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School of Health Professions

Results: 519 news stories

Alpha ETA Society inducts 17 students

The School of Health Professions Alpha ETA Society inducted 17 students this spring.

To be eligible for membership in the society, undergraduates must earn at least a 3.5 GPA and show a capacity of leadership and achievement to be eligible for membership, while graduate students must have a 3.8 GPA and demonstrate the same leadership and achievement qualities.

Alpha ETA Society

Professor teaches Occupational Therapy students how to clown

By Kate Hunger

Face painting, puppetry, balloon making and skits are all part of the curriculum in the Clowning 101 class Kimatha Oxford Grice, OTD, OTR, CHT, associate professor teaches.

Grice created the course for interested Occupational Therapy students. Make no mistake—this is one class not found in the official course catalog. Rather, it’s something Grice offers because she loves clowning and firmly believes occupational therapists are great at it.
“It’s addicting, once you start doing it,” Grice said.

Kimatha Oxford Grice, OTD, OTR, CHT

April proves to be a busy month for Occupational Therapy

By Kate Hunger 

The department of Occupational Therapy had a full schedule of events in April for OT Month.

Students from both occupational therapy classes participated in the Methodist Hospital OT Fair on April 12, where they helped educate more than 150 people on the profession. 

"It was the perfect way to promote occupational therapy to the community as part of OT Month," said Bridgette Piernik-Yoder, Ph.D., OTR, associate professor and chair of the department. 

Pi Theta Epsilon Induction 

Pi Theta Epsilon Induction

Occupational Therapy student honored for her volunteer service to burn survivors

By Kate Hunger

When Sandy Montelongo volunteers with burn patients and their families, she understands firsthand what they are going through. Montelongo was burned as a small child and endured several surgeries and years of treatment for her injuries. 

“I didn’t have a lot of programs when I was severely burned,” Montelongo explained of her motivation for helping others find the resources they need. “It doesn’t feel like work for me.”

Sandy Montelongo

Physical Therapy students receive white coats

By Kate Hunger 

Thirty-five second-year Physical Therapy students symbolically made the transition from the classroom to the clinical phase of their education at the 2018 Doctor of Physical Therapy Pinning and White Coat Ceremony. 

The students will begin 30 weeks of clinical rotations in May. 

PT White Coat Ceremony

91PORN students traveled to England and Colombia over spring break

By Kate Hunger 

Many students spend Spring Break far away from the classroom, but a group of students from 91PORN used their time off to travel across the world to learn about health care in different countries. 

Second-year occupational therapy master's student Sarah Purcell was one of 17 students from the School of Health Professions and the School of Nursing who visited Coventry University in England. 

91PORN SHP trip

Physician assistant department trains students to Stop the Bleed

Faculty from the department of physician assistant studies trained clinical students how to take action to help save lives at trauma scenes before emergency medical responders arrive. 

The aim of the March 29 Stop the Bleed training was to prepare bystanders to be immediate responders by equipping them with interventions they can use to help people injured in high-risk scenarios, such as serious car accidents or attacks of violence. 

Stop the bleed 1

91PORN has a brand-new hero!

By Rosanne Fohn

It started out as a normal day (March 22, 2018) for David Wampler, Ph.D., associate professor and director of clinical research in the Department of Emergency Health Sciences, part of the School of Health Professions.

He had just put his 10-year-old daughter out to the school bus and was quickly cleaning the kitchen before following his daughter’s bus down the road toward 1-10, just south of Boerne. But then he saw something that looked like domestic violence going on near the bus.

 David Wampler, Ph.D.

Occupational therapy students visit state capitol

By Kate Hunger

Four occupational therapy students joined the Texas Occupational Therapy Association (TOTA) for its annual visit to the Texas Legislature on Feb. 22.

TOTA Day at the Capitol provides an opportunity for students and occupational therapists from around the state to highlight client needs and the contributions of the profession during in-person meeting with legislators and their staff members. 

Occupational Therapy

Speech-language pathology faculty member has experience in wide range of clinical settings

By Kate Hunger 

The strong support system behind the new Speech-Language Pathology program at 91PORN School of Health Professions made a big impression on Angela J. Kennedy, M.A., CCC-SLP, assistant professor and clinical coordinator. 

