At Stern College, a faculty-led workshop series helps future healthcare professionals navigate diverse workplaces while remaining grounded in their Jewish identities.
How does an Orthodox Jewish woman enter a healthcare profession with confidence in her own identity while caring for patients whose beliefs, cultures and experiences may be very different from hers?
It's a question Professor Elyse Granik, chair of the Speech Pathology and Audiology program at Stern College for Women, and Dr. Alyssa Schuck, chair of the Biology Department, wanted to help their students answer.
Together, they developed a four-part workshop series designed to prepare young women for the professional and personal challenges they may encounter as they move from college classrooms into hospitals, clinics and other healthcare settings.
The goal goes beyond professional preparation. It's about helping students become culturally sensitive practitioners who can work comfortably with people from all backgrounds.
"We want them to be able to go into all different kinds of scenarios and hold their heads up proudly and be very confident in themselves," Granik said.
From One Lecture to a Broader Mission
The initiative began with a lecture organized by Schuck on Jewish law in the workplace. Led by Rabbi Dr. Richard Weiss, a member of Stern's faculty, the session addressed practical halachic questions that observant Jewish students might encounter in their professional lives.
But conversations among faculty soon revealed a broader need.
Granik and Schuck had noticed that some students were apprehensive about entering healthcare environments beyond their familiar Orthodox communities. Although their academic coursework provided a strong foundation, the professors believed students could benefit from additional guidance on navigating cultural differences, interacting with patients and colleagues, and expressing their Jewish identities with confidence.
"We wanted to give them a Torah perspective on it, which is unique to Stern College," Granik explained.
What began as a single lecture evolved into a four-part series spanning two academic years, with sessions devoted to Jewish law, cultural competence, cultural confidence and the experiences of Orthodox Jewish women working in healthcare.
Understanding Others, Understanding Ourselves
Two of the workshops address complementary ideas: cultural competence and cultural confidence.
Cultural competence is an essential principle in healthcare. It calls on practitioners to recognize and respect patients' differing beliefs, customs and preferences without imposing their own values.
Rabbi Mordechai Torczyner, a member of the Judaic Studies faculty, explored this subject through the lens of Torah teachings, examining how Jewish values can inform respectful and compassionate care for people from different backgrounds.
The next workshop turned the question around.
Rather than focusing on understanding other people's cultures, it asked how Orthodox Jewish women could navigate the professional world with confidence in their own.
Led by Rabbi Shay Schachter, the session explored what the organizers called cultural confidence: how students can present themselves, communicate their beliefs and remain proud of their identities while building productive relationships with patients and colleagues.
The subject clearly resonated. According to Granik, the session drew a standing-room-only audience, with students filling the room and gathering at the back.
The enthusiastic response reinforced the faculty's belief that students wanted opportunities to discuss questions extending beyond their academic coursework.
Learning From Women Who Have Been There
The fourth component was designed to bring students face-to-face with Orthodox Jewish women already established in healthcare careers.
The panel featured professionals from fields such as dentistry, nursing, speech pathology and psychology, offering students an opportunity to hear firsthand about the rewards and challenges of professional life.
Among the topics covered were staying grounded in Jewish ethics and values, religious observance in the workplace, responding to antisemitism, developing relationships with colleagues and patients, and balancing professional responsibilities with personal values.
For students preparing to enter graduate school and eventually professional practice, these conversations provided something particularly valuable: practical guidance from women who have already navigated similar experiences.
The series also created opportunities for students pursuing different healthcare careers to meet one another, exchange ideas and develop connections that may continue beyond Stern.
Although designed primarily for students interested in healthcare, the workshops welcomed participants from other majors as well. Sessions took the form of lectures followed by questions and discussion, and students did not receive academic credit for attending.
A Distinctly YU Approach
For Granik, the initiative reflected something central to Yeshiva University's educational mission: preparing students to participate fully in the wider world.
"We specifically felt very strongly that it was something that we could give our Stern College students that was unique to YU," she said.
That preparation matters in healthcare, where professionals routinely encounter people with different backgrounds and perspectives. It also extends beyond patient relationships to the teamwork and collaboration required in hospitals, clinics and other professional environments.
Granik hopes the workshop series will continue to evolve, potentially incorporating different speakers, additional preparation materials and more opportunities for discussion.
Its underlying purpose, however, will remain the same: helping young women leave Stern prepared not only to succeed in their chosen professions but also to bring their Jewish identities, values and perspectives confidently into the world.
As Granik emphasized, the aim is to help students succeed in diverse professional settings while offering others the respect and quality of care they deserve.
