Scholarships & Awards

NPHF/Procter & Gamble Endowed Scholarship in Gastroenterology Award Recipients 2008-2009

Suzanne M. Fontecchio, RN

Suzanne M. Fontecchio, RN—is currently completing a Master of Science in Nursing degree with a Family Nurse Practitioner concentration, through Clarion, Edinboro and Slippery Rock Universities of Pennsylvania. She also has a Bachelor of Arts in Communication. Suzanne works as an RN at Hamot Medical Center in the Transitional Care Unit. Suzanne is studying the relationship between self-efficacy and adherence to a gluten-free diet for patients who suffer from celiac disease. If her hypothesis proves correct, that a high level of self-efficacy corresponds with a high level of adherence, this could give health care providers a means of determining who will have greater adherence to a gluten-free diet and who might need greater intervention to maintain adherence. Her research has heightened her awareness of the variable presentation of celiac disease, and increased her knowledge about accurate diagnostic testing. The knowledge gained from this research will enable her to reach out to her family practice patients who are living with celiac disease.