inPractice - Fall 2019 - 6

TEACHING
& LEARNING

FACULTY PROFILE

Stacey Ruch, right, with a student

Core Values

Associate Professor Stacey Ruch has dedicated
her adult life to higher education. Her interest
in health care developed when she was earning
her PhD in neuroscience with a minor in
anatomy from Penn State University. There,
her program was housed in the College of
Medicine, which meant her coursework was
more focused on health care than is typical with
a traditional doctoral program. After graduating
in 2000, Ruch became an assistant professor in
the physical therapy program at Lebanon Valley
College, then joined Pennsylvania College of
Health Sciences in 2008.
Most recently, Ruch, who teaches anatomy and
physiology, as well as a pathophysiology course,
has led the creation of the new Health Care
Professional Core Curriculum, which will
better prepare students at PA College for
success in college and beyond. The curriculum
will be unveiled for bachelor's degree students
during the 2020-2021 school year and for
associate degree students one year later.
Ruch says there has been a growing need
for a new core curriculum as PA College has

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evolved over its 100-plus-year history from a
school for nursing into a college with 14 degree
options in the health sciences. "Now that we
have a number of programs, we decided to ask
employers what they were looking for in future
employees," Ruch says. "Then we developed a
core curriculum based on that."
Ruch and her colleagues learned that employers
are seeking staff members who are competent
in skills like written communication, digital
literacy and community engagement.
As part of the new curriculum, faculty
members will teach these skills in already
existing courses. For example, an English
course might also become a writing-intensive
class, while a sociology course might also focus
on community engagement. "This aspect of
the new curriculum will make students more
prepared for the workforce," Ruch says.
There will also be a college study seminar
course, which will be a requirement for all
baccalaureate degree students. The course
will be offered in two versions: one for students

who have been to college, and one for students
who are new to higher education. "Students
with previous college experience need to
remember how to balance their lives, while
students coming right out of high school might
need to learn how to write a paper or find all of
the resources at our college," says Ruch, who
earned her bachelor's and master's degrees in
biology from Seton Hall University in New
Jersey. "This seminar is going to teach students
the critical skills they need to be successful."
As important as it is to instill these practical
proficiencies in students, Ruch, who enjoys
ringing hand bells at her church and running
the swim timing systems for her kids' swim
meets, never misses an opportunity to share
her long-held enthusiasm for learning and
education. "It's exciting to watch these
students, many of whom might be the first
in their families to attend college, find that
passion and that understanding that they
own their own learning," she says. n
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inPractice - Fall 2019

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