Quicklinks
School of Health Professions
Results: 165 news stories
Students assemble clean birth kits and find other ways to serve
By Kate Hunger
Three hundred mothers and their newborns in Nigeria will experience safer births using the clean birth kits physician assistant studies students created in December.
The Class of 2021 partnered with the nonprofit Global Health Charities to reduce infant and maternal mortality internationally. The effort was spearheaded by Evan Bridges and McKenzie Humphrey, global service coordinator and service coordinator for the Class of 2021, respectively.
Occupational therapy professor is appointed to two associate editorships
Assistant Professor of Occupational Therapy Ana Allegretti, Ph.D., ATP, OTR, has been appointed as an associate editor for two assistive technology journals.
OT student receives scholarship honoring late OT professor
Stephanie Urigwe already had a master’s degree in public health when she decided to become an occupational therapist.
“I was yearning for a connection with patients and working with people in their daily lives and needs,” she said. “You really get to connect with people where they are in their illness or whatever they are going through. You help them form their goals and work with them to reach those goals. That's what I liked about OT.”
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.
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 UT Health San Antonio and Coventry University in England enabled Schwein and other UT Health students to attend online summer seminars with other students from around the world.
Campus COTAD chapter launches to promote diversity and inclusion in occupational therapy
The newly formed, student-led UT Health San Antonio 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 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.
OT and nursing faculty collaborate to help people with dementia and their caregivers
Two faculty members from the Department of Occupational Therapy are participating in an intervention program to help people with dementia and their caregivers.
SHP students created special moments through Tango Together project
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 Community Service Learning grant, said the project’s student leader Laura Gandy, a first-year Physical Therapy student.
SHP students receive awards for leadership, service, research and clinical excellence
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.
OT professor co-authored one of the most-cited articles in journal
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.
OT student is TOTA student representative and Presidential Ambassador Scholar
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.
Inaugural TSAHP student leadership development program kicks off
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.
Henzi’s 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.
School’s new Ph.D. program to launch in Fall 2020
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.
PA and OT departments host graduations
The Departments of Occupational Therapy and Physician Assistant Studies held their graduation ceremonies on Dec. 13.
The Occupational Therapy master’s students represented the final class of MOT students to graduate from the Department of Occupational Therapy, which has transitioned from a master’s program to a doctoral program. The ceremony represented a “culmination and a close to our MOT program,” said Associate Professor and Department Chair Bridgette Piernik-Yoder, Ph.D., OTR.
OT alumna receives award from TOTA
Kathryn Crane, OTR, (MOT ’17) 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.
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.
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.
Virtual dissection tables are fully integrated into PA and OT curriculum
Students in the Departments of Physician Assistant Studies and Occupational Therapy have recently augmented their study of anatomy by using digital dissection tables as part of their curriculum.
SHP commencement includes first SLP class
For the first time ever, the School of Health Professions commencement was held at the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts.
About 150 students from Emergency Health Sciences, Medical Laboratory Sciences, Physical Therapy, Respiratory Care and Speech-Language Pathology participated in the May 18 ceremony, said David Henzi, Ed.D., Associate Dean for Academic and Student Affairs, Occupational Therapy and Physician Assistant Studies graduations were held in December.
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
