these amazing students. From Didactic achievements to Service and Volunteering, from numerous scholarly accomplishments to Clinical excellence - this class is impressive! rutgerspastudents

Summer is almost here for first year and graduating students!! We held poster day for these two cohorts and their respective classes: Health Promotion across the Lifespan (class of 2026) projects and Applied Clinical Research (class of 2024) posters. Amazing work was evaluated, appreciated, and celebrated. Congratulations students!!
(ETA- Many more pictures on our added here!)

This month we celebrated Eid with a student gathering. Thank you to our CID (Committee on Inclusion and Diversity) who put together games, snacks, and community to mark this holiday at the end of Ramadan. Eid Mubarak to all who celebrated!

We just LOVE when alums come by to visit! We got to say hi to Lauren Gorski (‘18) and Finn Olcott (‘19) today. Lauren and Finn are both practicing in primary care in MA. It was great to see you both! Come back soon!!

You did it. You met the giving day challenges. You enabled us to raise $7,175 in 48 hours.
You help us provide life-changing access to healthcare. You help us educate the next generation of clinicians.
Whether you gave, liked, posted, or shared our message - thank you. You made this campaign a success!
On behalf of the patients, students, staff, and clinicians of H.O.P.E., thank YOU.
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And with that we have a new match announced for Day 2, the Palfreyman Pledge!***
In honor of the over 1,000 visits held at H.O.P.E., Dr. Palfreyman, our PA Program Director and a dedicated H.O.P.E. PA, has pledged to match the next $1,000 given dollar for dollar. THANK YOU DR. PALFREYMAN!!!

From this week’s HOPE team we say: AMAZING! So far we have raised almost $3000. WE MET THE MATCH! Thank you to all who have given, liked, shared, or otherwise spread the message of HOPE over this past week.

And every extra dollar over our match still helps provide FREE patient care:
$35 covers two laboratory tests for someone with high blood pressure or diabetes
$90 supports one office visit for an uninsured patient
$100 pays for a year of routine testing a person with diabetes
$250 finances interpretation services for 10 patient encounters.

GIVING UPDATE!
We are half-way through day 1 of Giving Day and are 57% of the way to our match challenge!
Thank you to all who supported. Help us by giving or sharing to spread the word!
https://give.rutgersfoundation.org/shp-hope-program/21421.html

TODAY KICKS OFF RUTGERS GIVING DAY!
Hot off the presses: We have a match!
Kirk Schwenkler, son of our former medical director Joe Schwenkler, has generously set up a Giving Days challenge!
Kirk will be matching ALL gifts, dollar for dollar, up to $2,500.
AMAZING.
Thank you, Kirk, for this match and your continued support of our patients and students.
(eta)Link in Comments to donate.

Tomorrow kicks off Giving Days 2024!
When you give to HOPE, you have the opportunity to make a real impact for real people, facilitating their ability to receive high quality, dignified healthcare AT NO COST to them. For folks who are uninsured, this is life changing.
Here are some of the ways we use your gifts:
$35: Cost of 2 laboratory tests at the clinic for someone with high blood pressure or diabetes
$90: One office visit for an uninsured patient
$100: Cover all the routine annual testing a person with diabetes needs for a whole year
$250 Interpretation services for 10 patient encounters

 Want to learn more about our practice and educational model? See the HOPE clinic link and $donation link$ in our bio.

⚕️🩺💉

Meet the Benjamin sisters and learn of their connection to Rutgers, the HOPE clinic, and to the PA profession. Lisa Benjamin (on left) is a current Rutgers PA student and first-year volunteer, and Monica Benjamin (on right) is one of our amazing volunteer PAs. It started when Monica was a Rutgers undergraduate student and an interpreter for the HOPE Clinic as her internship in the Spanish & Portuguese Department. Next, Monica went on to PA School and has been working as a PA since. In 2022, when her sister Lisa (then a Rutgers undergrad) went for her interview at Rutgers PA Program, Monica reconnected with the HOPE clinic as a volunteer PA. Lisa is now currently in her second semester of the Rutgers PA Program! We are so lucky to have the Benjamins as part of the HOPE family.
You too can join the HOPE family! This year’s , our biggest fundraiser of the year, is THIS WEEK! On March 20th and 21st, you can make a donation to join our team or renew your commitment to reducing healthcare disparities and training the next generation of socially responsible PAs! (Donation link in bio)

We are one week away from where the HOPE clinic will again be featured! HOPE is our PA program’s free clinic and pictured here are a few of the faculty, students, and volunteers who join in providing free primary care to the uninsured in the greater Plainfield, NJ area.

