Maura Kenny and Lindsey Hermann became the first nursing students to complete the Susan D. Flynn Oncology Nursing Fellowship at the Hartford HealthCare Cancer Institute at Hartford Hospital this summer. Kenny, a nursing student at the University of Connecticut, and Hermann, a nursing student at the University of Saint Joseph, completed an 8-week internship in the cancer center at Hartford Hospital, observing and participating in care as a way to advance their experience and expertise in the field of oncology nursing.
The summer academic fellowship program was established by Frederick C. Flynn, a business executive whose wife, Susan, died of ovarian cancer in 2013. The program is meant to foster the interest and further the professional development of student nurses who wish to pursue a career in oncology and palliative medicine. Along with the Hartford HealthCare Cancer Institute, the fellowship is offered at 15 cancer centers across the country, including Johns Hopkins, New York Presbyterian and Penn Medical Center.