GMercyU Attends the IBX Foundation's "From Campus to Care" Summit
Associate Dean Dr. Kristin Sagedy and Heather Major, President of the IBX Foundation
In August, the Independence Blue Cross (IBX) Foundation hosted its inaugural From Campus to Care Summit: Partnerships that Positively Impact Health in Philadelphia.
The summit featured speakers, spotlight sessions, and a roundtable discussion led by Heather Major, President of the IBX Foundation. The nursing students participating in this year's IBX Foundation Nursing Internship Program were also recognized for their commitment to positively impacting community health during a pinning ceremony.
"A major highlight was celebrating the 2026 Nurse Intern Poster Exhibit and pinning ceremony, where I celebrated two of our GMercyU nursing students, Pari Ghodasara and Kyle Burke," said Kristin Sagedy PhD, RN, CEN, Associate Dean of the Frances M. Maguire College of Nursing and Health Professions. "I was also honored to deliver a presentation on our Compassionate Care Collaborative. It was truly a wonderful day of collaboration and celebration of our students' hard work."
A GMercyU Student's Experience in the IBX Foundation Nursing Internship Program
Pari Ghodasara '27 shared that her internship experience was incredibly meaningful, offering hands-on experience as she learned to provide culturally competent care to patients.
"I completed my internship at Jaisohn Medical Center, working at both the North Wales and Philadelphia locations, where the patient population was predominantly Korean," Pari explained.
This experience allowed me to understand the importance of effective communication and culturally competent care in healthcare. I had the opportunity to utilize AMN Healthcare Language Services to communicate with patients.
Throughout the internship, Pari participated in a variety of clinical and administrative tasks, such as patient intake, performing electrocardiograms, conducting vision screenings, performing venipunctures, completing medication reconciliation, sorting laboratory work and insurance paperwork, and gathering monthly colonoscopy data. 
"Furthermore, as part of the internship, I completed a research poster project focused on patient satisfaction when language interpretation services are used. Overall, this internship strengthened my clinical and communication skills while giving me a better understanding of the value of providing culturally competent care to individuals," said Pari.
Pari hopes to present her presentation "Does Language Interpreting Services Improve Satisfaction for Non-English Speaking Patients?" at this year's University Research Conference.