News and Events
Zelda Foster MSW Fellow Rachel Rusch Named Cambia Health Foundation Sojourns Scholar
Rachel Rusch, a class of 2016 MSW graduate and MSW Fellow in Silver’s Zelda Foster Studies Program, was selected to be part of the seventh cohort of the Cambia Health Foundation Sojourns® Scholar Leadership Program. A clinical social worker within the Division of Comfort and Palliative Care at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA), Rachel is one of twelve emerging palliative care leaders chosen for the 2020 cohort through a rigorous selection process from a highly competitive national pool of candidates from a range of disciplines and practice settings. She is the second Zelda Foster Studies Fellow to be selected for this prestigious program since it was opened to social workers in 2018, following in the footsteps of Bridget Sumser, MSW ’12.
Drs. Susan Gerbino and Esther Chachkes Advance Palliative and End-of-Life Care in Singapore
Zelda Foster Studies Director Dr. Susan Gerbino and Mentorship Program Director Dr. Esther Chachkes spent nine days in Singapore during January 2020 as Health Manpower Development Plan (HMDP) Visiting Experts on Palliative, End-of-Life, Grief, and Bereavement Across the Care Continuum. Together, they met with key leaders and presented lectures, seminars, and workshops for social workers as well as doctors, nurses, and allied health professionals at Singapore's National University Hospital (NUH), Alexandra Hospital, Singapore General Hospital (SGH), Tang Tock Seng Hospital, and Assisi Hospice.
A Year of Honors for Our Zelda Foster Studies Community
The 2018-19 academic year has been particularly fruitful for NYU Silver’s Zelda Foster Studies Program in Palliative and End-of-Life Care, with nine fellows, mentors, and faculty receiving significant honors, and three collaborating to edit a seminal textbook on palliative care social work, which was published in winter 2019.
Meredith Ruden, MSW '09, DSW '18, Launches Foundation to Support Parents with Cancer
Dr. Meredith Ruden, who distinguished herself in the inaugural cohort of Zelda Foster Studies MSW Fellows and the inaugural class of NYU Silver's DSW program, founded The Feather Foundation, which provides online emotional, financial, and practical support for parents with cancer, upon earning her DSW in May 2018. In November 2018, she left her position as an oncology social work program coordinator at Mount Sinai Hospital, which she held throughout her DSW studies, to devote herself full-time to her role as President of the foundation.
Zelda Foster Studies Program Has Big Presence, Impact at SWPHN 2018 General Assembly
NYU Silver’s Zelda Foster Studies Program in Palliative and End-of-Life Care (PELC) played a significant role at the Social Work Hospice & Palliative Care Network (SWHPN) 2018 General Assembly, with presentations by 31 Zelda Foster fellows, faculty members, mentors and certificate program graduates.
Yanette L. Tactuk, MSW '11, Honored with Patient Advocacy Award
Yanette L. Tactuk, MSW '11, received the 2018 Patient Advocacy Award from Centers Health Care. Tactuk, who also holds a Post-Master's Certificate in Palliative and End-of-Life Care from NYU Silver's Zelda Foster Studies Program, is a clinical social worker at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC).
"Yanette provides immense support during the challenging situations that face all her patients," said Penny Damaskos, Director of Social Work at MSKCC. Damaskos, who is also a Zelda Foster Studies Leadership Mentor, was recently honored herself by the HealthCare Chaplaincy Network.
Rebecca Cammy, MSW, LCSW, Receives Best Article Award
Rebecca Cammy, a 2017 graduate of NYU Silver's Zelda Foster Studies Leadership Fellowship, has received the Journal of Social Work in End-of-Life and Palliative Care’s 2017 Best Article Award.
The award-winning article is based on the capstone project Cammy completed as part of her fellowship. She will be recognized at an awards ceremony on March 12th at the Social Work Hospice & Palliative Care Network General Assembly.
Summer Institute in Primary Palliative Care, July 17-21, 2017
Training in Culturally Congruent Care for the Deaf/Hard of Hearing/DeafBlind Community
With generous funding from the Ernst & Paula Deutsch Foundation, the Zelda Foster Studies Program has launched a unique and innovative three-day course in the skills, methodologies, interventions, and sensitivities needed to provide culturally congruent care to Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and Deafblind (D/HH/DB) clients, their families and health care providers.
Association of Oncology Social Work (AOSW) 33rd Annual Conference | May 31 - June 2, 2017
Zelda Foster Studies Program Receives Samuels Foundation Grant to Train Geriatric Professionals in Palliative and End-of-Life Care
NYU Silver’s Zelda Foster Studies Program in Palliative and End-of-Life Care has been awarded a $38,000 grant from the Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation to provide primary palliative care training to social workers and other professionals working with older adults in New York City.
Zelda Foster Graduates Honored at SWHPN
The Social Work Hospice and Palliative Care General Assembly convened on March 6-8, 2016 in Chicago, and this year’s theme was Promoting Integrated Care For Serious Illness: Improving Access, Coordination and Psychosocial Outcomes. From the NYU Silver Zelda Foster community, 24 graduates presented, winning a total of six awards.
Palliative Care and Hospice Social Worker Qualification Training and Continuing Education Advanced Program in Hefei, China
Kim Roberts (MSW ’17) Named First-Ever Student Member of the Society for Social Work Leadership in Health Care’s National Board
Silver School student Kim Roberts (MSW ’17) has been appointed to the national Board of Directors of the Society for Social Work Leadership in Health Care (SSWLHC), the premier organization for healthcare social workers, as its first-ever student representative.