Donor Spotlight
Melissa Allen, Nurse Practitioner, LifeLong Medical Care
JOF Donor and Healthcare Immersion Program Preceptor

As a healthcare provider, I understand that keeping people moving is essential to good health. I have personally benefited from the careful research and excellent clinical education provided by JOF principals Kathleen Geier and AJ Benham in their courses and workshops — the Orthopedic Injection Workshop in particular. What a gift to me as a clinician!
AJ and Kathy are both excellent teachers. I consider them leaders in the Bay Area, and more broadly in the U.S., in the Nurse Practitioner community. They generously share their knowledge of orthopedic treatment and health in such a thoughtful and creative way.
Being involved in JOF’s Healthcare Immersion Program (HIP) for several years as a clinical preceptor has also been an amazing gift. Similar to another program I am involved in as a clinician and Board member, called RotaCare, the HIP program exposes these college students to a tapestry of healthcare careers, which they soak up quickly. My patients loved meeting the students, and I found personally that the opportunity to engage with them was both inspiring and helpful. Knowing these sharp young people were listening to everything I said made me more aware of my own clinical style, including the need to remember to use non-medical language with my patients, for example.
I also had the fun experience of seeing the short films at the Canes Film Festival & Gala last fall that the HIP students had made as their final summer projects. I so enjoyed witnessing the range of subjects offered in the films, which reflected the imprint of each of the student’s personalities and showcased their new passions.
AJ and Kathy are both excellent teachers. I consider them leaders in the Bay Area, and more broadly in the U.S., in the Nurse Practitioner community. They generously share their knowledge of orthopedic treatment and health in such a thoughtful and creative way.
Being involved in JOF’s Healthcare Immersion Program (HIP) for several years as a clinical preceptor has also been an amazing gift. Similar to another program I am involved in as a clinician and Board member, called RotaCare, the HIP program exposes these college students to a tapestry of healthcare careers, which they soak up quickly. My patients loved meeting the students, and I found personally that the opportunity to engage with them was both inspiring and helpful. Knowing these sharp young people were listening to everything I said made me more aware of my own clinical style, including the need to remember to use non-medical language with my patients, for example.
I also had the fun experience of seeing the short films at the Canes Film Festival & Gala last fall that the HIP students had made as their final summer projects. I so enjoyed witnessing the range of subjects offered in the films, which reflected the imprint of each of the student’s personalities and showcased their new passions.