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School of Nursing alumna establishes endowment at School of Health Professions

By Kate Hunger 

An alumna of the School of Nursing has established an endowment that will support leadership efforts by School of Health Professions faculty in the area of rehabilitation. 

Debbie Oveland, BSN, MSN, and a board-certified family nurse practitioner, signed the agreement in June to establish the Oveland Family Leadership Endowment Fund in Rehabilitation and Research.

Debbie Oveland, BSN, MSN

Department of Physical Therapy welcomes its new chair

By Kate Hunger 

The department of physical therapy recently welcomed Alexis Ortiz, PT, Ph.D., SCS, CSCS, FACSM as its new chair and professor. 

Dr. Ortiz joined the faculty in May. He was most recently a tenured professor of physical therapy at Texas Woman's University. 

Alexis Ortiz, PT, Ph.d., SCS, CSCS, FACSM

UT Health San Antonio welcomes its first Doctor of Occupational Therapy class

By Kate Hunger 

The first class of Doctor of Occupational Therapy students visited the San Antonio Museum of Art this month to apply some of what they have been learning in the classroom. 

The entire class of 42 first-year OTD students visited SAMA on June 13, said Bridgette Piernik-Yoder, Ph.D., OTR associate professor and department chair who is teaching the course on the theoretical foundation of the profession. 

"The students were very excited about it," she said of the field trip. 

OTD at the SAMA

Physician Assistant students learn anatomy from trauma surgeons

By Kate Hunger

The Physician Assistant Studies program is trying something new this summer with its first-year Clinical Anatomy class. For the first time, trauma surgeons from the Department of Surgery are teaching the course, which consists of both classroom lectures and gross anatomy labs. 

Having surgeons teach the course gives students a deeper understanding of the clinical aspects of the subject matter, said Meredith Quinene, DHSc, MPAS, PA-C, assistant professor and academic coordinator. 

Physician Assistant Studies program

Physician Assistant Studies receives 10-year reaccreditation

By Kate Hunger 


The Physician Assistant Studies program received its 10-year continued accreditation in April.

The Accreditation Review Commission on the Education of the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA) is the independent accrediting agency that evaluates PA programs within the territorial United States to make sure they meet standards for PA education as defined by the agency.

Physician Assistant Studies Faculty

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

UT Health San Antonio 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 UT Health San Antonio 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. 

UT Health San Antonio 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

UT Health San Antonio 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 UT Health San Antonio 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 UT Health San Antonio Long School of Medicine. 

Respiratory Care Module

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