January 2014

• January 28, 2014: 9:00 AM-12:00 PM - Tomas Rivera Conference Center- Centennial Symposium on Resiliency and Hispanic Mental Health (Department of Social Work): Sergio Aguilar Gaxiola, MD, Ph.D.

February 2014

• February 20, 2014: 6:00-8:00 PM (Physical Therapy Program) Contemporary Topics in Orthopedic Rehabilitation Lecture Series-Part I
• Feb 26 and 27, 2014: Healthy Miner-Mini-Health Fair

March 2014

• March 6, 2014: 6:00-8:00 PM (Physical Therapy Program) Contemporary Topics in Orthopedic Rehabilitation Lecture Series- Part II
• March 20, 2014: 6:00-8:00 PM (Physical Therapy Program) Contemporary Topics in Orthopedic Rehabilitation Lecture Series- Part III
• March 27, 2014: 4:00-6:30 PM Master of Rehabilitation Counseling Program Centennial Event Celebrating the Program's Past, Current and Future Success and Grand Opening Rehabilitation Sciences Clinical Teaching Lab
• March 26 and 27, 2014: Healthy Miner-Mini-Health Fair

April 2014

• Public Health Sciences Centennial Snapshot:100 Healthy Foods Exhibition
• April 5, 2014: UTEP Centennial Pharmacy Symposium
• April 11, 2014: Healthy Miner-Mini-Health Fair
• April 11, 2014: 7:30 PM UTEP Dances Through the Century with the College of Health Sciences (University Centennial Event Open House)
• April 19, 2014: Kinesiology Basketball Tournament
• April 26, 2014: Occupational Therapy Distinguished Speaker Series
• April 26, 2014: Clinical Laboratory Sciences- Celebrating the History of the CLS Program

May 2014

• May 9, 2014: Speech Language Pathology Centennial Lecture-Roger Ingham, Ph.D.
• May 29, 2014:: Healthy Miner-Mini-Health Fair

June 2014

• June 26, 2014: Healthy Miner-Mini-Health Fair

August 2014

• August, 2014: Kinesiology Workshops for Physical Education Teachers

September 2014

• September 20, 2014: CLS Lab Tours for High School Students

October 2014

• Homecoming week : 100 Minutes of Research Passion- Interdisciplinary Health Sciences PhD Program.

We hope that you will join us to celebrate UTEP's Centennial in 2014! May this holiday season bring you much peace, joy, love and of course, good health!
Go Miners!

The Clinical Laboratory Science Program had 100 % participation from faculty and students during the annual San Elizario community health fair. There were 48 CLS students and 4 faculty members present. The test item menu consisted of screening test for anemia, diabetes, cholesterol and bladder and urinary tract infections, and included a blood grouping analyses.  There was a total of 440 laboratory analysis performed in a time span of 4 hours. Thank you to all who participated in this tremendous effort!

CLS Student recruitment efforts
Several CLS students returned to their high schools to give presentations on the UTEP CLS Program. Schools visited include Fr. Yermo High School, Franklin High School, Bel Air High School, and Montwood High School. The CLS students spoke about the national shortage of Clinical Laboratory Scientists and vital role the CLS plays in the diagnosis and treatment of patients. They also emphasized the fact that 75 to 80 % of diagnoses  and healthcare decisions are supported by laboratory results.

CLS Students attend ASCLS conference meetings via Webcast:
The CLS students attended two national conference presentations during the fall semester via Webcast through the American Society of Clinical Laboratory Science and the Association of Public Health Laboratories. The webcast allowed  UTEP CLS students to learn from laboratory experts on timely topics such as The Molecular Profile of Hematologic Malignancies DNA to Diagnosis and Massive Transfusion Protocol. Also in attendance were local clinical laboratory scientist / medical technologists seeking continuing education credit.

This fall the College of Health Sciences was awarded a grant by Department of Education, National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation research post-doctoral, Advanced Rehabilitation Research Training (ARRT) fellowship. Dr. Anthony Salvatore is the PI and Dr. Timothy Tansey is the Co-PI. The program recruited two outstanding post-doctoral students who began their training in October. Dr. Kyoung Yuel Lim holds a PhD in Communication Sciences and Disorders from the University of Pittsburgh. He also has a M.S. Degree, Daegu University, Korea with a Major in Speech and Language Pathology and a B.S. Degree, also from Daegu University, Korea with a major in Industrial Engineering. Before joining us he was most recently a Visiting Research Scholar,. Department of Communication Science and Disorders, at the University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA. His research interests are in the area of neuropathology of speech and language: Aphasia, mTBI, apraxia of speech, dysarthria, speech motor control, attention and resource allocation, cognitive mechanisms of language comprehension and production, and test design and development. Also neuroimaging, including fMRI and MEG, neurostimulation using transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). He holds a Certificate of Clinical Competence for Speech and Language Pathologists certified by the Korean Speech, Language and Hearing Association, and is pursuing a similar certification  in the United States. His recent publications address cognitive processing in persons with communicative disorders. 

Our second post-doctoral fellow is Dr. Chu-Ling Lo. She is a recent graduate of the University of Iowa in Rehabilitation Counselor Education, with a Minor in Epidemiology, College of Public Health. She has a M.A. in Education, Department of Educational Psychology and Counseling from the National Taipei University of Education, Taipei, Taiwan and a B.A. degree in Special Education, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan. Most recently she has served as a Research Assistant, The University of Iowa, and Intern Counselor, Shelter House-Fairweather Lodge program. , Her research has focused on the impact of note-taking in counseling and the effectiveness of vocational rehabilitation services on employment outcome for women with disabilities.

