Internship Site News

TCNJ HES Interns continue to impress faculty and internship evaluators with their projects. This year was no different.

Below are highlights of three students/projects that made a huge impact.

Marisa Priolo – Rehabilitation literature review and advocacy presentation at Capital Health

Physical Therapy. Marisa conducted a thorough review of the last 6 years’ peer-reviewed literature on pre-operative orthopedic surgery prehabilitation programs to synthesize data on their effectiveness on post-surgical outcomes. Her findings were compiled into an evidence-based presentation given to the Capital Health staff (Surgeons, Doctors, Nurses, Administrators, Physical Therapists, Occupational Therapists) in order to advocate for an implementation of rehabilitation programs at the facility.

88% of the audience responded that the presentation was “excellent”, 12% responded “good” in regard to meeting learning objectives, effectiveness of visual aids, pertinence to practice, and overall success.
“95% responded that the presentation advocated effectively
After the presentation the audience rated the potential effectiveness of a Prehab Program at the facility to be 4.7 out of 5.

Joe Paton – Invention of “Stim-Ray”, apparatus for simultaneous cryotherapy and electrical stimulation at TCNJ athletic trainer.

Joe conducted a needs assessment at the TCNJ athletic training room and found efficiency could be improved by combining e-stim and cryotherapy (application of cold packs) into a simultaneous modality, which would save time and effort for almost every single patient visit. Joe invented a cold therapy pack with an incorporated waterproof electrical simulation apparatus. The device was tested with hundreds of real on-body trials to determine success.

Lead conductance averaged 4.9/5
Cold conductance averaged 8.1/10
Anti-leakage averaged 4.5/5
Wear and tear resistance averaged 5/5 (virtually no discoloration, tears, fraying)

Jackie Oram – Invention of “Oram’s Optics Board”, apparatus for concussion physical therapy treatment at Robert Wood Johnson Physical Therapy.

Jackie’s exposure to her internship site’s concussion specialist and he own interest in concussion therapy influenced her to invent an apparatus to streamline and improve physical therapy modalities for concussed patients. The apparatus is portable, easy to use and set up, and enhances the efficiency of performing the exercises.

Concussion patient reported a decrease in post-concussion symptoms from 10 to 6.
Reported increased enjoyment and motivation in performing exercises.
Reported subjective reductions in dizziness, and decrease in time needed to recover from

We look forward to seeing the impressive projects future interns will implement.

Fast Facts:

The HES internship is a 450 hour immersive professional experience. Students gain hands-on experience in their field in a professional supervised setting as they interact with staff, customers, and patients.

Each year approximately 50 students participate in internships; usually about 30 in the spring and 10 in the summer and fall.

Internship options include health and wellness, personal training, strength and conditioning, public health, athletic training, personal training, cardiac rehabilitation, chiropractic therapy, physical therapy, occupational therapy, exercise physiology, research, nutrition and health education.

The internship culminates in an impact project designed by the student that provides a long lasting benefit to the internship site and a valuable learning experience to the intern.

Did you know?

Many students who have exceeded the expectations of their supervisors by going above and beyond the norm in their performance have been offered full time jobs by their internship sites.