Four Juniata Students Selected to Attend Primary Care Scholars' Program
(Posted March 20, 2020)
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Four Juniata students, from the left, Maria Fowler, Abigail “Abby” Luensmann, Prayushi Sharma, and Alexis “Lexi” Zazvrskey, have been selected to participate in the highly-competitive Penn State/Hershey College of Medicine Primary Care Scholars’ Program.
Four Juniata students, from the left, Maria Fowler, Abigail “Abby” Luensmann, Prayushi Sharma, and Alexis “Lexi” Zazvrskey, have been selected to participate in the highly-competitive Penn State/Hershey College of Medicine Primary Care Scholars’ Program.
HUNTINGDON, Pa. — Four Juniata College students are among 50 statewide to be selected to attend the highly-competitive Penn State/Hershey College of Medicine Primary Care Scholars’ Program.
Alexis “Lexi” Zazvrskey, a junior from Northern Cambria, Pa., Prayushi Sharma, a senior from Bellevue, Wash., Abigail “Abby” Luensmann, a junior from Altoona, Pa., and Maria Fowler, a senior from Reedsville, Pa., will represent Juniata with their participation in the program.
“This will be a valuable experience in advancing their health professions aspirations. It is a notable accomplishment,” said James Borgardt, interim director of health professions. “Our students are not only academically talented, they are excellent individuals and their acceptance into this program, given its criteria, affirms that belief.”
The process of acceptance into the Primary Care Scholars’ Program shares with the College of Medicine’s acceptance process an interest in academic excellence, well-rounded life experiences, clinical exposure, and service orientation. The program organizers look at interest in primary care to a greater degree than is the case with the College of Medicine process, and favor Pennsylvania residents, minority students and students from underserved rural or urban areas in the selection.
The program offers numerous opportunities to interact with medical students and faculty, and to learn about the philosophy and practice of primary care within the disciplines of family medicine, internal medicine, and pediatrics. Zazvrskey, Sharma, Luensmann, and Fowler will spend one week at Penn State’s College of Medicine, where they will participate in small, didactic groups and seminar presentations. The second will be spent in the office of a family physician, general pediatrician, or general internist.
In the past, Juniata College has nominated one to three students, with three being the maximum number permitted through the program. This year, the College’s Health Professions Committee successfully advocated to nominate four students based upon the strength of the health professions program and the past performance of Juniata students.
Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.