Rothman and HealthWorks Academies Partner with Philadelphia City Rowing for Career Education Panels

Over the last six months, Rothman’s marketing team worked alongside HealthWorks Academies to develop a series of panels for high school student athletes that are part of Philadelphia City Rowing, showcasing the different career opportunities in the orthopedic landscape. Rothman Orthopaedics was one of the founding corporate partners of HealthWorks Academies in 2014, with former CEO Mike West being part of the initial push and advocacy for the partnership.

The first panel was held virtually on November 21st and focused on Sports Medicine, with the panel consisting of a Sports Medicine Physician (Dr. Stephen Stache Jr., Chief of Sports Medicine), a PA-C (Melissa Scheller), a Physical Therapist (Katie Thompson), and a staff member from Orthotics & Bracing (Alfred Croswell, Manager of Ancillary Services). This panel and the following two were moderated by Tinnae Hamilton, Content and Curriculum Curator at Jane, Inc., who joined virtually from Tanzania.

The second panel took place on December 12th and discussed Clinical Medicine, with the panel consisting of an X-Ray Technologist (Amanda Fernandez), along with a team member from Patient Access (Michael Loke, Vice President, Patient Access & Support Operations) and Human Resources (Nathalie Rosado, Senior HR Business Partner). While everyone was virtual, Amanda was still able to give the students a brief tour of what an x-ray room looks like and how it operates.

The final panel, on the Business of Medicine, was held in-person at Philadelphia City Rowing’s Indoor Facility on January 16th, with the panel consisting of a Rothman Staff member from Operations (Mayange Kane, COO), Finance (Chris Higgins, Interim CEO & CFO), Compliance (Jennifer Colucciello, Director of Compliance), and Analytics (Callum Hunter, Associate Director of Reporting and Development Operations). This panel gave the students insight into the non-clinical side of Rothman, and included advice on how the students can craft their own path into the business side of healthcare.

Each of the panelists were able to share the unique journeys they took to get to where they currently are in the healthcare field, how the students can get involved now, what they can do to enter a career in healthcare, and several other pieces of advice that we hope will inspire a whole new generation of healthcare professionals.

A thank you to Dale Keshishian, Founder & CEO of HealthWorks Academies, for reigniting our partnership and for coordinating with Philadelphia City Rowing and the Rothman team to put on this panel series. An additional thank you to the staff and student athletes at Philadelphia City Rowing for hosting us during this series, and to each of the Rothman employees who were generous enough to donate their time, stories, and knowledge to an underserved community.

About HealthWorks Academies

HealthWorks Academies is a non-profit national, branded health academy pipeline with programming that connects STEM education in all levels of academia to professional health, technology, manufacturing and life science careers. They do this by linking STEM education for students of all backgrounds with professional industry careers, and by designing credible academic preparation for students in order to viably fill post-secondary STEM fields of study gaps. Additionally, they provide STEM industry mentors, while building an early understanding of and excitement for industry career pathways.

About Philadelphia City Rowing

Philadelphia City Rowing (“PCR”) is a privately funded non-profit organization founded in 2009 in response to the challenges facing youth in Philadelphia and began its first year of programming in the summer of 2010. Years of under-funding have resulted in many after-school activities, including sports teams, being cut. At the same time, Philadelphia high school dropout rates have remained among the highest in the nation, leaving many students “at-risk.”The founders of PCR sought to draw on the rich rowing history of Philadelphia and the proven power of sports to improve student academic achievement. PCR creates a unique, comprehensive and free after-school enrichment experience for young people in the school district of Philadelphia by offering a mix of competitive rowing, academic mentorship, and wellness education. With an emphasis on reaching underserved communities, PCR strives to create an inclusive environment that helps all young people unlock their true potential and explore the possibilities of their future.