Rockswold Health Scholars Program

    2024 Rockswold Health Scholars with
    Dr. Rockswold & Margaret Miller

    Front-Nick Jensen, Dr. Rockswold, Gus Duininck
    Middle-Maggie Miller, Dana Rechtzigel, Alexandra Berns, Ellie Sewall,
    Back-Sonam Gurung, Peter Leach, Kai Assef

    Dr. Gaylan Rockswold ’62 and his wife, Mary Garnaas Rockswold ’63, have established an endowment and created a clinical and research internship program that provides current St. Olaf students an unparalleled hands-on experience at the Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis, MN.  HCMC is known for its dedication to providing care to vulnerable, diverse, and underserved populations regardless of their ability to pay for medical services. According to Dr. Rockswold, “students would be exposed to the concept of healthcare as a service and as a calling to be a ‘healer’.” Students will expand their professional networks and improve their knowledge regarding potential paths within the healthcare field. Learn more about HCMC’s mission here. 

     A unique aspect of this program includes the opportunity for selected participants to live together in the spirit of support and mutuality. Community living is intended to foster supportive relationships in an environment of reflection and intentionality. Students will work together to make decisions about grocery shopping, meals, upkeep of common areas, and social activities.  As part of their commitment to learning from and with each other, participants will be expected to take part in a weekly community meal and community conversation. There is a CLEAR expectation that Health Scholars don’t travel elsewhere for the MAJORITY of the weekends during the internship.

    Program Philosophy

    The two Health Scholars programs are made possible by the generosity of distinguished alumni. The Rockswold Health Scholars program and the Health Scholars at the Mayo Clinic program are designed to support students in their vocational discernment within healthcare, provide an intensive internship opportunity to enhance their academic profile, and expand their professional network. As a cohort internship program, students will be selected on their ability to contribute positively to the community. Competitive students have demonstrated their commitment to serving others, strong communication and teamwork skills, and the ability to take initiative. Additionally, students will be assessed on their fit with specific research projects, based on coursework, lab, and other experience. Preference is given to students with an academic profile that does not preclude admission to professional school, students who will be rising seniors, and students pursuing medicine. Pictured Above: Elizabeth Murphy & Jack Taylor

    2025 Program Details

    • Dates: Tuesday, May 27 – Friday, August 1, ten weeks of hands-on experience
    • Deadline: Friday, Feb. 7, 2025 at 11:59pm
    • Stipend: $6,000 paid to each student
    • Housing:  Provided in the Twin Cities
    • Final project (paper, poster, presentation) to be determined by student and HCMC faculty mentor
    • How to Apply (see below)

    Read Dr. Rockswold’s original proposal for a clinical and research experience at the Hennepin County Medical Center.

    St. Olaf alumna Allison Christie ’96 describes in a thank-you message how interning with Dr. Rockswold her sophomore year at St. Olaf influenced her future career path. 

    The goal of the program is to provide students with hands-on experience with research and healthcare in a variety of settings. Some placements may require students to have completed specific coursework and/or laboratory experience. These placements will allow students to be exposed to biomedical and other research directly pertinent to patient care. The students may develop research techniques, be involved in manuscript preparation, and have a general exposure to a research or healthcare unit.

    Pictured above: 2024 Scholars Sonam Gurung and Kai Assef, talking with 2023 Scholar Anna Dasari at On-Campus Orientation.

    Projects/mentors for summer 2025:

    Descriptions of 2025 Research Projects, written by 2024 Rockswold Scholars

    Cardiac Biomarkers

    —Written and contributed by Kai Assef who completed this research in Summer 2024

    In the Cardiac Biomarkers placement, I spent my summer primarily in a research lab doing a handful of things. My primary research was on COVID-19 and its relation to cardiac troponin. My day-to-day of this research was spent on EPIC looking at patients’ information from this study, and inputting that data into a data collection site. I also read scientific papers weekly and met with my mentor twice a week to discuss them. Beyond that, I went out with research coordinators to shadow and help enroll patients in research studies. This was a very interesting aspect, as I got to see how the research aspect of a research hospital functions, and how those patient interactions occur. Furthermore, I shadowed lab techs and saw how different analyzers worked, learned to make blood smears and analyze them under the microscope, and helped with different research projects around the lab. The cardiac biomarkers placement afforded me a wide range of experiences, and the entire lab was incredibly kind and encouraging to pursue the aspects I found most interesting. While this placement did not involve any direct patient care shadowing, I was highly encouraged to seek out external shadowing opportunities, all of which my mentor was very flexible with.

