Quicklinks
School of Health Professions
Results: 525 news stories
PA and OT departments host graduations
By Kate Hunger
The Departments of Occupational Therapy and Physician Assistant Studies held their graduation ceremonies on Dec. 13.
The Occupational Therapy masterās students represented the final class of MOT students to graduate from the Department of Occupational Therapy, which has transitioned from a masterās program to a doctoral program. The ceremony represented a āculmination and a close to our MOT program,ā said Associate Professor and Department Chair Bridgette Piernik-Yoder, Ph.D., OTR.
MLS students participate in interprofessional educational experience
First-year medical students and first-year medical laboratory science students learned how to improve communication between clinical staff and the laboratory during an inaugural interprofessional educational experience in November.
āWe worked through a few of the common barriers to communication between the clinical staff and the laboratory,ā said Assistant Professor Cordelia Kudika, MA, CHS (ABHI), who also is director of clinical education for MLS.
AARP Texas features EHS instructor in video
Department of Emergency Health Sciences adjunct faculty instructor Conrad M. Gonzales, Jr., is featured in a video by AARP Texas.
The video was posted on the AARP Texas Facebook page in September to celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month. In it, Gonzales shares his personal philosophy.
āI look at it this way: If I can save a life, I have made a difference, and I think thatās my passion ā to try to make a difference,ā he says.
Speech-language pathology professor, students present at community engagement symposium
A professor and two graduate students from the Department of Communication Sciences and Disordersā speech-language pathology program participated in the 2019 Institute for Integration of Medicine & Science (IIMS) Ķų±¬³Ō¹Ļ Engagement Symposium.
PT professor co-authored article that finds increased prescription of medication for patients with KOA
Physical Therapy Assistant Professor Gustavo Almeida, PT, Ph.D., co-authored an article accepted for publication in Arthritis Care and Research that shows an increase in physician prescriptions for medication and a decrease in physical therapy referrals and lifestyle counseling for patients with knee osteoarthritis.
OT alumna receives award from TOTA
Kathryn Crane, OTR, (MOT ā17) received the 2019 Horizon Award from the Texas Occupational Therapy Association at its annual conference on Nov. 2.
The award acknowledges outstanding contributions to the profession by an occupational therapy practitioner who has been in the profession for fewer than five years.
PA students present at international healthcare communication conference
Health insurance can be complicated and intimidating, says Ana Diaz, a Physician Assistant Studies student set to graduate in December.
PA students research the impact of a smartphone app on patientsā health insurance literacy
Thatās why Diaz, along with nine Physician Assistant Studies students, two medical students and four pharmacy students, participated in an interdisciplinary, community service-learning project aimed at increasing community health literacy. Their goal: To test the effectiveness of a smartphone app designed to improve community health insurance literacy in a clinical setting.
New ā3+2ā program enables students to earn a bachelorās and a masterās degree in respiratory care in 5 years
The School of Health Professions and the University of Texas at San Antonio in October launched a new program for undergraduate students interested in pursuing a masterās in respiratory care.
The Respiratory Care Early Acceptance Program (RCEAP) allows undergraduate UTSA students majoring in biology or kinesiology to receive conditional acceptance to Ķų±¬³Ō¹Ļ. Upon completing the program, students will have earned a bachelor of science in biology or kinesiology and a masterās in respiratory care.
First speech-language pathology cohort hit 100% rates for graduation, passing national exam and landing jobs
All 15 students in the first cohort of the speech-language pathology masterās program graduated on time, passed their national exam on the first try and landed jobs within two months of graduation.
Two-thirds of the class had lined up jobs before graduation, said Associate Professor Fang-Ling Lu, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, speech-language pathology program director and interim chair of the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders.
Professor elected president of Texas Physical Therapy Association
Michael Geelhoed, PT, DPT, Associate Professor and Director of Clinical Education was elected President of the Texas Physical Therapy Association (TPTA) in October.
