First in the State: Mikala Leszcynski’s Path to Palliative Medicine

It isn’t every day someone can claim to be the first person to accomplish something in the entire state. DeSales alumna Mikala Leszcynski ’21, M’22 can do just that.

In late 2023, Leszcynski became the inaugural graduate of the St. Luke’s University Health Network Hospice and Palliative Medicine Advanced Practitioner Fellowship. It’s the 13th such program in the country and the first of its kind in Pennsylvania.

Palliative care is a relatively new medical discipline that focuses on the quality of life of patients who are seriously, and often terminally, ill. As the population ages, demand for the specialty grows. The 2020 Census found one in six Americans was 65 or older.

“Something about working with the older population was always important to me,” Leszcynski says. “When I learned about palliative care and hospice and how I could improve patients’ quality of life, that really appealed to me. I could not only treat medical conditions but also help the patient as a whole.”

DeSales and its highly-ranked Physician Assistant program were an easy choice for the Nazareth native whose father was a 1990 management graduate. But the palliative medicine path wasn’t on Leszcynski’s radar until more recently.

Before entering PA school, Leszcynski worked as a patient care assistant at a nursing home to gain clinical experience. Then, while in the program, she was able to choose a specific field of medicine for one of her clinical rotations. Palliative medicine was among the options.

Kathy Ehrhardt, program director of DeSales’ Physician Assistant program, says even as a student, Leszcynski made an impression on those around her.

“Mikala’s preceptor commented that she made a real difference in the quality of life for the patients that she took care of,” says Ehrhardt. “As a student, to be able to do that, it’s a big deal.”

Ehrhardt, who also serves as chair of the Board of Trustees for the St. Luke’s Upper Bucks and Quakertown campuses, points out that the partnership between DeSales and St. Luke’s is vital. DeSales has around 80 PA students at a time, each completing nine clinical rotations during their studies. All students have the opportunity to gain invaluable hands-on experience at a St. Luke’s facility.

When St. Luke’s launched its yearlong fellowship in 2022, Leszcynski had just completed DeSales’ 3+2 program. She was an active, hands-on member of the care provider team at St. Luke’s, where she was exposed to other specialties, like oncology and the ICU. She also spent time working at the St. Luke’s Hospice House in Bethlehem.

“Most of the week I was inpatient in the hospital when I was on my palliative care rotation, and then on Fridays I had an outpatient clinic with my own census of patients that I would see,” Leszcynski says.

The fellowship helped prepare Leszcynski for the working world, and she has since moved to New York for a position in long-term care at a nursing home in the Syracuse area. Looking back at her time at DeSales, Leszcynski praises Ehrhardt, who’s been part of the PA program since its inception in 1997, and the faculty.  

“I know everyone looked up to Kathy as a role model,” she says. “She would never hesitate to support us if we needed it. Incoming students have definitely made the right decision. They are in the right place to learn everything they need to become a PA.”