     

    Traumatic Brain Injury

    —Written and contributed by Gus Duininck who completed this research in Summer 2024

    Working with the HCMC Neurosurgery team and Restorative Neurotrauma Lab (RNL) is the perfect opportunity for someone interested in neurophysiology, traumatic brain/spinal cord injury, or surgery. During my week, I usually spent around three days with the research team conducting patient-facing clinical research on decision-making and cognitive flexibility after traumatic brain injury, or attending the ESTAND (Epidural Stimulation After Neurological Damage) follow-up appointments, which assessed how epidural spinal cord stimulation affected the voluntary and autonomic bodily functions of patients who are suffering from paraplegia due to traumatic spinal cord injuries. The RNL has several ongoing studies, so when it comes to putting together a final poster you have the opportunity to analyze large amounts of data and find something that interests you. For my poster, I decided to analyze how spinal cord stimulation can affect the motor force output of patients who suffer from paraplegia over the course of one year. The RNL staff consists of Tara (Research Manager) and Nidhi (Research Coordinator), and a handful of other PhD students, Post-Doctorate researchers, and neurosurgeons. In my experience, everyone who I worked with was extremely encouraging and inviting, and always willing to take the time to explain concepts related to the research projects, answer questions, or address challenges in collecting or analyzing data. On the surgery side of the program, I had practically unfiltered access to shadowing neurosurgery. If there was ever a slow day in the lab, I had the opportunity to go into the operating room or clinic to shadow for the day. I usually spent around two days a week shadowing the surgery team. Dr. Cramer was my usual point of contact, since he was involved in both the surgery and research sides of my experience, but I was able to form relationships with all of the neurosurgery staff, residents, and physician assistants during the summer. The entire team is extremely welcoming of students, and willing to make time for any questions that may come up. During this program, you will have the opportunity to see amazing displays not only of extraordinary technical expertise and knowledge, but also the empathy and compassion necessary to be a physician.

     

    Interdisciplinary Simulation and Education Center

    —Written and contributed by Ellie Sewall who completed this research in Summer 2024

    During my summer in the Sim Center, I was involved in many aspects of simulation including acting in and jockeying for simulation scenarios as well as developing my own task-trainer (the topic of my research poster). As an actor, I played family members, nurses, and patients in medical scenarios. Simulation scenarios were most frequently run for residents at HCMC, so acting in simulations gave me the opportunity to interface with those residents and their faculty, exposing me to medical knowledge and giving me the opportunity to see the learning process in action. “Jockeying” involved controlling the high-fidelity mannequins during simulations. My research project, developing a task-trainer for a peritonsillar abscess aspiration, allowed me to learn more about the procedure itself, work hands-on to develop the model, and trial the trainer with medical students, residents, and faculty in the hospital to receive feedback on the model. I worked everyday under the wonderful guidance of the Sim Center team: Dr. Charles Lei (my mentor), Mindi, Vicky, and Russ, all of whom were more than willing to sit and talk with me about medicine, support me in my research process, and help me arrange shadowing opportunities. I was able to learn so much from each of them and from simulations which allowed me to experience medicine in a way undergraduate students often cannot otherwise. The simulation center is an amazing, fun work and learning environment, and I cannot speak highly enough about the experience and skills I gained from my time there.

     

    Chronic Disease Research Group – (Student must have completed STAT 272)

    Written and contributed by Sonam Gurung who completed this research in Summer 2024

    CDRG focuses on high-quality research and analytics. I spent the majority of my summer working on a research project under the mentorship of a couple of Biostatisticians. The project involved building flight-related features to examine how they affect organ offer acceptance decisions using R. I learned new statistical modeling techniques and refreshed some I had previously studied at St. Olaf. Additionally, I had the opportunity to shadow a nephrologist who was seeing post-kidney transplant patients, which made me realize the importance of Biostatistics and my project in improving kidney transplant policies to save more lives.

