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Respiratory Care Assistant Professor Tabatha Dragonberry leads online education programs
By Kate Hunger
Tabatha Dragonberry, DHSc, MBA, MEd, RRT-NPS, RRT-ACCS, AE-C, CPFT, C-NPT, assistant professor and director of online education for the Division of Respiratory Care, is keenly aware of both the potential and the pitfalls of distance education.
After all, Dr. Dragonberry has earned five online degrees.
“I’ve been a student of the good, the bad, and the ugly of online,” she said. “This position is allowing me to mix my varied skills across the continuum of my education in one place.”
EHS faculty member to retire after more than 30 years of service
When Vicky Smith arrived for her first shift as an EMT paramedic, she didn’t even have time to put down her gear before heading to the scene of an accident on a foggy coastal road. Smith and her team arrived to find four teenagers dead and another critically injured. The trauma of that first shift briefly caused Smith to question her decision to pursue a career as an emergency medical responder, but she stayed and built a career that spanned four decades.
MLS instructor researches antigen frequency among Hispanic blood donors
Tiffany Roerich Wafford, MLS, SBB (ASCP), a Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences instructor, noticed something when she was typing donor blood in her previous role as supervisor of an immunohematology reference laboratory.
“I started noticing that the frequency of the antigens didn’t match up with what you see in the Caucasian population and saw some matched up with the African American population,” she said.
When she sought to learn more about what she was seeing in the lab, Wafford discovered a dearth of data.
School of Health Professions faculty and students assist in vaccination effort
Faculty and students of the Department of Physician Assistant Studies administered vaccinations during the on-campus COVID-19 vaccination effort that rolled out in mid-December, while Emergency Health Sciences faculty worked to schedule vaccinations set aside for area medical responders.
PT professor researches blood flow restriction training as an RL5 scholar
Department of Physical Therapy Assistant Professor Gustavo Almeida, PT, Ph.D., is exploring how blood flow restriction exercises during rehabilitation can help people with knee osteoarthritis strengthen their muscles with less physical exertion—and less pain. His research recently received a major boost with his selection as an RL5 Scholar by the San Antonio Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center (SA OAIC).
PA Studies holds first virtual commencement
When the Department of Physician Assistant Studies held its first virtual commencement via Zoom on Dec. 4, the audience logged in from around the country and the world.
About 200 of Kavita Jaiswal’s friends and family—many of whom live in India—were able to share her special moment.
“I am the first person to graduate in medicine in my family and extended family,” she said. “They are so proud of me.”
Department of Physical Therapy
When it appeared COVID-19 could jeopardize the graduation timeline for the Department of Physical Therapy Class of 2021, students came up with a solution.
“Our Class of 2021 was supposed to go out on clinical rotations in May this year, but obviously that was a time when things were bad and a lot of our clinical rotations were canceled,” said Department Chair and Associate Professor Greg Ernst, Ph.D., ECS.
Speech-language pathology students raise money for ALS
Speech-language pathology student Leslie Lewis loves to be a part of the moments that matter in life, something her future profession will allow her to do regularly.
Respiratory care students have standardized patient encounters
First-semester respiratory care students had the opportunity in November to perform their first examination of a living, breathing patient during standardized patient encounters.
“This is a hands on with a real live person—no mannequins,” said Assistant Professor–Clinical Thomas Stokes, M.A., RRT. “It’s preclinical. This is their first semester in the program. They are in labs and doing didactic learning.”
Occupational therapy professor is appointed to two associate editorships
Assistant Professor of Occupational Therapy Ana Allegretti, Ph.D., ATP, OTR, has been appointed as an associate editor for two assistive technology journals.
Speech-language pathology professor’s study continues despite COVID-19
Speech-language pathology Assistant Professor RocĂo Norman, Ph.D., never thought she would be donning personal protective gear to conduct a study of mild traumatic brain injury.
Yet despite the challenges, Norman and Tara Flaugher, the UTSA neurobiology doctoral student she is working with on the study, have been able to collect data from human subjects during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Physical Therapy professor’s collaborations yield robust research program
Physical Therapy Assistant Professor Gustavo Almeida, PT, Ph.D., joined the faculty in June 2019. Since that time he has pursued a range of collaborations that he credits for helping him establish a robust research program. “The summer was very productive,” he said.
Two Physical Therapy students receive scholarships from TSAHP
The Texas Society of Allied Health Professions (TSAHP) has awarded scholarships to two students in the Department of Physical Therapy.
Third-year student Peter Trinh and second-year student Kevin Hamilton received the $500 awards because of their outstanding academic achievement and service to the community and profession, said Associate Dean for Academic and Student Affairs David L. Henzi, Ed.D.
MLS program earns 10-year accreditation
The Medical Laboratory Sciences program received its 10-year accreditation this year from the National Accreditation Agency for Clinical Laboratory Sciences (NAACLS).
NAACLS accreditation is an external peer review process conducted by educators in the profession. The process assures the quality of programs, including their efforts to innovate and ensure the safety of patients, said Assistant Professor Terri Murphy-Sanchez, CSMLS, ASCP, interim program director of the Division of Medical Laboratory Sciences.
PA professor began her career as a respiratory therapist
Tiffani Burgin, MPAS, PA-C, worked as a respiratory therapist for 10 years before deciding to go to school to become a physician assistant.
“Medicine has its own language, and it’s not easy to learn a new language as you are learning new information, so I had the advantage of having most of the medical language under my belt prior to PA school,” said Burgin, now clinical coordinator and assistant professor in the Department of Physician Assistant Studies—the same program from which she graduated in 2006.
PA students to receive career tips during virtual session
The Physician Assistant Studies Class of 2020 will learn the finer points of preparing for a job search during a virtual career information session planned for next month.
The Zoom session, scheduled for Oct. 6 at 6 p.m., is open to students graduating from the Physician Assistant Studies program in December, said Class President Caitlin Schwein. The event’s featured speaker will be John Kodosky, DHSc, MPAS, PA-C, a clinical instructor in the Department of Orthopaedics at Íř±¬łÔąĎ’s Long School of Medicine.
Speech-language pathology program gains new faculty member
Assistant Professor Cathy Torrington Eaton, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, joined the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders in September.
“My goal has always been to start and develop a research program,” Eaton said. “I am thrilled to be at Íř±¬łÔąĎ because this position will enable me to do that.”
Emergency Health Sciences professor lived a life of service
Emergency Health Sciences Assistant Professor Craig A. Manifold, DO, FACEP, FAAEM, FAEMS, passed away on Sept. 20.
Manifold, a national leader in emergency medicine and emergency medical services, was also the medical director of the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians.
Physical Therapy students post 100% first-time pass rate on national exam
All 38 Physical Therapy students who took the National Physical Therapy Examination this summer passed on the first try.
The school’s 100% first-time pass rate puts it in the company of a select number of programs in the country, said Department Chair and Associate Professor Greg Ernst, PT, Ph.D., ECS.
The national average pass rate was 93%. In 2019, just eight programs out of 250 had a 100% first-time pass rate, he said.
One student from the graduating class will take the exam in October.
OT student receives scholarship honoring late OT professor
Stephanie Urigwe already had a master’s degree in public health when she decided to become an occupational therapist.
“I was yearning for a connection with patients and working with people in their daily lives and needs,” she said. “You really get to connect with people where they are in their illness or whatever they are going through. You help them form their goals and work with them to reach those goals. That's what I liked about OT.”
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