Nurse anesthesia students win competition

The Geisinger/Bloomsburg University Nurse Anesthesia Program's Class of 2022 students won the annual College Bowl at the Pennsylvania Association Of Nurse Anesthetists (PANA) Spring Symposium in Hershey, Pa.

Bloomsburg's winning team members included Ciana Rollman, Elise Slaughter, Matthew Homishak, and Matthew Moore. The event was hosted by Daniel Fraska, co-founder of APEX Anesthesia. 

“Congratulations to our students involved in this competition,” said Dr. Latha Ramakrishnan, Dean of the College of Science and Technology. “The work, they and our faculty members, put in preparing for the event is to be commended. Everyone at Bloomsburg University is proud of them.”

The College Bowl contestants included 11 teams from eight universities across Pennsylvania. The annual competition challenges anesthesia programs from across the region in a test of anesthetic knowledge. The winners will retain possession of the oxygen tank trophy at the BU nurse anesthesia program office until next year's event. 

"I’m incredibly proud of our students for winning our program’s first PANA College Bowl competition,” said Debra Minzola, Ph.D., CRNA, program director of the Geisinger/Bloomsburg University Nurse Anesthesia Program and associate professor at Bloomsburg University. “Not only did they get to represent Geisinger and Bloomsburg University while demonstrating their advanced knowledge of anesthesia, but their participation also supports and enhances the profession of nurse anesthesia as a whole.”

The win was the first-ever for Bloomsburg University in the competition.