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School of Health Professions

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Reflections on SHP graduating classes

By Kate Hunger 

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

Graduation 2020

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.

OT

SLP program well represented at TSHA conference

By Kate Hunger 

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.

slp

OT and nursing faculty collaborate to help people with dementia and their caregivers

By Kate Hunger 

Two faculty members from the Department of Occupational Therapy are participating in an intervention program to help people with dementia and their caregivers.

Oshusha

SHP students created special moments through Tango Together project

By Kate Hunger

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 厙惇勛圖 Service Learning grant, said the projects student leader Laura Gandy, a first-year Physical Therapy student.

Tango

COVID-19 highlights the expertise of respiratory therapists

By Kate Hunger 

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. 

Shelledy

SHP students receive awards for leadership, service, research and clinical excellence

By Kate Hunger

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.

Presidential Awards

PA professor still relies on her medical laboratory sciences training

By Kate Hunger 

Department of Physician Assistant Studies Admissions Chair and Assistant Clinical Professor Leticia Bland wasnt 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.

Bland

OT student is TOTA student representative and Presidential Ambassador Scholar

By Kate Hunger 

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.

Jennifer

Physical Therapy students present at national conference

By Kate Hunger 

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. 

APTA

OT professor co-authored one of the most-cited articles in journal

By Kate Hunger 

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.

Allegretti

Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders to offer leveling program

By Kate Hunger 

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.

CDS

PA Studies professor named distinguished fellow of AAPA

By Kate Hunger 

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.

Quinene

Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders to offer leveling program

By Kate Hunger 

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.


New MLS program director plans to continue legacy of excellence

By Kate Hunger 

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.

Ramos

PA Studies graduates post 100% first-time pass rate on national exam

By Kate Hunger

All of the Physician Assistant Studies class of 2019 graduates who took the national certifying exam passed on their first try, making the programs five-year first-time pass rate average 100%.

Forty-four students took the Physician Assistant National Certifying Exam (PANCE) between December and Feb. 1, said PA Studies Program Director, Chair and Assistant Professor Paul B. Allen, Sr., DSc, MPAS, PA-C, FAAPA. 

PANCE

New MLS faculty member has worked around the world

By Kate Hunger 

Assistant Professor Terri Murphy-Sanchez, CSMLS, ASCP, has lived and worked in three different countries, a global experience she said was made possible by the medical laboratory science profession.

I like to think our profession is very portable and a great stepping stone, said Murphy-Sanchez, who joined the Medical Laboratory Sciences faculty in August 2019. 

Medical Laboratory Sciences

Inaugural TSAHP student leadership development program kicks off

By Kate Hunger 

Associate Dean for Academic and Student Affairs David Henzi, Ed.D., is co-directing the first student leadership program offered by the Texas Society of Allied Health Professions (TSAHP).

The goal is to train future leaders in different health profession programs, Henzi said, noting that the program is interprofessional by design. 

Henzis co-director is fellow TSAHP board member Lynette Watts, Ph.D., RT(R), associate professor at The Shimadzu School of Radiologic Sciences at Midwestern State University. 

TSAHP

Schools new Ph.D. program to launch in Fall 2020

By Kate Hunger 

The School of Health Professions is adding a Ph.D. in Health Sciences to help meet the demand for allied health faculty and researchers with doctoral degrees.

The program also will help support evidence-based practice and outcomes research in allied health, said School of Health Professions Dean David C. Shelledy, Ph.D., RRT, FAARC, FASAHP.

This will be helpful for our school, other schools of allied health in Texas and for colleges and universities around the country, Shelledy said.

PhD in Health Sciences

Physical Therapy faculty member publishes article comparing regenerative injections to corticosteroids for treatment of tennis elbow

By Kate Hunger

Regenerative injections are more effective for long-term healing of tennis elbow than corticosteroids, according to a systematic review and meta-analysis by Assistant Professor Julie Barnett, PT, D.P.T., MTC.

Barnett

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