Long Beach Native Jane Lapham Receives Graduation Award from MGH Institute of Health Professions

Long Beach native Jane Lapham is the 2014 recipient the Student Award for Innovation from the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at MGH Institute of Health Professions in Boston.

Lapham was chosen by faculty members for being an extremely skilled researcher who independently and successfully executed an intervention project as part of her master’s thesis – projects which are a challenge for even seasoned researchers. Her work, which she completed as a student in the graduate school’s two-year Master of Science in Speech-Language Pathology program, addressed a complex and often misunderstood communication disorder called acquired apraxia of speech. She has submitted a proposal to present at the upcoming national convention of the American Speech-Hearing-Language Association.

“Jane has proven that she will be an insightful clinician and advocate for evidence-based practice,” said Associate Professor Laura Ball, PhD, MS, CCC-SLP.

The award recognizes a graduating student annually who has shown leadership in working on a community outreach academic or clinical project to help improve service delivery relevant to diversity issues with creativity and innovation.

MGH Institute of Health Professions in Boston is an innovative and interprofessional graduate school with post-baccalaureate, entry-level, post-professional, and PhD programs in nursing, occupational therapy, physical therapy, physician assistant studies, and speech-language pathology, as well as health professions education and rehabilitation sciences. An affiliate of Partners HealthCare System,  the MGH Institute offers its more than 1,300 students unparalleled opportunities to learn and work alongside expert practitioners in a variety of hospital, clinical, community, and educational settings. The school, which has graduated more than 5,400 students since its 1977 founding, is fully accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC). Several programs are highly ranked by U.S. News & World Report, and the school has been included for the past several years as a Great College to Work for by The Chronicle of Higher Education.