Both researchers will be pursuing advanced research training from a multidisciplinary team of researchers pursuing investigations in the area of mTBI/sports related concussion. These Fellows are expected to develop and pursue a line of innovative and creative research dealing with the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of mTBI/sports related concussion and in the process, they will complete a research development plan, publish in refereed journals and facilitate the development of research capabilities within the College of Health Sciences.

The American Speech Language Hearing Association (ASHA) held their annual convention in Chicago from Nov 14-16th. Six SLP faculty members attended the conference; three of them presented scientific papers and poster sessions. A number of students were collaborators in these research efforts. Approximately 15 undergraduate and graduate students attended the conference as well. Returning to El Paso on Sunday, November 16th turned into quite an ordeal given the severe weather in Chicago and surrounding areas that day. Earlier in the day some students  visiting the Chicago Museum of Art  were directed to the basement of the building because of the threat of tornados while other students in the convention area sought cover. An even greater challenge faced them when they tried to fly back to El Paso later in the day. Many of the students spent 8 to10 hours in the terminal due to cancelled and delayed flights, and when they did finally depart the Windy City, they toured various cities in the Southwest before arriving in El Paso early Monday morning. In spite of all this difficulty faculty and students returned energized and excited about their education and positions here at UTEP.

The Cooperative Pharmacy Program is proud to welcome a new pharmacy resident, Dr. Abigail Strate. Dr. Strate is a 2012 graduate of the UT Austin College of Pharmacy through the Cooperative Pharmacy Program at UTEP. After graduation, Dr. Strate began working as a hospital pharmacist in El Paso. She will now be joining the program as its first 2nd-year postgraduate resident for a new family medicine pharmacy residency. Through its affiliation with the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the Texas Tech Health Science Center at El Paso, this post-doctoral clinical pharmacy training program will facilitate the development of a pharmacist clinician demonstrating skills necessary to provide comprehensive pharmaceutical care to family medicine patients in a variety of health care settings, including acute care, primary care, and long-term care. The program also provides opportunities for development of skills in teaching and practice-based research. Congratulations and welcome, Dr. Strate!

Eighteen students graduated on Saturday December 14, 2013 with their Master of Occupational Therapy (MOT) degrees. They recently completed 24 weeks of Level II fieldwork in facilities across the country. Once their degrees are conferred, they are eligible to sit for the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy, and then pursue licensure in the state in which they will practice. Congratulations to the MOT Class of 2013! We are so proud of you.

 

It is our distinct pleasure to welcome our newest faculty member in the Master of Occupational Therapy Program, Rocio Alvarenga, MOT, who will serve as our Academic Fieldwork Coordinator. She is a 2010 graduate of the UTEP MOT Program, and will be an outstanding addition to our program

On December 14th, the Doctor of Physical Therapy Program celebrated 24 new UTEP DPT graduates. Among the 24 budding professionals are three who earned special honors. Each year the UTEP DPT faculty select students who have unique promise as physical therapists. The awards are sponsored by Las Palmas/Del Sol Health Network, the Greater El Paso District of the American Physical Therapy Association and Sierra Providence Health Network. The Program is incredibly thankful to our donors.

The first award is the Outstanding Student Scholar Award, which is funded by Las Palmas/Del Sol Health Network. This award is based solely on the student's PT GPA. There were 3 graduates nominated for this award Ricardo Portillo, Jonathon Montez, and Mark Navarro. These three individuals are the highest ranked in the class. This year's recipient maintained a 4.0 GPA in all 8 semesters. Mark Navarro is the recipient of the Outstanding Student Scholar award.  The award plaque and a check for $400 were presented to Dr. Navarro by Terry Pedroza representing Las Palmas/Del Sol Health Network.

The Most Valuable PT award (MVPT)  is funded by the Greater El Paso District, Texas Physical Therapy Assocication. This award goes to an individual who exudes the utmost of professionalism. This individual believes in building relationships, fostering learning and non-competiveness among the class, values ethical, responsible and honest behavior and is a role model to the class and the community. The awardee is elected solely by her or his classmates. The following individuals were nominated for MVPT by his classmates. There were three nominees for this award: Laura Sander, Carlos Torres and Ricardo Portillo. Sue Fogel, representing the GEPD presented the award plaque and a check for $500 to Carlos Torres as the recipient of the MVPT award.

The Outstanding Clinician Award is  difficult to confer because ALL UTEP DPT graduates are outstanding in their own  ways. This award is based on outstanding performance during all 4 full-time clinical education experiences and is funded by Sierra Providence Health Network. The evidence for this award comes from the written and verbal comments of clinical instructors, and letters from patients or other professionals with whom the graduates worked while in the clinic. There were 4 nominees for Outstanding Student Clinician, Chloe Wright, Ricardo Portillo, Samantha Sturdevant and Anthony Perales. Eddie Cardenas representing Providence Memorial Hospital presented the award plaque and a check for $400 to Samantha Sturdevant.

Congratulations to all of the nominees and award recipients! We offer a sincere THANK YOU to our sponsors for making the awards possible. The UTEP DPT Faculty, staff and students are all very proud of the Class of 2013 and welcome them each to the Physical Therapy Profession!