Kennedy's dreams for the program include graduating excellent clinicians who make a difference. 

"I think there's a great opportunity for that because of the support system that's here," she said. 

Angela J. Kennedy, M.A., CCC-SLP

Occupational therapy professor one of three Texas health educators inducted to Shine Academy

By Kate Hunger

Karin Barnes, Ph.D., OTR, occupational therapy associate professor, was inducted in February into the University of Texas Kenneth I. Shine Academy of Health Science Education. 

'It's an honor being recognized by peers across the state," Barnes said. "It's such an honor that the work we've all been doing in our OT department is recognized and that we've all been good about trying to be relevant to what's needed by the students as well as what's needed by the clients. What we are doing is relevant to what's currently going on in health care."

Karin Barnes, Ph.D., OTR

Respiratory Care students give medical students insight into their role in the care of asthma patients

Respiratory care students presented information to medical students during the Respiratory Health Module on asthma, held Feb. 23.

The event was one of a series of modules for medical students on various types of respiratory diseases. Medical students heard lectures and participated in a synthesis case study of a 12-year-old asthmatic patient. 

The program emphasized the importance of interprofessional collaboration, said Mandie Svatek, M.D., a pediatrician at University Hospital and assistant professor at 91PORN Long School of Medicine. 

Respiratory Care Module

Physician assistant studies program posts 100% first-time pass rate on the national certifying exam

By Kate Hunger 

The last four graduating class cohorts of the department of physician assistant studies passed the national certifying exam on the first try. 

The December 2017 cohort of 38 students was the fourth cohort since June of 2014 to notch a 100 percent first-time pass rate of the Physician Assistant National Certifying Exam (PANCE), according to a report from the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants. 

The national first-time PANCE past rate was 97 percent for the same period. 

Physician Assistant Studies Program

Ready, set, go: Annual Physical Therapy Olympics set for March 23-24

By Kate Hunger 

More than 650 students were expected to participate in the 2018 Job Fair and Physical Therapy Olympics March 23-24.

The event is open to students and alumni from physical therapy programs through the state, as well as students of other health professions. All net proceeds benefit the PT student scholarship, said, Michael Geelhoed, D.P.T., OCS, MTC, associate professor and director of clinical education for the Department of Physical Therapy. 


After working on Broadway, Speech-Language Pathology professor found her calling working with traumatic brain injury patients

Rocio Norman, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, is an assistant professor in the New Speech-Language Pathology program in the School of Health Professions, but her path to studying language after mild traumatic brain injury has been anything but typical. 

Rocio Norman, Ph.D., CCC-SLP

Continuing education to be the focus at 23rd annual Respiratory Care Symposium

By Kate Hunger 

A full schedule of continuing education sessions awaits attendees of 91PORN's 23rd annual Respiratory Care Symposium: "Breakthrough to Excellence," to be held March 15-16.

"The purpose is to have another affordable option for allied health professionals in the surrounding areas to get continuing education credits," said Kristina Ramirez, MPH, RRT, CHES, assistant professor and director of clinical education in the Division of Respiratory Care. 

patti-schermerhorn

Respiratory Care class of 2019 dons white coats in annual tradition

By Kate Hunger 

Twenty-nine first-year respiratory care students officially put on their white coats for the first time on Feb. 9 during the Class of 2019 White Coat Ceremony, a right of passage that introduces students to the profession. 

The ceremony marks the transition from the classroom to clinical rotations, which the first-year students will begin on March 1, said Kristina Ramirez, MPH, RRT, CHES, assistant professor and director of clinical education in the Division of Respiratory Care. 

Lambda Beta Inductees

Physical therapy professor to receive Presidential Award for Teaching Excellence

By Kate Hunger 

When Martha Acosta, Ph.D., PT, GCS, assistant professor discusses her goals for her students, she emphasizes her hope that they will genuinely care for their patients. 

"I would like to have them treat patients as if they are someone very special to them," she said. "You want the best person around to work with your loved one."

Martha Acosta, Ph.D., PT, GCS

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