Alumni Update: Where are they now?
Name: Regina Gongoll
Degree(s) Received: MSG '07
Job title: Program Manager
Company: Fall Prevention Center of Excellence, Andrus Gerontology Center, USC
Location (city and state): Los Angeles, CA
Please briefly describe your position and your company:
The Fall Prevention Center of Excellence is a consortium of the Andrus Gerontology Center, California State University Fullerton’s Center for Successful Aging, the Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center at the VA and the California Department of Health Services. Part of the Center’s mission is to develop sustainable fall prevention programs throughout California and to make fall prevention a key public health priority. The Center is funded by the Archstone Foundation and performs under the direction of Dr. Jon Pynoos. As the Center’s Program Manager I supervise and manage one of USC’s largest program operations. I participate in planning, scheduling, program evaluation, personnel administration, marketing, and proposal development.
Why did you choose to study gerontology at the USC Davis School?
I left a successful career in journalism to pursue a career in gerontology and have never regretted that decision. Gerontology and the study of aging concerns all of us; it is a field where each individual can make that all important difference. That could be as a nursing home administrator, a researcher, or a lawyer whose main objective is to find ways to prevent elder abuse. In my current position I can apply skills and knowledge I gained as a journalist while being part of an incredible team of researchers and scientists who know how critical it is to prevent falls in older adults. To prevent falls is to prevent an end of life in a nursing home.
How did you learn about your current position? Was it through an internship, a previous job, or a connection through USC?
I did plenty of networking during the last semester in the Master’s program. I made valuable and lasting connections during my internship and engaged everyone I knew in conversations about jobs and careers in gerontology. In the end, being a good student probably made the difference in the competition of applicants. I am thrilled I was selected for the position.
Please briefly describe how the USC Davis School’s curriculum helped prepare you for your current position.
The Master’s Program gave me the broadest knowledge base and skill set in the field of aging possible. From counseling of older adults to program administration and evaluation – nothing was left out. I always felt that I was as close to the cutting edge of developments in the field as I could be. It was a privilege to study gerontology at USC – the most reputable school of gerontology there is. Alumni I regularly meet through my job make me realize that I have become a member of the USC gerontology family. We all support each other.
What advice would you offer to a prospective student interested in studying gerontology at USC?
“Show up! – Pay Attention! – Tell the Truth! – Have no Stake in the Outcome!”
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