Thriving in health professions: Faculty attend Texas Society for Advancing Health Professions conference
Faculty and students from the School of Health Professions attended the Texas Society for Advancing Health Professions 48th Annual Conference in September at UT MD Anderson's School of Health Professions in Houston.
In keeping with the conference’s theme of “Resiliency in Health Professions: Thriving, Not Just Surviving,” Master of Science in Imaging Sciences Assistant Professor Sarah Fitch-Hawkins, MSRS, RT(R)(CT)(ARRT), gave a podium presentation titled “Who am I on This Team? Building Professional Identity and Interprofessional Confidence to Reduce Early Career Burnout.”
"Presenting at TSAHP was a wonderful opportunity to share a topic that has become very meaningful to me — how professional identity, role confidence and belonging develop alongside clinical competence,” Fitch-Hawkins said. “I especially enjoyed connecting with colleagues across allied health disciplines and sharing ideas about how we can more intentionally support students and new professionals as they develop both competence and confidence in their roles."
The conference included a student poster competition. Doctor of Occupational Therapy student Ashlyn Fisher won third place for the virtual poster presentation entitled “Rural Access and Social Determinants in Occupational Therapy Service Delivery: Thriving Beyond Barriers,” with Vice Dean for Research Timothy Reistetter, PhD, OTR, FAOTA, and Yeonju Jin, of Yonsei University, Wonju, Gangwon, South Korea.
TSAHP is attended by health professions educators, administrators, and deans; representatives and lobbyists of professional allied health and health profession organizations and agencies, and TSAHP members and board members. Venessa Kodosky, PhD, MEd, assistant professor and director of academic assessment and compliance for the School of Health Professions, is president-elect of the organization.