Geelhoed previously has served TPTA as vice president, delegate-at-large and chief delegate, and he is president of the Texas PT Foundation. The election coincided with National PT Month.
āI chose to become a PT because I have always believed in healing the body through exercise,ā he said.
Respiratory care students train PA studies students on mechanical ventilation
Second-year respiratory care students showed Physician Assistant Studies students how to use five different types of mechanical ventilators in training sessions held Oct. 21.
Mariana Castillo is one of five respiratory care students who provided the training to 46 first-year Physician Assistant Studies students. She trained students on the Servo-U ventilator, explained how to customize settings for different patients and provided patient scenarios.
PT professor chosen for selective grant-writing workshop
Assistant Professor of Physical Therapy Gustavo Almeida, PT, Ph.D., has been selected to be a mentee of the Training in Grantsmanship for Rehabilitation Research (TIGGRR) 2020.
The four-day intensive grant-writing workshop and mentorship program will be held at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, S.C., from Jan. 7ā11.
OT students simulate telehealth therapy sessions
Occupational Therapy doctoral students this summer learned how to use telehealth to deliver therapy services.
Occupational Therapy Associate Professor Karin Barnes, Ph.D., OTR, FAOTA, created the telehealth assignment as part of the Pediatric Service Delivery course she teaches for second-year OTD students. Forty-two students participated in the assignment.
Telehealth can help address challenges to providing occupational therapy services, such as transportation, work schedules and remote home or school locations.
Speech-language pathology program gains new faculty member
The Speech-Language Pathology masterās program welcomed a new faculty member in June.
Assistant Professor Casey Taliancich-Klinger, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, grew up bilingual in South Texas.
āIāve always had an interest in language and communication, so I felt this was the right field for me,ā she said.
Taliancich-Klinger earned a Ph.D. and masterās degree in Speech Language Pathology, as well as bachelorās degrees in Spanish and Communication Sciences & Disorders, all from The University of Texas at Austin.
Inspired to help others, SLP student receives immunology scholarship
Second-year Speech-Language Pathology graduate student Joy-Alexandra Sabattus was diagnosed with juvenile idiopathic arthritis at the age of 17.
āI wanted nothing to do with this disease,ā she said of her initial response to her diagnosis. āI was very hard-headed and would push myself harder in a lot of ways.ā
PT faculty and alumnae publish article in national journal
Two Ķų±¬³Ō¹Ļ physical therapy professors and two alumnae of the Doctor of Physical Therapy program have published an article in a national journal on the attitudes of students toward the homeless.
The article, āAttitudes of Physical Therapy Students Toward the Population Currently Experiencing Homelessness,ā appeared in the fall issue of the Journal of Allied Health.
Surgical resident found passion for patient care in the EHS program
Raised in a military family, Michael Sippel moved frequently growing up. When he graduated high school, he wasnāt enthused about jumping into a four-year college setting.
So he took his dadās advice and enrolled in an emergency medical technician program at Ķų±¬³Ō¹Ļ. When he realized he was interested in studying medicine, he enrolled in the paramedic program. That training led him to apply to the Emergency Health Sciences bachelorās program, which he attended while working full-time as a paramedic.
EHS faculty member seeks to identify victims of human trafficking
Emergency Health Sciences Assistant Clinical Professor and Civilian Training Officer Matt Short is leading a project to create a validated tool to identify victims of human trafficking encountered by emergency responders.
Short, the continuing education instructor for the San Antonio Fire Department, saw the need for such a tool after noticing gaps in several continuing education conferences he attended to renew his paramedic license.
SHP to host Frontera de Salud volunteer information session
Janna Roberts wants students in the School of Health Professions to know they are welcome to volunteer with Frontera de Salud, an interprofessional, student-run organization that provides preventive health services and education to the medically underserved in San Antonio and South Texas.
Subscribe to receive a monthly email newsletter with information on academic programs, events and campus news from the School of Health Professions.
First Name
Last Name
Email