In just one week, you can join us in providing these services by donating to the cause. Want to start helping today? yes! Here’s what you can do today to help:
👏🏼👏🏼Share this news with your network! Spreading the word helps us reach our goals.
👏🏼👏🏼Look into corporate matches! Did you know that for many, their employer will match donations given to charitable groups? This is an easy way to extend your giving.
LINK to donate in bio !!

As Black History Month closes out this week, we continue to celebrate with “Voices in Healthcare: Challenges and Triumphs” last evening. The featured speakers and presentations were: RUPA Class of 2021’s Nicole Orogbu, MS, PA-C, on the topic of “Self Care Matters” and our own Professor Nkechi Mbadugha, MS, PA-C, who presented on “Representation Matters”. The event was sponsored by the amazing .idea student organization — with Fatou Lack and Ariana Peña, co-presidents — and Enrollment Services. Thank you for a wonderful event.

The class of 2025 Pinning Ceremony!! Each student receives from their advisor a Rutgers PA program pin on their crisp, white coat marking the transition into the clinical phase. We are very proud of our students embarking on this monumental moment. At the Rutgers PA Program, we choose to honor this annual transition from the didactic to the clinical phase at a Pinning Ceremony. As our SHP Dean DiGiovanni said, this marks the beginning of when students begin the practice of their career and start taking care of patients in an educational setting.
Students, don’t forget to bring a snack and wear comfortable shoes on Monday and every day! 👟🍏

Class of 2025, you are going to be great!!!

Clinical rotations are around the corner for our second year students. We finished up the didactic phase with more skills workshops. These sessions were learning to scrub and glove, plus casting and splinting — perennial favorites!
Up next, the Pinning Ceremony and then clinical rotations on Monday morning!

As the didactic phase wraps up, our second year students learn and practice clinical skills — suturing, injections, knot tying, catheters and more. For a few procedures, first patients are their peers! Ancillary lessons learned include communication, empathy, and trust. 😳 💉🪢🪡⚕️

This week we honored Black History Month with a celebration with snacks, songs, and a little education about the Black scientists, physicians, authors, inventors, musicians, and many others who have made significant contributions to the society we live in.
Plus a little dancing!
🤎🖤

🎉🏮 Happy Lunar New Year from the RUPA family! 🏮🎉
This week we celebrated Lunar New Year and we welcome the Year of the Dragon starting tomorrow, February 10th. Students and faculty wore red to ring in the new year. In many Asian cultures, the color symbolizes good fortune and joy. We also had games to try our skills with chopsticks, educational handouts, and some traditional snacks.
Wishing everyone a year filled with joy, prosperity, and good fortune!
🧧🎊🏮🎉🧧🎊🏮🎉🧧🎊🏮🎉🧧🎊🏮🎉

Our first year students are getting hands-on! The start of Skills for Patient Assessment (or SPA) class brings lots of physical exam practice. We are busy learning the Pulmonary system and performing Vital Signs right now, and Dr. Wright allowed students to auscultation some non-infectious, post-viral wheezing (albeit over his shirt). This foundational class is a perennial favorite/challenge!

RUPA friends and family -- It’s Candy Gram time! Send along a little sweet support to your favorite/beloved RUPASS student. Or to all of them!

How, you ask?
1. Fill out your order through this Google forms link in comments.
2. Venmo (you will see the name Nichole Geist, Treasurer)

There are two different candy gram options: our "Sweetheart bag," which consists of an array of sweet treats priced at $3 and a "Deluxe bag," which also consists of an amazing assortment of sweet treats and a cuddly surprise priced at $6!

*****All orders need to be placed by 11:59pm on February 2nd, 2024**** and will be delivered by RUPASS on Wednesday, February 14th to PA students, professors, and faculty.

Donations are also encouraged & accepted. All proceeds will be going to RUPASS and we thank you so much for your generosity and participation in advance!

First year students practiced active listening, and tried to draw what was described. We could only use basic directions, breaking down something more complex into smaller chunks of understandable instructions. Good skills to hone for future patient education! 🐙 ⛵️ 🐠 🍓 🐝 🚗 🏠 🚂 🐢

🎉✨ Celebrating the season with joy and camaraderie! The Rutgers SHP Physician Assistant Program Department celebrated our annual holiday gathering for staff and faculty. We had a ‘white elephant’ gift exchange, some xmas-themed games, and spread some festive cheer. We love our ! Have a wonderful break everyone!!

Congratulations on finishing FALL semester! And, what a celebration! Our 1st and 2nd year PA students finished up the Fall semester with some good cheer at the student society (RUPASS) holiday party and are enjoying a much deserved break. We are so proud of you!