Newswise — Yesterday, for the fourth consecutive year, NYU Langone Medical Center participated in National Disability Mentoring Day (DMD), a program designed to match people with disabilities with mentors from various organizations in New York City. Participants toured the mentor’s workplace, met other employees and learned firsthand about different types of jobs and related opportunities within that field.
“Because of the high unemployment rate for people with disabilities, it is critical that programs like DMD exist to foster partnerships with the business community and create opportunities for vocational independence,” said Steven R. Flanagan, MD, the Howard A. Rusk Professor of Rehabilitation Medicine and chair, Department of Rehabilitation Medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center. “Our experts help those with disabilities re-learn and develop new skills needed to return to the workforce. By participating in DMD, we have the chance to present other viable career opportunities that may have not been known to these individuals.”
Coordinated by NYU Langone Medical Center’s Rusk Rehabilitation (Rusk), the Medical Center hosted 14 DMD participants at several locations, including Tisch Hospital and Rusk. As part of the program, DMD participants first toured several areas within the medical center, including the Sterile Processing Department, where cleaning and sterilization of all surgical instruments and medical devices takes place; the Robot-assisted Pharmacy, which automates functions to enable pharmacists and staff more time to interact with patients; and the Food Service Department. Participants were then paired with mentors based on their expressed areas of interest, and were exposed to hospital job duties in various departments, including therapeutic recreation, speech-language pathology, social work and administration.
Vocational rehabilitation is a core program at Rusk and provides interview and job training, placement services and an established network of business partnerships to help people with disabilities find employment opportunities, which increases their independence. Rusk introduced nine vocational rehabilitation participants to DMD in 2011 – and six of them are now are now employed full-time with the Medical Center or other organizations in the city.
NYU Langone’s Rusk Rehabilitation is ranked the best rehabilitation hospital in New York State and is one of the top ten in the country, an honor held for 23 years since U.S. News & World Report first introduced its annual “Best Hospitals rankings in 1989. For more information please visit Rusk Rehabilitation.
About NYU Langone Medical CenterNYU Langone Medical Center, a world-class, patient-centered, integrated, academic medical center, is one of the nation’s premier centers for excellence in clinical care, biomedical research and medical education. Located in the heart of Manhattan, NYU Langone is composed of four hospitals – Tisch Hospital, its flagship acute care facility; the Hospital for Joint Diseases, recognized as one of the nation’s leading hospitals dedicated to orthopaedics and rheumatology; Hassenfeld Pediatric Center, a comprehensive pediatric hospital supporting a full array of children’s health services; and the Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine, the world’s first university-affiliated facility devoted entirely to rehabilitation medicine– plus NYU School of Medicine, which since 1841 has trained thousands of physicians and scientists who have helped to shape the course of medical history. The medical center’s tri-fold mission to serve, teach and discover is achieved 365 days a year through the seamless integration of a culture devoted to excellence in patient care, education and research. For more information, go to www.NYULMC.org.
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