What is the ultimate goal of the Gianna Center? To heal the female body and restore her artfully designed reproductive system to its properly functioning state is certainly the Gianna Center's top priority...but this is not the only facet of our mission as a Catholic, Pro-Life health care practice. For the perpetuity of our vital part to play in creating and sustaining a culture of life, the Gianna Center of Philadelphia also has a mission to educate! The ultimate goal and vision of the Gianna Center is "to lay the foundation necessary for the culture of life to flourish in the lives of individuals and families.” It is therefore part of our mission to educate not only our patients, but also the next generation of health care professionals. We have a duty to offer medical students exposure to excellent and effective restorative reproductive health care that nurtures, heals, and honors its individuals, body and soul. For this reason, we are happy to open our doors to students who wish to log clinical hours at our practice.
Over the past year, we have had a number of nurse practitioner students, and residents, who have come to do clinical hours with us and see how we practice restorative reproductive medicine. One of our first students was Haroon, an outstanding foreign medical graduate from Pakistan who came to intern at the Gianna Center for an entire month. During that time, he followed Dr. Larrauri, practicing how to take detailed health histories of patients and learning how to medically manage a number of conditions. “NaPro was very different from most OBGYN practices” he told us. Of course, we were not surprised!
With his exposure to the Creighton Model FertilityCare System and NaProTechnology, Haroon said he was able to discuss these methods with his fellow interns, and even discuss this unique approach to women’s health care with his friends and family.
Because he was a foreign medical gradate, Haroon had much in common with Karla, our medical assistant who attended medical school in Venezuela, so there was an immediate feeling of comradery at our practice. He said that everyone in the Center was very supportive and made him feel comfortable, which meant a lot especially since he had little opportunity to work with women in his country due to cultural norms. When asked about Dr. Larrauri, he said, “[she] was professional and very kind. She generously took the time to discuss common diseases found in this line of healthcare as well as the rare ones.” Haroon’s final words describing his time with us was that his “overall experience was a very positive and constructive one.”
Another student who really stood out was Tan, a nurse practitioner student from La Salle University. Tan jumped right into the swing of things, eager to help and ready to learn.
Our staff noted that Tan was incredibly capable, helpful, proactive, and a self-learner. One instance that illustrates his qualities perfectly was a moment when the office had a little down time between patients. We walked past the lab to find Tan sitting at a table, studying Dr. Thomas Hilger’s 1,243-page textbook on The Medical & Surgical Practice of NaProTECHNOLOGY.
Throughout his clinical rotation, Tan was professional, obliging, and a joy to have in the office. By the time he finished is hours with us, it almost seemed as if he was a full-fledged Gianna Center Team Member.
We have cause to hope that some students who pass through our practice might like what they see and pass on what they have learned, one way or another. The Gianna Center of Philadelphia is not merely a medical practice, but also an educational center. If you know of any health care professional students, please let them know that the Gianna Center offers clinical hours. You never know…you just might be inspiring the next generation of pro-life women’s health care professionals.
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