Clinicals in the Community
by Robin L. Flanigan
A special partnership between the School of Health and Human Services and Rochester鈥檚 refugee outreach center Mary鈥檚 Place offers authentic, inter-professional experience for undergraduate and graduate students 鈥 and a way for children who have arrived as refugees to find inspiration and hope in a new land.
Mary鈥檚 Place serves some of the roughly 500 to 600 refugees who are resettled in the area each year. Nazareth students have been instrumental in the center鈥檚 formation and growth, according to Director Kathy LaBue. They created an after-school language enrichment program on Wednesdays and a six-week summer program, and they use the center for on-site classes and as a practicum site in a variety of disciplines.
鈥淎ll programs are designed and executed by undergraduate and graduate clinicians from communication sciences and disorders, who collaborate with volunteers, administrators, interns from area colleges, and other students from Nazareth to create this innovative program,鈥 says Susan Kwiatkowski 鈥88G, M.S., CCC-SLP, clinical associate professor of speech-language pathology 鈥淭his outreach fulfills needed clinical requirements while serving a need in the community. For both our students and those who attend Mary鈥檚 Place, it serves to educate the whole person and provides significant learning outside the classroom.鈥
鈥淚鈥檓 not going there to say, 鈥楾his is right, this is wrong, and I鈥檓 going to fix you,鈥欌 explains Catherine Beers 鈥14G, a graduate student in speech pathology from Peekskill, N.Y. 鈥淚t鈥檚 more, 鈥楬ow can we work together?鈥 When you鈥檙e living in your own bubble, you鈥檙e not necessarily thinking about cultural competency. Mary鈥檚 Place is all about gaining perspective.鈥
Art therapy and social work graduate students have now become part of the team and collaborate with CSD grads to plan weekly themes that address goals from all the disciplines. Earlier this spring, the SHHS hosted a career fair, in which each department made presentations to the children who attend Mary鈥檚 Place and who often have limited knowledge about potential job opportunities.
For Beers, recognizing that many refugees need help with a language difference鈥攏ot a language disorder鈥攈as been eye-opening. She has learned to frame her work around exposure and enrichment, rather than focusing on impairment. 鈥淚 haven鈥檛 been through another practicum where I鈥檝e had so many real-life, tangible experiences,鈥 she says. 鈥淛ust having this awareness absolutely will inform all aspects of my practice. That鈥檚 the beauty of it.鈥
Robin L. Flanigan is a freelance writer in Rochester, New York.
(L to R) Jennifer Auchu-Ricotta '14G, Chelsea Sommer '14, and Kathryn Cooper '13G assist young refugees with a project at Mary's Place Outreach.
For more information
Nazareth's School of Health and Human Services