The Shore – Stockton Intern Connection

Views from the Shore
By Brian Cahill

The last five years I have had the opportunity to teach gifted and motivated students at Stockton University. I’ve loved being able to educate, and interact with the upcoming generation, not only because of the experience I’ve been given, but because of the knowledge my own students have given me. (Heck, thanks to them, I know what Twitch and Supreme are!)

Shore Medical Center partners with Stockton University, and we hire interns throughout the hospital. However, even though each Stockton intern is working in a different department in the hospital, they interestingly have similar thoughts and experiences while interning at the hospital.

Angela Bailey and Alyssa Ricketts

So, I decided for this column I would give you an inside look on how the Shore / Stockton partnership is benefiting students and the community hospital.

The first student I interviewed is actually a past student of mine, Jalen Allen, who is a marketing major that is working side by side with me and our marketing team. When asked to describe his experience, Jalen described this internship as “at times surreal.”  I then asked Jalen to elaborate and explain this statement, and he went into detail about how he was included in several conversations and executive level meetings with executives from Shore Medical Center and Penn Medicine, which allowed him to “observe how professionals actually communicate in a real life professional setting.”

Jalen was not the only intern that felt like he walked away with a lot from his experience, another intern that agreed is Tre Oliver. Tre is a recent Stockton alumni, and he works in the Cardiac and Pulmonary Rehabilitation Department. From his experience with Shore, he explained that he was able to work hand and hand with patients, which taught him how to deal with different types of patients because everyone is different, especially when going through rehabilitation which is not an easy task. Tre also discussed with me that his fellow classmates at Stockton were in awe of the tasks that he was being trusted to perform here at Shore.

I also had the pleasure of speaking with Alyssa Ricketts. Alyssa is a social worker intern, and she has had the opportunity to work with Shore’s Community Outreach Manager Angela Bailey, who has a Master’s Degree in social work. During my interview with Alyssa, she expressed to me that she has always had a calling, and enjoyed helping people. In this internship, she reflected on how she learned that it is more than just listening to people and providing guidance. It is rather more of helping them through the whole process and journey. The reality is that issues come up in life, many times out of our control, and some people don’t know even know where to begin to get help. This is where a social worker can step in and make a real difference.

Chris Kozmor and Tre Oliver

Jalen, Tre, and Alyssa are three great examples of Stockton students who are learning and contributing as interns in our community. If you own a business and are part of an organization looking for help, I encourage you to contact Stockton to see how you could partner with them.

Brian Cahill is the Director of Marketing for Shore Medical Center. He is also on the Board of the Somers Point Business Association, an Adjunct Professor in the School of Business at Stockton University, and is a founding member of Somers Point-Community First, a local volunteer organization

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