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SHP students volunteer at campus COVID screening stations
By Kate Hunger
When third-year Physician Assistant Studies student Kaitlyn Corbett learned about the need for volunteers to screen people entering campus buildings for symptoms of COVID-19, she signed up to help. She ended up working about a dozen shifts. “At the time the PA clinical rotations were suspended, so I was seeking opportunities to serve in the community during the COVID crisis,” Corbett said. “It was a way to help support the (University) community. In a three-hour period we would screen more than 250 people.”
SHP Students selected for Alpha Eta Society
School of Health Professions students and faculty were inducted this spring into the Alpha Eta Society, the national honor society for the allied health professions.
Because of COVID-19, the campus chapter has not held its traditional in-person ceremony. A virtual induction ceremony is being discussed as a possible alternative, said campus chapter president, Physical Therapy Associate Professor Martha Acosta, Ph.D., PT, GCS.
Dr. Lu named chair of Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders
Associate Professor Fang-Ling Lu, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, has been named chair of the Department of Communications Sciences and Disorders, effective June 1.
Lu joined the School of Health Professions in 2017 as founding program director of the five-semester speech-language pathology master’s program. The program welcomed its first cohort in the spring of 2018 and graduated its second cohort in May 2020.
Medical Laboratory Sciences: an alumna’s perspective on the profession
Emergency Health Sciences student awarded diploma posthumously
Asante Sebastian Contreras, a student in the Department of Emergency Health Sciences Paramedic Certification Program, died in a traffic accident one week before he was to have completed the program.
The accident occurred as Contreras was driving home May 3 after finishing his shift as an emergency medical technician for an ambulance service in San Antonio. He had been scheduled to finish his practicum testing on May 4, followed by his final examinations.
Reflections on SHP graduating classes
Spring and summer graduates from the School of Health Professions programs are beginning their careers at a time of significant challenge. Faculty and department leaders share their accomplishments and reflect on their hopes for the students as they launch their careers in the health professions.
Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders
OT , PT and dental students participate in an interprofessional collaboration
Occupational therapy, physical therapy, and dental students participated in an ongoing interprofessional collaboration this spring focused on ergonomics in health professions and the prevention of musculoskeletal disorders.
SLP program well represented at TSHA conference
Faculty and students of the Speech-Language Pathology program in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders attended and presented at the Texas Speech Hearing Association annual convention in Houston in February.
OT and nursing faculty collaborate to help people with dementia and their caregivers
Two faculty members from the Department of Occupational Therapy are participating in an intervention program to help people with dementia and their caregivers.
SHP students created special moments through Tango Together project
School of Health Professions students created a program that brought the joy of dance to people with dementia and their caregivers.
The idea for the Tango Together project grew out of the interest of some Physical Therapy students to develop a service project for a Community Service Learning grant, said the project’s student leader Laura Gandy, a first-year Physical Therapy student.
COVID-19 highlights the expertise of respiratory therapists
Respiratory therapists are crucial members of health care teams around the world treating patients with COVID-19.
Setting up, adjusting and monitoring patients needing ventilators takes specialized training, noted School of Health Professions Dean David Shelledy, Ph.D., RRT, FAARC, FASAHP.
Ventilators have become highly complex, a fact that is not broadly known, said Respiratory Care Program Director and Associate Professor Richard Wettstein, MMEd, RRT, FAARC.
SHP students receive awards for leadership, service, research and clinical excellence
Lisa Le never considered herself to be an academically strong student, but she says something clicked when she began clinical rotations. In recognition of her performance during the clinical phase of her program, the third-year physical therapy student recently won the Student Clinical Excellence Award.
PA professor still relies on her medical laboratory sciences training
Department of Physician Assistant Studies Admissions Chair and Assistant Clinical Professor Leticia Bland wasn’t sure about her path after graduating high school, so she decided to join the U.S. Air Force. When she asked the recruiter to recommend a career that paid well and offered transferrable skills to the civilian world, she was given assigned a medical laboratory science.
“It was the best decision I ever made,” says Bland, DHSc, MPAS, PA-C.
OT student is TOTA student representative and Presidential Ambassador Scholar
Occupational therapy first-year student Jennifer Sanchez decided she wanted to become an occupational therapist after her older brother suffered a spinal cord injury in a car accident. She was 13 years old.
After the accident, her brother had limited function in one of his arms. Occupational therapy services helped him make huge progress and made a big impression on Sanchez.
Physical Therapy students present at national conference
Five students from the Department of Physical Therapy presented research projects at the American Physical Therapy Association 2020 Combined Sections Meeting held in Denver in February.
Second-year doctor of physical therapy students Cat Lira and Helen Valentine Fleck gave a platform presentation on their investigation to characterize the cardiometabolic profile of more than 5,000 South Texas patients living with HIV and their risk of metabolic syndrome. The students used an online database.
OT professor co-authored one of the most-cited articles in journal
Learning that an article she co-authored is among the most read, cited and shared from the 2018-2019 international journal Spinal Cord gives Assistant Professor Ana Allegretti, Ph.D., OTR, hope that clinical care for patients with spinal cord injuries is improving.
Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders to offer leveling program
Prospective students who wish to apply to a graduate speech-language pathology program but lack the required undergraduate preparation in communication sciences and disorders soon will be able to complete pre-requisite coursework through a new leveling program offered by the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders.
PA Studies professor named distinguished fellow of AAPA
Assistant Professor Meredith Quinene, DHSc, MPAS, PA-C, was recently named a distinguished fellow of the American Academy of PAs (AAPA).
Quinene is the academic coordinator for the Department of Physician Assistant Studies. She earned her undergraduate degree in education and taught biology before deciding to go to PA school. Her goal always was to return to PA education.
New MLS program director plans to continue legacy of excellence
Assistant Professor Gerardo Ramos, MS, Ph.D. MLS (ASCP), F-ABFT, officially assumed the duties of Medical Laboratory Sciences program director on Jan. 1.
“The first goal is to continue the legacy of excellence,” established by his predecessor, former Program Director and Associate Professor Cheryl Burns, M.S., MLS (ASCP), Ramos said. “She has done an amazing job.”
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