Students Showcase Real-World Impact and Insight at Fifth Annual Experiential Learning and Research Symposium

Students tackled a wide range of complex health issues at the College of Health’s (COH) Fifth Annual Experiential Learning and Research Symposium on September 15 in the HST building. The symposium provided a platform for more than 40 students funded by the College of Health who held internships, studied abroad, conducted their own research or contributed to faculty research under mentorship, to showcase their work. Experiential learning and research projects come to life through the generosity of annual gifts—such as those made on Giving Day/March Mania to the College of Health Experiential Learning Fund—and through support from donor-endowed funds.  

“It’s inspiring every year,” said Beth Dolan, dean of the COH, who provided opening remarks and congratulated the students. “This year, we have even more posters and a broader range of health-related topics that students are working on, both domestically and globally. I’m really proud of them.” Gaining real world experience is central to a COH education, equipping students to apply their knowledge and skills to make an impact within public health.

Many projects investigated disease transmission and prevention, while others addressed the social determinants of health and health equity, such as maternal resilience and the health of incarcerated women. Other areas of focus included improving healthcare systems and patient experiences, like hospital operations and medical billing literacy, alongside community-based interventions aimed at reducing stigma, promoting health literacy and fostering well-being.

Below, we present a small sample of the outstanding work on display.

Prashant Kafle: SicklED: A Low-Cost, Point-of-Care, Sickle Cell Screening Device for Use in Low-to-Middle Income Countries
Biostatistics and health data science student Prashant Kafle ’28 presented his work on SicklED, a project developed through the Global Social Impact Fellowship. This initiative aims to address the high rates of sickle cell disease by developing a low-cost test strip. Sickle cell disease is a genetic blood disorder that is prevalent in most sub-Saharan African countries, and many individuals with this disorder die prematurely due to a lack of testing and awareness. 

“Because of this, they go untreated and later on, when they know the symptoms, it’s already too late,” he said. “Since they are a resource-poor setting, it’s really hard for them to get proper care and service to take good care of their disease. That’s why we’re trying to tackle this problem.”

Beyond the test strip, education and advocacy efforts are driving the work forward. Kafle has helped to prepare a Continuing Medical Education (CME) course in five formats for providers and community health workers. He has contributed to a 45-page SOP (standard operating procedure) specific to this disease, a first for Sierra Leone, which has been presented to a panel of doctors. The team also established an advisory board to guide its implementation at the national level. Kafle anticipates the tool will be ready in the next year or two for distribution within Sierra Leone.

Clare Walicki: Bridging Health & Business: Healthcare Administration
Senior Clare Walicki ’26 merged her interests in population health and economics this summer through an internship in healthcare administration with Valley Health Systems in Paramus, New Jersey. Walicki worked directly with the Senior Vice President of Ambulatory Care Services to conduct a performance assessment of Valley Medical Group (VMG), Valley Health System’s outpatient network. Her project focused on VMG’s financial and operational performance, evaluating provider compensation, productivity and profitability. “I benchmarked data against national standards, highlighting areas of strength and identifying opportunities,” she shared, concluding a net margin opportunity gap of $5.6 million.

She also shadowed Karteek Bhavsar, VP & Chief Operating Officer of Valley Health System, attending leadership meetings, surgeries, and performance improvement events. “It definitely opened my eyes to how many opportunities there are in healthcare beyond just clinical,” she said.
 
This experience solidified her decision to pursue a career in healthcare administration, with plans to earn an MBA or MHA after graduation. “What I learned the most is it’s all about not only do you have to be knowledgeable, but also put yourself out there and try for things and see what sticks.”

Thanks to the Linda M. and D. Brooks ‘67 Community Health Student Internship Fund, Walicki was able to pursue this internship. This endowed fund provides support to students who have secured unpaid internships in the health sector.

Laura Porto-Roquett: Trust in Healthcare Providers Among American Indians
In 2017, the COH’s Institute for Indigenous Studies conducted a large survey in collaboration with communities in the Plains region of the U.S., exploring mental health and addiction. Expanding on this work, Laura Porto-Roquett, a member of the first cohort of COH doctoral students, researched the trust that this population has with their healthcare providers.

She shared that prescription drug misuse is higher among American Indians and Alaska Natives than with Whites and African Americans. While there has been research showing the correlation between historical trauma and substance abuse, there is a lack of research exploring the relationship between medical mistrust and prescription drug use among these communities. To fill this gap, the team asked a series of questions about trust in the information provided by doctors and the use of prescription medication.

Porto found that females, in particular, have a greater trust in their providers, which may be because they visit the doctor more frequently than males. Those that have medical insurance also reported a higher trust in their providers, and participants who reported misusing prescription medication have a lower trust in the information provided by their doctors.

“The results were shared with the community, so they can do programs and think on how to use the information we gave them. Based on the findings, if you have a higher trust in your provider, you will see a better use of prescription drug information,” she said.

Along with fellow COH doctoral student Dasy Resendiz, Porto is contributing to a large longitudinal study called Seven Generations: A Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Health. This is a proof-of-concept study centered on understanding contemporary Native health through surveys and interviews of topics including quality of life, diet and exercise, mental and spiritual health and more. They are in the process of cleaning the data and preparing to start the analysis. Porto anticipates that the findings will lead to multiple manuscripts and books.

Julie Wright: Strategic Design and Operations Management of Pennsylvania County Assistance Offices
Senior Julie Wright ’26 interned at the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services’ Office of Administration (OA), helping to support efficient operations of the state’s 92 Country Assistance Offices (CAOs). These offices provide government assistance for SNAP and Medicaid benefits. After conducting observational visits and surveying directors, she recommended creating a streamlined process for signage.

She also recommended that each CAO develop a designated community board: “Really that’s just a way for encouraging CAO staff to know the other resources in the community that aren’t state-related, but it’s going to be really helpful for the people who go to CAOs,” she said.
Wright received the COH’s Fellowship for Experiential Learning Opportunities (FELO), which provided funding for this internship. Support for this fund is made possible through the annual Giving Day donations.

Wright also presented on Disability, Urban Accessibility, and Social Connection in the Lehigh Valley. Under the mentorship of Professor Austin Duncan, Wright is helping to conduct research about disability and social connections within small cities. They planned four community mapping workshops with members of the disability community and asked them to mark where they did and did not feel safe in Bethlehem.

They also conducted ethnographic interviews with these individuals and their significant others. Wright noted that disability is a shared experience: “How do other people help me get around, and how does that change how I interact with my community? That’s what we’re really trying to get at, especially in Bethlehem because there just is not research there.”

The team is also in the process of preparing policy recommendations, such as making more active efforts to center disability voices in the community and centralizing information about disability resources.