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Summer interns gain valuable, hands-on experience at The Wright Center
The Wright Center’s annual summer internship program concludes with an Internship Poster Capstone program. Prizes were awarded to the top three vote-getters, from left, Katherine Mena Pereyra, first place; Nathan Cardona, director of scholarly activity, institutional research, and IRB administration at The Wright Center; Dr. Linda Thomas-Hemak, president and CEO, The Wright Centers for Community Health and Graduate Medical Education; Shane Cegelka, third place; and Noah Lynch, second place.
The Wright Centers for Community Health and Graduate Medical Education hosted 26 high school and college interns over the summer, providing hands-on experience for students following multiple career paths.
The interns were assigned to several departments, including administration, clinical, finance, legal, and marketing and communications. Their experience was capped off with an Internship Poster Capstone event, which board members, executives, and employees attended to hear students discuss their projects and answer questions about their findings, internship experience, and future plans.
Attendees at the annual event cast ballots for the scholarly posters. Prizes were awarded to the top three vote-getters:
- First place: Katherine Mena Pereyra, of American University in Washington, D.C., created the scholarly poster, “Advocacy Coffee Connections: Understanding the Big Beautiful Bill. She was mentored by Aimee Wechsler, director of government affairs at The Wright Center.
- Second place: Noah Lynch of Elizabethtown College in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, for his research poster, “Increasing the Uptake of PrEP Among Women.” The project focused on educating providers and women in the community about the importance of pre-exposure prophylaxis, commonly known as PrEP, which can significantly reduce the risk of contracting HIV. Melissa Bonnerwith, grants administrator at The Wright Center’s Ryan White HIV/AIDS Clinic, was his mentor.
- Third place: Shane Cegelka, of King’s College in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, showcased his poster, “The Importance of Proper Informed Consent in Healthcare.” Cegelka was mentored by Jennifer Walsh, Esq., senior vice president and chief legal and governance officer, and Courtney Kuschke, paralegal, at The Wright Center.
To learn more about internship opportunities, visit TheWrightCenter.org/internships.
The Wright Centers for Community Health and Graduate Medical Education hosted its annual Internship Capstone Poster Day at its health center in Scranton. Participating interns and the schools they are attending, kneeling from left, are Paige Walsh, University of Pittsburgh; Mya Maus, The University of Scranton; Noah Lynch, Elizabethtown College; Matthew Dombrowski, The University of Scranton; Shane Cegelka, King’s College; and Alexander Franklin, The University of Scranton; seated from left, Rebekah Feinberg, A.T. Still University; Remy Turrell, Wyoming Seminary; Krittika Boruah, Wyoming Seminary; Katherine Mena Pereyra, American University; Jiya Shah, Abington Heights High School; and Patricia McAndrew, King’s College; standing from left, Alivia Minich, Penn State; Leelah Farrell, New York University; Andrew Clark, Duquesne University; Aidan Colleran, Penn State; Thomas Quinn, Penn State; Nathan Micknick, The University of Scranton; Thomas Fiorelli, University of Pittsburgh; Gabriella Staback, University of Denver; Margaret McGrath, Fairfield University; Rina Hanumali, Villanova University; and Minh Bauch, Pratt Institute.
