Marianne Beninato and Janet Callahan set up scholarship, participate in elective PT course

It’s not often one retires from the MGH Institute but then stays connected with their time and treasure. But that’s exactly what two physical therapy faculty members have been doing for the past seven years. Not only do they have no plans of stopping anytime soon, but they hope to grow the scholarship they started. 

Faculty Emerita Marianne Beninato and Janet Callahan both spent about two decades within the Mass General Brigham system and retired in 2018; Beninato served as a faculty member at the MGH Institute since 1997, while Callahan spent much of her time at Massachusetts General Hospital, and then came to teach at the Institute in 2012. 

“I was in the PT department the entire time I was there,” said Beninato of her 21-year IHP career. “I taught anatomy and neuroscience and loved teaching very much. I felt like I was doing what I was meant to do. But then it came time to retire and move onto the next adventure.” 

Before she retired, Beninato was the main faculty member for the PT program’s cadaver course that was run out of the facilities at Harvard Medical School; it was a course which had students fully dissecting a cadaver. Then when a new integrated curriculum was adopted in 2016, students began examining cadavers that were already dissected – all in an effort to help them connect the dots. 

“The idea was to sync that with what students were doing with their orthopedic content,” recalled Beninato. “We would tell the students, ‘Here are the shoulder structures. These are the kind of shoulder problems you have. See the anatomy. This is how the anatomy relates clinically to what you're going to be examining.’”

Callahan spent most of her career in clinical practice, joining Massachusetts General Hospital in 2000 as a physical therapist then becoming the neurology clinical specialist there. During that time, she began guest lecturing at the MGH Institute while also developing and teaching courses for the American Physical Therapy Association. 

“I'd always wanted to teach more but unfortunately it involved a substantial salary cut,” said Callahan. “But then I got to the point where teaching was more important to me because I really loved it, and so I decided to make the jump.”

Callahan came to the MGH Institute in 2012 while working one day a week on the clinical side to keep her skills sharp. She gave up that clinical day in 2017 when the PT curriculum was reconstructed, and her efforts were needed there. 

“I taught neurology content, and I taught the international students,” noted Callahan. “I continued to teach the courses around the country, which is why I was granted emeritus status for advancing the name of the Institute nationally over a number of years.”

These days, the couple participates in the anatomy elective that’s offered every January. 

“Since we enjoy it, there's no reason to stop,” said Beninato. “We love the contact with the students, and it keeps us connected to the Institute in a meaningful way.”

“We've been very lucky that Marianne and Janet have stayed connected to the Institute and are dedicated to our mission,” said School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences Dean Laura Plummer. “They both have been generous with their time in coming back and teaching in the lab.” 

Not long after the duo stopped working fulltime, they started putting their money to work instead, donating $25,000 for the First in Family scholarship, given to a PT student who is the first in their family to attend college. 

“First in the family college students just don't have the same supports because often nobody in the family can help them navigate the challenges of college, much less graduate school,” asserted Callahan. “So, this money is to give them a little extra help, and to encourage them to stick with it. I think it's especially important because it's a difficult place to come from.”

In the past three years, three PT students have been First in Family scholarship awardees. These scholarship recipients all have enthusiasm for learning and the potential to make significant contributions to the profession as evidenced by their determination to be the first in their family to carve this path.

“The reason we gave was because we believe in the Institute and its mission,” added Beninato. “There are a lot of great causes out there, but this one we know so well, and we trust so completely that it seemed like a good place to put our money.”

“People were so committed to always doing their utmost and doing the right thing,” noted Callahan of her experience with the PT department. “Nobody dialed it in, nobody just showed up. Everybody was in. They were passionate about it, and they were in it 110% and it made for a very cohesive group of people who certainly had the same outlook and similar passion toward what we were doing. I've just never seen that anywhere else.”

“They're contributing financially,” marveled Plummer. “They're engaging with the department, and they’re engaging with the students. They really enjoy the students, and the students really enjoy them. It shows the students that when you leave the IHP, that you're still valued, and that we have this incredibly special community and network of people.”

Beninato and Callahan know all about the IHP community and network, which is why they want to grow their scholarship while encouraging others to give too. 

“I’d like people to know how great the need is,” concluded Beninato. “If they're inclined to give, they could give additionally to any of these scholarships that are ongoing because every bit counts, right?”

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