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By Kate Hunger

Thirty-eight School of Health Professions students were inducted this spring into the campus chapter of the Alpha Eta Society, the national honor society of the allied health professions.

School of Health Professions Dean David C. Shelledy, PhD, RRT, FAARC, FASAHP, congratulated the inductees for their accomplishment in the April 13 ceremony. 

“The motto of Alpha Eta is ‘Together we serve,’” Dr. Shelledy told the inductees. “The society represents all of allied health as it seeks to promote and recognize significant scholarship, leadership and service contributions to our professions and, more importantly, to our patients.”

The first Alpha Eta chapter was chartered at the University of Florida in 1975. The �����Թ� chapter was established in 2002.

“Today there are more than 90 university chapters with more than 35,000 members, including most of the academic medical centers in Texas,” Dr. Shelledy said. 

To be eligible for membership in the society, undergraduates must earn at least a 3.5 grade point average, and graduate students must earn at least a 3.8 GPA. All inductees must demonstrate leadership and achievement. No more than 20 percent of the graduating class of a program may be invited to join the society in an academic year, and a maximum of two students from programs of less than 10 students may be invited in an academic year. 

2021 student inductees include:

Communication Sciences and Disorders: Lauren Capicio, Sharon Lo-Hsuan Chang, Mitzi Rachelle Hardeman, Robyn Hernandez, Paolo Huerta, Leslie Lewis and Christina Josephine Rose

Emergency Health Sciences: Joshua Adam Brady and Jonathan Isaac Henderson

Medical Laboratory Sciences: Vanessa Jaqueline Alba, Ana Alicia Carrera, Katherine Regina Castro, Sandili Sol Chauncey and Damilola Deborah Daniels

Occupational Therapy: Fernanda Cortes-Ramirez, Erin Hobbs, Marissa Konde, Morgan Vasquez, Madeline Martin, Jennifer Sanchez-Morales, Garrett Saucedo and Bailey Wallace

Physical Therapy: Morgan Hoffmann, Darrian Mezulic, Karina Moreno-Flores Rash, Sean Parham, Melissa Whitman, Makenzie Cochran, Megan Ingram and Alejandra Ordaz

Respiratory Care: Wan-Hsuan Chuang, Katherine Faul, Emily Furrh, Paige Grizzle, Jelena Lara, Anthony Mendoza, Amanda Teekell and Katherine Wilks.

Eight physician assistant studies students were inducted into the society in the fall of 2020. They include: Brittany Jaclin Dawson, Laura Tu Anh Nguyen, Amanda Paulina Cardoza, Holly Kathleen Casillas, Jeffrey Warren Jones, Holly Maria Offenberger, Mackenzie Paige Kyler and Kelcey Nicole Carrillo.

The chapter includes 16 faculty members. This year’s faculty inductees will be inducted in May. Meredith Quinene, DHSc, MPAS, PA-C, DFAAPA, assistant professor and academic coordinator for the Department of Physician Assistant Studies, was inducted into the society in the fall of 2020.