School of Health Professions

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School of Health Professions

Results: 541 news stories

OT professor and colleagues publish paper on dementia-friendly communities

By Kate Hunger 

 

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.

Laura Novak

Pediatric speech-language summer telepractice program was a success

By Kate Hunger 

Speech-language pathology graduate student Caleb Mize admits to being a little anxious about providing quality pediatric speech-language services via an online platform during a pandemic.

Yet the experience of participating in CONNECT, a summer telepractice pediatric program created by the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders Clinical Coordinator and Assistant Professor Angela Kennedy, SLP-D, CCC-SLP, turned out to be inspiring, Mize said. 

CONNECT

Students attend virtual summer seminars hosted by Coventry University

By Kate Hunger 

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.

Coventry

Physical Therapy professor to study impact of blood flow restriction training in patients awaiting total knee replacement

By Kate Hunger 

Physical Therapy Assistant Professor Gustavo Almeida, PT, Ph.D., received a $10,000 grant from the School of Health Professions Pilot Seed Grant Program this spring for a pilot study into the effectiveness of blood flow restriction exercise for patients with knee osteoarthritis before they undergo total knee replacement.

Gustavo Almeida

Department of Physical Therapy earns 10-year accreditation

By Kate Hunger 

The Department of Physical Therapy has received its 10-year accreditation from the Commission of Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE).

Physical Therapy

Professor to study language skills in bilingual children

By Kate Hunger 

Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders Assistant Professor Casey Taliancich-Klinger, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, received a pilot seed grant from the School of Health Professions to research language skills characteristics in bilingual children with and without developmental language disorder. 

Casey Taliancich-Klinger, Ph.D., CCC-SLP

MLS alumna is lab manager for seven oncology clinics

By Kate Hunger 

When Rebecca Jasso reflects on what persuaded her to enroll in the clinical laboratory science program at UT Health San Antonio, she credits two people: her father and Cheryl Burns M.S., MLS (ASCP) Associate Professor.

“My father, who is a fellow UT Health San Antonio graduate, led me to the degree, as he recognized my strengths in the field of science,” Jasso says. “He found the program and got me in contact with a faculty member.”

MLS

Department of Health Sciences chair receives Piper Professor Award

By Kate Hunger 

When the Department of Health Sciences Chair and Professor George Kudolo, Ph.D., CPC, FAIC, FAACC, was in college, he had a professor who delighted in delivering detailed lectures on the nervous system of the cockroach. The professor was so enthusiastic about his subject, he made a lasting impression on Kudolo.

“I also wanted to be the person to make every subject I teach as interesting as possible,” Kudolo said.

Kudolo

Speech-language pathology professor continues research on mild traumatic brain injury in veterans

By Kate Hunger 

Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders Assistant Professor Rocío Norman, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, is beginning the second year of a three-year research project through the Mentored Research Career Development (KL2) Program in Clinical and Translational Science.

Dr. Norman

Speech-language pathology offers pediatric teletherapy summer program

By Kate Hunger 

The Speech-Language Pathology program is hosting CONNECT, a summer teletherapy program for pediatric patients.

SLP Clinic

Campus COTAD chapter launches to promote diversity and inclusion in occupational therapy

By Kate Hunger 

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.

COTAD

SHP students volunteer at campus COVID screening stations

By Kate Hunger 

When third-year Physician Assistant Studies student Kaitlyn Corbett learned about the need for volunteers to screen people entering UT Health San Antonio campus buildings for symptoms of COVID-19, she signed up to help. She ended up working about a dozen shifts.
 
“At the time the PA clinical rotations were suspended, so I was seeking opportunities to serve in the community during the COVID crisis,” Corbett said. “It was a way to help support the (University) community. In a three-hour period we would screen more than 250 people.”

PA screen COVID19

SHP Students selected for Alpha Eta Society

By Kate Hunger 

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. 

Alpha Eta Society

Dr. Lu named chair of Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders

By Kate Hunger 

Associate Professor Fang-Ling Lu, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, has been named chair of the Department of Communications Sciences and Disorders, effective June 1. 

Lu joined the School of Health Professions in 2017 as founding program director of the five-semester speech-language pathology master’s program. The program welcomed its first cohort in the spring of 2018 and graduated its second cohort in May 2020. 

LU

Emergency Health Sciences student awarded diploma posthumously

By Kate Hunger 

Asante Sebastian Contreras, a student in the Department of Emergency Health Sciences Paramedic Certification Program, died in a traffic accident one week before he was to have completed the program.

The accident occurred as Contreras was driving home May 3 after finishing his shift as an emergency medical technician for an ambulance service in San Antonio. He had been scheduled to finish his practicum testing on May 4, followed by his final examinations. 

Asante Sebastian

Reflections on SHP graduating classes 

By Kate Hunger 

Spring and summer graduates from the School of Health Professions programs are beginning their careers at a time of significant challenge. Faculty and department leaders share their accomplishments and reflect on their hopes for the students as they launch their careers in the health professions.

Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders

Graduation 2020

OT , PT and dental students participate in an interprofessional collaboration

Occupational therapy, physical therapy, and dental students participated in an ongoing interprofessional collaboration this spring focused on ergonomics in health professions and the prevention of musculoskeletal disorders.

OT

SLP program well represented at TSHA conference

By Kate Hunger 

Faculty and students of the Speech-Language Pathology program in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders attended and presented at the Texas Speech Hearing Association annual convention in Houston in February.

slp

OT and nursing faculty collaborate to help people with dementia and their caregivers

By Kate Hunger 

Two faculty members from the Department of Occupational Therapy are participating in an intervention program to help people with dementia and their caregivers.

Oshusha

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