The Rural Health Network of Oswego County recently awarded scholarships to five Oswego County individuals who are furthering their career in the health field. Pictured above from left are: Rural Health Network of Oswego County Coordinator Danielle Wert, RHN Scholarship recipients Margaret Gichane and Amanda Kraus, and Northern Oswego County Health Incorporated (NOCHSI) Executive Director and Rural Health Network of Oswego County Advisory Committee Chair Dan Dey. Absent from the photo are RHN Scholarship winners Ashley Mears, Kathleen Hurd and James Bates.

Rural Heath Network Awards Scholarships

Fulton, NY – The Rural Health Network of Oswego County (RHN) has announced its scholarship winners for 2010.  Awarded annually, the RHN of Oswego County scholarships are given to residents of Oswego County who are looking to further their career in the medical field.  While age or specific field does not limit the award, candidates must be furthering their education in a health care field that was originated in Oswego County.

Danielle Wert, coordinator of the RHN, said that more than two dozen applications were submitted for the five scholarships that were available.  “I was pleased to see that we received more than double the amount of applications this year,” said Wert.  “We were very impressed with the quality of the candidates we had to choose from this year.  However, the five winners we chose truly stood out from the rest.  They provided all the requirements that the scholarship called for and clearly showed how they had gone above and beyond, either through volunteer work or through their studies, to improve health care in rural communities.”

Recipients of the scholarships from the RHN of Oswego County are:

Margaret Gichane, an Oswego High School graduate working toward obtaining a Bachelors of Science in Human Development at Cornell University.  Gichane, who would like to obtain a Masters in Public Health, recently completed an internship at the Mott Children’s Health Center in Flint, Michigan.  Mott Children’s Health Center serves impoverished children.  In the future Gichane hopes to help expand preventative services such as immunizations, early screenings of preventative diseases, nutrition and lifestyle education, and family planning.

Amanda Kraus, a Phoenix High School graduate working toward her RN at St. Joseph’s College of Nursing.  Kraus was a New Vision Allied Health program student and has volunteered at Lions’ Camp Hickory where she worked with children age six to twelve with type one diabetes.  She has volunteered at the University Hospital as a teen volunteer and has worked in the Pediatric Emergency Department and University Health Care Center.  Kraus has worked with Dr. Barber and looks forward to working in a similar rural setting where she can develop a closer relationship with her patients.  

James Bates, an Oswego High School graduate working toward a degree in Chemistry and Biology at SUNY Geneseo.  Bates has volunteered at the Strong Memorial Hospital Emergency Department in Rochester and has also shadowed a rural general physician.  He has a background of research in synthetic inorganic chemistry and biochemistry and would like to apply these skills in a clinical setting.  Bates did his thesis on a study he conducted with apoptosis in cells that were being considered as anti-tumor drugs.  As a part of his thesis he presented at the spring 2010 National American Chemical Society meeting in San Francisco.  He also studied abroad at Oxford in the UK this summer.

Kathleen Hurd, a Sandy Creek High School graduate working toward her Pharmaceutical degree at the Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences.  Hurd volunteered and is now employed at a pharmacy in the rural community of Pulaski when she is not in classes.  She loved the personalization of working with people in a smaller community.  Kathleen is looking forward to the additional opportunities introduced with the approval of immunizations by pharmacists as she feels this will be beneficial to people living in rural communities. 

Ashley Mears, an Oswego High School graduate working toward her degree in Dentistry at the University of Buffalo.  Mears was a New Vision Allied Health student and then went on to get her Bachelors of Science degree in Biology at Binghamton University.  Mears stated that she desires to return home to Oswego upon completion of her dentistry degree because she understands the need for trained health care providers and loves her hometown.  She is aware that more dentists are retiring than are graduating and with Buffalo offering the only program for Upstate New York, she feels it’s even more important that she returns home to work.

“We are proud of these scholarship winners and look forward to watching them make a meaningful impact on healthcare in Oswego County,” added Wert.

Operating under the auspices of Oswego County Opportunities, Inc., (OCO), the Rural Health Network of Oswego County is a consortium of health care providers and human service providers in Oswego County.  Working together the members take a collaborative approach to addressing major health issues that exist in Oswego County.  For more information on the Rural Health Network of Oswego County, contact Danielle Wert at 598-4715 or visit their website at www.rhnoc.org.  OCO Inc. is a private, non-profit agency that has been supporting communities throughout Oswego County since 1966.  OCO, Inc. is a United Way of Greater Oswego county Member Agency.  For more information on OCO visit their web site at www.oco.org.

**The 2011 RHN Scholarship application will be posted at www.rhnoc.org in May of 2011 and will be due in June 2011.