BTG Hope

“It is obvious that with the Bridging the Gaps Program our community and the academic education of LECOM students are brought together in a very unique and rewarding way … The Northwest Pennsylvania Area Health Education Center (NW PA AHEC) is pleased to support the Bridging the Gaps Program. We hope that each year will be a continued success for the Erie community as well as all the other Pennsylvania communities honored to have this type of relationship with medical schools and their students.”
Jane A. Mullinax, MEd Director of Career Development,
NW PA AHEC
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BTG CHIP 2011-12 Report

Lehigh Valley Program Activities


Program Established: 2010.

Program Period: June 20 to August 5, 2011

Students/Projects/Sites: 8 students worked on 4 projects at 4 community sites in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

Professional Disciplines: Medicine, nursing, physician assistant.

Service Days: Students provided 216 days of health-related service.

Participating Institutions: DeSales University, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine.

Types of Sites Served: Community organization offices, community health center/clinics, recreation center, day camp, in the field/community, school.

Student Activities:* Health-related client education, health activities planning, assessing community resources,literacy activities, oral health activities, community outreach, community social activities, program evaluation, health issues research, advocacy activities, direct service delivery, linking clients to health resources.

Population Demographics: Mixture of females and males; all ages except newborn and geriatric; mixture of races/ethnicities; English-speaking and non-English-speaking.

Community Health Issues:* Diet and nutrition, cardiovascular health, access to health care, communication (language/literacy), exercise, obesity, oral health, cultural beliefs/practices, sexual questions/issues, violence, asthma, budgeting and personal finances, cancer, environmental health, insurance/social services, mental health, personal hygiene, prenatal care, race/ethnicity and women’s health.

Didactic Sessions: Lehigh Valley students joined the Wednesday morning didactic sessions of the Philadelphia Consortium program and then returned to the Lehigh Valley for their Wednesday afternoon component program sessions.

Oral Health Activities: Students reported that 75 percent incorporated oral health activities. According to student estimates, 50 children (aged 13 and under) received oral health education.

Symposium: Lehigh Valley BTG students presented at the Lehigh Valley Health Network Research Scholar Poster Presentation event on July 29, 2011. On September 22, 2011, Lehigh Valley BTG hosted a local symposium to highlight just the Lehigh Valley BTG program.

*The information provided here reflects only those categories reported by 40% or more of students participating at this BTG program location.

2011-12 Lehigh Valley Program Participants

Program Staff
Maggie Hadinger, MS
Abby S. Letcher, MD
Mary Ellen Miller, PhD, RN

Academic Preceptor
Mary Ellen Miller, PhD, RN

Community Preceptors
Jessica Adams-Skinner, EdD, MPH
Tina Amato, MS, RD, LDN
Laura Chisholm, MPH
Marci Grello, MPH, CHES
Margaret Hadinger, MS
Abby Letcher, MD
Frances Romero, MD

2011-12 Lehigh Valley Community Partners

For a complete alphabetical list of all 2011 BTG CHIP community partners and to view community project summaries by site, click here.

  • Alliance Hall of Allentown
  • Cancer Support Community
  • Lehigh Valley Health Network, Community Health and Health Studies
  • Neighborhood Health Centers of the Lehigh Valley, The Caring Place

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Filip Moshkovsky
Lake Erie College of
Osteopathic Medicine
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