Physical Therapy Students Rebecca Gasca, Kayla Peters Receive Sara Hopkins-Powell Scholarship
Please join us in congratulating Rebecca Gasca and Kayla Peters, second and first year PT students respectively, who were selected as recipients of the Sara Hopkins-Powell Scholarship Fund.
Dr. Sara Hopkins-Powell was the first Executive Dean of the College of Health Professions and Vice Provost at Pacific University from 2005-2010. She played an instrumental role in establishing the Health Professions Campus in Hillsboro. The fund in her name is used to support both student and faculty international education opportunities and international students’ education at Pacific University.
Rebecca Gasca | During the upcoming summer, Rebecca will be traveling to Cape Town, South Africa where she will be interning at Maitland Cottage Children’s Hospital. Maitland Cottage is one of two hospitals in the Southern Hemisphere specializing in pediatric orthopedic procedures. They admit children with many different diagnoses, including osteomyelitis, osteogenesis imperfecta, and spina bifida to name a few. Rebecca is looking forward to this opportunity for the rare experience she will have in rehabilitating children with conditions that are uncommon in the United States. The connection the physical therapist forms with the patient can make the difference between the average recovery and the most optimal. Understanding what is important and motivates the patient allows the clinician to make therapy not only meaningful but enjoyable and fun as well, which is especially essential in the pediatric setting. Rebecca’s goal for this internship is to become an autonomous clinician that can problem solve difficult situations using previous experience and consideration of the individual that appears before her.
Kayla Peters | During a ten week internship, Kayla will intern in two different clinical settings. In Gavivana, Italy. Kayla will be treating patients who have endured strokes, Parkinson’s disease, and other neurological injuries. In Emilia Romagna, she will be working in a cardiopulmonary intensive care unit where she will be working with patients with cardiorespiratory failure. The internship is aimed to helping individuals, generally in the geriatric population, who have been effected by physical and potentially mental disabilities. Enduring a stroke or congestive heart failure can leave a once independent individual, under the complete care of health care providers. Kayla has dedicated her education to pursuing a career that helps individuals live independently and get back to doing the things they enjoy doing. The skills Kayla will learn from this experience will be greatly utilized in her future career as a physical therapist in the United States and other areas around the world.