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Respiratory Care professor treated COVID-19 patients in South Texas
By Kate Hunger
Respiratory Care Assistant Professor and Director of Clinical Education Kristina Ramirez, MPH, RRT, CHES, FCCP, spent two weeks this summer treating COVID-19 patients in South Texas.
Ramirez was deployed to Laredo and Edinburg by a recruiting agency that works with the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
“They send you to areas that are overwhelmed and understaffed and need as much help as they can get,” she said. “It was a great opportunity and very rare, so I was excited to be able to work on the front lines.”
PA Studies Gains New Faculty Member
Associate Professor Owen T. Hill, Ph.D., joined Department of Physician Assistant Studies on Aug. 1 and will retire as a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army on Sept. 1 after 32 years of active service.
Hill, MPAS, PA-C, earned his Ph.D. in epidemiology in 2006 and is a board-certified physician assistant specializing in epidemiology and emergency medicine.
Experiment by MLS faculty demonstrates effectiveness of masks and distancing
Two faculty in the Division of Medical Laboratory Science conducted an experiment to demonstrate the impact of masks and social distancing in reducing the spread of potentially contagious aerosols – including COVID-19. Aerosols are a suspension of tiny particles or droplets in the air.
Conducted in July, the experiment was a collaboration with , which reported on the results.
PT student completes inaugural interprofessional student leadership program
School of Health Professions second-year physical therapy student Kevin Hamilton was one of 10 students from graduate schools across Texas to complete the first Texas Society of Allied Health Professions Student Leadership Development Program.
Designed to train future leaders in health professions, the seven-session, synchronous online program began in February and ran through August. The pandemic didn’t impact the sessions, which had been planned as virtual to allow student participants to remotely attend readings and online discussions.
OT professor and colleagues publish paper on dementia-friendly communities
Occupational Therapy Clinical Assistant Professor Laura Novak, OTD, OTR, BCG, is the lead author of an article on dementia-friendly communities that was published in Current Geriatrics Reports in August.
Pediatric speech-language summer telepractice program was a success
Speech-language pathology graduate student Caleb Mize admits to being a little anxious about providing quality pediatric speech-language services via an online platform during a pandemic.
Yet the experience of participating in CONNECT, a summer telepractice pediatric program created by the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders Clinical Coordinator and Assistant Professor Angela Kennedy, SLP-D, CCC-SLP, turned out to be inspiring, Mize said.
Students attend virtual summer seminars hosted by Coventry University
Like many people who enjoy traveling and meeting new people, Caitlin Schwein found her opportunities to do so drastically hampered by the COVID-19 pandemic. But a partnership between Թ and Coventry University in England enabled Schwein and other Թ students to attend online summer seminars with other students from around the world.
Physical Therapy professor to study impact of blood flow restriction training in patients awaiting total knee replacement
Physical Therapy Assistant Professor Gustavo Almeida, PT, Ph.D., received a $10,000 grant from the School of Health Professions Pilot Seed Grant Program this spring for a pilot study into the effectiveness of blood flow restriction exercise for patients with knee osteoarthritis before they undergo total knee replacement.
Department of Physical Therapy earns 10-year accreditation
The Department of Physical Therapy has received its 10-year accreditation from the Commission of Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE).
Professor to study language skills in bilingual children
Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders Assistant Professor Casey Taliancich-Klinger, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, received a pilot seed grant from the School of Health Professions to research language skills characteristics in bilingual children with and without developmental language disorder.
MLS alumna is lab manager for seven oncology clinics
When Rebecca Jasso reflects on what persuaded her to enroll in the clinical laboratory science program at Թ, she credits two people: her father and Cheryl Burns M.S., MLS (ASCP) Associate Professor.
“My father, who is a fellow Թ graduate, led me to the degree, as he recognized my strengths in the field of science,” Jasso says. “He found the program and got me in contact with a faculty member.”
Department of Health Sciences chair receives Piper Professor Award
When the Department of Health Sciences Chair and Professor George Kudolo, Ph.D., CPC, FAIC, FAACC, was in college, he had a professor who delighted in delivering detailed lectures on the nervous system of the cockroach. The professor was so enthusiastic about his subject, he made a lasting impression on Kudolo.
“I also wanted to be the person to make every subject I teach as interesting as possible,” Kudolo said.
Speech-language pathology professor continues research on mild traumatic brain injury in veterans
Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders Assistant Professor Rocío Norman, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, is beginning the second year of a three-year research project through the Mentored Research Career Development (KL2) Program in Clinical and Translational Science.
Speech-language pathology offers pediatric teletherapy summer program
The Speech-Language Pathology program is hosting CONNECT, a summer teletherapy program for pediatric patients.
Campus COTAD chapter launches to promote diversity and inclusion in occupational therapy
The newly formed, student-led Թ chapter of the Coalition of Occupational Therapy Advocates for Diversity (COTAD) launched this spring.
Founded by the American Occupational Therapy Association Emerging Leaders Development Program in 2014, COTAD is a national organization that promotes inclusion and diversity within the profession.
Lauryn Martin, a second-year occupational therapy student, and chapter chair saw a need for the chapter when she arrived on campus and found a few minority student groups.
SHP students volunteer at campus COVID screening stations
When third-year Physician Assistant Studies student Kaitlyn Corbett learned about the need for volunteers to screen people entering Թ 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.
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