Schaalman Student & Faculty Fellowships

Three students and three faculty from the RUSH College of Nursing, Medical College, and College of Health Sciences, are selected annually for the fellowship. The student fellows are responsible for developing and implementing a project based on the 4Ms of an Age-Friendly Health System, and the faculty fellows are responsible for developing curriculum to integrate the 4Ms of an Age-Friendly Health System into their existing department coursework.

Schaalman Fellowship Applications

Schaalman Student Fellowship Application

Applications are now closed for the 2026-2027 cohort of Schaalman Student Fellows! Thank you to everyone that has applied and stay tuned for next year’s applications!

Schaalman Faculty Fellowship Application

Applications are now closed for the 2026-2027 cohort of Schaalman Faculty Fellows! Thank you to everyone that has applied and stay tuned for next year’s applications!

Schaalman Fellowship Presentation Recordings

Student Fellow Presentations

Fursan Sahawneh

RUSH University Medical College, Third Year

Improving Delirium Management in the Hospital: A Rush University Hospital Nursing Intervention on 14 West

Katherine Prejzner

RUSH University College of Health Sciences, Third Year OTD/S

Supporting Older Adults with Self-Care: A Practical Guide for Direct Care Workers

Sarah Rogoz

RUSH University College of Health Sciences, Second Year AuD

Audiology and the 4Ms: Improving Hearing and Balance Care for Older Adults

Stephanie Erickson

RUSH Medical College, Fourth Year

Assessing Nursing Attitude Toward a Modified Approach to the Hospital Elder Life Program (HELP)

Ismael Byers

RUSH University College of Nursing, Second Year Master’s

The Essential Role of PCT/Nas in Preventing Delirium

Craig Simmons

Rush University College of Health Science, Second Year SLP Master’s

Language Services and Age-Friendly Health Care: Identifying the Role of Interpreters

William Gan

RUSH University College of Nursing, Second Year Master’s

The First Steps in Building a Mobility Culture

Amy McChesney

RUSH University College of Health Sciences, Second Year OT PhD

Aging in Place — Capturing “What Matters”

Kellie Inouye

RUSH Medical College, Second Year

Assessment of Attitudes and Knowledge of Delirium in Medicine Providers

Faculty Fellow Presentations

Thomas M Holland MD, MS

College of Health Sciences, Physiology, Pathology, and Pathophysiology

Mastering Age-Friendly Care: Integrating the 4Ms into Undergraduate Pathophysiology for Lifelong Wellness

Bridget Hahn, OTD, OTR/L

College of Health Sciences, Occupational Therapy

The 4Ms in Action: Bridging Classroom Learning with Real-World Occupational Therapy

Alicia Sachdev, MC, FASA

College of Medicine, Anesthesiology

4Ms in Perioperative Home: A Plan to Improve Education and Patient Care

David Burstein, MD, MS

College of Medicine, Primary Care

Assessing and Acting Upon What Matters to Patients: A Multidisciplinary Procedure

Josephine Howard-Ruben, RhD, RN

College of Nursing, Adult Health and Gerontological Nursing

The Doctor of Nursing Curriculum: Opportunities to Include the 4Ms and Age-Friendly Health Systems Content

Rupel Dedhia, MD, FACP

College of Medicine, Primary Care

Age-Friendly Care Using the 4Ms

Sarah Peterson, RD, PhD, CNSC, LDN

College of Health Sciences, Nutrition

Age Friendly Nutrition Care

Emily Salans, MS, MSN, RN, CEN, CPEN, CNL

College of Nursing, Adult Health and Gerontological Nursing

Enhancing Utilization of the 4Ms Framework in a Pre-licensure Master’s Nursing Program

Schaalman Fellowship Interactive Presentations

Aging in Place — Capturing “What Matters”

This Photovoice study conducted by SSV student fellow Amy McChesney (OTD ‘23) asked five participants, community-dwelling older adults, to take photos illustrating the value of aging in place, including supports and barriers experienced within their homes. Participants selected 18 photovoice pieces which were collected and analyzed with three overarching themes identified: Self-Identity, Social Connections, and Environment. These pieces provide insights into the experiences of older adults and aim to raise awareness and foster positive change in supporting aging in place. The final photovoice pieces (photo with written and audio narrative) are available below.

*This PDF contains embedded audio files. For best experience, download the PDF and open it in a PDF viewer such as Adobe Acrobat Viewer.

Identifying Barriers — The First Step in Creating a Mobility Culture

This quality improvement project by Schaalman student fellow, William Gan, intended to increase the current mobilization level of older adults on an inpatient medical-surgical unit. Improving patient mobility is foundational to improving care of older adults using the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) 4Ms framework. The goal of his Schaalman Senior Voices Fellowship project was to assess and understand the viewpoints of Patient Care Technicians (PCTs) and Nursing Assistants (NAs) towards prioritizing mobility in the care they provide to patients on a medical-surgical unit. A baseline environmental scan was conducted via a survey which identified potential barriers to providing this care. Further exploration of these barriers will be addressed in a follow up masters’ level capstone project. Please click below to view the poster of William’s project.