DALLAS TWP. — The Misericordia University Physician Assistant Studies Program Class of 2020 participated in a two-phase, service-learning project with the Gift of Life Donor Program as part of their Physician Assistants in Healthcare and Public Health course.
During phase one of the program, university alumna Caroline Azzarelli, a kidney recipient who graduated from Misericordia in 2016, shared her story of going through kidney failure and dialysis as a young adult and her receipt of a kidney transplant from a co-worker through the living donation process.Gift of Life volunteer and retired registered nurse, Marcia Rudat, shared the stories of her husband, who became a tissue donor when he passed, and her son, who is a kidney recipient. In addition, Lisa Litchkowski, a member of the Gift of Life Hospital Services team, gave a clinical presentation to the students about organ and tissue donation designed for health care workers.
During the second phase of the service-learning program, the 16 students volunteered alongside Gift of Life volunteer and kidney recipient, Cathy Wruble of Pittston for a Gift of Life organ/tissue sign-up drive held at Sam’s Club in Wilkes-Barre Township.
Misericordia University Assistant Professor of Physician Assistant Studies Amy M. Wierbowski, M.F.A., M.S.P.A.S., P.A.-C., and Susan Koomar, community relations coordinator for the Gift of Life Donor Program, orchestrated the service-learning project.
The Gift of Life Donor Program is a regional nonprofit organ donation program headquartered in Philadelphia. It is the largest organ procurement organization in the United States, helping coordinate the recovery and distribution of organs and tissues used in life-saving and life-enhancing transplants. For more information or to register as an organ/tissue donor, please visit donors1.org and click “Register to Save Lives.”
