In July, Georgia College’s School of Nursing will complete a $803,000 grant awarded in October 2018 to train nurses in forensic medical exams and trauma-informed care. The nurses who complete this training receive a certificate to practice as a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE)—registered nurses that are specially trained in caring for survivors of sexual assault or abuse. They fulfill an important role in Georgia, where there aren’t enough SANEs for the number of survivors in the...
Katey Jones, ’18, and Heather Laflam will be the first to graduate from Georgia College’s nurse-midwifery master’s program, the only state program in Georgia. Still in its infancy, the midwifery program is first of its kind in Georgia. The university is using the degree to educate more nurse-midwives in Georgia, a state ranked 49th in maternal mortality nationally. The program is unique, because its training nurse-midwives are required to complete clinicals within the state. “Two...
Graduating nursing major Samantha Summerville has lived with Type 1 diabetes for the last 15 years of her life. By the time she was ready to go to college, she’d grown so accustomed to all the electronic alarms warning her about blood sugar fluctuations that they didn’t wake her up anymore. A family friend recommended a medical alert dog, and that was how Summerville met Mo, a goldendoodle trained to notice her medical needs before the technology does. He’s also trained in basic obedience,...
Imagine stepping foot onto campus for the first time with a dream of helping others live healthier lives yet being unsure how to move forward. That’s exactly the situation Caroline Jones and Nicole Andrews found themselves in just four years ago. Jones recalls being committed to Georgia Tech. Her dad is a proud Georgia Tech alumnus. But if beauty is in the eye of the beholder, then there is something special about Georgia College & State University that many don’t initially see. “I...
For many, college is about change. Students grow in more ways than one. Class of 2022 graduate Rosemary Macuch epitomizes that. She came to Georgia College with no clear plan or career path. Yet taking one course completely changed her trajectory. “What influenced me most was my anatomy class with Dr. Kwan Christenson,” Macuch said. “All of my friends told me not to take that class because it's really, hard, but I just loved it.” Until then Macuch says she’d never studied anything...
A new initiative through the Office of the Provost aims to bring world-class scholars to campus. The Provost’s Visiting Scholar program launched during the spring 2022 semester and will bring three guest scholars to campus. “The goal of the Visiting Scholars program is to enrich the learning experiences of our students by giving both our faculty and students the opportunity to engage with outside experts for a week,” said Dr. Jordan Cofer, associate provost for Transformative Learning...
As part of community and public health courses through the College of Health Sciences, three students chose unique opportunities to volunteer this semester. The senior public health majors Donovan Fraser, Jamie Puckett and Brennan Smith were tasked with choosing an organization with which to volunteer. Facilitated by Dr. Ernie Kaninjing, assistant professor of health and human performance, the exercise teaches students practical skills for interacting with unique communities. For...
Darby Pinkard is lucky to start her nursing career in the field she hoped to specialize in—hematology/oncology pediatrics with Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta (CHOA) at Scottish Rite. She begins her new position in early January. Pinkard not only studied nursing at Georgia College, she played outfield in softball, as well. Participating in sports taught her time management, when she juggled that and maintaining good grades through the nursing program. Although this wasn’t an easy...
The rural Coopers community of Baldwin County sits outside the city limits of Milledgeville. Although it’s only about seven miles on the southside of town, it’s in a desert of its own. A food desert that is. Through her internship, senior Christina Taylor spent her summer mapping the access to food in the county and found some areas face little access to food, especially healthy food. “My research is around physical food environments in Baldwin County and rural, underserved communities,”...
Emily Watson As a public health major, Emily Watson of Newnan, Georgia, has gained first-hand experience in the field. She recently interned with Delta Air Lines, doing research and evaluating pathogen risk in several areas. “This career path really drew me in,” she said. “It amazed me how many career opportunities are available such as biostatistics, epidemiology, environmental health, community health, disaster management and many more.” During her internship, Watson’s research...
