Dana Madigan of NUHS is First DC Student to be Awarded The Albert Schweitzer Fellowship
Monday, May 7, 2012
N
ational University student, Dana Madigan, is the
first student in a chiropractic program to be awarded The
Albert Schweitzer Fellowship. Dana was one of 243
multidisciplinary graduate students throughout the United States
recently chosen as a 2012-13 Schweitzer Fellow. Upon completion of
her one-year fellowship, Dana Madigan will become a "Schweitzer
Fellows for Life" member, joining a network of over 2500 Schweitzer
alumni throughout the world.
The fellowship program started in 1992, and supports graduate
students in learning to effectively address the social factors that
impact health, as well as developing lifelong leadership skills and
living the famous physician-humanitarian's message of service.
While application to the fellowship is open to any professional
degree student, Dana is the first in the program's history to be
currently enrolled in a chiropractic degree program.
Dana's approved project for The Albert Schweitzer Fellowship
will be to help deepen connections between the NUHS clinic in
Lombard, Illinois, and community organizations that help the
medically underserved, specifically in regard to low back pain.
"I chose the issue of low back pain, because addressing low back
pain is one of our nation's 'Healthy People 2020' goals," says Dana. "I
want to show how we can use our form of health care to help meet
national priorities.
"Usually community health programs offer no other choice for
those with low back pain than to receive care from an MD or DO,"
says Dana. "Through this project, we are working to make
chiropractic care for low back pain accessible for those who may
not otherwise be able to receive it. "
Dana Madigan is also earning her Master of Public Health degree
(MPH) at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) through a
coordinated degree program between NUHS and UIC that is
partially funded through a grant from the National Institutes of
Health. She serves as a research assistant at NUHS, a
teaching assistant at UIC, and is president of the NUHS Public
Health Club.
Dr. David Parish, dean of clinics for NUHS and site mentor for
Dana's project, says: "We will be expanding our work with the
community health organization Access DuPage. We want to give back
to the community as much as we can. Through this project, we can
not only do that in a way that benefits patients, the community,
and our students, but we will be able to garner more research
information for establishing future public health oriented
programs. It is definitely a win-win situation."
Dr. Jerrilyn Cambron is on the research faculty of NUHS as well
as the teaching faculty of UIC's School of Public Health, and will
be Dana's academic mentor for her project. "The big thing
Dana is doing is trying to show the profession how we can get more
involved with public health," says Dr. Cambron. "A lot of people
with low incomes don't think they can afford chiropractic care, so
we have to think of new pathways that give them access to our
care."
Dana's future goals after graduation are in the area of
research. "I really want to work to get CAM practitioners involved
in community organizations and advance integrative care through
those avenues. I think everybody should be able to choose which
kind of health care they receive." In addition to expressing her
gratitude and honor in receiving The Albert Schweitzer Fellowship,
Dana says she hopes this will encourage more students from NUHS and
other chiropractic colleges to apply for the fellowship in the
future.
NUHS President James F. Winterstein applauded Dana Madigan,
saying, "As the first chiropractic student to receive this
prestigious national fellowship, Dana continues the proud National
tradition of advancing our profession in ways that improve
patient-centered health care."
#
#
#