    Next Step

    —Written and contributed by Alexandra Berns who completed this research in Summer 2024

    This summer I worked with Next Step, a hospital-based violence intervention program that connects survivors of violent injury to resources and support. I learned about the tremendous impact the Next Step team has on survivors of violence through shadowing various roles of the hospital responders, case managers, and the community outreach supervisor. I worked daily with my fantastic mentor, Thea Williams, where I learned and observed firsthand the importance of community outreach and the ways she is able to support the goals of Next Step to foster positive development for survivors and families affected by violence and raise awareness in the community for violence prevention. Some of my favorite parts from my summer include helping supervise and run the Youth Summer Basketball Camp and the Harriet Initiative, redesigning flyers for community events and support groups, writing and designing a comprehensive community resource guide, attending violence prevention events in the community, and working on my research project which was an assessment of the greatest resource needs amongst Next Step clients. Throughout my time at HCMC, I also shadowed in many department including the emergency room, labor and delivery, general surgery, surgical ICU floor, and neurosurgery, allowing me to gain a better understanding of the wonderfully wide scope of medicine. I had a truly transformative and inspiring summer, learning about the unfortunate prevalence of violence and the intersection of community service and medicine. The skills and experience I gained this summer are invaluable and I cannot express how deeply impactful and unique this experience has been.

    Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation

    —Written and contributed by Nick Jensen who completed this research in Summer 2024

    Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, or PM&R, is a branch of medicine that specializes in restoring functionality and independence for patients following some kind of disease or injury. At HCMC, PM&R is heavily integrated into their world-renowned TBI (traumatic brain injury) program, with providers at their acute rehabilitation unit and outpatient clinic treating patients with a wide range of conditions including TBI, stroke, debility (physical weakness), and spasticity, among many others. PM&R emphasizes a holistic view of medicine that treats “the whole patient” and works in tandem with a variety of other fields including physical, occupational, and speech therapies; optometry; social work; audiology; psychology; and neuropsychology, to name a few. At HCMC, I had the opportunity to shadow PM&R physicians and healthcare professionals from the aforementioned fields extensively, earning an appreciation for the streamlined process of rehabilitation while simultaneously exploring a wide variety of careers in healthcare. Eventually, I conducted a case study for a patient who I had followed through the rehabilitation process. PM&R created an incredible atmosphere for learning, connecting with patients, and evaluating what a career in a health-related field could look like.

    Video of Health Scholars Information for Students Applying in Summer 2025

    How to Apply

    Eligibility
    • Current Junior or Sophomore or (Class of 2026 or 2027)
    • Good academic standing (minimum GPA of 3.0, not on academic probation or academically dismissed according to the Registrar’s Office and Dean of Students Office)
    • Students selected for the program will be asked to complete the Consent and Disclosure Form
    Desired Qualifications

    The selection committee will consider the following:

    Application Deadline and Process

    This program’s application and interview process will be combined with the selection process for the Health Scholars Program at the Mayo Clinic.

    Students will apply through a video, Handshake, and a Google Form (see details below) by Friday, Feb. 7th at 11:59 p.m. All three components are required for a complete application. 

    1. Two-Minute Video
      • Create a two-minute (or less) video addressing the following questions:
        • Tell us more about your interest in your top choice internship placement. Why do you believe this is the best internship placement for you, and how did you go about making that decision? What do you know about your top choice for an internship site and how does that knowledge contribute to your choice?
      • Students should consider this a formal video. Students are strongly encouraged to use the Video Recording Room in the DiSCO to create their videos. You can make reservations here. Students may also use their computers or phones, but they should make every effort to present themselves professionally wherever they create their video.
      • Upload your video to YouTube. You may make the video Public or Unlisted. If it is Unlisted, only people with the link will be able to view it. In your Google Form Application, we will ask you to provide the link to your video so the selection committee can see it. We will not share your videos with anyone else. For more information on YouTube and privacy settings, please click here. 
    2. Handshake Application, Resume and Unofficial Transcript
      • In Handshake, complete and submit the application AND upload your resume (one page) and your unofficial transcript (access SIS and save as a .pdf) and apply for the position.
    3. Fill out the Online Application – Google Form
      • Complete this online application, which includes essay questions, faculty references, rank ordering of internship positions, and space to provide your YouTube video link.

    Selected candidates will be invited to interview. Interviews will be 20 minutes in length.

    Note: The St. Olaf orientation session for selected students will take place in April. Selected students will participate in an orientation session at HCMC at the end of April or early May. St. Olaf staff will coordinate transportation for the orientation. Students should plan on 4-5 hours, during which they will travel to and from HCMC, complete paperwork required for HCMC to perform a background check, and meet faculty mentors.

    Questions?

    Contact Mary Walczak (walczak@stolaf.edu), Faculty Supervisor and Professor of Chemistry, RNS 302A, or Dana Rechtzigel (rechtz1@stolaf.edu), Associate Director, Piper Center, Career Development and Coaching, TOH 270.